It was during a pleasant and warm (both literally and figuratively) two- week period in October, 1991 that a number of researchers, scholars and c1inicians from diverse lands gathered at the beautiful Chateau de Bonas, near Toulouse, France to discuss psychological, neuropsychological and neurolinguistic aspects of reading and writing disorders. The occasion for the serious disputations of theories, research findings and c1inical appli- cations was the Advanced Study Institute (ASI) under the auspices of the Scientific Affairs Division of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). There was much sharing of mutual experiences, and considerable debate on some issues. There were also friendly exchanges, 'international' ping-pong, tennis matches, and bicyc1e races, and even some convivial- ity akin to that of a c1ass reunion with members telling their stories of yesterday and visions of tomorrow. All these serious scientific disputations and the friendly exchanges would not have been possible without the major assistance from NATO and other institutions and individuals. We wish to express our deep appre- ciation to Dr. L. v. da Cunha ofNATO Scientific Affairs Division, Dr. Tilo Kester and Mrs. Barbara Kester of the International Transfer of Science and Technology (ITST) for their active support and substantial assistance throughout the Advanced Study Institute; Mr. Charles Stockman and his staff of the Chateau de Bonas for looking after our stay there; Christi Martin and Xi-Wu Feng of Oklahoma State University, and the University of Saskatchewan generally for facilitating our work.