From: Robina Suwol
Date: 28 Jul 2003
Time: 05:53:59
Remote Name: 66.141.118.209
Dyslexia is a reading disorder that persists despite good schooling and normal or even above-average intelligence. It's a handicap that affects up to 1 in 5 schoolchildren. Yet the exact nature of the problem has eluded doctors, teachers, parents and dyslexics themselves since it was first described more than a century ago. Indeed, it is so hard for skilled readers to imagine what it's like not to be able to effortlessly absorb the printed word that they often suspect the real problem is laziness or obstinacy or a proud parent's inability to recognize that his or her child isn't that smart after all. The mystery -- and perhaps some of the stigma -- may finally be starting to lift. The more researchers learn about dyslexia, the more they realize it's a flaw not of character but of biology -- specifically, the biology of the brain. No, people with dyslexia are not brain damaged. Brain scans show their cerebrums are perfectly normal, if not extraordinary. Dyslexics, in fact, seem to have a distinct advantage when it comes to thinking outside the box. Christine Gorman describes a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting a glitch in the neurological wiring of dyslexics that makes reading extremely difficult for them. Fortunately, the science also points to new strategies for overcoming the glitch. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,465794,00.html