Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862

Donate

Play Live Radio

Next Up:

0:00

0:00 0:00

Available On Air Stations

Study: Poor Readers Can Improve Brain Function

By Rachel Jones

Published May 5, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT

Proper tutoring for a child who's struggling to read can change the way the brain works, a Yale University study finds. Published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, the study examined tutoring that focuses on the sounds of letters and words. After one school year, brain scans showed lasting changes in the children. NPR's Rachel Jones reports.

Note: Study co-author Sally Shaywitz has written a book on reading disorders, "Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level," published by Alfred Knopf, 2003.

Rachel Jones

Rachel Jones reports on education, social policy, and welfare reform issues at NPR. She has also covered children’s health and development, as well as well as racial disparities in health care.

Stories From This Author

Welfare Reform Changes Women's Lives

Rachel Jones

At the end of his second term, former President Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, making good on his promise of "ending welfare as we know it." Ten years later, millions of American women have moved off of welfare and into the workforce.
State Officials Leery of Changes to Welfare Rules

Rachel Jones

Putting welfare recipients to work is at the heart of the federal welfare law passed 10 years ago. But while the original law allowed states to decide how best to meet federal goals, some officials fear that the Bush administration will remove some of the flexibility that they say has made the law a success.
Hunger Hidden but Real in America's Suburbs

Rachel Jones

One-third of poor Americans live in suburbs. In Holly, Mich., Joy and Chris Hardenburgh found their dreams derailed after an on-the-job accident forced Chris to take sick leave. Soon, the family of three found themselves overwhelmed with medical bills and struggling to provide themselves with basic necessities.