l learning disorders: life: dyslexia can make reading seem impossible. Find out how one teen overcame this learning disorder.

You wouldn't suspect that Joseph Ashton has difficulty reading. The 16-year-old high school senior is on the Honor Roll and the Dean's List for math. He even spends his time outside of school reading out loud--he provides the voice for Otto Rocket on Nickelodeon's popular cartoon Rocket Power" and stars in feature films like the upcoming Where the Red Fern Grows.

But when Joseph was in the third grade, he struggled to copy down his homework assignments. "I had to start looking at the letters and numbers on the board, and go word for word, letter for letter to make sure I got firings right," he says. Doctors discovered that he has dyslexia, a learning disorder with symptoms that include difficulty reading, spelling, and writing.

Luckily for Joseph, when he started to struggle in school, his parents and teachers noticed and helped him. Often, people with dyslexia don't even know they have it. "Many dyslexics have above average intelligence, so people say, 'He's just lazy,'" says J. Thomas Viall, executive director of the International Association of Dyslexia. In fact, as many as one in five people may be affected by dyslexia, which scientists think is passed on through genes (hereditary material).

With help, Joseph has been able to overcome dyslexia. "Instead of getting frustrated, I learned to take my time," he says. Now, new research is helping scientists learn more about what causes this disorder, and what can be done to help kids like Joseph succeed.

WORD PUZZLE

For people who don't have dyslexia, reading can be a breeze. That's because their brain automatically uses the skills it learned when they were kids: sound words out. To read a new word, they simply blend together all the phonemes, or individual sounds, made by each letter: "If you look at the word 'cat,' you immediately know there are three phonemes: kah-ah-tuh," says Viall. "You blend them to make a word that has meaning. It all happens in microseconds." For people with dyslexia, however, even reading simple words can be a challenge. A wiring glitch in their brain makes it difficult to connect letters to the sounds they represent.

One common myth is that dyslexics just see letters backward, confusing a lower case "d" with a "b," for example. It is actually more typical for someone with dyslexia to struggle decoding the sequences of letters in words, for instance, reading "save" as "vase." Joseph also has trouble with number sequences. "I would come to school with the homework done, but having done the work on the wrong page. For example, I read page 359 instead of 395," says Joseph. "We couldn't figure out why I kept writing the wrong page number down."

MIND READER

What causes people with dyslexia to switch letters around? To find out, Sally Shaywitz, a neuroscientist (brain scientist) at Yale University and author of Overcoming Dyslexia, took snapshots of the brains of dyslexics and non-dyslexics with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The fMRI images highlight areas of the brain that have higher blood flow. These high-blood-flow regions are more active. When Shaywitz took an fMRI of dyslexics while they read, she found that the brain areas that lit up were different from the active regions in non-dyslexics.

Three brain regions are activated when you read--all within the left hemisphere of your cerebrum, the largest area of your brain, also known as your "gray matter." The cerebrum's left hemisphere helps you read and understand language.

Broca's area, a region on the left side of your brain just behind your forehead is the "vocalizer." This region was most active when you were just learning to read. The vocalizer helps you sound out a new word--either either in your head or aloud--by breaking it into its phonemes. The second region is in the left parieto (pear-EYE-uh-toh)-temporal, a spot in your brain located over your left ear. This area is the "word analyzer." It further decodes a word by breaking it up into the different phonemes and syllables.

But the key to whizzing through the latest Harry Potter book is a third region called the left occipito (ok-SIP-uh-toh)-temporal area, a region in the back of your brain behind your left ear. This "word identifier" can automatically identify a word after you've repeatedly seen and read it. "This is the area that works when you see words and immediately recognize them," says Shaywitz. When you become a speed-reader, this area does most of the work.

In dyslexics, a glitch prevents the brain from using the word-analyzer and word identifier regions. They have trouble converting letters into sounds and can't quickly recognize words. Even dyslexics who have become capable readers rely 'almost entirely on the vocalizer: That makes reading slow and difficult, because they sound out each word one by one. "By necessity, they read slowly because they don't have the word identifier area developed," says Shaywitz.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

The good news for teens like Joseph? Over time, the brain can change. "Effective reading instruction, particularly if the problem is caught early, can help a dyslexic's brain become comparable to the brain of someone who never had a reading problem," Shaywitz says. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. Teachers who specialize in reading problems can help dyslexics overcome their difficulties by going back to the basic and teaching them to link letters to sounds. ***

Other techniques for teens with dyslexia: Viall recommends staying organized and working in study groups. Joseph agrees: I have friends who will compare notes." But overcoming dyslexia takes hard work and lots of practice. "When I was younger, I tried to avoid reading because it was frustrating," Joseph says. "I think that made it harder, so I just started picking up books and reading on my own." His advice to teens who struggle with dyslexia: "Read an article about something you're interested in. That's practice!"

HOW THE BRAIN READS

Using brain images, scientists learned that three regions are active when a person reads. A wiring glitch prevents dyslexics from using all three brain regions, which makes reading difficult.

1 The Vocalizer:

Broca's area

This brain region helps a person read by converting each letter in a word to the sound it represents.

2 The Word Analyzer:

Left parieto-temporal area

This area of the brain analyzes a word and pulls it apart into individual sounds.

3 The Word Identifier:

Left occipito-temporal area

This region Immediately recognizes whole words that have been seen and read many times before.

DYSLEXIA: WHAT GOES WRONG

PORPUCINE

A glitch in the brain makes it difficult for dyslexics to connect letters to sounds, And the word identifier area is not activated so they can't quickly recognize words they've seen before, Instead, they rely heavily on the vocalizer, and slowly "sound out" each word in a sentence.

IT'S YOUR CHOICE

1 Which of the following is not a symptom of dyslexia?

A difficulty spelling

B switching the sequence of letters in a word

C having lower intelligence

D difficulty writing

2 What is the main purpose of your brain's "word identifier" area?

A It automatically recognizes words you have seen before.

B It helps you sound out new words.

C To break down words into phonemes.

D To connect letters to sounds.

3 Which of the following strategies is not advised for dyslexics?

A stay organized

B practice reading regularly

C avoid reading

D ask friends for help

4 When a brain area lights up on an fMRI image:

A The region is less active.

B That person has dyslexia.

C There is less blood flow in the region.

D The region is more active.

5 Broca's area

A is a region on the right side of your brain.

B was most active when you were just learning to read.

C helps you recognize words you have seen before.

D is not used by dyslexics.