88-year-old who marched with MLK may make history by learning how to read with AI
At 88, J.T. Johnson has only recently realized he has dyslexia, a common learning disability affecting up to one in five Americans. He has found assistance in Dysolve, a new computer program powered by Artificial Intelligence designed to help individuals with the condition learn to read. Now he’s on the verge of making history.
“This is a gift that has come to me,” he told People, sharing his wish to read the Bible as his first book. “I wish I could have learned this a long time ago, but I’m just thankful to God that it’s happening to me now. I’m going to put the work in. I’ll keep marching along. And I am going to be able to read—that’s a promise.”
Johnson was a key figure in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, frequently arrested for his activism. He organized protests against racial segregation and marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Despite his significant contributions to the movement’s success, Johnson harbored a deeply personal struggle: even after years of trying, he remained unable to read.
“It’s something that was difficult to share,” he recounted. “I’d think, ‘Why couldn’t I read and other folks could?’ It was touchy for me.”
“I’ve been ashamed a long time,” Johnson declared. “I’m getting ready to not be ashamed any more.”
Born in Montezuma, Georgia, in 1937, Johnson struggled with reading early on, having to repeat second grade. He spent years concealing this difficulty. Moving to Albany, Ga., by middle school, he became a star athlete in multiple sports.
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His athletic success led teachers to overlook his reading problem, which he believes was the only reason he graduated. To compensate, he relied on his straight-A student girlfriends, learning and memorizing information orally to pass classes.
Although he graduated two years late in 1957, he was encouraged to seek a football scholarship at universities like Ohio State. However, worries about his ability to handle the classwork prevented him from applying.
He reflected, “I missed a lot of opportunities.”
After playing college football for a year at Albany State, a historically Black Institution, Johnson moved north and took a job at a Long Island carpet cleaning company.
In 1962, angered by news reports of segregation and the jailing of friends in his hometown, Johnson returned south to join the civil rights movement. He quickly became a trusted member of King’s “Ground Crew,” an elite group of activists who traveled the South organizing residents and stirring up “good trouble.”
In June 1964, the movement focused on St. Augustine, Florida, following a KKK beating of an activist. King himself was arrested there for attempting to order coffee at the Monson Motor Lodge. The following week, Johnson led a protest by jumping into the lodge’s “whites-only” pool. The owner’s now-famous reaction was to pour acid into the water to force the protesters out.
Johnson and other protestors were arrested and beaten while being forcibly removed from the pool. However, global photos of the protest contributed to President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act two weeks later.
Despite his vital role, Johnson secretly hid his inability to read from fellow activists. He justified this, stating he was “too busy,” and focusing on his reading challenge would distract him from his work. He found ways to navigate documents in meetings.
After King’s assassination in 1968, Johnson moved to Atlanta, continuing his civil rights work while starting a family and a management consulting business.
He relied on colleagues to handle written reports, noting, “I’ve had smart people around me all my life. I kind of lean on them.”
His struggle with reading continued amid failed attempts at adult community classes. Ashamed of his undiagnosed dyslexia, he never told his children.
In December 2024, he saw an NBC Nightly News report on Dysolve AI. Developed in 2017 by clinical linguist Dr. Coral Hoh, this generative AI software creates personalized programs to retrain the brain’s language processing for dyslexic children.
According to Dr. Hoh, the initial step in addressing reading difficulties should focus on language processing, not on the act of reading itself.
Unlike traditional dyslexia treatments, the program utilizes AI to identify each individual’s specific language difficulties and adapt the games and tasks accordingly.
“The computer system’s looking for where the issues are and then relentlessly correcting them,” Hoh explained. “It evaluates person-by-person and has an intervention that is specific for that person.”
Upon seeing the news story, Johnson had an epiphany, thinking, “There’s something out there that could help me.” He and his then-fiancée, Donna (now his wife), successfully found contact information for Hoh, who confirmed she could assist. For several months now, Johnson has been utilizing Dysolve three to four times weekly, in sessions lasting one to two hours, with occasional breaks due to health concerns.
He reflected that “It makes sense,” noting his improved spelling and ability to differentiate sounds within words, although he still needs assistance with independent reading.
Hoh said, “He now grasps what the building blocks are and where his sources of difficulty are. This is a huge step for anyone dealing with language processing issues, the root cause of dyslexia. Now it’s a matter of weekly training to reach the goal — and how fast his brain responds.”
A study from 2022 to 2025 demonstrated the program’s effectiveness with 848 at-risk students in grades 3 through 8. However, Hoh noted that using the program with older adults, such as Johnson, is “uncharted territory” because the limits of the brain’s responsiveness at different ages are unknown, making Johnson a “pioneer.”
