The shift from viewing reading as primarily a perceptual process to viewing it as primarily a linguistic process, combined with the consideration of reading failure as not one but many disabilities, formed the basis for the assumption that there exists a duo-symbiosis between reading and speech and between speech and word-finding. The development of this assumption is traced through a model of word-retrieval which indicates areas of possible intersection between word-retrieval and reading. Ways of testing the basic assumption are suggested, and implications for research in reading and reading disability are discussed, including the suggestion that particular word-finding patterns may be able to predict specific reading problems. (Author/AM)