8th-Grader Gets $87,000 for Dyslexia Study

W A S H I N G T O N, March 27 -- An eighth-grader frustrated with his littlebrother's reading difficulties put his shoulder to the wheel andscored an educational coup: an $87,000 grant to screenkindergarteners for dyslexia.

It began in the fall of 1999, when Matt Miller, then 13 andattending school in Monterey, Calif., was asked to write a mockgrant proposal for a scientific study in English class. He chosedyslexia, a subject close to home. His younger brother, Andrew,suffers from dyslexia, but wasn't diagnosed for years.

"It really annoyed [Matt] that Andrew had been in a mainstreamlearning environment until he was in fifth grade, and his dyslexiahad not been identified," said the boys' mother, Cynthia Miller."He said, 'There's got to be a better way."'

Matt said he decided to study dyslexia because he saw how muchhis brother "was struggling in school, and how frustrating it wasfor him — I was curious to learn more about it."

Matt logged onto the Internet, learned the finer points ofphonemes, digraphs and consonant blends, sought out researchers andeventually wrote his own three-year plan. In it, he proposed toscreen kindergartners at risk for signs of reading problems andsimilar learning disabilities.

"The earliest they can be tested is the best, because it givesmore time for remediation — and it's more likely that they'll beable to be helped," he said.

A Moving Proposal

Matt's proposal caught the eye of teachers at the ChartwellSchool, which Andrew attended. The school specializes in helpingstudents with learning or reading difficulties. He also attractedthe attention of local special education teachers, and with theirhelp Matt pitched the plan to the school district in Pacific Grove,Calif.

"When he presented it to me, I was moved — both emotionally andby the quality of his research," said Jack Marchi, superintendentof the 2,200-student school system.

Marchi's reply: Find the funding and try it out.