Learning to read can involve various combinations of modalities.
That is not necessarily a problem, but we need to be aware that an extra process is involved.
That is, the translation from one modality to another, which can in itself sometimes be a problem.
Single and cross modality tasks occur in many instances outside of testing situations.
They are major considerations, for example, in the initial steps to teach reading, which is a critical language skill.
Three teaching methods in particular, exemplify nicely different modality roles.
The first is the Look-See (Say) method which basically involves the task of associating a picture with a word. This is strictly a visual modality process. No attempt is made to sound out a word.
This is a Whole Language approach and some parents place cards around the house that name the common objects in the house.