Dyslexia

by Dr. Rajesh Shah

Introduction: Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities and about 4% of people over the world suffer from it. These patients have difficulty in processing language, especially in tasks involving reading and writing. Dyslexia is more common in males as compared to females and it can continue into adulthood also.

Symptoms: Symptoms of dyslexia may vary from mild to very severe and can be broadly grouped into the following categories:

1) Reading (and spelling):

• The child is often confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences or verbal explanations

• His reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions (‘b’ instead of ‘d’, ‘p’ instead of ‘q’), omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words
   

• He may feel that the letters or words to be moving or jumping around on the page when he is reading or writing
   

• He reads and rereads with little comprehension
   

• He seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem

2) Writing (motor skills): 

• He has trouble with writing or copying in class
   

• He is clumsy, uncoordinated while writing, handwriting may be illegible 
   

• He can be ambidextrous and often confuses left/right, over/under

3) Hearing and Speech:

• The child is easily distracted by sounds or he may hear things that have not been said
   

• He may face difficulty in speaking out what he is thinking (cannot put thoughts into words)
   

• He may mispronounce words (e.g. ‘God’ instead of ‘Dog’), transpose words while speaking, leave sentences incomplete or take long halts during his speech

4) Memory: 

• He has poor memory for facts, sequences, information that has not been experienced
   

• His memory can be very good for things that have been experienced
   

• In general the child can appear to be very bright and intelligent but when it comes to reading, writing, spellings, etc he can be very bad at these
   

• The child learns best through experience, observation, demonstrations, experimentation, and visual aids
   

• He can fare well in verbal tests but may not be able to do well in written exams

5) General features:

• The child can be very talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, designing, etc
   

• He may have high IQ but may not score well academically
   

• At school he may be labeled as lazy or careless due to his symptoms
   

• The child may develop low self-esteem due to his inability to cope up with the educational system

Causes of Dyslexia: Dyslexia is an inherited condition which appears to affect more boys than girls and the genetic component has been found to play an important role in the development of this condition. In dyslexic patients, structural differences in the way the brain is wired up during development stage have been found. There has been found a deficit in a special pathway between the eye and the brain- the “magnocellular pathway”- in dyslexic individuals. Many people with dyslexia have also found to be deficient in omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids.

Homeopathic treatment: Dyslexia a constitutional disorder, as it is an outcome of a constitutional problem (genetic factors). Homoeopathy is definitely recommended for the management of dyslexia. Special modified teaching methods and educational environment, special tutoring, summer school, speech therapy, or placement in special classes helps the dyslexics to cope up better. Homeopathic treatment can definitely play a complementary role in the treatment of Dyslexic disorder and can help these patients to cope up with their problems in a better way.

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