OT: dyslexia

[FlabLoser]

For years my son has had trouble reading. He has been diagnosed with dyslexia.

Recently we came upon some information that suggested some dyslexics have mental trouble with black font on a white background. I was skeptical. Tonight, we saw someone with some knowledge of this flavor of dyslexia.

This person tested my son and found a shade of blue tint that instantly improved his reading by about 500%. We hold a transparent film of a certain shade of blue over a book and he can suddenly read pretty well. The look on his face and change of attitude was shocking. He says the words look clearer and don't move around on the page.

I was astounded. Anybody here know about this stuff?

 

[DerHntr]

No idea about it but that is damn awesome news for you guys. Glad for the entire family but especially your son.

 

[RockstarFromMars]

Very cool. Congratulations man. Dyslexia is a kind of ignored as a problem for a lot of kids. Several are assumed dumb and thrown in the special education system (especially in MS) and passed through school. Don't know how old he is but it's great they caught it and even better that he's found a solution.

 

[FlabLoser]

We also met a 36 year old who was diagnosed with this color tint solution many years ago. He wears light blue tinted glasses (think John Lennon) full time. He says his brain doesn't see blue tint, but he sees the world as it should be. He says without it, focusing on black & white words takes so much concentration there's just not much mental energy left to comprehend what's being read.

(insert joke about rebel blue glasses being the solution to years of frustration and fear)

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

There are dyslexic Atheists who belive there is no dog*

d

 

[57stratdawg]

I'm dyslexic. Went and saw learning specialist in Jackson my Soph year at State, but I seem to remember him saying "dyslexic" is no longer the official diagnosis. There is a font that you can download that has letters larger at the bottom. It works, but I don't use it. Never heard of the blue font.

Anyway, when I got tested my reading comprehension was like middle of the road nationally, but my auditory (sound) learning was in the top 2%. Dr said over time my brain had focused its development on learning through sound because it struggled with reading.

It really doesn't bother me, but I work in corporate finance. Very heavy legal writing is a real struggle because it's so forign. Flab, long story short, your son will be fine.

 

[TeedOff]

Dyslexics untie!!! *

 

[WrapItDog]

Must have some bear DNA in him maybe from his mothers side of the family. Most full blooded dawgs find that the maroon tinted glasses help them see better.

 

[Big Sheep81]

But they read Hebrew very well**

asdf

 

[FlabLoser]

They said it is often hereditary.

When I was young my reading comprehension was so bad they put me in special Ed for a short time. Over time (years) grew out of reading trouble. But still on the ACT, I was perfect in science, almost perfect in math, and piss poor on the English stuff.

I always felt he would just grow out of it like I did. And he might. But I'm stoked there is an immediate answer.

 

[SuspectZero]

Flab,

I have a little information for you. My wife is currently enrolled in getting her masters in dyslexia therapy. The state of Mississippi has recently begun a big push in this area thanks to the Governor who also has dyslexia. They are modeling it after a program that was started in the state of Texas who had tremendous results. As of now William Carry and maybe milsaps are the only 2 schools in the state that offers the program. From what I understand, there is a huge demand for dyslexia therapist and in the next few years, all school districts in the state will be required to have a licenced therapist. As of right now, even though she is still in school, she is allowed to operate as a therapist. She is being bombarded with calls all the time from people she's never met, trying to get their kid help. She is currently a 1st grade teacher, but will take on a few dyslexia students at our home a few days a week to meet her clinic hours that she needs.

Thats about all the info I have. While there isn't much help available now, there soon will be. It will be expensive though.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

I know a little bit

I'm a cognitive psychologist, so I don't actually work with people (never could stand them) but I do basic research that includes some work that has applications here. Dyslexia, like several other similar conditions that affect language (specific language impairment, or SLI, anomias, etc.) is a difficult animal because there is good evidence that two kids could have very similar behavioral patterns, and so both be considered dyslexic, but the underlying problem might be completely different - that is, we're likely dealing with a number of independent conditions that produce similar outcomes. That's great that changing the color had an immediate positive impact - I would guess that it works for only a small percentage of people with the problem. I'm curious if you found it helpful as well. Most dyslexia is thought to be caused by problems with the specialized areas in the left hemisphere that process language - so less a perceptual problem than a processing problem. It sounds like your son's difficulty may be more perceptually based. While there isn't a blood test, isolated genetic marker (at least not broad agreement, probably because its multiple causes) etc., there is good evidence that there is a strong family pattern, and boys are much more likely to be diagnosed (as with every other language difficulty).

Very glad to hear that MS is starting to put some resources towards supporting kids with the condition - the worst thing that happens is that these kids are erroneously diagnosed as having general cognitive deficits, are shunted to the special ed class, and end up bored and pissed off with school while the real problem isn't even recognized or addressed- not a good path for success. The most important thing you can do is work with the teacher and the school to make sure they understand that the issue is one of reading, not motivation, not general cognitive deficit, not lack of attention etc. Teachers who haven't been trained to recognize the symptoms often think the kids just don't give a **** because they aren't following along at the same rate on written assignments. Simple things like making sure he gets instructions for assignments delivered orally either by you or the teacher can make a huge difference. Good luck!

 

[TheBigDA]

You can actually buy a set of filters for this now. It is best to get a specialist to help you find a shade that works best, but if not a child can try different ones to see what works best.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Sounds pretty cool.

However, if your kid had dyslexia and synesthesia this wouldn't work.