According to the American Psychiatric Association, the
diagnositic criteria for Reading Disorder (Dyslexia) are as
follows (DSM-IV, 1994):
1. Reading achievement, as measured by individually
administered standardized tests of reading accuracy or
comprehension, is substantially below that expected, given
the person's chronological age, measured intelligence, and
age- appropriate education.
2. The disturbance in Criterion A significantly interferes
with academic achievement or activities of daily living that
require reading skills.
3. If a sensory deficit is present, the reading difficulties
are in excess of those usually associated with it (the
specific sensory deficit).
A definition based on information from neuroscientific and
linguistic research, is difficulty in the use and processing
of linguistic/symbolic codes -- alphabetic letters
representing speech sounds, or numeric symbols representing
numbers or quantities. Such difficulty is reflected in the
language continuum that includes spoken language, written
language, and language comprehension.
In a nutshell, a person can be said to be suffering from
dyslexia whenever he cannot deal with language as well as we
would expect of him.
These classic definitions of dyslexia relate only to the
symptoms of the problem and do not attempt to relate at all
to its cause.
The diagram below shows some of the factors which can cause
difficulties with dealing with language. The huge range of
possible causes explains why there are so many methods of
`curing' dyslexia and why they all seem to have a
significant success rate.
For example, one system cures dyslexia through exercises.
Another system is based on administering travel-sickness
pills. A third system prescribes glasses with specially
tinted lenses. A fourth system works through reducing trauma
using muscle-testing. One therapist reports amazing success
just by slapping his client on the back and saying to him,
"You can do it!" Many parents relate how they have helped
their children through checking them for allergies and/or
giving them nutritional supplements.
Remediation might deal with the source of the problem, or it
might train the sufferer to compensate for the problem, or
it might ease a problem unrelated to dyslexia per se, but
thereby allow the reader to deal with the problem by
himself.
The screening used in the FRAMEWORK System covers many of
the most common factors while, at the same time, providing
an accurate baseline for measuring the progress of
remediation.
Of course, the fastest and most efficient path to follow is
one which deals with the source of the problem. Once the
source of the problem is pinpointed and dealt with,
remediation of the dyslexia can usually be effected rapidly
and easily. That is one of the reasons why the FRAMEWORK
Remediation Program is so exceptionally fast, usually
enabling the reader to significantly improve his level of
reading and understanding after only a few sessions.
[Future articles will expand on the FRAMEWORK REMEDIATION
PROGRAM, or call Rabbi Zobin at 02-5373340.]
