New Treatments for Dyslexia

There certain disorders that cannot be easily detected. Especially in children it is difficult to make out what their problems are not able to express themselves properly. Because of this many problems are misunderstood. For many years numerous pediatric disorders have been misunderstood or not even viewed as a problem at all.

This was one of the biggest obstacles in the past, but thankfully, with the passage of time such disorders have come to be recognized and treated. Dyslexia is one such pediatric learning disability that can occur in early ages. However, it is not detected till the child goes to school and faces problems while learning.

Dyslexia

One of the most common pediatric disorders that are overlooked is Dyslexia. This disorder impairs one’s ability to read. However, it has often been misunderstood by teachers and parents. When children cannot read properly, people automatically assume them to be mentally or physically handicapped or something to that effect.

However, it has been discovered that many brilliant children were overlooked in the past; they simply had conditions like dyslexia which were not diagnosed.

However, being discovered with dyslexia does not mean that there is no way to treat this condition. It can be considered as a common problem with excellent treatment methods. There are various ways by which children can be helped to read and learn like other normal individuals.

Teaching Method

Dyslexia is a condition in which a child mixes up the alphabets in words. The words interchange their places, and as a result the child reads it wrong. For example, a child might read the word ‘no’ as ‘on’. One solution to this problem was based on doing away with whole language or whole word teaching methods.

This led to replacement of old teaching methods by phonic method that splits the words up. i.e. dog would be read as d-o-g.

Now, the students are taught to focus on each alphabet rather than a whole word, and ion this way they learn the word in parts and do not forget the sequence when reading or writing. This method has shown positive results, especially when it comes to writing.

Vision Correction

In addition to teaching, another new treatment for dyslexia that is helping children, is correction of vision. This is done through using cylindrical lenses. This has been successful as well and many children were able to read better after using cylindrical lenses.

Current research holds that the problem of dyslexia is directly linked to the cerebellum. The size of the cells in this region, are related to vision that affects functions like reading and writing.

Use of Visual Aids

Visual aid has also helped children suffering from dyslexia helping them improve their reading and writing abilities. This method is known to be quite effective, as children are provided with alternative methods of learning.

Exercise

Exercise is the latest method that has proved to be an excellent treatment for dyslexia. It may sound odd, but research has asserted the importance of exercise and it is believed to affect the cerebellum positively.

The reason for being that cells in this region, responsible for vision can be stimulated which begin operating properly. It is, however, said that this new treatment is not totally proven and research is still underway.

In addition to the above methods employed for treating dyslexia, it must be asserted that there is no single method that has to be used. This is because each method has its own level of success. It should be remembered that research into this learning disorder still continues and there will probably be more methods of working with dyslexics in the future as well.