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Annan Boodram |
New York, July, 2002: It isn't as well known as it should be for something that affects between 5 and 10 percent of the population, but dylexia can be a serious learning disability.
'Dys' means 'difficulty' and 'lexia 'means 'words'. Dyslexia is a disorder that affects millions of people all over the world.
Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read. These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having normal intelligence.
A Dyslexic learns at his/her own level and pace, and typically excels in one or more other area.
Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are difficulty with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds) and/or rapid visual-verbal responding.
Some of their experiences include difficulties with concentration, perception, memory, verbal skills, abstract reasoning, hand-eye coordination, social adjustment (low self-esteem is a commonly observed behavioral characteristic), poor grades, and underachievement.
Often, people with Dyslexia are considered to be lazy, rebellious, class clowns, unmotivated, misfits, or of low intelligence, especially by persons who are not offay with the disorder. According to psychologist Latchman Narain Caribbeans would be tempted to wrongly label dsylexics because of lack of appropriate knowledge.
Narain is a Canadian based Guyanese therapist and educator.
These misconceptions, without understanding dyslexia's effect on the person's life, lead to rejection, isolation, feelings of inferiority, discouragement, and low self-esteem.
While researchers are proving that dyslexia does in fact have a biological basis, there does seem to be some basis for it even being hereditary, according to Guinevere Eden, co-director of the Center for the Study of Learning at Georgetown University. "It turns out that dyslexia does run in families. We know now that there are certain chromosomes that contribute to dyslexia and it's not uncommon when we see a child with dyslexia that once we speak to the parents about it, that the parent also remembers having similar problems when they were a child."
For those with dyslexia, the prognosis is mixed. The disability affects such a wide range of people, producing different symptoms and varying degrees of severity, that predictions are hard to make. The prognosis is generally good, however, for individuals whose dyslexia is identified early, who have supportive family and friends and a strong self-image, and who are involved in a proper remediation program. But researchers agree that early detection is a key to a good prognosis. And this is where Eden comes in.
Eden and her husband Thomas Zeffiro, co-director of the center, are searching for ways to detect the early onset of dyslexia so that those at risk can receive learning intervention before they fall behind. According to Zeffiro, "Reading is a very complex skill, and like any complex skill it can break down for a number of reasons. Part of our work is to find out just what the components of reading skills are and which brain mechanisms support which of those components."
To separate those components, the researchers use functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging or fMRI and a video screen. "This is a test in which the child has to look at a computer screen and determine the direction of motion of some dots that are moving on that screen-either to the left or to the right. It's a bit counterintuitive, but a simple test like that actually seems to be a very good marker for the presence of reading disability or for the chance that reading disability may develop later in life," says Zeffiro. While the child is viewing the video screen, the MRI is viewing their brain activity, and provides visible differences in the function of the brains of dyslexics, as compared to those without the disability. Using this data could provide the basis for a test that would find dyslexics before sagging grades do.
While researchers such as Eden and her husband focus on new ways of dealing with dyslexia, the main focus of treatment remains the need to deal with the specific learning problems of affected individuals. The usual course is to modify teaching methods and the educational environment to meet the specific needs of the individual with dyslexia.
But it is also critical that parents, other family members and those close to dyslexia affected individuals recognize and understand the problem so that they do not regard or treat the child as stupid or dumb, both of which responses have been traditional among Caribbeans, according to Narain.