A student hated reading for years. Her podcast explores finding the right diagnosis
Middle school student Cora Walsh won an NPR podcast competition for her project documenting her personal journey with dyslexia. The podcast details her struggle to receive a diagnosis and her ongoing efforts to improve her reading skills.
Why it matters
It highlights the importance of early diagnosis and support for learning disabilities in the educational system.
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — Cora Walsh walks home from middle school every day. It's only a few tree-lined blocks in Rockville Centre on Long Island, but the movement helps clear her head of the school day. She probably thinks about how the brain works more than most seventh-graders.
"I want to be a doctor," she says. "And I want to go to Princeton and major in neuroscience."
Her fascination started a few years ago when she was struggling to figure out what was happening in her own head.
"It's kind of confusing what it is like in my brain," she says. All she knew back then was that reading was hard. Even when she spent more time working on it than her friends, she could never reach their level.
Like millions of Americans , Cora has dyslexia, but it took her almost five years to get the correct diagnosis.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in