American Dyslexia Association

Author: Office ADA

  • Giving Gifts That Matter

    Giving Gifts That Matter

    By Linda Davis-Kyle

    Sometime ago when I entered my acupuncturist’s well-lit, but tiny, four-chair waiting room filled with the fragrance of frankincense, a mom and her two children were getting settled. The mom’s lap served as a comfy chair for her daughter who was about two years old. The little pink bow in her daughter’s curly golden hair was about to fall off. The mom raised and tightened the bow. She struggled a bit to hold the daughter and a small electronic game to pacify her son who leaned against her. His right hand clutched tightly to the inside of his mom’s left elbow. His dark blue jeans, red cotton shirt, and red sneakers were new and well cared for, just as both children obviously were.

    The mom and I smiled at each other and said, “Hello.” The youngsters and I simply smiled at each other, as I sat down.

    When I began to proofread a manuscript, the handsome little blue-eyed fellow immediately lost interest in the electronic game and abandoned his mom’s arm. He came near, leaned over between my work and me, and peered at my words with deep interest. I held my manuscript, in its portfolio that kept it sturdy and offered him my pen and the blank back side of several pages so that he could “write.”

    Ecstatic to be offered these tools and loving the attention, he scribbled lots of little waves, peaks, valleys, curves, and circles with joy for quite some time. I turned pages for him as if he were playing at a piano recital. He hugged my pen to his heart each time he finished a page. Sometimes he laughed a little between “sentences.” His mom, baby sister, and I watched as he filled almost four pages.

    When this young “writer” completed his pleasant task, I asked him to tell me about what he had written. He said, “Oh. It’s a story!” Then he proceeded to “read” about his mom, his dad, his little sister, and their dog and even their goldfish. His totally surprised mom looked on in awe and smiled from ear to ear.

    I swiftly gave this precious young “writer-in-the-making” the pages of his story along with my pen when the acupuncturist called me. As I said, “Goodbye,” my sincere hope was that his mom would continue to offer such writing fun to him daily.

    In Getting Teens to Write: Writing for Real, I quote Octavia Estelle Butler who said, “… write every day, no excuses.”

    Dyslexics and non-dyslexics alike often feel joy when they “write” at a tender age. Many writers of many ages feel joy when they write to express themselves. When we as parents, grandparents, step parents, single parents, foster parents, educators, teachers, homeschoolers, writing coaches, and friends give the gift of undivided attention to aspiring writers, we help them to see themselves in a positive light.

    If any struggles arise, if we give encouragement, then we give them a precious gift that can help them to keep on keeping on and never give up their dream to write.

    The following account appears in Helping Dyslexics to Write: Using Mind Maps for Fun.

    In Bloodchild and Other Stories, Octavia Estelle Butler said, “I pecked my stories out two fingered on the Remington portable typewriter” that she had begged her mother to buy for her when she was 10. Filled with ambition and drive, Butler also says that in junior high she asked Mr. Pfaff, her science teacher, to type one of her stories “the way it was supposed to be” for submission to a science fiction magazine. At age 12, she wrote the influential version for her Patternist series of science fiction novels.

    Butler reached an enviable height of success as she continued to write each day, year after year. Think how fortunate she was to have help to keep her dream alive and to see it bloom.

    Perseverance comes more easily when aspiring dyslexic and non-dyslexic writers are given thoughtful attention and useful instruction.

    Just like the seedlings that grow and thrive beautifully when they receive fresh air, gentle sun, clean water, and love from their gardeners, the very young, the ‘tweens, the teens, and those beyond, who long to write, will succeed when given the greatest gifts of all—attention, careful instruction, thoughtful evaluation to help them get on track and stay on task, and genuine admiration from those who care about enhancing and protecting their excellent mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

    Having someone who truly cares and believes in aspiring writers helps them enormously to believe in themselves. And when they do believe in themselves, they can conquer obstacle after obstacle to win their writing goals and even go on to help other writers win, too.

    Sources

    Butler, Octavia Estelle. Bloodchild and Other Stories. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2005, p. 127.

    Davis-Kyle, Linda. Getting Teens to Write: Writing for Real. Austin: WritngNow.com, 2022.

    _______________. Helping Dyslexics to Write: Using Mind Maps for Fun. In progress. Excerpt reprinted here with permission.

    Linda Davis-Kyle, MA in English, has written several hundred general interest and fitness and health articles published in more than a dozen countries in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. WritingNow.com introduces her current ebooks available—Teaching English to Children, Getting Ready to Write, Getting Teens to Write, and Good Food Recipes for Your Kids to Make with Your Help. Her ebooks in progress are Helping Dyslexics to Write, Writing about Your Pets #1, Writing about Your Pets #2, and Writing about Classic Animal Films.

    Giving Gifts That Matter
    https://www.dyslexia.me/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GivingGiftsThatMatter-ByLDK.pdf
  • Get Certified and Help Those with Dyslexia: Enroll in the Dyslexia Trainer Program Today

    Get Certified and Help Those with Dyslexia: Enroll in the Dyslexia Trainer Program Today

    Are you looking to make a difference in the lives of children and adults with dyslexia? Look no further than the Certified Dyslexia Trainer Program on https://www.dyslexiacertificate.com.

    A learning disability called dyslexia impairs a person’s ability to read and write. Peers frequently misunderstand it, which makes learning challenging for people who have trouble with it. The Certified Dyslexia Trainer Program can help with that.

    This program will equip you with the skills necessary to assist dyslexic people in their daily lives beginning in March. Our course material will enhance your didactic and pedagogical abilities, assisting you in becoming a specialist in the subject of dyslexia.

    We have been providing dyslexia education to clients in 64 different nations for the past 25 years. With our assistance, you will develop new training skills and gain knowledge about how such abilities might benefit dyslexic students.

    Don’t pass up the chance to have an effect on dyslexics lives for the better. Simply sign up for our free online newsletter to get started with the Certified Dyslexia Trainer Program.

    The Dyslexia Trainer Certification Program is a flexible, online course designed to teach individuals how to support children and adults with dyslexia. The program is open to anyone, including professionals in the fields of education, psychology, and medicine, as well as those who simply want to make a difference in the lives of others. Upon completion of the course, participants will be qualified to identify dyslexia and support individuals with the learning disorder. The program has been reviewed and accredited by various organizations and is conducted according to strict quality standards. The minimum study time is 10 months, with a maximum of 2 years, and tuition can be paid in monthly installments. Simply sign up for our free online newsletter to get started.

    You can start the course at your own pace and schedule.

    https://www.dyslexiacertificate.com

  • Six facts about dyslexia

    Six facts about dyslexia

    1 in 5 people is affected by dyslexia

    According to the International Federation of Dyslexia and Dyscalculia Associations, 1 in 5 people are affected by dyslexia. This is a learning difference that affects an individual’s ability to read and spell words.

    Dyslexia affects more males than females

    You may have heard that dyslexia affects more males than females. This is true.

    You do not grow out of dyslexia

    Dyslexia is a lifelong language-based learning difference that affects the brain’s ability to process written language.

    It is the most common learning difference

    Dyslexia is a learning difference that affects the way you think, read, and write. It is the most common learning difference, affecting one in five people.

    80% of those in Special Education are dyslexics

    People who are dyslexic often have difficulty processing what they see on the page or hear in their head into words they can understand and say out loud.

    Some of the most brilliant people had dyslexia

    Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison were all dyslexic. They had trouble reading and sometimes writing.

    1 in 5 people is affected by dyslexia

  • When the “Different” Learner Meets Cursive

    by Kate Gladstone, author of READ CURSIVE FAST

    Most folks today don’t write in cursive. Some people never even pick up a pen or pencil. Writing in cursive has become rare — yet reading cursive remains an important life skill, whenever:

    • family members still use cursive, or even send greeting cards that use cursive fonts:
    • teachers use cursive, or assign work that involves reading historical documents in their original form:
    • employers, supervisors, or co-workers use cursive:
    • store signs or logos use cursive:

    Today, more and more children and adults — with and without disabilities — cannot read cursive handwriting, or can only partially and laboriously figure out a word or sentence in cursive, even if the cursive writing is clear and error-free (which is often not the case). These difficulties occur at all educational and socioeconomic levels.

                In the USA, Canada, India, and many other countries, non-readers of cursive include most people 35 and under, as well as a surprising number of older adults who have often managed to hide this problem throughout life.

    Worse yet, today’s millions of “cursive non-readers” (with or without disabilities) aren’t limited to those who were simply never taught cursive.

            Even when conventional cursive training actually does lead to reading (and writing) cursive, those “successful” learners often lose the ability sometime between the year that they are taught cursive (typically Grade 2 or 3) and the year that they leave high school.

    This situation was profiled in 2013 by one of Canada’s largest newspapers. The cursive non-readers whom that article were college freshmen. By now, almost eight years later, they must be in their mid-twenties: they have jobs, or are trying to get jobs, and probably some of them have families. (How will cursive non-readers help their children, if the school or the district or other administration mandates cursive instruction?)

    Forgetting how to decipher cursive (or never learning how to decipher it in the first place)  can happen anyone — but it more severely impacts people with dyslexia, autism, and other neurological differences that affect how we perceive and process the data that our senses provide.

    People with various neurological differences (autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and more)  are often very good at looking for patterns — and are extremely good at seeing patterns in the surrounding environment, without ever even having to look for the patterns! The patterns, especially visual patterns, simply jump out as them — or, I should say, simply jump out at us (because I have several of these “dys-”abilities). Therefore, we use visual patterns to try to make sense of what we are trying to learn — and we learn best when we are encouraged to use visual patterns.

          However, students who encounter cursive are often discouraged from even trying to wonder if there are visual relations between the cursive letters and their printed counterparts. The two systems of writing, appear unrelated to each other:

    Since it looks as if there is no relationship between most cursive letters and their printed counterparts, many learners frustratedly give up on even trying to use their visual/pattern-recognition strengths to “crack the code” of cursive. When the visual/pattern-recognition strengths of a learner’s brain are suddenly made useless,  he or she may feel that his/her brain has stopped working and can no longer be trusted. (Such a learner may be said to have “form constancy issues.”)

           Unfortunately, well-meaning parents and schoolteachers may accidentally push learners even further in that direction, by trying to reassure frustrated learners of cursive that “there is really no relationship between cursive and printing anyway, so don’t even bother trying to see a relationship or a reason or an explanation. Don’t even think that there could be a relationship between one style of letter and another. There is no relationship, nothing to find, is nothing to understand, so just memorize, don’t worry, and you’ll pick it up just fine, I’m sure.”

    However, “just memorizing” (without understanding) is an extremely fragile and worrisome way of trying to learn and remember. What is memorized without comprehension is quickly forgotten, as soon as lessons are over — Especially in modern times, when fewer and fewer people write cursive (or even write by hand at all) in life after school the liabilities of “just memorizing” hold true for most people, to some degree — but they almost always hold true, to a huge degree, for people whose neurology differs significantly from the average.

           When learners are told that “there is no reason, only memorization,” and when they experience no way of fully understanding the material that they must memorize , they lose trust in their own ability to even try to learn and understand: at a basic rote-memory level, and/or at any other level.

            This is especially true when the subject is cursive handwriting , because — for many students learning cursive — the cursive textbook is typically the only textbook that is full of assigned material which they cannot read (although it is in their own language) but must still copy.

    One part of the visual skills/form constancy problem is that the shapes of cursive letters are often inconsistent from word to word, in ways that can make words very hard to recognize.

              Look at these cursive words:

    In both words, the third letter is a cursive s — but the “same” cursive s is very different each time:

    A learner who has memorized the cursive s in past (where it needs to start at the bottom) is likely not to recognize the “same” cursive s in post (where it needs to start at the top):

    For any learner — but especially for one whose neurology is not the “average” that textbook publishers assume — all this can deeply shatter confidence and motivation.

    Does it have to be this way?

    Can we make cursive make sense to all learners — even if they don’t write cursive, or if they don’t write by hand at all?

    What if we showed our learners how cursive happened?

    A new book, READ CURSIVE FAST (National Autism Resources, 2021), takes this approach: offering three easy stages to lasting cognitive comprehension (not just fragile rote memorization) of what makes a cursive letter a G or a Z or an r or an s — and why. Now, learners’ visual strengths, pattern-recognition strengths, and cognitive strengths can work in synchrony instead of being neglected or frustrated,

    Step One: Show how cursive letters happened!

    When readers are allowed and encouraged to learn how cursive letters came about, remembering the cursive shapes makes cognitive/pattern-recognition sense, and does not have to rely solely on rote memory. Here’s an example for the letter G:

    READ CURSIVE FAST uses a pattern-recognition/cognitive approach to “unlock” the visuals of every cursive letter. Some letters need to be cracked in step-by-step detail, while others can be “cracked” more simply:

    When you see the print-style s hiding inside cursive s, you can see why the cursive s looks different after lowercase o versus the way it looks after lowercase a.

    Building pattern recognition and understanding into the learning task makes for faster progress and greater retention, by providing another route to comprehension. Cursive writing is not the only path to cursive reading — for many students, it is not even a reliable path.

    Step Two: Sustained Reading

    Once students recognize cursive letters alone and in words and phrases, it’s time to build automaticity and fluency with longer texts. To accomplish this, READ CURSIVE FAST uses “cursive stories”: passages written in fonts that resemble increasingly difficult styles of handwriting. Here is the opening of one story:

    ___________________________________________

    (The first four sentences of a cursive story from READ CURSIVE FAST.)

    ___________________________________________

    The beginning of each story resembles familiar printed letters, but each sentence adds more and more cursive features, carefully easing readers into understanding increasingly complex forms of cursive.

    Step Three: Reading Historical Documents

    Once students can read present-day cursive with some fluency, they will eventually want or need to read our nation’s historical documents, many of which are written in very elaborate forms of cursive.

           Today, reading historical documents is one of the most frequent reasons for needing to read cursive, but handwriting style variations in past centuries were even more frequent than they are today. This means that most students (particularly those with neurological issues) will benefit from practice with historical cursive samples once they are experienced in reading present-day cursive samples.

    Therefore, READ CURSIVE FAST includes a section specifically on historical documents. Learners reach this point are usually pleased and amazed that they can now read historical material.

    When we know how each cursive letter happened, we know (and we never forget) what makes the letter understandable. Whatever our own handwriting looks like, whatever style we use, or even if we never write by hand at all, we can make sense of every cursive letter we are shown what parts of a cursive letter make that letter make sense.

    When cursive letters make sense, we do not need to write cursive in order to read it.

    When we make sense of the interrelations of different alphabet styles — print and cursive and more — handwriting becomes …

    As the author of READ CURSIVE FAST, I look forward to seeing and hearing your own experiences and thoughts on cursive reading issues.

    The book’s website- https://readcursivefast.com
    Sample pages for free download — http://readcursivefast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RCF_Preview-1.pdf 
    Link on the publisher’s site is here: https://nationalautismresources.com/read-cursive-fast/
    Links to buy READ CURSIVE FAST directly from me: ReadCursiveFast.com/order and https://read-cursive-fast.myshopify.com/ 


  • Finding Solutions to a Serious National Problem

    Finding Solutions to a Serious National Problem

     “Half of the incoming freshmen at our business schools are now being required to take a basic course in writing because they cannot write a presentable letter or report or proposal.” When David McCullough, twice Pulitzer Prize winner and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, learned of this situation, he called it “a serious national problem.” Knowing that dedicated teachers, devoted homeschooler parents, concerned grandparents, and trusted private tutors and mentors around the world advise, coach, demonstrate, and practice their young learners in the art of writing, you shake your head and say, “No. It just can’t be.” 

    Feeling Perplexed by Such an Observation

    McCullough, of course, is not fabricating a wild story. Consequently, after a bit, you acquiesce. After all your hard work to teach your students, though, you not only feel puzzled, but also you feel betrayed. You lament right out loud, “The very thought of such grim results seems impossible.” Your associates, who, like you, also worked diligently to teach their young learners to write well – they had believed – agree. Another member of your teaching team asks, “How in the world is this astonishingly dismal result possible?” After your thoughts settle, your team begins to ask, “Well, then, what measures can we implement to assuage this predicament in the future?”

    Searching for Solutions

    Once you accept McCullough’s words as true, your teaching team concludes that perhaps your young learners are in the half who mastered what each of you had presented. After all, you constantly had taught your young learners to think positively, to visualize their success, and to expect the best. Now, momentarily, you and your colleagues were thinking negatively.

    Teaching the Parts of Speech in a Fun Way

    By beginning to enumerate what you had done to prepare your students to write well, you began to get on track. You had taught lesson after lesson to impart to your students grammar – the parts of speech and their definitions -using not only color-coded words but also colorful memorable characters. You also enumerated and explained the cooperative roles and relationships of the parts of speech. Each member of your teaching team also had relentlessly reviewed the mechanics of the English language—capitalizations, punctuations, contractions, and spelling. Your students were so versed in grammar and mechanics that some of them told you they reviewed your lessons in their dreams at night. Your basic teaching lessons and exercise practices had served your students well. Yes. You now begin to realize that your methods had blessed the memories of your learners.

    Using the Power of Colorful Mind Maps to Bolster Memory

    Because Mind Maps can so beautifully organize information succinctly, they enhance memory with impressive staying power. Their branches relate to each other in such a way that each and every branch helps to build the topic of the particular map. For example, the young learners can name a mind map as “The Parts of Speech.” Then, they can handwrite the parts of speech—verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections—onto its separate branches. Using attractive colors, drawing, and handwriting in cursive or hand printing join forces to make learning the Parts of Speech not only fun but also memorable.

    Writing Now
    Note: The Mind Map, as a larger printable .pdf, is available at WritingNow.com gratis.

    Connecting New Information with What They Know Already

    When students latch onto information that enlightens them, new related information fastens, in a sense, with the data already present. The concepts then, in a way, begin forming a net to grab, hold, and store more input. Each new learning experience that can hook with the items already present continue the wonderful arrangement. The more relevant and related information students learn, the more they can learn, digest, and absorb. David Gamon, PhD, and Allen D. Bragdon, authors of Learn Faster & Remember More put the thought more eloquently, “How well you remember depends on how much you already know.” Therefore, the incremental lessons you had taught fostered strong memories. Plus, connecting the three powerful forces—memorable mind maps, drawing, and cursive handwriting—creates a mighty memory treasure.

    Enhancing Memory with Cursive Handwriting

    Indeed, you had empowered the memories of your young learners a fine way that some in society today seem to have forgotten. They had loved drawing colorful mind maps and then labeling the parts of speech in cursive. Your students had loved handwriting their assignments. The main trouble your students had was deciding which Parts of Speech Mind Map they liked more. Some liked a Words and Images Mind Map that defined the parts of speech. Others liked a Roles and Relationships Mind Map that showed how all the parts worked together. Others favored a Composing Sentences Mind Map or a Composing Paragraphs Mind Map to steer them to success with their forthcoming writing assignments. More advanced students resonated with the Writing Tips Mind Map. In all cases, they had loved that the vivid colorful characters and color-coded words that made learning not only endearing but also enduring. WritingNow.com provides printable versions of the noted Mind Maps and additional ones from its ebooks to download and enjoy as a gratis bonus.

    You did not throw aside handwriting as outdated or outmoded. You did not see handwriting as some relic from the past. Instead, you honored its use for sustaining memory. Moreover, helping your young learners to enjoy practicing their cursive handwriting yielded lasting profits for them.

    Speaking for the Practice of Cursive Handwriting

    Neuroscientist Claudia Aguirre, PhD, equates the action of handwriting with “meditation” because she says it perpetuates “mindfulness.” Angelika Troller-Janesch, Vice President of the Carinthian Dyslexia Association in Austria explains that taking notes by hand supports memory and helps students preserve what they learn. Livia Pailer-Duller, PhD, CEO of the Austrian Dyslexia Association, a colleague of Troller-Janesch, concurs and shares that handwriting fosters fine motor skills. Plus, she says handwriting boosts the entire learning process. Both teachers emphasize the importance of not allowing digital experiences with computers, tablets, and cellphones to bring about the extinction of the art of cursive handwriting.

    Teaming Handwriting with Computer Generating Your Compositions

    While computer-generated assignments certainly speed the reading for hardworking teachers, it can be a useful practice if young learners will compose their first drafts by hand. Then they can type their work using a device of their choice. Doing both processes likely team up to expand their memory of the material. Multiple viewing gives time to ponder what they first composed. Plus, as the students continue in this way, errors very well may pop up and beg for correction.

    Consequently, students learn in an instinctive way that they cannot simply sit down and write or type their essays in half an hour and think they have finished. They must learn to revise. This polishing practice attunes them quickly to the idea that it takes work to make their essays smoother and smoother.  Revising also enhances preserving information and critical thinking.

    Learning to Plan for Their Next Day

    In your listing of the many aspects, concepts, and projects you had used to help secure their successful writing, you and your teaching team had encouraged your young learners to let each sunset, remind them to pause and reflect on their day. After their appraisal of the passing day, you suggested that they plan for their forthcoming day to help bring big dividends. If upon review some days their efforts went awry, you, doubtless, helped them learn to release the negativity. You pointed out that counting the aspects of their day that did go well would be of great use. It was your hope that helping them to make it a habit to write out their plans for their coming day would become a lifetime ally. You also hoped that if they would allow the sunset to be their daily reliable reminder “to be grateful for the passing day and to prepare gratefully for an even better day tomorrow” doing so could foster their good health emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Finally, you hoped that creating mind maps, engaging in fun drawing, and using cursive handwriting, along with so many other worthy strategies that you taught with care would weave together to help your young learners love their writing and make it their best friend for life.

    About the Author

    Linda Davis-Kyle is a fitness, health, education, and general interest writer whose articles have appeared in professional journals such as Modern Drama in Canada, Notes & Queries in the UK, Caritas in Ireland, and Studies in English Literature in Japan and in periodicals such as WellBeing in Australia, The Star in Bangladesh, and Healthy Options in New Zealand. She is the author of the e-book Getting Ready to Write: Reviewing English Grammar.

    Sources

    Aguirre, Claudia. “Does writing by hand sharpen your creativity?”

    https://www.headspace.com/blog/2015/09/23/can-handwriting-sharpen-your-mind

    Davis-Kyle, Linda. GettingReadytoWrite:Reviewing EnglishGrammar. Amazon Kindle E-Book.

    McCullough, David. “Dialogue with David McCullough (on John Adams).” With Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. Library of Congress. Special Event, February 12, 2014. youtube.com, April 3, 2014. 59:50-1:00:13 and !:00:18-1:00:32.

    Accessed 18 April 2020

    Pailer-Duller, Livia. Personal communication. 30 January 2021. Troller-Janesch, Angelika. Personal communication. 30 January 2021.

  • Opera Singer Keith Harris Discusses Life with Dyslexia in Online Event on March 4 2021

    Putney, VT— The Landmark College Center for Neurodiversity will host an online discussion with opera singer Keith Harris on Thursday, March 4 2021 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.  

    Harris’s presentation, entitled “The Gift of Dyslexia,” combines music with a message of inspiration and hope that draws from his 2019 book, The Odds Against: Finding the Advantage In Your Disadvantage. He will discuss his life with dyslexia and how he went from almost being placed in a reading group for kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities to performing on some of the most renowned stages in the world.  

    This event is free and open to the public. Visit www.landmark.edu/keith-harris the evening of the event to access the online session. A Chrome browser is recommended for the best experience.  

    Praised for the distinctive warmth of his voice, clear diction, and exceptional musicianship, American baritone Keith Harris captivates audiences in his performances on both operatic and concert stages, including the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall. His numerous honors and awards include first prize in the Seattle Region Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; “Young Artist of the Year” with Opera Longview Vocal Competition in Texas; the Ellen Faull Gordon Northwest Vocal Competition; and the Ladies Musical Club Competition in Seattle. He holds a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Lawrence University in Wisconsin.  

    Additional biographical information about Keith Harris and a link to purchase his book are available at www.KeithHarrisOpera.com.  

    For additional information about this event, contact Solvegi Shmulsky at [email protected].  

  • The Easy Reading Card – Easier Reading with System!

    The Easy Reading Card – Easier Reading with System!

    The Easy Reading Card - Easier reading with System!
    The Easy Reading Card – Easier Reading with System!

    Reading is the key to success. Anyone who reads well and who understands what has been read automatically learns the rules of correct spelling.

    Precise, accurate reading is a prerequisite for writing and learning. The specific design for children of the Easy Reading Card makes reading easy and fun.

    Scientific studies have shown that a majority of individuals that exhibit reading problems are affected by subjective visual perception. When reading, the visual channels have to work precisely timed together so that there is no overlap of visual information.

    Science has proven the positive effects of the influences of colors while reading. Especially the color blue leads to a phasic activity of the channels, which leads to an increase in reading achievement, reading comprehension and reading speed. The color thus supports the sub-processes of the visual sensors.

    Teachers from around the world are already using the Easy Reading Card when working with children.

    Watch the Easy Reading Card in action:

     

    More info: www.easy-reading-card.com

    Order here: www.dyslexics.com 

  • Lexilight: Improving the Daily Life of Dyslexic People

    Lexilight, the reading aid lamp designed for dyslexic people.

    Reading becomes easier, faster, and less tiring! A real pleasure.

    Our technology, which combines both pulsed and modulated light, makes it possible to erase the mirror effect that a dyslexic person sees. From now on, you will be able to read faster, longer and without eye strain.

    After 20 years of research, in 2017, Guy Ropars and Albert Le Floch’ of University of Rennes published their research which pointed towards the left-right asymmetry of the Maxwell spot being responsible for Dyslexia (1). Jean-Baptiste Fontes, Lexilife founder, and CEO along with Thomas Zuber our Chief Science Officer saw this as the perfect opportunity to develop a concrete solution with a practical application and Lexilight was born. Over the past couple of years, the technology has advanced, from our v1.0 to the current v2.0 which you might have seen on our brochures. While the team has grown in France, from Paris, Rennes, factory in Saint-Malo and more recently in London UK. Our customer experiences all over Europe, with more recent testimonials at The Festival of Education back in June 2019 (2), have shown that over 90% show a clear improvement when using the lamp. While you will be able to find numerous other testimonials on our YouTube channel. We see 2020 as a big year where we will expand and promote our product widely within the market. This is why, along with our upcoming trip to CES Las Vegas in January, we have been appearing on numerous news publications back in France, with France 24 being the most recent over the past weekend (3).

    Read more here: https://lexilife.com/en/accueil/22-lexilight.html

     

  • Feeling Smarter and Smarter: Discovering the Inner-Ear Origins and Treatment for Dyslexia/LD, ADD/ADHD, and Phobias/Anxiety by Harold N. Levinson, MD

    Feeling Smarter and Smarter: Discovering the Inner-Ear Origins and Treatment for Dyslexia/LD, ADD/ADHD, and Phobias/Anxiety by Harold N. Levinson, MD
    Feeling Smarter and Smarter: Discovering the Inner-Ear Origins and Treatment for Dyslexia/LD, ADD/ADHD, and Phobias/Anxiety by Harold N. Levinson, MD

    In this groundbreaking book written for both lay and professional readers, Dr. Harold Levinson, a renowned psychiatrist and clinical researcher, provides his long-awaited follow-up work about truly understanding and successfully treating children and adults with many and diverse dyslexia-related disorders such as those found on the cover.

    This fascinating, life-changing title is primarily about helping children who suffer from varied combinations and severities of previously unexplained (“inner-ear/cerebellar-determined”) symptoms resulting in difficulties with:

    • reading, writing, spelling, math, memory, speech, sense of direction and time
    • grammar, concentration/activity-level, balance and coordination
    • headaches, nausea, dizziness, ringing ears, and motion-sickness
    • frustration levels and feeling dumb, ugly, klutzy, phobic, and depressed
    • impulsivity, cutting class, dropping out of school, and substance abuse
    • bullying and being bullied as well as anger and social interactions
    • later becoming emotionally traumatized and scarred dysfunctional adults

    Feeling Smarter and Smarter is thus also about and for the millions of frustrated and failing adults who are often overwhelmed by similar and even more complicated symptoms—as well as for their dedicated healers. Having laid the initial foundations for his many current insights in an earlier bestseller, Smart But Feeling Dumb, Dr. Levinson now presents a compelling range of enlightening new cases and data as well as a large number of highly original discoveries—such as his challenging illumination that: “All the above dyslexia-related manifestations are primarily ‘inner-ear’ or cerebellar-vestibular—not cerebrally or thinking-brain— determined and so do not impair IQ and have a favorable outcome.”

    And an “ingeniously clear” and explanatory theory of symptom formation, including the triggering of phobias and anxiety, has been formulated by Dr. Levinson using a simple analogy: “I can rapidly but transiently induce the entire dyslexia syndrome in perfectly normal individuals by spinning them around until their brain signals become dizzy or scrambled. And then mandating they perform varied reading, writing, conentration-demanding…tasks.”  In other words, dyslexia is recognized to be a complex multi-symptomatic syndrome encompassing all of the above mentioned symptoms—and many more. Clearly, it’s not just a pure reading disorder as now also recognized by the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA’s) diagnostic manual, DSM-V.

    This syndrome results when diverse normal thinking brain and related processors fail to descramble the “dizzy” or distorted signals received from a fine-tuning signal impairment within the inner-ear and its supercomputer—the cerebellum, man’s lower “little brain.”[1]

    Most important, all the dyslexia/inner-ear based impairments and their symptoms were discovered by Dr. Levinson to respond rapidly and often dramatically when treated with simple and safe inner-ear enhancing medications and nutrients—thus enabling bright but dumb-feeling children and adults to feel smarter and smarter. In addition, by clarifying and more effectively utilizing a diverse range of educational and non-medical therapies which enhance inner-ear and/or cerebral compensation, all dyslexics can be best helped.

    Using the above mentioned spinning analogy in order to better explain improvements, Levinson states: “The dyslexia-like or inner-ear/cerebellar syndrome triggered by spinning normal individuals till dizzy signals arise can be minimized or prevented by pretreatment and/or treatment immediately following symptom formation, using anti-vertigo or inner-ear-enhancing meds and non-med therapies.”

             Additionally, Dr. Levinson discovered and similarly treated the relatively “minor” inner-ear/cerebellar dysfunction found associated with ASD or autism as well as traumatic brain injury and other major disorders. This enabled overall improvements, albeit the primary impairments persisted.

    In summary, this book’s content is highly unique. Its many patient-derived insights are fully capable of explaining and successfully treating all the known dyslexic symptoms and their determining mechanisms as well as clarifying all data and theories characterizing the dyslexia syndrome—including the frequently overlapping attention deficits and phobias. Significantly, most all of Dr Levinson’s highly original inner-ear/cerebellar concepts—considered “decades ahead of their time”— have been independently validated via hundreds of referenced neuroimaging and other studies.

     

    To order this “life-improving” book from Amazon or its publisher, Springer, log onto Dr. Levinson’s website: dyslexiaonline.com

     

    1 This theory was considered “ingenious” because it replaced and resolved several long held mistaken concepts—previously leading to scientific dead ends and paradoxes. For example, it was mistakenly believed:1-that dyslexia was a pure reading disorder of primary cerebral origin, despite its typical “symptomatic impurity” and the absence of cerebral neurological signs as well as the presence of only inner-ear/cerebellar signs, and 2-that all the many non-reading symptoms found among dyslexics were considered “co-morbid”—meaning they were/are believed due to separate non-dyslexic cerebral-related processing impairments—rather than due to a common inner-ear/cerebellar origin akin to the way the diabetic syndrome is caused by a common underlying insulin deficiency. So the illuminated paradoxes to be resolved were: 1-How could dyslexics have normal and even genius IQ’s and improve if they had so many separate and irreparable cerebral processing impairments? They couldn’t! Indeed, their IQ’s would approach zero,  2-How could dyslexia be due to a primary and irreversible cerebral impairment akin to Alexia in the presence of only inner-ear/cerebellar neurological signs and mechanism? It can’t! , 3-How could spinning, which destabilizes only the inner-ear/cerebellar signals, create all the dyslexia-related symptoms and how might inner-ear-enhancing meds “cure” them? This would be impossible if the dyslexia syndrome was of a primary cerebral origin affecting multiple sites of primary brain functioning.