[caption id="attachment_25409" align="alignright" width="250"]
Josh Thibeau (via WBUR)[/caption]
It's no surprise that Harry Potter, one of the most popular book series of all time, is also among the most frequently named titles children with dyslexia say they regret missing out on. So is the case for 12-year-old
Josh Thibeau, whose personal goal is to read a Harry Potter book like his fellow sixth-graders. In an article titled
'I’m Not Stupid, Just Dyslexic’—And How Brain Science Can Help from WBUR Common Health, Josh shares:
“There was a student that said, ‘Are you stupid?’ Because my brain was working in a different way. And I’m just like, ‘No, I am not stupid…I’m just dyslexic.'”
Fortunately for Josh and other people with dyslexia, research is solving some of the mysteries associated with the learning difference and leading to earlier identification and better remediation. With increasingly sophisticated methods, scientists are able to peer into the brain and analyze structures such as
white matter correlated with phonological awareness and bundles of fibers that form bridges between language centers.
Now a student at the Landmark School in Massachusetts, which specializes in instructing kids with learning differences, Josh has a better understanding of his own brain. "I think of my mind as a maze that's constantly changing," he explains, "but I try to find a straight line to the information I need to extract."
Read the
WBUR article in its entirety for more information about current research on dyslexia.