Treatment for Dyslexia/Learning Difficulties

Average ten (10) one hour treatments: Using the Lawson Anti-Suppression Device (LASD), a machine invented and patented by Alison Lawson, a university trained orthoptist with 35 years experience in Australia and England. The LASD machine was first used in 1988 for the treatment of Visual Dyslexia. In combination with a structured medical program in full co-operation with patient and with parents/teachers if applicable, this treatment is a world first. No drugs, medication, coloured glasses, hypnosis are used.

Click here  - What are the signs /symptoms of Dyslexia?

Dyslexia - what is it?
The word dyslexia comes from the Greek language, and its literal translation is 'dys' - difficult, 'lexis_ - words. Hence difficulty with words.

It is evident therefore that any child or student experiencing such difficulty will have a difficult time in an environment such as school which is book based. School and society value those who acquire a good standard in literary and literacy skills - precisely those skills which dyslexic people find so difficult to master.

The British Dyslexia Association defines dyslexia as: Organising or learning difficulties affecting language, fine co-ordination skills and working memory skills. It is independent of overall ability and conventional teaching. When untreated, there are significant limitations in the development of specific aspects of speech, reading, spelling, writing and sometimes numeracy, which may lead to secondary behavioural problems, although other areas of ability are unaffected.

Dyslexia - The Hidden Handicap
Unless a teacher or parent is skilled in the identification of dyslexia, the child may be misdiagnosed and frequently regarded as lazy, forgetful and inattentive, or even slow, thick, or stupid. It is therefore very important that all teachers and parents are informed and experienced enough to identify the dyslexic child early in a school career. The teacher should provide appropriate assessment and teaching, and be able to monitor the child's progress regularly and carefully.

The Incidence of Dyslexia
Based on government sponsored studies, the British Dyslexia Association estimates that 10% of children have some degree of dyslexia, while about 4% will be affected severely. Most will need some specialist support at some time during their school life, but the most severely affected may need such help throughout their education, with support even at college and university.

What are the signs of Dyslexia
Not every sign or symptom of the dyslexic profile presents itself in each dyslexic person, although there is usually evidence of a sufficient cluster of these to lead to a diagnosis. It should be noted that dyslexia tends to run in families, so there may be a history of it. Asking parents however may not be enough, as often a parent will not have recognised it when he/she was at school. Many only realise the condition once their children are diagnosed.

Before School
History of slow speech development.
Difficulty learning nursery rhymes.
Finds phonological difficulty with the selection of the odd one out e.g. cat: pig : fat.
Slow in name finding.
Some dyslexic children enjoy being read to, but show no interest in letters or words.
Others have no patience for sitting and listening. Difficulty with two or more instructions at one time (due to weak memory system) but well able to carry out tasks when presented in smaller units.
Difficulty keeping simple rhythm.
May not crawl but walks early.
Persistent difficulty in dressing.
Difficulty with shoe laces, buttons, clothes the right way around.
Difficulty with catching, kicking or throwing a ball. Difficulty with hopping and skipping.
Excessive tripping, bumping into things and falling over things.
Obvious good and bad days for no apparent reason.

At Primary School
Personal organisation poor.
Poor time keeping and awareness.
Difficulty in remembering what day of the week it is, birth date, seasons of the year, month of the year. Difficulty in learning to tell the time.
Difficulty remembering anything in sequential order, e.g. days of the week, the alphabet, tables, foreign languages.
Poor reading progress, particularly on look-and-say methods. Inability to blend letters together.
Difficulty in establishing syllable division, beginnings and endings of words synthesis and analysis of words.
Hesitant and laboured reading, especially when reading aloud, often misses out words or adds extra words or fails to recognise familiar words.
Making anagrams of words, e.g. tired for tried, breaded for bearded.
Undetermined hand preference.
Confusion between left and right.
Poor handwriting with many reversals and badly formed letters.
Difficulty in picking out the most important points from a passage.
Poor standard of written work in comparison with oral ability.
Losing the point of the story being written or read. Messy work with many crossings out and words tried several times e.g. wippe, wype, wiep, wipe.
Persistent confusion with letters which look similar, particularly b/d, p/q, n/u, m/w.
Confusion with number order, e.g. plus and minus. A word spelt several different ways in one piece of writing. Badly set out written work, inability to stay close to the margin.
Seems to dream, does not seem to listen.
Easily distracted.
Limited understanding of non-verbal communication.
Fine motor skills may be poor leading to weakness in the speed, control and accuracy of the pencil.
May become the class clown, disruptive or withdrawn (these are cries for help).
Employs work avoidance tactics (sharpening pencils, looking for books etc.)
Rests head on desk or right over to one side when colouring or writing.
Performs unevenly day to day.
Excessive tiredness due to the amount of concentration and effort required.

The Anatomy of the Eye

Visual Cortex
The successful treatment of dyslexia is heavily involved with the visual cortex, which is at the back of the brain. In pure medical terms, it is situated on the medial aspect of the occipital lobe in relation to the calcarine fissure. It is characterised by the distinguishing white line or stria of Gennari, which is visible to the naked eye. The cellular structure of the visual cortex is of the highly granular type associated elsewhere in the cortex with sensory function. The outer and inner granular layers are made up of small granular cells densely packed.

A simple analogy of the visual cortex likens it to that of a Layer cake with 7 layers, the eye simply being the camera. Utilising the LASD, the larger discs stimulate the upper layers and the finest bands stimulating the deepest layer of the visual cortex.

The eye is like the camera: The visual cortex in the occipital (lower back part of the brain) area is the main receiving station of the visual impulses, and the frontal lobe (upper area) of the brain interprets what is being seen.

Assessment of Patient - IN PART
Outline of the program - in brief
Each eye is examined with a visuscope by an optometrist to ensure that there is no pathological problem existing. If such problem is detected, the patient should be referred to an ophthalmic surgeon.

A check is made on the aiming point of each eye. There should be steady binocular fixation. However, many times the fixation of one macula is unsteady, or there can be an eccentric fixation. Demonstrating the main cause for the learning problem, the patient is able to obtain a clear focus at any level of gaze, but it cannot be maintained. As fixation fails, so does the patient's concentration. As there is unsteady or incorrect fixation, the frontal lobe of the brain lays down deep central suppression in the visual cortex (occipital cortex) of the affected eye.

This deep central suppression of the visual cortex is effectively treated by the use of the LASD (Lawson Anti-Suppression Device). With the LASD we can directly treat the area of the problem. The entire population of visual neurones in the visual cortex is activated by a range of 7 (seven) different spatial frequency grating revolving through 360 degrees at a speed of one rev. per minute. The eccentric or unsteady central macular fixation is treated by applying a pleoptic red filter in front of the affected eye, while the eye with the central macular fixation is patched. The internal diffused lighting is even over all (no problem of reflected light images).

The patient views green/blue/black targets through the pleoptic red filter, and works with puzzles - words, maths, sequencing letters, numbers etc. and games. The macula is particularly sensitive to RED. Using the visuscope, when it is seen that the patient has a steady bi-macular fixation, the normal binocular reflexes may be trained. Work is then continued on the machine with the full range of coloured targets, stimulating the full body of the cone receptor cells, progressing through all the discs to the finest, while the puzzles and tasks encourage higher intellectual stimulation.

The work in the clinic is supported by structured home exercises which become progressively more difficult. The magnitude and rapidity of the visual recovery is such that a lasting result can be obtained after ten (10) treatments. These sessions are 1 hour duration per week. Finally the patient then has a higher standard of focusing than the average person. The visual acuity is 6/6 and 6/6 distance N6 and N6 near or better. Full binocular single vision at every level of gaze. A wide amplitude of dissociation between convergence and accommodation is trained which gives full control from the frontal lobe of the brain, so that this treatment will last throughout life. Therefore discharge. No further eye exercises required.

© copyright Alison M. Lawson 1996 All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.
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