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.
Her podcast about the journey to understanding her own mind is the grand prize winner for middle school in this year's NPR Student Podcast Challenge. "Dyslexia and MEE" was chosen from nearly 1,500 submissions from 42 states and the District of Columbia. "I feel really excited," Cora says about her victory.
Her parents, who spent the whole journey right by her side, are thrilled too. "This is a kid that works so hard and has such a good attitude," says her mom, Emily Johnson. "I'm so proud of her." Cora has come a long way.
She has received tutoring for her dyslexia for two years now. Her podcast takes the listener along to one of her lessons. She sounds out words over Zoom, and her tutor gives her feedback and tips.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
