In Science, Dyslexic Youth Is a Visionary

Steve Goldberg trails off in confusion when he tries to spell the name of the high school he attends. When asked to read a phone number off a sheet of paper, he falters, then hands the paper to a friend.

But dyslexia hasn’t dampened the 16-year-old’s appetite for learning, and although letters and numbers shift and cross before his eyes, mechanical problems appear in his mind with crystal clarity.

On May 25, Steve will compete in the state high school science fair after beating about 500 contenders to take the top prize at the Los Angeles County Science Fair. Organizers of the contest said Steve’s project--a wind tunnel and turbine he devised to test his design for a highly efficient windmill blade--is on par with work done by professional engineers.

Steve, a student at the private Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, is among an estimated 5% of California schoolchildren diagnosed with learning disabilities, 1 or 2% of whom are dyslexic.

Thought to be caused by a neurological disorder, dyslexia interferes with reading ability in people of normal and above intelligence. Symptoms vary, but many dyslexics tend to reverse or skip letters and numbers while reading, said Michael Spagna, assistant professor of special education at Cal State Northridge.

Unlike their counterparts of 20 years ago, dyslexic children today enter school in an age when awareness of their condition is relatively widespread. But still, advocates for dyslexics say, far too few children are tested.

Steve, an amiable youth with a wide grin, is representative of dyslexics who enter school at a time when a variety of learning strategies and computer software is available not only to help them cope, but in some cases to succeed in surprising ways, Spagna said.

Steve still wrestles with an inability to read aloud. His teachers at Chaminade often give him oral rather than standardized tests because he mixes up the letters A, B, C and D. And occasionally, dyslexia complicates his life in frustrating ways, like the time he lost count of his laps at a swim meet and stopped dead in the middle of his race.

But despite these difficulties, Steve is a model high school student in many ways, so much so that his parents have wondered whether his impairment might have worked to his advantage.

“Dyslexia forces you to concentrate extremely hard to straighten things out,” said Gerry Goldberg, an electrical engineer. “Many people never learn extreme concentration . . . but Steven becomes very intense in certain circumstances.”

Steve agrees that a knack for intense concentration--and a willingness to put in hours of monotonous work--helped him put together a highly technical project.

For years, Steve has devoted countless hours to his father’s workshop studying models of windmills, a machine that has enthralled him since his first visit to Tehachapi Pass, where scores of windmills line hillsides.

“I wanted to know why they turned,” Steve said. “I know it sounds like a crock, but I actually do it because I want to learn.”

For the science fair project, Steve devised a test to measure the effect of placing small bits of metal or “tipplets” at an angle on each blade of a model windmill.

“I was examining the effect of off-angle winds on horizontal-axis wind turbines,” explained Steve, who becomes articulate beyond his years when the talk turns to engineering.

Windmills work best when their blades are perpendicular to the wind, he said. When a windmill is placed on a hillside, it’s normally less efficient because the wind hits the blades at an angle. The tipplets can compensate for the effect, increasing the turbines’ efficiency by 5 to 10%, he found.

“It’s a remarkable level of achievement for high school,” said Arie Korporaal, science consultant for the county office of education, sponsor of the science fair.

Margery Weitkamp, Steve’s science teacher at Chaminade, has taught other dyslexic students who excelled in mechanics and engineering. Such subjects may suit dyslexics because they require hands-on learning rather than books, Weitkamp said.

“They don’t all necessarily have high grade-point averages, but they are brilliant in the areas they are good at,” she said.

Steve, who harbors a strong drive to succeed despite a bashful manner, said his view of his dyslexia has changed as his ability to compensate for his has improved.

“I laugh at it,” he said. “If I don’t, I will be a hairball of stress.”

Asked if he thinks it’s odd that a brain that calculates vectors with ease can’t remember a simple list, Steve laughs.

“You should see what it’s like from in here,” he said.