The Treatment for Dyslexia Disease - Research Paper Example

?Running Head: DYSLEXIA Dyslexia Institute Dyslexia Dyslexia is a disorder in which a person has difficulty in learning and reading. The humanbrain helps in controlling different functions of the body. The act of reading and speech is also controlled in a specific manner by our brain. The act to see, to interpret it and then to speak about it is a co-related process. Broca’s area is a part of brain which controls our speech. Damage to broca’s area causes difficulty in talking and makes it hard for the person to speak complete words. In our brain there is an area known as Wernicke’s area which is also known as general interpretive area. In Wernicke’s area the somatic, visual and auditory association areas meet each other. The Wernicke’s area then interprets the signals of all the three types of sensations. In damage to Wernicke’s area the person may hear normally and can distinguish the different words but it would be impossible for him to arrange the words into specific thoughts. To read correctly, the brain should interpret the visual signals correctly (Guyton & Hall, 2011 p 752, p 758). To interpret it correctly we have a specific area for the interpretation of the visual signals especially symbols and graphics. The area associated with the interpretation of visual information is known as angular gyrus which is located behind the Wernicke’s area in the posterior parietal lobe. Any harm to this area causes difficulty in reading words because the angular gyrus transmits the signal from visual cortex to the Wernicke’s area. So the damage of angular gyrus blocks the transmission of visual signals from visual cortex and the person becomes unable to read correctly. This condition is known as dyslexia and is also called word blindness. Anatomically the dyslexic brain has ectopic neurons. A neuron transmits signals when it is excited and in a dyslexic brain the neuron is activated in a distinct manner. This distinct manner of activation of ectopic neuron in a dyslexic person causes difficulty in learning and reading (Hall & Guyton 2011 p 718; Snowling 2011 p1-28). Dyslexia is a disorder which has a high degree of transmission from parent to offspring. Genetic studies have shown that numbers of loci are involved in transmitting dyslexia from parents to offspring. Chromosome 1p, chromosome 2p11, chromosome 3, chromosome 6p, a locus on long arm of chromosome 15 are recognized as the transmitter genes for the dyslexia. A person with dyslexia cannot read properly and spells the words incorrectly even if he possesses a normal IQ level (Hall & Guyton 2011 p 718; Snowling 2011 p1-28). A study conducted by Lubs and his colleagues in the year 1988 highlighted the involvement of the chromosome 15 in the development of dyslexia in 30 percent of cases. Dyslexic children face numerous problems as they progress academically. In preschool children the diagnosis of dyslexia is not easy because he or she is not supposed to read and write. But these children show difficulty in speech and difficulty in learning new words. In primary school children a dyslexic patient has difficulty in learning alphabets and letters. A primary school dyslexic child faces the issue of not properly connecting the voices of the alphabets or letters related to that alphabet. He faces problems in rhyming words, mixing up the alphabets and differentiating between letters that make up the same sound for example aminal for animal. Another issue that they face is that of a counting i.e. they face major difficulties in basic mathematical calculations. All these problems mix up together to form further issues for the dyslexic children when they advance academically. The dyslexic children in their latter stages of primary school experience difficulty in reading but they can read to some extent. While reading they skip some words, they lose their pace and start reading again and again. They cannot focus on the page while reading and they hardly remember what they have read. They cannot recognize the space that separates words and they mostly find it difficult to pronounce a new word. While writing they face problems too. They often spell words as they sound and also exclude or add words while writing. Dyslexic people write words that may be similar in appearance but not in meaning, these words are totally different from each other for example fell/fall, run/fun, help/held and many more. Dyslexic people find it difficult to give a written structure to their ideas and thoughts. Sometimes dyslexic patient experience some of the learning disabilities like dyscalculia, dysgraphia and cluttering. Dyscalculia is a particular mathematics learning disability. In dyscalculia the person has confusion in math symbols too (Snowling 2000 p 21; Reid 2007). According to a study conducted by Lishman, he identified and highlighted the fact that dyslexia is truly a disorder which can exist even in people who may otherwise be normal. He identified the fact that these people experience difficulty in reading and it is a condition which not only affects children but also adults (Lishman 2003). The treatment for dyslexia is not based on drugs because there is no way to treat the nervous tissue damage. But the dyslexic child can be treated by remedial education. Cognitive therapy should be used to treat dyslexia. Cognitive therapy is a psychological problem solving therapy and is very much effective in mental disorders like anxiety, depression, dyslexia and much more. A tutor is needed for a dyslexic child to help him out in solving the problems in reading and writing. The tutor will have to find out his problems first and then will help him to solve the problems. The tutor will have to read the lesson and then ask the child to read it. Then the teacher will have to explain him the lesson that as to what is the theme of lesson. This will make it much easier for the dyslexic child to read. It is also useful to make the child write what he read. Alphabet writing system increases the child’s knowledge about the structures and sounds of the alphabets. Then this knowledge helps them to use the alphabets in the right manner so that the child can form a sentence properly. This will help the child to read and write easily. Oral training also helps in increasing the child’s ability to read and write. But the visual and writing training is more useful in improving the ability to read and write in a dyslexic child. In conclusion it can be said that the only process through which these children can be cured is the cognitive therapy. This therapy can help the children to learn and practice in accordance to the problems that they may be facing (Reid 2007; Guyton & Hall 2011 p 718). References Top of Form Hall, J. E., & Guyton, A. C. (2011). Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders/Elsevier. Top of Form Lishman, W. A. (January 01, 2003). Developmental dyslexia. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 74, 12, 1603-5. Top of Form Lubs, H. A., Smith, S., Kimberling, W., Pennington, B., Gross-Glenn, K., & Duara, R. (January 01, 1988). Dyslexia subtypes: genetics, behavior, and brain imaging. Research Publications - Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease, 66, 139-47. Bottom of Form Reid, G. (2007). Dyslexia. London: Continuum. Bottom of Form Top of Form Snowling, M. J. (2000). Dyslexia. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Top of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Bottom of Form Read More