Working in Movement

Earlier, in Learning and Dyslexia, I wrote about a study of dyslexic kids that investigated a learning-based approach to dealing with the reading difficulties. After receiving specialized reading training, the brains of the dyslexic kids showed a pattern similar to "normal" readers. A new study that hits the street in May adds to the evidence that a learning-based approach can be effective. Learning Disabilities: A Clearer Path to Reading Fluency briefly summarizes the new research.

The new study is unique because it tested the dyslexic (and control group) kids by scanning their brains both before and after a year of intensive instruction. Some of the kids received the standard instruction their school offered for reading difficulties. But others received an intensive form of tutoring. It turned out the kids who got the intensive tutoring learned to activate a part of the brain known as the word form region, just like non-dyslexic readers.

Sally E. Shaywitz of Yale, an author of the study, called that change crucial. "The word-form region allows a child to look at a word and to automatically know how to pronounce it, spell it and know what it means," she said. "If a child is not a fluent reader, he or she will avoid reading; it's too effortful."

This new study not only demonstrates how learning can make fundamental changes in the nervous system, but how just doing what you already know doesn't.