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For Release, Thursday, September 2, 2004

WASHINGTON-- With studies suggesting that one-in-ten children have a learning disability the Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities (CCLD), a coalition of seven of the nation's leading organizations focusing on the problem, today released the results of a national opinion survey of Americans indicating that an overwhelming majority believe that "all children learn in different ways" (71%) and a majority (76%) accurately believe learning disabled children are "just as smart as you and me."

The remainder of this article is a must read, filled with statistics and links to more key information. To finish, click here: http://www.focusonlearning.org/pollingrelease.htm

'Invisible' disability now visible on campus
Sunday, September 05, 2004

By Bill Schackner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Days after enrolling as a college freshman, David Carson had to admit to a stranger that he couldn't spell the name of the school he was attending. An employee watching him struggle to write out a check couldn't believe he needed her help to spell " Indiana ," "University" and " Pennsylvania ." "Just write IUP!" she snapped, flashing a look so cutting he remembers it to this day.

To find out how this story goes from bad to good, click on the link:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04249/373149.stm

Education
Expert pinpoints what's wrong with nation's reading instruction
By Linda Seebach
Sunday, August 8, 2004

G. Reid Lyon is a psychologist specializing in reading, and head of the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the federal National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In an interview with the reading project, “Children of the Code,” he examines what goes wrong with reading instruction, or the lack of it, what we know about how to do it right, and the vast human toll of our failure to teach reading effectively.

To learn more, click on the link:
http://www.detnews.com/2004/schools/0408/08/a17-235276.htm

Dyslexia not the same in every culture
The Associated Press
Posted 9/2/2004

Westerners shudder at the idea of reading even the most basic street signs and instructions in Chinese, a language with 6,000 characters to memorize. A new set of brain images shows why: Reading English-style alphabets and Chinese characters use very different parts of the brain. The results also suggest that Chinese schoolchildren with reading problems misfire in a different brain region than the one used in reading alphabet-based languages like English.

To read this article in its entirety, click on the link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-09-02-dyslexia_x.htm

INTERVIEW WITH SALLY SHAYWITZ

Read this fascinating interview with one of the leaders in the field of dyslexia and brain neuroimaging, Sally Shaywitz, author of Overcoming Dyslexia. Dr. Shaywitz answers such questions as “Is there one clue, which is the first sign of possible dyslexia to look for in young children?”, “Can a dyslexia child be a good writer?”, “How can I help a dyslexic child to read?”, and much more.

A wonderful piece to read! Click on the link: http://www.7to7.net/shaywitz.html

Genetic regional reductions of gray matter may be underlying cause of dyslexia
24 Aug 2004

Researchers in Italy have observed significant reductions of gray matter volume in areas of the brain associated with language processing among people with a family history of dyslexia in comparison with controls with no reading problems.

Click on the link to finish reading this article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=12448#

AAMC sued over medical school admission exam
Applicants with learning disabilities say they were denied needed accommodations.
By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. Aug. 9, 2004 .

Four medical school applicants with learning disabilities are suing the Assn. of American Medical Colleges for discrimination. The students, who have conditions that include dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, requested additional time and a room free of distractions while taking the Medical College Admission Test. They were told their conditions did not merit such accommodations, according to the lawsuit.

To continue reading this article click on the link:
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/09/prse0809.htm

Dyslexic Beauty Queen Competes for Miss Tennessee
Jaclyn Roe is the 19-year-old dark haired beauty who recently snagged the Miss Foothills Country Fair title. The contest was a preliminary event for the Miss Tennessee Contest for 2005. "I have always had the dream of becoming Miss Tennessee ," Roe said. "This is one step that will get me closer to accomplishing that dream." Roe said that she is not the "typical" pageant contestant, from her "country" upbringing, to her struggle with dyslexia .

Read more by clicking on the link: http://www.bradleyweekly.com/articles.cfm?id=2550

From a Struggle to a Successful Career as a Writer
Saturday, September 11, 2004
NELLE NIX

Stubbornness, says children's author Avi, is at the root of his decision to become a writer. As a child growing up in Brooklyn, the author struggled with putting words on paper. His first book ("Things That Sometimes Happen") was published in 1970. In 2003, at the age of 65, Avi won the Newbery Medal for his 50th book, "Crispin: The Cross of Lead." - a fast-paced tale of a boy in 14th-century medieval England who is wrongly accused of murder.

To finish this article, click on the link: http://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/oregonian/index.ssf
?/base/entertainment/1094903708252140.xml#continue

SORTING THROUGH DYSLEXIA
By Rebecca F. Johnson, USA TODAY

Linda Hendrickson remembers how paralyzed with fear she felt when asked to read aloud as a child. How she gripped the book so tightly to hide the shaking that her knuckles turned white. How she labored so heavily on each word that it took an hour and a half to read a paragraph.
Today, she's a chemistry major at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro , and has a near-perfect grade-point average. Hendrickson's success impressed the American Chemical Society's Women Chemists Committee, which will honor her with its "Overcoming Challenges Award" later this month.