8th-Grader Gets $87,000 for Dyslexia Study
W A S H I N G T O N, March 27, 2001 -- 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.
After more research — this time on philanthropic foundations — Matt applied to the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in LosAltos, Calif., which last December awarded him $87,300. Chartwell,which will administer the program, announced the grant last week.
Experts estimate that between 5 percent and 15 percent ofAmericans have some degree of dyslexia, which involves a brainstructure that makes it difficult for a learning reader to connectverbal sounds with the letters or symbols that "spell" thatsound. Such connections are essential to learn to read.
A study published earlier this month in the journal Science found that as English-speaking children with dyslexia begin toread, they face an awesome task, requiring them to learn more than1,100 ways that written letters are used to symbolize 40 sounds. Itmay explain why there are twice as many identified dyslexics inEnglish-speaking cultures as in countries with less complexlanguages, such as France and Italy.
A Teen’s Success Where Adults Failed
Under Matt's proposal, 180 kindergarteners in two Pacific Groveschools will be tested in September for their ability to understandsounds within words. If the 15-minute screening shows they've gotdifficulties, they'll be given special instruction to help themhear and understand how the sounds translate into words on aprinted page.
Students will be tested three times a year for three years,until they're in second grade.
His family recently moved to Fairfield, Conn., but Matt, now 15and a ninth-grader, said he'll try to get out to California fromtime to time to observe the program.
Marchi said he looks forward to seeing the results, and hopesthe project inspires Matt to get into teaching — he certainly has atouch for writing grant proposals.
"We've been applying for grants from the Packard Foundation foryears and never received one," Marchi said. "This kid had themagic."