Term Paper on "Dyslexia Although Not as Common nor Easily"

Term Paper 6 pages (1845 words) Sources: 7 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

DYSLEXIA

Although not as common nor easily diagnosed in the past, many people in today's modern world suffer from a condition known as dyslexia which is an impairment of the ability to read as a result of a variety of pathologic conditions, some of which are associated with the central nervous system. For those who suffer from this medical condition, letters and words in text are often reversed which affects the ability to distinguish letter sequences in written words and to determine left from right. Not long ago, some reading experts doubted that dyslexia was a pathologic disorder and believed that the condition represented a combination of reading problems, each of which should be isolated by specific types of tests. However, recent research has shown that dyslexia is caused by specific abnormalities in the human brain, yet no one presently can agree to exactly why this disorder occurs.

According to Martin Turner, there are numerous theories regarding the underlying causes of dyslexia. As Turner puts it, " it is unlikely that a single factor is responsible; rather, it seems that a number of factors act together, known as multifactorial" (89). For example, there are genetic factors linked to specific learning difficulties; environmental factors; brain damage, malformation, dysfunction and maturation; cerebral dominance failure, meaning that one side of the brain becomes dominant over the other, and information processing deficits. Obviously, dyslexia is not a disorder caused by any one factor; indeed, the disorder is clearly linked to perhaps two or more of the above-mentioned factors.

As to the course of dyslexia, specific learning difficulties are commonly diagnosed during childhood, either when a child is attending pre-school, kindergarten or middle school. However, the symptoms/characteristics of the disorder usually do not become evident until "more demanding academic work is required, normally from the age of eight upwards" (Vellutino, 86). Recent research has made some claims that children who exhibit signs of dyslexia can be identified as early as pre-school; other research claims that dyslexia symptoms can be detected in newborns via a specially-developed test, yet this has not to date been truly verified.

Children of middle-school years obviously vary greatly in their abilities and talents which indicates that tests which look for signs of dyslexia in those between eight and twelve years of age are rather poor predictors of later abilities and/or learning difficulties. In the case of adults, those with specific learning difficulties related to dyslexia, once they have been diagnosed by a specialist in the field, can continue to improve upon their reading skills well into their senior years and even beyond.

The epidemiology of dyslexia is quite broad and includes a number of very important statistics and related data. The number of children (and adults) who have dyslexia is unknown and to determine the exact number would require a worldwide survey. However, there have been surveys conducted in a number of countries to detect the presence of dyslexia in the general population. With the assistance of the National Dyslexia Statistics, it has been estimated that at least 15% of American adults are unable to read at the eighth-grade level, perhaps due to some form of dyslexia, and that 10% of American children have some form of specific learning difficulty related to dyslexia. The most common areas of learning affected by the disorder include reading and writing, language skills, attention and motor coordination, all of which occur in approximately equal proportions throughout the populations tested for the disorder.

In addition, it has been revealed that some 15% of American students (K-12) have some form of dyslexia. As pointed out by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2002, "more than $2 billion dollars is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they have reading problems" related to dyslexia. Furthermore, more than 27% of children with learning disabilities drop out of high school and approximately 50% of America's unemployed youth aged 16 to 21 are functionally illiterate ("National Dyslexia Statistics," Internet).

Certainly, mild forms of dyslexia are much more common than severe forms, a fact which is supported by recent research showing that only about 2% of children with specific reading difficulties have a severe form of the disorder. As to sex and gender, males are three times more likely to be affected with dyslexia which may be due to the presence of a specific gene located on the X chromosome. Socially, dyslexia has been found to affect children and adults across a very wide spectrum within virtually all socio-economic classes and societies, meaning that the disorder does not appear more frequently in lower/middle class groups than in upper-class groups.

However, a number of studies conducted within the last ten-year or so have indicated that dyslexia is less common in certain countries, particularly in Europe. This may be due to differences in genetics or in the educational systems. In Japan, dyslexia is rather rare which may be related to "the nature of the Japanese writing system which does not require the same degree of phonological skills as English, German or French" (Osmond, 156).

Not surprisingly, a good number of people with dyslexia experience various problems related to the psychological nature of the disorder. First of all, some individuals exhibit aggressive behavior in the form of exerting power over others or engaging in violent activities, either at home or in a school environment. This aggression may be linked to feelings of inadequacy or low esteem, due to being excluded from certain groups because of dyslexia. Also, some individuals may experience symptoms of withdrawal, due to "finding it difficult to respond to their disability in a positive manner." For example, children with dyslexia "may intentionally avoid any and all contact with persons outside of their immediate families, such as teachers, school principals and other educational staff members." On occasion, children (and even adults) may experience periods of deep depression, due to their inability to "come to terms with that fact that they are different than their immediate peers" (Doyle, 145). The symptoms may include feelings of sadness, loneliness and isolation, sleep disturbances and complaints of being bored.

Unlike other learning disabilities, there is currently no cure for dyslexia, at least not in the context of a cure such as one would find with non-related disorders. But like many other disorders, there are those who espouse certain cures that have not been shown to be effective for most individuals with dyslexia. A number of these "treatments" have no basis in fact and in some cases may cause more harm than good, especially related to the physical and psychological well-being of the individual. And like all other disorders, those affected by dyslexia should consult a trained specialist with a record of achieving positive results.

In recent years, a number of independent trials and studies regarding controversial treatments for dyslexia have been carried out with some having the support of the professional medical community and scientific journals. Also, the Food and Drug Administration which controls and mandates which medicines can be touted as cures for any specific disease or disorder has not as of yet made any statements about cures for dyslexia, based on scientific data and in-depth clinical studies. As of this date, there are at least eight known treatments for dyslexia, some with major backing from the scientific community and others with no backing at all. For our purposes, we will only explore three or four of the most controversial "treatments."

The first of these so-called "treatments" for dyslexia is known as Sensory Integrative Therapy which is "based on the work of Dr. a. Jena Ayers, an occupational therapist, who believed that learning difficulties are related to the processing of incoming stimuli in the human brain." Ayers was also convinced that "the development of higher intellectual processes was dependent on primitive parts of the brain developing first" (Csepe, 167). Today, this "treatment" has been severely downplayed and is not considered as a viable means of treatment for dyslexia.

The second "treatment" is known as the Doman-Delacato Method which is based on the assumption that there exists a link between the primitive parts of the human brain and perceptual training in learning. This method was first devised by physiotherapist Glenn Doman and Carl Delacato of the Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential in the 1980's. Like Ayer's "treatment," this method has received some serious doubts by dyslexia professionals.

The third "treatment" is Visual Training, based on the belief that "many forms of specific learning difficulties, especially related to reading, are due to visual impairment." In this method, the individual with dyslexia is subjected to long and complex eye examinations and are prescribed specific eye exercises aimed to improve how the eyes operate when reading. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics has stated that "there is no evidence that such treatments have any beneficial effect on the individual and that it may cause unnecessary delays in seeking out more appropriate treatment methods" (Singleton, 214).

Lastly, there is Laterality Training, first proposed… READ MORE

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