WASHINGTON (AP) - Researchers say they've discovered that people
with dyslexia also have a hard time recognizing voices.

It's hoped the surprising discovery about the reading disorder
can be used to spot at-risk youngsters earlier, even before they
reach kindergarten.

Dyslexia is thought to affect 8 percent to 15 percent of
Americans, who can have great difficulty reading and writing. It's
not a problem with intelligence or vision. Instead, it's
language-based.

Researchers found that adult test subjects with dyslexia had
more trouble matching a voice to animated characters in the
experiment than those who did not have the disorder. They conclude
that people with dyslexia have a hard time distinguishing and
manipulating sounds that eventually have to be linked to written
letters and words.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher John Gabrieli
hopes the discovery can be used for earlier intervention. Gabrieli
plans to begin testing 5-year-olds. He is senior author of a study
published last week in the journal Science.