The goal of this study was to determine potential causes for the reading and spelling discrepancies of 26 middle school students. All were proficient in reading, but non-proficient in spelling, a pattern typical in students with Specific Spelling Disability (SSD). The focus of the study was on linguistic knowledge while encoding and decoding, plus experiential factors. Five research questions were investigated: encoding and decoding patterns, reading proficiency, spelling proficiency, the correlation between reading and spelling performance, and experiential and behavioral factors that influenced the participants' reading and spelling ability. A collective case study methodology was employed. Quantitative data was acquired from an administration of reading (QRI-5, WRMT-III, MAP, WKCE, TCRWP) and spelling assessments (TWS-4, SPELL-2), as well as qualitative data from a guided/semi-structured interview. An analysis of spelling errors indicated that the participants performed more Mental Orthographic Image errors than other linguistic errors. When participant reading miscues were explored, insertions/omissions were the most frequently performed. Word identification data derived from the WRMT-III indicated that only three participants were proficient. Results obtained from the Word Attack test demonstrated even greater difficulty. In addition, other than MAP results, the participants were not entirely proficient on other reading assessments. Spelling data derived from the TWS-4 and SPELL-2 also indicated spelling challenges. Correlational data was additionally inconclusive with only three relationships demonstrating moderate correlation: WRMT-III Word Identification and WKCE, WRMT-III Word Identification and TWS-4, and WRMT-III Basic Skills Cluster and TWS-4. Analysis of the guided/semi-structured interviews revealed an absence of spelling instruction, or ineffective spelling instruction. The results presented a complex portrait of students' encoding and decoding: students were not universally proficient in terms of their comprehension, or word identification ability and were not proficient spellers. The lack of spelling instruction, or the absence of effective spelling instruction, may have contributed to the participants' limited spelling and reading acumen. Thus, unlike previous research results, identifying individuals who truly reflect SSD is non-conclusive. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]