A student hated reading for years. Her podcast explores finding the right diagnosis

Middle schooler Cora Walsh of Long Island, N.Y., has won the 2026 NPR Student Podcast Challenge with a story about her journey with dyslexia.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/9504x5344+0+0/resize/9504x5344!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2b%2Ff8%2Fa27c42674de5a3576537b0f28144%2Fljohnson-spc-mswinner26-dsc03236-toned.jpg' alt='Cora Walsh with her parents, Chris Walsh and Emily Johnson.'/><p>Middle schooler Cora Walsh of Long Island, N.Y., has won the 2026 NPR Student Podcast Challenge with a story about her journey with dyslexia.</p><p>(Image credit: LA Johnson)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-5977043' />