shibshib

First some back-story...

So I'm dyslexic and dysgraphic (as many of you know). In a nutshell, what this means, is the part of the human brain that deals with character-recognition is not quite the same in my (or other dyslexics) brains.

Most of you have probably heard of the old "reading backwards" cliche when it comes to dyslexia. This is partially true.

The dyslexic brain is heavily dependent on imagery... so much so that most dyslexics have very vivid imaginations and the ability to "see" with a "third eye" (in reference to changing perspectives of an object in their mind).

So when a dyslexic reads the word "Dog", their brain interprets it as an image of a dog. Reading a book is usually like compiling a scene from a movie.

The problem with "flipping" words and letters comes when a dyslexic mind is confronted with an imageless-word (such as "and", "the", "to", or even words that the person may not know yet like quantum physics). When the brain tries to associate a meaning with these unknown variables, it begins to "flip" letters around in a desperate attempt to make sense of what is being seen.


Ok, so with that said...

I do alot of work with special-needs children (mostly autism), and I also donate a hefty amount of my time (and speaking ability) to my college in hopes of changing the way things are to help more learning disabled students.

I gave one of my speeches recently at a conference, and at the end I get confronted by a cute little asian girl. She runs up to me to catch me before I leave and goes, "I really enjoyed your speech!"

I say, "Why thank you!"

She responds, "Yes, it meant alot to me. I used to be dyslexic!"

There was a pause... I was trying to figure out if I had heard her right.

"Used to be?" I asked.

"Yea, used to be. My parents had me fixed." she responded

Completely intrigued and confused I had her go on...

Apparently (and it all checks out to be true) the part of the brain that is affected by dyslexia finishes its maturation around age 5. This means if you are the parent of a child with dyslexia, and you catch it prior to age 5, you can pay special teachers to "fix" your child.

It involves having the children create words with clay, which gives their mind something physical to associate with the various letters.

The result is that the brain adapts prior to maturing that specialized part of the brain, and the child grows up without any of the negatives of dyslexia, while retaining the positives.



I have never in my life wanted to be able to go back in time so bad as I do right now.

To think that a few sessions with a doctor as a child would have prevented the hell I endured through school is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

The fact that no matter how much I want to change it, its done and over. I can try to do excersizes to reduce the affects of dyslexia, but I can never "fix" it.

powhitetrashomie

I also suffer dyslexia and this may be helpful with one of my grandchildren. How is dyslexia diagnosed in someone so young? I diagnosed myself when I saw a story about it on 60 minutes years ago. Until then I'd never heard of it. But when I saw that story, it gave my symptoms a name.

shibshib

You may be in luck... dyslexia doesn't travel down the family tree like most genetic traits... rather, it jumps across branches.

For example, it is more likely that you have a cousin with Dyslexia than a sibling or child.

This pattern holds true in my own family, as my cousin is heavily dyslexic.

As for how to tell if your grandchildren have it, I'm not sure. You should have them checked out.

powhitetrashomie

Oh, I did think it was genetic because my father has it too, even worse than my case.

shibshib

Hm. I'm not saying it's impossible to happen, I'm just going off of what I have read (lol) about it... and one of the unique things about dyslexia is you have more of a chance "getting it" if your cousin has it than if your sibling/parent has it.

But maybe "more of a chance" is the qualifying bit of text =P