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My daughter has been in Occupational Therapy for almost 2 years now. It has been fantastic and her re-test on the SIPT/Praxis showed her performing at normal levels for her age, with the lowest being internal organization issues. It has been a great success for us.

 

We also use a variety of other therapies for her ADHD & SPD. We do chiropractic, cranial-sacral, listening therapy, and vision therapy. Each step of the way we have seen great results.

 

After the SIPT discussions with the OT though, I began to think on her comments regarding Dyslexia. She explained Dyslexia is a "garbage pail" diagnosis that encompasses many symptoms seen in a variety of conditions. The bottom line is that it is a lateralization issue between the two hemispheres of the brain. Unless there are extremely severe issues, the symptoms/issues can be overcome once lateralization occurs.

 

Now we have worked on lateralization throughout her OT experience. She has made great strides and crosses her mid-line well, etc. So basically the OT believes that by age 8ish, lateralization will occur and the symptoms with which I am concerned will subside.

 

I trust our OT immensely. She has over 30 years experience, successful practices in two states, and she has essentially seen my daughter most of this year for free once weekly. She is very generous and passionate. We are so blessed.

 

I am just seeing such a mixed bag of information about Dyslexia and at time is diverges from what the OT has said. I am trying to make sense of it all.

 

So what are your thoughts and opinions? Does this jive with your understanding of Dyslexia?

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Wow, I wouldn't have thought of it as a one time shizam so much as a process. Look at the diagrams and explanations at the IdeaChain (MindPrime) website. You're building neural pathways where there aren't. I was able to help my dd crawl, but that doesn't mean all the OTHER things that aren't functioning correctly bilaterally on her got better.

 

To me those comments sound like what my nutritionist said to me. I love her, but when I told her we suspected a speech problem with my ds age 2, she said he COULDN'T have a problem because I had eaten correctly while pregnant. Thanks, but he does. Not everything gets fixed, just because we follow the theory.

 

Your dd is 5? I wish I had pursued something like IdeaChain with my dd a long time ago. I would do it now, while you can just as good measure. I'd keep pursuing treatments and methods that help bilateral function, assuming it won't magically disappear as an issue. If it does, then cool beans. If it doesn't, you're doing what you need to.

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I may not be relating it properly Elizabeth because Idon;t think she saw it as a "shizam" either. I mean, all the work we do right now is a part of the process of aiding in laterization.

 

So, I take it that you don't think Dyslexia stems from a lateralization issue?

 

Also, I understand people being so involved in their field, they miss the bigger picture. Our chiro is great, but she often thinks it is teh cure-all and I don't.

 

I am going to go check that website out right now...

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The opposite, I'm saying that the bilateral dysfunction affects so many areas that I'm surprised anyone would think one therapy would fix it.

 

I haven't done IdeaChain yet, but I'm looking into it. I only know what was on their website and the conclusions I drew from it. They have an interesting discussion of how bilaterality issues affect language processing. I guess they bill it as helping reading comprehension. If you look at the list of symptoms they hope to address, it's much broader, more pervasive.

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Interesting! I am digging a bit deeper to understand things better. I see there is research that indicates lateralization is not really the root of Dyslexia and success in that area does not create success overall.

 

I have much to learn in thsi area for sure. Knowing tehre are several here dealing with the issue, I am curious about what experience has shown.

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My daughter has been in Occupational Therapy for almost 2 years now. It has been fantastic and her re-test on the SIPT/Praxis showed her performing at normal levels for her age, with the lowest being internal organization issues. It has been a great success for us.

 

We also use a variety of other therapies for her ADHD & SPD. We do chiropractic, cranial-sacral, listening therapy, and vision therapy. Each step of the way we have seen great results.

 

After the SIPT discussions with the OT though, I began to think on her comments regarding Dyslexia. She explained Dyslexia is a "garbage pail" diagnosis that encompasses many symptoms seen in a variety of conditions. The bottom line is that it is a lateralization issue between the two hemispheres of the brain. Unless there are extremely severe issues, the symptoms/issues can be overcome once lateralization occurs.

 

Now we have worked on lateralization throughout her OT experience. She has made great strides and crosses her mid-line well, etc. So basically the OT believes that by age 8ish, lateralization will occur and the symptoms with which I am concerned will subside.

 

I trust our OT immensely. She has over 30 years experience, successful practices in two states, and she has essentially seen my daughter most of this year for free once weekly. She is very generous and passionate. We are so blessed.

 

I am just seeing such a mixed bag of information about Dyslexia and at time is diverges from what the OT has said. I am trying to make sense of it all.

 

So what are your thoughts and opinions? Does this jive with your understanding of Dyslexia?

 

I have never heard dyslexia explained that way. Dyslexia is a language processing disorder. Brain scans of people with dyslexia show that certain parts of the brain are used for language functions even though those parts of the brain don't perform language tasks efficiently. Therapy and curriculum are designed to train the brain to use the sections of the brain that process language efficiently.

 

I think what bothers me about your therapist's definition is the idea that dyslexia will be cured by therapy. I wish it were that simple, but my experience is that therapy + good curriculum designed for dyslexics + repetition + repetition + repetition = progress, but my daughter will most likely be affected by her dyslexia symptoms her entire life. There is no magic bullet.

 

My favorite website about dyslexia is http://www.dys-add.com. There are several hours of video that you can watch for free. I also like http://www.mislabeledchild.com and highly recommend the book. The Eides are medical doctors who homeschooled their own children for several years because of their learning differences. I like this site too - http://www.dyslexia.yale.edu/.

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My daughter has been in Occupational Therapy for almost 2 years now. It has been fantastic and her re-test on the SIPT/Praxis showed her performing at normal levels for her age, with the lowest being internal organization issues. It has been a great success for us.

 

We also use a variety of other therapies for her ADHD & SPD. We do chiropractic, cranial-sacral, listening therapy, and vision therapy. Each step of the way we have seen great results.

 

After the SIPT discussions with the OT though, I began to think on her comments regarding Dyslexia. She explained Dyslexia is a "garbage pail" diagnosis that encompasses many symptoms seen in a variety of conditions. The bottom line is that it is a lateralization issue between the two hemispheres of the brain. Unless there are extremely severe issues, the symptoms/issues can be overcome once lateralization occurs.

 

Now we have worked on lateralization throughout her OT experience. She has made great strides and crosses her mid-line well, etc. So basically the OT believes that by age 8ish, lateralization will occur and the symptoms with which I am concerned will subside.

 

I trust our OT immensely. She has over 30 years experience, successful practices in two states, and she has essentially seen my daughter most of this year for free once weekly. She is very generous and passionate. We are so blessed.

 

I am just seeing such a mixed bag of information about Dyslexia and at time is diverges from what the OT has said. I am trying to make sense of it all.

 

So what are your thoughts and opinions? Does this jive with your understanding of Dyslexia?

Yes and no. Some people do use "dyslexia" as a "garbage pail" diagnosis to describe practically any problem reading for any reason. If that's her experience with "dyslexia", then that would affect her understanding of what helps dyslexia.

 

Here's an example: I have "problems" reading billboards at a distance if I don't wear my glasses. That doesn't mean that I'm dyslexic, and it doesn't mean that my "dyslexia" goes away on it's own after I put on my glasses. But... if my "reading problems" were misdiagnosed as dyslexia, then someone might draw the wrong conclusion about how to help dyslexia and try giving everyone with dyslexia my perscription glasses.

 

There are a variety of reasons a child may have problems reading. Poor methods to teach reading can result in children who don't know how to read appropriately. (If your OT has been working in the field for thirty years, she has seen children who have been taught reading through a variety of methods--and some of those methods aren't particularly good.) Other times, learning and behavior problems can result in a child having problems with reading because the child may not pay attention in class, etc. And some children simply aren't ready to read until they are older, but by age eight most children are able to read.

 

And then... there are children with dyslexia, as most of us use it here on this forum and as most of the good research on dyslexia discusses it. People can have difficulty reading despite good phonics instruction, even when other issues are addressed, even above the age of eight. Within this last group, there can still be various reasons for the reading problems, like poor de-coding, poor reading comprehension or often both. And there is usually some other underlying problems that contribute to that--things like phonemic awareness and auditory processing or vision problems that go beyond my earlier example of the need for glasses.

 

I suspect that your OT has had experience with children who have a diagnosis of "dyslexia" who have reading problems that aren't really caused by "true dyslexia" but by something else. She may also have experience working with people who do have "true" dyslexia, and the patients have received other appropriate intervention for the reading, along with OT. Just as you are taking your child for lots of things, many parents who have children with special learning issues pursue a variety of treatments simultaneously.

 

Yes, there is something different about brains of people with dyslexia, but OT is not the primary way of remediating their language issues.

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Excellent points merry. It really helps me to understand it a bit better. I had actually watched most of the long Barton video this weekend and that inspired my conversation with the OT.

 

Academically, my daughter does well, even in most areas of her phonics work. We use a combination of 100 EZ lessons, Webster's Speller, and Explode the Code. The main approach being 100 EZ. I supplement with the ETC books on days I bring her with me to my little part-time job. The Webster's we started, but I have been so back and forth about whether that is the best approach for her. She enjoys it most of all.

 

We are in the 60's on 100EZ and she has JUST really started to see and recognize the repeated words. This was initially the red flag that made me look into vision therapy. She wasn't recognizing the same word included over and over as she read.

 

The other issue is that she would know and recoginze all the letters of the alpha bet since she was really young. But then randomly, it would seem, she would have issues with certain letters. She would confuse Rs and Ks, Ms and Ws, Ys and Vs, Es and Fs, p, d, and b. and sometimes at a distance Es and Bs.

 

These would improve and new things crop up and then these may be issues again. I went over the alphabet for years and she would always have one or two of the above cycling through as an issue. In fact, she still has this issue, but it seems a bit improved with Vision Therapy.

 

Although she spoke early and witha large vocabualy, she has a subtle speech impediment. It is the only one she has really ever had and it hasn't really changed. She has an issue with "th." Rather than saying there it is dare. Rather than saying mother it is mudder. Rather than saying math it is maff. However she will say Thanksgiving properly and when she reads a "th" together, she says it properly.

 

She definitely has had dysgraphia and we have worked on that through OT and at home. We have seen much improvement in that area. Yet she still has issues with spacing and line placement.

 

She does well with comprehension and memorywork. We are in CC and she memorizes like crazy. When I read SOTW or literature throughout the day, she fully discusses it with me after. I do let her move and play as I read or she draws illustrations for the story on the white board.

 

My DD is still so young that I am torn as to whether I should have her tested, change up phonics, and add a new therapy. She will be graduating from Vision Therapy at the end January. I am not certain about OT right now.

 

I just don't know if I should stay the course on therapies and curricula for the next few years and see what improves. But I don't want to miss a window for early intervention if there is more I should be doing...

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Eh - I would say some ways she is right and some wrong.

 

There is a certain group of doctors that believe after the completetion of the mylination of the brain at about age 12, significant improvement should be seen in dyslexics.

 

Many believe that the two hemispheres are not talking to each other well - so that the childs' brain has too much diffculty in making long term memories of certiain information... When they try to read, they are relying so much on their working memory - well, its a case of brain overload, I guess.

 

Another consideration (and a reason it has become a 'garbage pail diagnosis') is that WAY too many kids are diagnosed with it without actually understanding WHY they have it. Dylesixia can be caused by so many things, and each would require different therapies. As as example - my son has a neuronal migration disorder that was just diagnosed about two months ago. We've known he was dyslexic (and dyspraxic, dysgraphic, dyscalculic) since he was in 1st grade, and were expected to be happy with just that - but I wasn't, and have been digging ever since. Took 6 years to figure it out - his frontal lobe heterotopia has all of the symptoms of Dyslexia, some of aspbergers, and some of ADHD.... which at one point or another some therapist tried to diagnose him with.

 

I'm not saying your therapist isn't right about your child.... I'm just saying that dyslexia is a moving target and not a "one size fits all" diagnosis.

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Well - that could take a while to explain :)

I'll keep it as short as I can...

 

After years of trying to figure out what was going on, and having different peopl/therapists/doctors try to put him in boxes he didn't fit in, I started reading about developmental disorders of the brain. He was a month pre-mature, had asymmettry issues, no left kidney, oral apraxia, etc, etc, etc - and also has a chromosomal defect. Well - the more I read, I began putting the pieces together.

 

Now - I thought he had Agenesis/dysgenesis of the Corpus Calosum (ACC), so I took him to his PCM and basically was laughed at. Thankfully they sent him to a neuropsyche who agreed with me and couldn't believe no one had figured this out before. It wasn't the CC, but it was a white matter problem very closely related to the CC (his is called "bilateral frontal lobe nodular heterotopia") - in fact, many of the people who have what my DS has have the ACC defect as well, and a lot of the symptoms are exactly the same. So - I was close!

 

Anyway - you have to be your own detective and not expect the docs to care. You also have to accept that you will be treated as a hysterical mother at times. I also had to push for my other son to be seen by a cardiologist - turns out he had a fatal heart defect that was easily cured if recognized - and thankfully he's done with all of that :)

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Sailor, that's really interesting! Our OT told us the neuropsych could tell us exactly what portions of the brain were affected and WHY she is having particular symptoms. Then the OT could target those parts with the IM. So anyways, that's really fascinating that you had a neuropsych figure it out! Sort of confirms what my OT was saying. Not that I expect anything so looming, mercy. Well I'm really glad for your sakes he figured it out! How interesting.

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I'm not trying to agree or disagree with this theory. I can only speak from my own experience as a dyslexic knowing that many other dyslexics don't share the same experience.

 

After a few years of a specialist working with me in 2nd and 3rd grade, pretty much all of the sudden I could read fluently in 4th grade and by the end of the year had moved up to the top reading group. But, even today, especially when I'm tired, the words on a page become jumbled up. I also tend to have some very non-standard ways of comprehending things that I have learned on my own including visualization techniques, summarizing paragraph by paragraph and reading out loud so that I can hear the words.

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