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>>Narrator: THOUGH HE WAS BORN DEAF, CARSON CECCHINI HAS MADE REMARKABLE PROGRESS. AS
A TODDLER CARSON GOT COCHLEAR IMPLANTS - WHICH CAPTURE SOUND WAVES AROUND HIM THEN FEED THEM
DIRECTLY TO NERVES NEAR HIS BRAIN.
>>Donna Cecchini: “He could not speak. And now I have a child who reads and speaks and
laughs and he doesn’t have to go to speech therapy.”
>>Narrator: IT’S JUST THAT KIND OF PROGRESS RESEARCHERS WERE HOPING TO CHART WHEN THEY
LAUNCHED A STUDY NEARLY A DECADE AGO. THE IDEA WAS TO FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED CHILDREN
FOR YEARS TO SEE HOW COCHLEAR IMPLANTS MIGHT HELP THEM LEARN. BUT THEN RESEARCHERS NOTICED
SOMETHING ELSE.
>> Susan Nittrouer, PhD: “Once you begin to scratch the surface, you often find that
these children have language deficits than can affect their performance in school.”
>>Narrator: IN FACT, THE LANGUAGE ISSUES THESE KIDS HAVE ARE REMARKABLY SIMILAR TO DYSLEXIA.
DOCTORS KNOW THAT KIDS WITH DYSLEXIA HAVE PROBLEMS SEEING LETTERS IN THE PROPER ORDER.
BUT IN A NEW STUDY² SUSAN NITTROUER OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER
SAYS THESE KIDS MAY HAVE SHOWN THAT HEARING PLAYS A VITAL ROLE AS WELL.
>>Susan Nittrouer, PhD: “We can really connect the dots between their perception, the kind
of signal that they’re getting, and the sort of language problem that results.”
>>Narrator: NITTROUER SAYS BY PORING OVER A DECADE OF RESEARCH ON THESE KIDS, SCIENTISTS
MAY BE ABLE TO DETECT SIGNS OF DYSLEXIA-LIKE ISSUES MUCH EARLIER.
MOST KIDS AREN’T DIAGNOSED UNTIL AROUND THIRD GRADE, BUT IN THIS STUDY.
>>Susan Nittrouer, PhD: “We were able to identify these emerging problems in these
children at kindergarten.”
>>Narrator: WHICH COULD LEAD TO TESTS TO PREDICT DYSLEXIA EARLIER.. AND TREAT IT SOONER. AT
OHIO STATE’S WEXNER MEDICAL CENTER, THIS IS CLARK POWELL REPORTING.