This is the VOA Special English Education report.
Dyslexia is a problem that interferes with the ability to recognize words and (connect sounds) with letters when people read. People with this learning disorder may also have problems when they wire. Dyslexia is not related to eyesight or (intelligence). The problem involves areas of the brain that process language. Brain scientists are studying whether they can predict which young children may (struggle with) reading in order to provide early help. John Gabriele at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is leading a study of five-year-olds in about 20 schools in the Boston area.
John Gabriele: “We partner with schools that have kindergartens. And in this study we do is, eh, for all the children whose parents permit them to participate, we give them a brief set of paper-and-pencil tests to look at which children appear to be at some risk for struggling to read.”
So far, 50 of the kindergarteners have been examined in the machine that shows (brain activity). The goal is to study 500 children using FMRI or functional magnetic resonance imaging. The scanner uses a high-energy magnetic field and radio waves to look inside the (body).
Written tests are not always able to identify dyslexia or other problems. Professor Gabriele says children can differ a lot in their abilities from day to day. He says brain scans may offer a more (scientific) way to identify problems and with reading problems, he says, early identification is important.
John Gabriele: “All the literature is that, eh, for intervention, behavioral; programs, educational programs that help children overcome reading difficulties. The younger the child, the more effective they are.”
Reading problems are not usually (identified) until the child is in the third or fourth grade. The longer the wait before children are recognized as poor readers, he says, the less the intervention can help. And as professor Gabriele points out, poor reading can make (education) a struggle.
John Gabriele: “Reading is begin everything. Even math and science have textbooks.”
During the brain imaging, the children are given (tasks) related to reading. They work with letters and sounds of language. The brain scans measure the extent to which certain parts of the brain become (active) while the children do the work. The neuroscientists say they are pleased with early results from the study but have a lot more work to do. The children get to take home the pictures of their brain in action. Professor Gabriele says children who do not want to have a brain scan do not have to.
John Gabriele: “I can tell you the ones who do want to do it, eh, they have an excellent experience. Eh, almost all, the vast majority, ask when hey can do it again. Eh, we treat the entire experience as a game. When they go into the scanner, we say it’s going into a space rocket.
And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jeri Lyn Watson. I’m Steve Ember.