The New Science of Dyslexia

When Sean Slattery, 17, looks at a page of text, he can see the letters. He can tell you the letters' names. He can even tell you what sounds those letters make. But it often takes a while for the articulate high school student from Simi Valley, California, to tell you what words those letters form. "I see a wall," he says. "I see a hurdle I have to get over." Some words are easier for Slattery to figure out than others. "I can get longer words, like electricity ," he says. "But I have trouble with shorter words, like four or...