News Flash

Northwestern University Dyslexia Study

My name is Jennifer Minas, and I am the Project Coordinator at Northwestern University’s Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory.  We study learning disabilities in children’s developing brains when they are learning how to read.  And we need your help!

We are currently recruiting children ages 8-15 years old to participate in our Project on Brain Development of Language and Reading.  We are particularly interested in comparing children with dyslexia or language based learning disabilities to typically developing children.

A little more about the project: James R. Booth, Ph.D. is the Principal Investigator of the study here at Northwestern University. We want to learn more about how children process lexical information across ages and between normal (neurologically typical) and Learning Disabled samples.

This project is an amazing opportunity for children and parents to participate in a study that may lead to improved clinical diagnoses and treatment of children with Learning Disabilities.

Children will be asked to participate in standardized academic tests.  They will also be asked to participate in both practice and real MRI sessions while playing word games. The practice will allow your child to become familiar with the MRI procedure. The word games involve making spelling, rhyming and meaning judgments to words that are either seen or heard.

Both children and parents who enroll in this study will be paid for participation.  We also have a toy store in which children can buy desired toys from the money they have earned from participating, or they can choose to keep the money.  The children will also receive a super cool MRI “picture” of their brain to take home with them.

Attached is a flyer for our study, and below is a link to the brochure on our website that will give you a more complete description of our studies.  http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/csd/research/cognitive/irb/

Please contact me if you have any further questions about the project.  You can reach me at 847-491-2519 or j-minas@northwestern.edu. I would be happy to send you hard copies of the brochures upon request.  Thank you very much for your consideration. 

Jennifer E. Minas
Project Coordinator: Project on Brain Development of Language and Reading
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory
Northwestern University
(847) 491-3647

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Dyslexia summit breaks new ground – Scotland

Scotland has become a world leader in preparing teachers to deal with dyslexic children. The universities (all seven of the teacher training) will now prepare student teachers for dealing with dyslexia as part of a national plan, a development thought to be a world first. Every single teacher training college is going to have this as part of the curriculum. That’s going to help immeasurably. Myra Pearson, head of Aberdeen University’s school of education, said: “You can’t underestimate the importance of this – we have a national picture now and we are building on all the excellent work that has gone before.” It has been suggested in some quarters that early diagnosis and intervention is the best way to help dyslexic children.

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Ways to Help Support the Wisconsin Branch of IDA

WIBIDA is a non-profit organization that provides research-based information, support, and referrals for children and adults with dyslexia. Children, families, teachers and other professionals all benefit from the work of The Wisconsin Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (WIBIDA). Therefore, we ask you to support us in providing our annual conference. There are three different ways that you help us in this endeavor. (1) Donate an Item to our WIBIDA Donor Shoppe (2) Purchase an Ad in our Conference Booklet (3) Become a Navigator Sponsor