DENGUE
The deterioration in the quality of air and water results in the occurrences of various forms of diseases in different parts of the country. For example, parts of southern India experience widespread cases of chicken guano, U.P. and Bihar face problems of Encephalitis and Meningitis. Delhi and the surrounding states observe increase in Dengue cases after rainy season and almost in all states Jaundice, Typhoid, Viral fever and gasteroentitis cases are on the rise.
Efforts are always made by the Central and State agencies to provide necessary medical assistance and reduce the causalities. However, it is also important that each one of us should owe the responsibility to provide the desired help as and when required. One such way could be that of making ourselves available to donate blood so that the lives of many are saved. The Jamia Dengue Helpline is primarily aimed at creating a feeling of universal brotherhood and to motivate people across various sections of the society as to how they could involve themselves in this great mission.
The present initiative will be directed towards mobilizing people for blood donation to the needy ones, including dengue patients, and to make available information pertaining to the potential donors so that needy persons may contact them as and when required.
DENGUE FEVER
What is Dengue Fever?
• Dengue [DEN-ghee] is a flu-like viral disease spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is a severe, often fatal, complication of dengue.
• Dengue occurs in most tropical areas of the world. Most U.S. cases occur in travelers returning from abroad, but the dengue risk is increasing for persons living along the Texas-Mexico border and in other parts of the southern United States.
• There is no specific treatment for dengue.
Prevention centers on avoiding mosquito bites in areas where dengue occurs or might occur and eliminating breeding sites.
How can dengue be prevented?
There is no vaccine to prevent dengue. Prevention centers on avoiding mosquito bites when traveling to areas where dengue occurs and when in U.S. areas, especially along the Texas-Mexico border, where dengue might occur. Eliminating mosquito breeding sites in these areas is another key prevention measure.
Avoid mosquito bites when traveling in tropical areas:
• Use mosquito repellents on skin and clothing.
• When outdoors during times that mosquitoes are biting, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants tucked into socks.
• Avoid heavily populated residential areas.
• When indoors, stay in air-conditioned or screened areas. Use bed nets if sleeping areas are not screened or air-conditioned.
If you have symptoms of dengue, report your travel history to your doctor.
Eliminate mosquito breeding sites in areas where dengue might occur:
• Eliminate mosquito breeding sites around homes. Discard items that can collect rain or run-off water, especially old tires.
Regularly change the water in outdoor bird baths and pet and animal water containers
What are the signs and symptoms of dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever?
Dengue fever usually starts suddenly with a high fever, rash, severe headache, pain behind the eyes, and muscle and joint pain. The severity of the joint pain has given dengue the name "break bone fever." Nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite are common. A rash usually appears 3 to 4 days after the start of the fever. The illness can last up to 10 days, but complete recovery can take as long as a month. Older children and adults are usually sicker than young children.
Most dengue infections result in relatively mild illness, but some can progress to dengue hemorrhagic fever. With dengue hemorrhagic fever, the blood vessels start to leak and cause bleeding from the nose, mouth, and gums. Bruising can be a sign of bleeding inside the body. Without prompt treatment, the blood vessels can collapse, causing shock (dengue shock syndrome). Dengue hemorrhagic fever is fatal in about 5 percent of cases, mostly among children and young adults.
What is the treatment for dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever?
There is no specific treatment for dengue. Persons with dengue fever should rest and drink plenty of fluids. They should be kept away from mosquitoes for the protection of others. Dengue hemorrhagic fever is treated by replacing lost fluids. Some patients need transfusions to control bleeding.
What can be done to reduce the risk of acquiring dengue?
There is no vaccine for preventing dengue. The best preventive measure for residents living in areas infested with Aedes aegypti is to eliminate the places where the mosquito lays her eggs, primarily artificial containers that hold water.
Items that collect rainwater or are used to store water (for example, plastic containers, big drums, buckets, or used automobile tires) should be covered or properly discarded. Pet and animal watering containers and vases with fresh flowers should be emptied and scoured at least once a week. This will eliminate the mosquito eggs and larvae and reduce the number of mosquitoes present in these areas
If you live or travel in tropical areas
Living in or traveling to an area where dengue fever viruses are present puts you at risk of the disease. These areas include many tropical and subtropical areas around the world, for example:
Central and South America
Southeast Asia
The Caribbean
Africa
India
The Middle East
The South and Central Pacific
Particularly high-risk areas include tropical Asia, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Dengue virus transmission may occur year-round, although the risk is highest during a recognized dengue fever outbreak.
Dengue fever is a disease transmitted by specific mosquitoes and found in tropical areas around the world including parts of India
Symptoms
Infection with the dengue virus may be sub clinical (no apparent symptoms) or may cause illness ranging from a mild fever to a severe, even fatal condition, ie.dengue hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome.
The symptoms may last up to a week. Some people may experience a resurgence of fever and other symptoms that may last another 2-3 days.
Dengue fever symptoms
Symptoms are most commonly seen in adults and older children. Young children may show no symptoms. Typical symptoms may include:
sudden onset of fever (lasting three to seven days)
intense headache (especially behind the eyes)
muscle and joint pain (ankles, knees and elbows)
unpleasant metallic taste in mouth, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain
flushed skin on face and neck, fine skin rash as fever subsides
rash on arms and legs, severe itching, peeling of skin and hair loss
minor bleeding (nose or gums) and heavy menstrual periods
extreme fatigue
Dengue hemorrhagic fever symptoms
This is a rare complication of dengue in Australia. More commonly seen in children aged under 15 years, but can occur in adults. Symptoms include:
same signs as dengue fever
2-5 days after onset of fever, rapid deterioration and cardiovascular disease
Perhaps shock and sometimes death.
Tests and diagnosis
Diagnosing dengue fever can be difficult. That's because its signs and symptoms can be easily confused with those of other diseases, such as malaria, leptospirosis and typhoid fever. Still, diagnosis of dengue fever is typically done by evaluating your signs and symptoms along with your medical and travel history. To diagnose your condition, your doctor will likely ask about these. In addition, your blood may be tested for evidence of a dengue virus.
Blood test
Laboratory tests, usually using a sample of your blood, are needed to confirm a diagnosis of dengue fever. If you have dengue fever, your blood may reveal the virus itself.
If not, blood tests known as hem agglutination inhibition (HI) assay, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) also can detect antigens, antibodies or nucleic acids specific to the viruses. These tests may take several days
Treatment
Dengue fever treatment
See a doctor / general practitioner (GP) immediately.
Wear insect repellent. If you have dengue fever, mosquitoes that bite you may pass dengue on to other people.
Drink plenty of liquids and take paracetamol for fever and pain. Do not take aspirin because it can affect blood clotting.
Dengue hemorrhagic fever treatment
All patients with dengue hemorrhagic fever need to be hospitalized for fluid therapy and monitoring.
Doctors and health professionals can refer to Dengue hemorrhagic fever: diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control (2nd edition. Geneva : World Health Organization, 1997) for detailed information on dengue symptoms and treatment.
Types of dengue
There are four types of dengue viruses that cause dengue fever worldwide - Dengue 1, 2, 3 and 4. A person infected with one type of dengue will subsequently only be immune to that type. They will not be immune to other types of dengue and will, in fact, be at risk of developing severe symptoms if they contract another type of dengue.
Dengue fever is a terrible viral disease blighting many of the world's tropical regions. Carried by mosquitoes, such as Aedes aegypti, 40% of the world's population is believed to be at risk from the infection. What is more, previous exposure to other strains of the fever does not confer protection. In fact, subsequent infections are significantly worse, and can result in fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever.
The lack of a functioning vaccine forced Scott O'Neill and Elizabeth McGraw to look for a more creative form of defence. Knowing that a parasite, Wolbachia pipientis, shortens the lifespan of host insects and could restrict dengue fever transmission by killing the insects before they can pass the infection on, O'Neill and his team successfully infected Ae. aegypti with a strain of the Wolbachia bacterium and shortened the mosquitoes' lifespan.
But before insects carrying the bacterium can be released into the environment, the O'Neill and McGraw teams have to convince international governments that mosquitoes carrying the Wolbachia parasite could successfully limit transmission of the virus. McGraw and O'Neill had to find out how the bacterium affects the mosquito's physiology and behavior.
Knowing that Wolbachia slows down some insects' activity and speeds up others, the team decided to test how the parasite affects Ae. aegypti as they age and the infection takes hold. Working with uninfected and infected mosquitoes produced by Conor McMeniman, Oliver Evans and Eric Caragata used a system designed by Craig Williams to film the activities of male and female mosquitoes as they aged to find how the bacteria affected the insects' activity levels. According to McGraw, the experiments generated a huge amount of video data, so Evans teamed up with Megan Woolfit and David Green to pipe the data to a cluster of workstations to track the insects' movements and analyse their activity levels.
After a year of experimental design, data collection and analysis, it was clear that the infected mosquitoes were more active than the uninfected insects. Most surprisingly, as the mosquitoes aged and the infection took hold, it did not increase their activity levels further.
Having found that the insects became more active in response to their bacterial lodgers, Craig Franklin joined the team to help measure the insects' CO2 production to find how their metabolic rates respond to the parasite. Again, the insects' metabolic rates were higher than those of the uninfected mosquitoes.
So why are the infected insects more active than the uninfected insects? McGraw says there are three possible explanations; the insects are living fast and dying young; the insects are hungrier and consume more energy in their constant search for food; or the bacteria somehow affect the insects' tissues to change their behavior and increase their metabolic rate. McGraw suspects that the last explanation is the most likely.
Having shown that the activity levels of Walachia infected mosquitoes respond to the bacterium, McGraw and O'Neill are continuing to test how the infection affects the insects' biting behavior and whether a Walachia infection can become established in Ae. Aegypti populations to limit their life spans. Ultimately, McGraw and O'Neill hope to release infected mosquitoes into afflicted regions of the world to limit dengue fever transmission, but only once they are sure that the insects will do no harm to the environment.
References and Notes
• http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2006/NEW01385.html.
• http://www.jci.org/articles/view/JCI28607.
• http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/risk/HPV-vaccine.
• http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/cervix/incidence/. http://www.aafp.org/afp/20000301/1369.html.. National Institutes of Health. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000893.htm.
• http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_2_2X_What_causes_cancer_of_the_cervix_Can_it_be_prevented_8.asp?sitearea=..
• http://www.ajph.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=11392939.
• http://www.mdlab.com/html/testing/hpv_typedetect.html.
• http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec22/ch252/ch252d.html.
• http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=9260.
• http://www.papscreen.org.au/
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a difficulty in learning to read, speak, or write. It is a difference in brain organization that is present at birth & results in a struggle when trying to learn, remember, or express information. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material. The effects of the disorder vary from person to person. In fact, the only common trait among people with dyslexia is that they read at levels significantly lower than typical for people of their age and intelligence.
Experts say it occurs in up to 15% of the general population. Although dyslexia continues through life, it is very possible to learn to deal effectively with dyslexia & accomplish high levels of success.
The most universal problems are:
• weak recognition of numbers, letters & words
• difficulty remembering numbers & letters in sequence
• poor manipulation of numbers & letters
• poor spelling
To suspect a diagnosis of dyslexia, a cluster of symptoms must be evidenced - not just one symptom. Symptoms may appear different in childhood or in adolescence & adulthood.
Dyslexia can result in a severe loss of self-esteem, limited friendships, & failure in school & career.
These effects can be prevented by:
• early diagnosis
• special remediation using multisensory techniques
• teaching of coping skills
Dyslexia Is ...
• not a sign of poor intelligence
• not the result of laziness or of not caring
• not a disease
• cannot be cured with pills or diets
• not an eye problem
• not outgrown
but... dyslexics can learn how to learn
the good news is that with appropriate education, understanding, & time, many dyslexics learn to read & write & to develop their special abilities & talents. Many successful people: scientists, artists, athletes & world leaders have dyslexia.
• Dyslexia is difficulty with language. For people with dyslexia, intelligence is not the problem. The problem is language.
• People with dyslexia may struggle with reading, spelling, understanding language they hear, or expressing themselves clearly in speaking or in writing.
• An unexpected gap exists between their potential for learning and their school achievement.
Typical responses when people find out that they or someone they know is dyslexic include dismay and anxiety – like the feelings people have when they find out they have a serious disease. Dyslexia is not a disease, but it is a lifelong problem that presents challenges that need to be overcome daily. The good news is that with proper diagnosis, appropriate education, hard work and support from family, friends, teachers and others, people who are dyslexic can lead successful and productive lives.
The first step in helping a person with dyslexia is to give emotional support and understanding. That’s one reason why you’re here right now – to find out how you can give that support. And that’s why we have this website – to help you with information and support.
The Left Hemisphere of the Brain - is it the right side?
Simply explained: A dyslectic uses the brain's right side instead of the left to read and spell.
In a human brain, the left-hemisphere is programmed to do the things you need for reading: to match a letter with its sound, or to handle information that comes into your brain in strings, like the sounds in a word - one after the other. It separates a word into individual sounds and so helps understand grammar and syntax.
The right hemisphere is different. It deals in areas and space and patterns. It doesn't understand parts of speech, or keep track of letter order in spelling. It "reads" a word as a drawing that it has been taught has a meaning (as a sketch, not a line up of sounds). So if it sees the shape "HOUSE," it knows that it's a place where somebody lives. But the person is just as apt to speak out home or residence (or igloo or tepee) instead of house. You can see that if the left side is leaves the reading to the right side, the result can be a totally different sound.
Corpus Callosum - A Bridge of Nerve cells in the brain.
It has long been thought that there were two contributing factors in the brain of a dyslectic. One is an underutilized left-hemisphere, and the other is a problem involving a central bridge of tissue in the brain called the Corpus Callosum.
The Corpus Callosum is a bridge of nerve cells over which information signals from one side of the brain reaches the other. Everything you see or hear goes to both sides, but each side has it own specialty. The Corpus Callosum not only transfers information, but also helps decide which is the appropriate side, and sends it there.
Recent research using the latest brain scanning techniques has now proven both suppositions: dyslectics do not use the Angular Gyrus in the left hemisphere when they read - and oddities in the construction of the Corpus Callosum are correlated with poor reading.
Obviously, a weak Corpus Callosum may not correctly deliver language tasks to the left where they belong. Further, it may transmit slowly, so some information arrives out of sync with the rest.
Also, the language areas in the dyslectic brain tend to be smaller than they are in a standard brain. This combination of a slow Corpus Callosum, an over eager right-hemisphere and an undersized left language area, is the recipe for dyslexia.
Suspecting Dyslexia ?
To suspect a diagnosis of dyslexia, a cluster of symptoms must be evidenced - not just one symptom.
• Dyslexia is difficulty with language. For people with dyslexia, intelligence is not the problem. The problem is language.
• People with dyslexia may struggle with reading, spelling, understanding language they hear, or expressing themselves clearly in speaking or in writing.
• An unexpected gap exists between their potential for learning and their school achievement.
Causes of Dyslexia
• results from differences within the organization of the brain. See What causes it?
• tends to run in families - dyslexics are born with the difference
• the exact cause may still be unknown
Diagnostic Tests
Tests for dyslexia look for just the telltale signs: overuse of the right-hemisphere and a poorly operating Corpus Callosum. First, of course, you have to be sure you are looking at a real reading problem, so you want a reading score of some kind and a rough-and-ready IQ score. If there is a big discrepancy between potential and production, that's an important clue.
Second, you want to see whether the right hemisphere of the brain is doing the reading. This is easily accomplished by having a student read a group of words that have been misspelled (but which if pronounced as written, would sound like real words. Example: fut, brade, blone, or peze. (Foot, braid, blown, or peas, in case your own left side needs jogging!). These words are called misspelled homophones.
Third, you want to test the state of the corpus callosum. This test is called Tactile Localization. It is easy to do and is explained under Diagnostic Tests.
Last, you will want a writing sample done from dictation. Check for bizarre spelling, omission of small words and punctuation, misplaced apostrophes, reversed letters and other odd mistakes.
If your student is intelligent, reads at about half the level he should, makes mistakes on the misspelled homophones test, writes as though some of the words originated in Outer Mongolia and makes 15% or more mistakes on the tactile localization test, you've most likely got a dyslectic child
To suspect a diagnosis of dyslexia, a cluster of symptoms must be evidenced - not just one symptom. Dyslexia is difficulty with language. For people with dyslexia, intelligence is not the problem. The problem is language.
An unexpected gap exists between their potential for learning and their school achievement.
Below are listed some of the common Symptoms found in Dyslectics (10-15% of the population)
The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms in Preschool Children
• May talk later than most children
• Fine motor skills may develop more slowly (like tying shoes)
• May have difficulty expressing self
• May have difficulty pronouncing words
• May be unable to recall the right word
• May have inability to follow directions
• May have left-right confusion
• May have difficulty learning alphabet, words of songs
• May have difficulty learning rhymes
• May have trouble interacting with peers
• May be unable to follow multi-step directions or routines
• Often has difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words
• May have difficulty telling and/or retelling a story in the correct sequence
Caution: it is developmentally normal for children to have some of the above symptoms and to reverse letters and words when they first learn to write. This normally disappears by 2nd grade.
Common Symptoms at Kindergarten level
• Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)
• May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• May confuse small words - at - to, said - and, does - goes
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including:
o Inversions - m and w, u and n
o Substitutions - house and home
o Letter reversals - d for b as in, dog for bog
o Word reversals - top for pot
o Transpositions - felt and left
• May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs (+ - x / =)
• May have trouble remembering facts
• May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding
• May be impulsive and prone to accidents
• May have difficulty planning
• Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.)
• May have trouble learning to tell time
• May have poor fine motor coordination
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms at Junior School level
• Is usually reading below class level
• May reverse letter sequences - soiled for solid, left for felt
• May be slow to discern and to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies
• May have difficulty spelling, spells same word differently on the same page
• May avoid reading aloud
• May have trouble with word problems in math
• May write with difficulty with illegible handwriting; pencil grip is awkward, fist-like or tight
• May avoid writing
• May have slow or poor recall of facts
• May have difficulty with comprehension
• May have difficulty making friends
• May not understand body language and facial expressions of others
• May have trouble with non-literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang)
• May forget to hand in homework or to bring in homework
• May have difficulty with planning and time management
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms at Senior School level
• May read very slowly with many inaccuracies
• Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing
• May procrastinate reading and writing tasks
• May avoid writing
• May have trouble summarizing and outlining
• May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests
• May have poor memory skills
• May not adjust well to new settings or to change
• May work slowly
• May have poor grasp of abstract concepts
• May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them
• May misread information
• Difficulty remembering names of people and places
• Hesitant speech
• Difficulty finding appropriate words
• Difficulty organizing ideas to write a letter or paper
• Inability to recall numbers in proper sequences (as in phone numbers)
• May not complete assignments; may complete them and not hand them in
• May have an inadequate vocabulary
• May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading
• May have difficulty with planning and time management
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms in Adults
• May hide their reading problems; many subterfuges
• May spell poorly; relies on others
• Avoids writing; may not be able to write
• Often very competent in oral language
• Relies on memory; may have excellent memories
• Often has good “people” skills
• Often is spatially talented; engineers, architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians (esp. orthopads, surgeons), dentists
• May be very good at “reading” people (intuitive)
• In jobs is often working well below their intellectual capacity
• May have difficulty with planning and organization
• May have difficulty with time; often too early, late or forgets appointments. Relies on digital watches; cannot tell analog time
• Often entrepreneurs; may have lost one or more businesses they started
• Difficulty remembering names of people and places
• Hesitant speech
• Difficulty finding appropriate words
• Difficulty organizing ideas to write a letter or paper
• Inability to recall numbers in proper sequences (as in phone numbers)
• Lowered self-esteem due to past frustrations and failures
• Poor ability to find way around and trouble finding car in parking lot OR excellent ability to find way around
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
READING AND IQ
If your pupil is in school and is reading badly, you can probably get a reading level from the school. If he is an adult and reading badly enough to want to go through tutoring, you probably don't have to do a reading test, unless you want a nice before-and-after showing for your efforts.
For an I.Q. test, a child in real trouble in school may already already have had one. If not, you're entitled to ask for it. You don't need an exact score, just an indication that the student is at least average or above in intelligence. If he is somewhat slow, his reading problems may be due to something other than dyslexia.
Here are two basic diagnostic test-
Misspelled Homophones and Tactile Localization.
1. MISSPELLED HOMOPHONES TEST
Tell your pupil that some of the "words" he sees in the following bunch actually sound like real words, although they would be spelled differently. Have him look down a column - without reading them aloud - and have him point to any he thinks would be real words. When he points to one, then have him pronounce what he thinks it would be. You do this because otherwise you may miss some of his mistakes. For instance, if he looks at "sed" and says that would be a real word, you will think he has it right. But if he tells you that it would say "seed" you know it is a mistake. Then go on to the next column until he has done them all. He should be able to do this without more than one mistake.
zam lep crope bete mord
sed rool peze frire blone
baik calp hib masp thoe
vust praid blut kern crasp
He should identify sed and baik (said and bake) in the first column, rool and praid (rule and prayed) in the second, peze (peas) in the third, bete and frire (beat and fryer) in the fourth, and blone and thoe (blown and though) in the last column. This is a killer test for dyslectics.
2. TACTILE LOCALIZATION TEST
This is a test for the Corpus Callosum. If you touch someone lightly on the inside of his fingers with his hand behind his back (where he can't see what you do), and then you ask him to show you on the other hand where he was touched, that information has to goes through the Corpus Callosum.
The Corpus Callosum is fully matured by about ten years old, so no adult should make more than one or two mistakes on this.
Here is how you do the test:
Have a child's paint brush ready for light touching. Imagine the finger broken into three sections called "pads" separated by the joints. The three sections are the fleshy parts of the finger. You will touch either the far pad (fingerprint area) or the near pad next to his palm (never the middle one.)
Have your friend hold out both his hands, palms up, fingers spread out, one in front of him and one behind. Explain that you will be touching the fingers on the hand behind him where he can't see it. He is to point with his thumb on his front hand to where you touched him. Hold out your own hand, touch one of your fingers, and ask him where he would point on his own hand. Do this with several spots on both the inside and the outside joints of your fingers until you know he has the idea and never tries to touch that middle joint. Warn him that when you have touched the hand behind him, he is NOT to wiggle those fingers at all.
Touch him twice on each location on each finger, skipping around, of course, making a total of 16 touches, four to a finger, on each hand. Make sure your touches are light and quick! Make a diagram of the hands, and mark the spots where you touched him. If he identified it right, mark a 0 and mark a X to the wrong spots. If he makes three or more errors, his Corpus Callosum is not transferring information from one hemisphere to the other quickly and accurately.
If you find someone with reading problems who is intelligent, makes mistakes on the Misspelled Homophones and blows the Tactile Localization test, you are as sure as you are going to get in this world that you are looking at dyslexia.\
SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS
• many students who learn differently struggle with homework
• assist your child in a positive way with homework
• reward your child's progress
• use lots of praise
• display your child's work
• acknowledge your child's difficulties
• help provide your child with other activities that focus on his or her strengths and gifts
• provide structure at home
• help your child become a self-advocate with teachers
HELPING WITH HOMEWORK
• It helps if you (as the parent) are aware of the type and amount of homework your child has. Teachers appreciate hearing from parents who have questions about homework - if you find your child is spending too much time on homework, ask the teacher how much time is expected. Often a teacher will tell parents to limit the homework to a given time, rather than have the child while away hours every evening..
o help your child set up a homework environment
o provide a suitable place for homework - quiet and away from TV
o some children, however, work better with a low radio
o some children work better while chewing gum
o provide good lighting
o develop a homework schedule that is relatively easy to stick to
o talk to your child about the homework assignment
o go over your child's work to see if it is complete - and to answer questions
o make sure your child has the appropriate tools:
pencils
pencil sharpener
desk (or table top)
computer, if appropriate
• Most important: avoid making homework a punishment for your child.
• If your child is struggling with reading, writing, math, and is exceptionally frustrated, consider requesting extra help:
o Contact your child's teacher
o Check into what is available from the school
o Have your child tested for Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a difficulty in learning to read, speak, or write. It is a difference in brain organization that is present at birth & results in a struggle when trying to learn, remember, or express information. It is a learning disability that alters the way the brain processes written material. The effects of the disorder vary from person to person. In fact, the only common trait among people with dyslexia is that they read at levels significantly lower than typical for people of their age and intelligence.
Experts say it occurs in up to 15% of the general population. Although dyslexia continues through life, it is very possible to learn to deal effectively with dyslexia & accomplish high levels of success.
The most universal problems are:
• weak recognition of numbers, letters & words
• difficulty remembering numbers & letters in sequence
• poor manipulation of numbers & letters
• poor spelling
To suspect a diagnosis of dyslexia, a cluster of symptoms must be evidenced - not just one symptom. Symptoms may appear different in childhood or in adolescence & adulthood.
Dyslexia can result in a severe loss of self-esteem, limited friendships, & failure in school & career.
These effects can be prevented by:
• early diagnosis
• special remediation using multisensory techniques
• teaching of coping skills
Dyslexia Is ...
• not a sign of poor intelligence
• not the result of laziness or of not caring
• not a disease
• cannot be cured with pills or diets
• not an eye problem
• not outgrown
but... dyslexics can learn how to learn
the good news is that with appropriate education, understanding, & time, many dyslexics learn to read & write & to develop their special abilities & talents. Many successful people: scientists, artists, athletes & world leaders have dyslexia.
• Dyslexia is difficulty with language. For people with dyslexia, intelligence is not the problem. The problem is language.
• People with dyslexia may struggle with reading, spelling, understanding language they hear, or expressing themselves clearly in speaking or in writing.
• An unexpected gap exists between their potential for learning and their school achievement.
Typical responses when people find out that they or someone they know is dyslexic include dismay and anxiety – like the feelings people have when they find out they have a serious disease. Dyslexia is not a disease, but it is a lifelong problem that presents challenges that need to be overcome daily. The good news is that with proper diagnosis, appropriate education, hard work and support from family, friends, teachers and others, people who are dyslexic can lead successful and productive lives.
The first step in helping a person with dyslexia is to give emotional support and understanding. That’s one reason why you’re here right now – to find out how you can give that support. And that’s why we have this website – to help you with information and support.
The Left Hemisphere of the Brain - is it the right side?
Simply explained: A dyslectic uses the brain's right side instead of the left to read and spell.
In a human brain, the left-hemisphere is programmed to do the things you need for reading: to match a letter with its sound, or to handle information that comes into your brain in strings, like the sounds in a word - one after the other. It separates a word into individual sounds and so helps understand grammar and syntax.
The right hemisphere is different. It deals in areas and space and patterns. It doesn't understand parts of speech, or keep track of letter order in spelling. It "reads" a word as a drawing that it has been taught has a meaning (as a sketch, not a line up of sounds). So if it sees the shape "HOUSE," it knows that it's a place where somebody lives. But the person is just as apt to speak out home or residence (or igloo or tepee) instead of house. You can see that if the left side is leaves the reading to the right side, the result can be a totally different sound.
Corpus Callosum - A Bridge of Nerve cells in the brain.
It has long been thought that there were two contributing factors in the brain of a dyslectic. One is an underutilized left-hemisphere, and the other is a problem involving a central bridge of tissue in the brain called the Corpus Callosum.
The Corpus Callosum is a bridge of nerve cells over which information signals from one side of the brain reaches the other. Everything you see or hear goes to both sides, but each side has it own specialty. The Corpus Callosum not only transfers information, but also helps decide which is the appropriate side, and sends it there.
Recent research using the latest brain scanning techniques has now proven both suppositions: dyslectics do not use the Angular Gyrus in the left hemisphere when they read - and oddities in the construction of the Corpus Callosum are correlated with poor reading.
Obviously, a weak Corpus Callosum may not correctly deliver language tasks to the left where they belong. Further, it may transmit slowly, so some information arrives out of sync with the rest.
Also, the language areas in the dyslectic brain tend to be smaller than they are in a standard brain. This combination of a slow Corpus Callosum, an over eager right-hemisphere and an undersized left language area, is the recipe for dyslexia.
Suspecting Dyslexia ?
To suspect a diagnosis of dyslexia, a cluster of symptoms must be evidenced - not just one symptom.
• Dyslexia is difficulty with language. For people with dyslexia, intelligence is not the problem. The problem is language.
• People with dyslexia may struggle with reading, spelling, understanding language they hear, or expressing themselves clearly in speaking or in writing.
• An unexpected gap exists between their potential for learning and their school achievement.
Causes of Dyslexia
• results from differences within the organization of the brain. See What causes it?
• tends to run in families - dyslexics are born with the difference
• the exact cause may still be unknown
Diagnostic Tests
Tests for dyslexia look for just the telltale signs: overuse of the right-hemisphere and a poorly operating Corpus Callosum. First, of course, you have to be sure you are looking at a real reading problem, so you want a reading score of some kind and a rough-and-ready IQ score. If there is a big discrepancy between potential and production, that's an important clue.
Second, you want to see whether the right hemisphere of the brain is doing the reading. This is easily accomplished by having a student read a group of words that have been misspelled (but which if pronounced as written, would sound like real words. Example: fut, brade, blone, or peze. (Foot, braid, blown, or peas, in case your own left side needs jogging!). These words are called misspelled homophones.
Third, you want to test the state of the corpus callosum. This test is called Tactile Localization. It is easy to do and is explained under Diagnostic Tests.
Last, you will want a writing sample done from dictation. Check for bizarre spelling, omission of small words and punctuation, misplaced apostrophes, reversed letters and other odd mistakes.
If your student is intelligent, reads at about half the level he should, makes mistakes on the misspelled homophones test, writes as though some of the words originated in Outer Mongolia and makes 15% or more mistakes on the tactile localization test, you've most likely got a dyslectic child
To suspect a diagnosis of dyslexia, a cluster of symptoms must be evidenced - not just one symptom. Dyslexia is difficulty with language. For people with dyslexia, intelligence is not the problem. The problem is language.
An unexpected gap exists between their potential for learning and their school achievement.
Below are listed some of the common Symptoms found in Dyslectics (10-15% of the population)
The following difficulties may be associated with dyslexia. To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms in Preschool Children
• May talk later than most children
• Fine motor skills may develop more slowly (like tying shoes)
• May have difficulty expressing self
• May have difficulty pronouncing words
• May be unable to recall the right word
• May have inability to follow directions
• May have left-right confusion
• May have difficulty learning alphabet, words of songs
• May have difficulty learning rhymes
• May have trouble interacting with peers
• May be unable to follow multi-step directions or routines
• Often has difficulty separating sounds in words and blending sounds to make words
• May have difficulty telling and/or retelling a story in the correct sequence
Caution: it is developmentally normal for children to have some of the above symptoms and to reverse letters and words when they first learn to write. This normally disappears by 2nd grade.
Common Symptoms at Kindergarten level
• Has difficulty decoding single words (reading single words in isolation)
• May be slow to learn the connection between letters and sounds
• May confuse small words - at - to, said - and, does - goes
• Makes consistent reading and spelling errors including:
o Inversions - m and w, u and n
o Substitutions - house and home
o Letter reversals - d for b as in, dog for bog
o Word reversals - top for pot
o Transpositions - felt and left
• May transpose number sequences and confuse arithmetic signs (+ - x / =)
• May have trouble remembering facts
• May be slow to learn new skills; relies heavily on memorizing without understanding
• May be impulsive and prone to accidents
• May have difficulty planning
• Often uses an awkward pencil grip (fist, thumb hooked over fingers, etc.)
• May have trouble learning to tell time
• May have poor fine motor coordination
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms at Junior School level
• Is usually reading below class level
• May reverse letter sequences - soiled for solid, left for felt
• May be slow to discern and to learn prefixes, suffixes, root words, and other reading and spelling strategies
• May have difficulty spelling, spells same word differently on the same page
• May avoid reading aloud
• May have trouble with word problems in math
• May write with difficulty with illegible handwriting; pencil grip is awkward, fist-like or tight
• May avoid writing
• May have slow or poor recall of facts
• May have difficulty with comprehension
• May have difficulty making friends
• May not understand body language and facial expressions of others
• May have trouble with non-literal language (idioms, jokes, proverbs, slang)
• May forget to hand in homework or to bring in homework
• May have difficulty with planning and time management
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms at Senior School level
• May read very slowly with many inaccuracies
• Continues to spell incorrectly, frequently spells the same word differently in a single piece of writing
• May procrastinate reading and writing tasks
• May avoid writing
• May have trouble summarizing and outlining
• May have trouble answering open-ended questions on tests
• May have poor memory skills
• May not adjust well to new settings or to change
• May work slowly
• May have poor grasp of abstract concepts
• May pay too little attention to details or focus too much on them
• May misread information
• Difficulty remembering names of people and places
• Hesitant speech
• Difficulty finding appropriate words
• Difficulty organizing ideas to write a letter or paper
• Inability to recall numbers in proper sequences (as in phone numbers)
• May not complete assignments; may complete them and not hand them in
• May have an inadequate vocabulary
• May have an inadequate store of knowledge from previous reading
• May have difficulty with planning and time management
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
Common Symptoms in Adults
• May hide their reading problems; many subterfuges
• May spell poorly; relies on others
• Avoids writing; may not be able to write
• Often very competent in oral language
• Relies on memory; may have excellent memories
• Often has good “people” skills
• Often is spatially talented; engineers, architects, designers, artists and craftspeople, mathematicians, physicists, physicians (esp. orthopads, surgeons), dentists
• May be very good at “reading” people (intuitive)
• In jobs is often working well below their intellectual capacity
• May have difficulty with planning and organization
• May have difficulty with time; often too early, late or forgets appointments. Relies on digital watches; cannot tell analog time
• Often entrepreneurs; may have lost one or more businesses they started
• Difficulty remembering names of people and places
• Hesitant speech
• Difficulty finding appropriate words
• Difficulty organizing ideas to write a letter or paper
• Inability to recall numbers in proper sequences (as in phone numbers)
• Lowered self-esteem due to past frustrations and failures
• Poor ability to find way around and trouble finding car in parking lot OR excellent ability to find way around
Caution: To verify that an individual is dyslexic, he/she should be tested by a qualified doctor.
READING AND IQ
If your pupil is in school and is reading badly, you can probably get a reading level from the school. If he is an adult and reading badly enough to want to go through tutoring, you probably don't have to do a reading test, unless you want a nice before-and-after showing for your efforts.
For an I.Q. test, a child in real trouble in school may already already have had one. If not, you're entitled to ask for it. You don't need an exact score, just an indication that the student is at least average or above in intelligence. If he is somewhat slow, his reading problems may be due to something other than dyslexia.
Here are two basic diagnostic test-
Misspelled Homophones and Tactile Localization.
1. MISSPELLED HOMOPHONES TEST
Tell your pupil that some of the "words" he sees in the following bunch actually sound like real words, although they would be spelled differently. Have him look down a column - without reading them aloud - and have him point to any he thinks would be real words. When he points to one, then have him pronounce what he thinks it would be. You do this because otherwise you may miss some of his mistakes. For instance, if he looks at "sed" and says that would be a real word, you will think he has it right. But if he tells you that it would say "seed" you know it is a mistake. Then go on to the next column until he has done them all. He should be able to do this without more than one mistake.
zam lep crope bete mord
sed rool peze frire blone
baik calp hib masp thoe
vust praid blut kern crasp
He should identify sed and baik (said and bake) in the first column, rool and praid (rule and prayed) in the second, peze (peas) in the third, bete and frire (beat and fryer) in the fourth, and blone and thoe (blown and though) in the last column. This is a killer test for dyslectics.
2. TACTILE LOCALIZATION TEST
This is a test for the Corpus Callosum. If you touch someone lightly on the inside of his fingers with his hand behind his back (where he can't see what you do), and then you ask him to show you on the other hand where he was touched, that information has to goes through the Corpus Callosum.
The Corpus Callosum is fully matured by about ten years old, so no adult should make more than one or two mistakes on this.
Here is how you do the test:
Have a child's paint brush ready for light touching. Imagine the finger broken into three sections called "pads" separated by the joints. The three sections are the fleshy parts of the finger. You will touch either the far pad (fingerprint area) or the near pad next to his palm (never the middle one.)
Have your friend hold out both his hands, palms up, fingers spread out, one in front of him and one behind. Explain that you will be touching the fingers on the hand behind him where he can't see it. He is to point with his thumb on his front hand to where you touched him. Hold out your own hand, touch one of your fingers, and ask him where he would point on his own hand. Do this with several spots on both the inside and the outside joints of your fingers until you know he has the idea and never tries to touch that middle joint. Warn him that when you have touched the hand behind him, he is NOT to wiggle those fingers at all.
Touch him twice on each location on each finger, skipping around, of course, making a total of 16 touches, four to a finger, on each hand. Make sure your touches are light and quick! Make a diagram of the hands, and mark the spots where you touched him. If he identified it right, mark a 0 and mark a X to the wrong spots. If he makes three or more errors, his Corpus Callosum is not transferring information from one hemisphere to the other quickly and accurately.
If you find someone with reading problems who is intelligent, makes mistakes on the Misspelled Homophones and blows the Tactile Localization test, you are as sure as you are going to get in this world that you are looking at dyslexia.\
SUGGESTIONS TO PARENTS
• many students who learn differently struggle with homework
• assist your child in a positive way with homework
• reward your child's progress
• use lots of praise
• display your child's work
• acknowledge your child's difficulties
• help provide your child with other activities that focus on his or her strengths and gifts
• provide structure at home
• help your child become a self-advocate with teachers
HELPING WITH HOMEWORK
• It helps if you (as the parent) are aware of the type and amount of homework your child has. Teachers appreciate hearing from parents who have questions about homework - if you find your child is spending too much time on homework, ask the teacher how much time is expected. Often a teacher will tell parents to limit the homework to a given time, rather than have the child while away hours every evening..
o help your child set up a homework environment
o provide a suitable place for homework - quiet and away from TV
o some children, however, work better with a low radio
o some children work better while chewing gum
o provide good lighting
o develop a homework schedule that is relatively easy to stick to
o talk to your child about the homework assignment
o go over your child's work to see if it is complete - and to answer questions
o make sure your child has the appropriate tools:
pencils
pencil sharpener
desk (or table top)
computer, if appropriate
• Most important: avoid making homework a punishment for your child.
• If your child is struggling with reading, writing, math, and is exceptionally frustrated, consider requesting extra help:
o Contact your child's teacher
o Check into what is available from the school
o Have your child tested for Dyslexia
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