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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):
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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
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He may feel that the letters or words
to be moving or jumping around on the page when he is
reading or writing
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He reads and rereads with little
comprehension
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He
seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't
reveal a problem
2) Writing (motor
skills):
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He has trouble with writing or copying
in class
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He is clumsy, uncoordinated while
writing, handwriting may be illegible
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He
can be ambidextrous and often confuses left/right,
over/under
3) Hearing and Speech:
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The child is
easily distracted by sounds or he may hear things that
have not been said
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He may face
difficulty in speaking out what he is thinking (cannot put
thoughts into words)
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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:
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He has poor
memory for facts, sequences, information that has not been
experienced
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His memory can
be very good for things that have been experienced
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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
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The child
learns best through experience, observation,
demonstrations, experimentation, and visual aids
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He can fare
well in verbal tests but may not be able to do well in
written exams
5) General features:
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The child can
be very talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics,
story-telling, designing, etc
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He may have
high IQ but may not score well academically
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At school he
may be labeled as lazy or careless due to his symptoms
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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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