 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Smart Drugs and Treatment
There are many and varied therapeutic approaches to helping Dyslexics, both medical and non-medical. Before getting into the specifics of medical treatment — utilizing prescriptive as well as over-the-counter antihistamines, nutrients, etc., let me first present my understanding as to why these variously-named therapeutic approaches work.
To date, the traditionalists cannot accept the various therapies reported helpful in dyslexia, defensively referring to them as "magic cures." In fact, their thinking-brain theories mandate or predict the failure of all therapies that cannot heal or cure the damaged reading processor believed responsible for dyslexia. And no therapy can do this, thus explaining the complete inability of traditionalist theorists to find any medical treatment for dyslexics despite a century of trying.
Had these very same researchers been more humble and clinically minded, they might have reasoned differently, as I was eventually forced to do. If indeed these varied non-thinking- brain therapies are helpful, as reported by many respected professionals and patients alike, and if these therapies cannot heal or "cure" the thinking-brain's reading processor, then dyslexia must not be of thinking-brain origin, especially since there currently exists absolutely no neurological evidence supporting a thinking-brain impairment in dyslexics.
And were the traditionalists objective — theoretically speaking of course — then they might have even carried the above reasoning another "giant leap for mankind." If indeed all the reported helpful dyslexia therapies can and do improve inner-ear functioning — directly or indirectly — then dyslexia most probably is of inner-ear origin, especially since only balance/coordination/rhythmic inner-ear neurological signs and symptoms characterize more than 96% of examined dyslexics.
With the above general issues clarified, I can now proceed to specifically present and discuss the various medical and non-medical therapies found helpful in dyslexics — and thus dyslexia. Hopefully this understanding will significantly contribute to every dedicated professional's ultimate aim: to find and use the best possible multi-disciplinary approach so as to maximize the help that can thus far be provided dyslexics.
So here goes...
My Medical Inner-Ear-Enhancement Treatment
As previously discussed, I discovered that dyslexia is due to a dysfunction in the inner-ear system and realized that antimotion-sickness medications helped strengthen the inner-ear's capacity to handle motion input and balance/coordination output (thus alleviating the various sensory-motor symptoms characterizing motion sickness). I then reasoned that these very same medications may indeed improve the ability of the inner-ear system to fine-tune and process the total sensory input as it does the motion input, and the total motor output as it processes the balance and coordination difficulties noted in motion sickness. Indeed, this reasoning was clearly and decisively validated when dyslexics were treated with a variety of antimotion-sickness antihistamines and related medications, and their favorable responses were carefully recorded. As a result, series of typical medication responses have been presented within this work so that these various sensory-motor and related improvements could be clearly illustrated.
The wide range of expected and unexpected improvements due to my medical treatment more than justifies my theory of the inner-ear system as the fine-tuner for the brain's entire sensory input and motor output. Furthermore, the observed medication-triggered improvements have clearly highlighted the inner-ear-determined and related mechanisms previously noted to be responsible for creating the diverse symptoms characterizing the dyslexic syndrome.
Now that you better understand why and how various medications I use help dyslexics, you must be curious about the mechanism underlying the favorable responses reported by allergists and nutritionists, occupational therapists, optometrists, psychologists and psychiatrists, chiropractors, dentists, educators, etc. Until now, most theories unwittingly confused and reversed hidden dyslexic causes with the resulting symptomatic effects. For example, the emotional symptoms and poor self-image triggered by, or resulting from, the dyslexic process were mistakenly assumed to be the cause of dyslexia. And the reading and speech symptoms triggered by the underlying inner-ear dysfunctioning in dyslexia were mistakenly thought to be part of a primary alexic language disorder of thinking-brain origin. Also, most theories were insufficient to explain and encompass the total symptomatic and therapeutic realities characterizing dyslexia — despite the repeated cry for a holistic approach.
Accordingly, an understanding of why various therapies work or do not work may significantly contribute to every professional's ultimate aim: a meaningful multidisciplinary cooperative approach. It is anticipated that this understanding will lead to new and better ways of helping dyslexics, regardless of the professional's title or the name of the therapy.
Nutritional Treatment
Inasmuch as dyslexia was found to be caused by an inner-ear disturbance, and in view of the fact that niacin, related B vitamins, and minerals were reported to sometimes improve inner-ear-related dizzy and balance symptoms, the findings of nutritionists in dyslexia became readily understandable.
Generally speaking, any harmful process or substance, whether stress-related, allergic, metabolic, infectious, or toxic in nature, may impair or disrupt inner-ear functioning, aggravating a dyslexic disorder.
Occupational and Optometric Treatment
Occupational therapists and optometrists have reported academic as well as coordination improvements when dyslexics perform various motion-related and/or eye-training exercises. Inasmuch as the inner-ear controls all body and eye movements as well as motion-related activities, and in view of the fact that repetition leads to improvement in the specific motor task repeated, it seems reasonable to assume that practicing motor skills could result in an improvement in the inner-ear mechanisms governing them. However, one must still account for the reported academic improvements when only motor exercises are performed. In other words, why will a child given eye exercises and asked to participate in various balance and coordination tasks read, write, and concentrate better? The answer is not very difficult to obtain if one goes back to my previously described concept of dyslexic mechanisms and functioning.
Transfer of Function: Specific vs. Generalized Improvement
If repetitive motor tasks indeed improve underlying inner-ear mechanisms, and if we assume that this improvement extends to, or is transferred to, neighboring inner-ear circuits or channels, then we can readily explain the generalized improvements that sometimes occur when specific "TV" circuits are strengthened by repetition, practicing, or conditioning.
For example, if repetitive eye-tracking techniques help fine-tune and condition its underlying "TV" circuit, or channel, and if this conditioned or improved effect is transferred to neighboring and interconnected circuits, i.e., channels, then reading, writing, math, concentration, and tennis will correspondingly improve. However, in most circumstances transfer of functional improvements to neighboring circuits does not often occur, or is significantly restricted, accounting for the limitation of the above therapies.
When astronauts and other experimental subjects were readied for space and spun in various directions, an interesting observation was noted: Rotating someone repeatedly in a counter-clockwise direction most often led to an improvement in the tolerance for counterclockwise rotations. However, it did not frequently lead to improvement in tolerating clockwise and other types of directional rotations. This observation clearly indicates how the body specifically adapts or changes in order to respond to correspondingly specific stimuli and conditions.
Athletics Improves Concentration and Cognition
Fortunately, transfer of functional improvements to neighboring circuits does occur at least in certain contexts. In my practice I've repeatedly noted the existence of an initially puzzling and strange phenomenon: Dyslexic athletes often do best academically when in training, despite the limited study time they have. Upon termination of their sports activities, due to either a changing season or an injury, a significant number of athletes report a corresponding decrease in their concentration, memory, and overall academic functioning.
At first glance, one might mistake this correlation as an excuse conjured up by athletes to justify their training time. This was not the case, however, for most often it was their parents who reported this fascinating but puzzling correlation. It therefore appeared that sports activities and exercises resulted in a transfer of function to neighboring underlying inner-ear circuits, which in turn resulted in an academic improvement. Cessation of practice led to regression in underlying functioning, and the transfer of function was in turn eliminated. The unexpected observation that physical exercises in dyslexics may result in increased mental capacity is in accord with the adages "Practice makes perfect." and "Sound body, sound mind."
Conditioning experiments in humans and animals follow a very similar pattern. If not continuously reinforced, conditioned functions and improvements disappear with time.
Over my long research career, I have repeatedly tried to understand and explain seemingly paradoxical data. I have learned that confusing events — or events occurring opposite to my expectations — invariably result in significant insights if enough time is spent looking for an explanation. By contrast, important insights remain hidden when confusing or contradictory data are denied or swept under the scientific "rug." As a result, I have disciplined myself to record and attempt to explain contradictions or criticism. When criticism is valid and constructive, surmounting it carries research a significant step forward. When criticism is destructive, it points out hidden flaws in the critic — flaws of which the critic and his audience are most often unaware, once again highlighting areas requiring additional attention and explanation.
The analysis of flaws, in myself and in my critics, has provided me with answers crucial to solving the riddles characterizing dyslexia and dyslexic research. As a result, I have symbolically devoted chapters 13 in A Solution to the Riddle — Dyslexia, A Scientific Watergate — Dyslexia, and even here, to the investigation and analysis of this phenomenon.
Chiropractic and Dental Treatment of TMJ Syndrome
Patients have occasionally reported to me some symptomatic improvements arising from chiropractic manipulation and/or dental corrections of their temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome. Needless to say, these observations are as valid as any other type and must be accounted for rather than "criticized" away. It is well known that many dyslexics will tilt their head, neck, and body in order to read, write, and concentrate better. The neck is an important integration point for the inner-ear circuitry. Perhaps the chiropractic adjustment of these and other positions serves a similar purpose to that performed instinctively and reflexively by dyslexics from within.
Dental problems affecting the temporomandibular joint may often lead to headaches, dizziness, impaired concentration, and dyslexia-like functioning. To explain these symptoms, I have assumed that an inflammation or misalignment of the temporomandibular joint may be transferred to the neighboring inner-ear system, thus either mimicking or aggravating dyslexic symptoms.
Educational Therapy: How It Works and Fails
Educational therapy is as complex as it is crucial. Specific memory functions are characteristically impaired in dyslexia. Thus repetition of specific inputs is crucial if any improvement is to result. As stated earlier, specific channels of information invariably drift in dyslexics, leaving their victims relatively "blind" or "deaf" to certain inputs.
Thus the task of educators is to find and utilize clear, open channels, as well as channels that drift very mildly, so that they may be used to impart crucial information. This teaching-learning process is very similar to what we do for the deaf and blind. In view of the fact that the majority of dyslexics are neither deaf nor blind, however, it is vitally important to improve the drifting (i.e., visual and auditory) channels via repetition or conditioning while simultaneously utilizing and stimulating open channels — thus also explaining the efficacy of visual and auditory training.
If a given sensory input drifts, the corresponding message to the thinking brain is blurred, reversed, or scrambled, rendering it difficult to remember and/or understand. Moreover, these drifting or blurred imprints are frequently wiped out or erased because they are perceived as faulty. Repetition and conditioning frequently force an adaptation in which these drifting inputs are finally "imprinted" or accepted for storage and memory retention. In other words, the underlying inner-ear-related mechanisms processing sensory inputs have been triggered to compensate in a manner similar to the way repetitive motor tasks force an underlying improvement in the specific circuits that process these tasks.
Just as repetitive motor tasks lead to an improvement in the underlying controlling mechanism, as well as a possible transfer of function to neighboring circuits, the repetition and stimulation used in teaching with a multisensory approach (visual, auditory, touch, proprioceptive) may also lead to both underlying and transferred functional improvements.
Tinted Lenses
Recently, the use of tinted lenses was recognized to be helpful in minimizing or compensating for the various reading symptoms characterizing dyslexia. Since inner-ear dysfunctioning subjects may be light-sensitive or photophobic due to impaired light-wave-specific filtering, it appears reasonable that tinted lenses may be as helpful for some dyslexics as is increasing the print size in reading material for others. Both color and increased target size enable the eye as an inner-ear-directed guided missile to better hit its target.
Each therapeutic approach has its own corresponding theory. I have tried to harmonize the successes and failures of all treatment techniques with those of my own, so that patients and professionals will have a choice as to which combination of therapies may best suit specific needs.
Psychotherapy
Until very recently, psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, and related professionals believed child-rearing and emotional disturbances were primarily responsible for many learning, emotional, and behavioral symptoms that characterized dyslexics. Consequently, a host of very specific subtheories and psychological mechanisms were formulated in order to account for each of the many dyslexic symptoms. Invariably, psychotherapy was advised in an effort to cure or alleviate the emotional factors deemed primarily responsible for the dyslexic symptoms.
The fact that psychotherapy often alleviates a dyslexic's symptoms does not prove that psychological factors caused the disturbance. Indeed, psychotherapy often alleviates the stress and secondary feelings of stupidity, frustration, and helplessness, factors that further complicate and destabilize an already impaired fine-tuning system. My research has clearly indicated that the psychological symptomatic fallout of dyslexia is caused by a physiological disturbance within the inner-ear system. In other words, the surface psychological and behavioral symptoms are secondary reactions to the dyslexic's inability to function and compete normally.
The traditionalist neurological approach to dyslexia was significantly guided by the mistaken belief that this disorder was due to a primary dysfunction within the thinking-brain, the seat of the intellect. This "thinking-brain theory" has led clinicians to misdiagnose dyslexics as having minimal brain damage, minimal cerebral dysfunction, static encephalopathy, or cerebral developmental delay, despite the complete absence of tangible neurological findings supporting a diagnosis of primary thinking-brain dysfunction. Clinicians still clinging to this outmoded point of view openly admit that they can neither diagnose this disorder properly nor treat it medically.
Following a rather stereotyped but traumatizing diagnosis of cerebral or thinking-brain dysfunction, the neurologic treatment most frequently consists of referrals. Thus patients are sent to any one or combination of therapists, often in a biased, helter-skelter fashion.
Indeed, the thinking brain is impaired in dyslexics. However, it is only secondarily impaired. For example, if our thinking brain, regardless of how bright and intact it is, receives a drifting, blurred, scrambled, or reversed input, it cannot deal effectively or efficiently with the content it receives. Thus even the thinking-brain dysfunction theory of dyslexia is consistent with my conviction that dyslexia is due to an impaired inner-ear system. The thinking-brain theorists merely confused the primary (inner-ear) site and cause of dyslexia with its secondary effects on thinking-brain function.
Over the years and even quite recently, the traditionalist theorists report differing patterns of thinking-brain functioning in dyslexics vs. "normals" using sophisticated active imaging and electrophysiological techniques, etc. Accordingly, they invariably conclude that the differences measured atop the thinking brain are the cause rather than the result of dyslexia. For reasons that must be clear to even the most unsophisticated of readers, these theorists invariably fail to take cognizance of a simple and alternative explanation. If dyslexics vs. "normals" send scrambled signals to their thinking brains, isn't it reasonable to assume that a normal thinking brain, via compensatory adaptations, will handle these abnormal vs. normal signals differently.
In retrospect, psychiatrists and neurologists were similarly misled. They confused the secondary fallout of the dyslexic disorder with its primary underlying cause in the inner-ear. Psychiatrists mistakenly assumed that a primary psychological or mental dysfunction explained the behavioral and emotional symptoms of dyslexia. And neurologists mistakenly assumed the presence of a primary thinking-brain dysfunction to explain the presence of academic and speech symptoms in dyslexia. Each and every specialty unwittingly held onto its assumptions tenaciously — perhaps even using the same perseveration or gluing-in mechanisms found characterizing dyslexics.
Invariably, misdiagnosed patients are returned to educators with either no helpful information or outright misinformation. Thus educators have been given a near impossible task, one that requires a Herculean effort of patience and intuition. In the final analysis, educators are ultimately responsible for the education and treatment of the children and adults before them. They are all to often forced to assume the total burden of the psychiatric, neurologic, pediatric, and optometric specialties without the benefit of any meaningful medical understanding. They are forced to help, or attempt to help, millions and millions of dyslexics in the dark. Many accomplish wonders under the circumstances. Some are not equal to the task.
In Summary
A series of varied non-traditional dyslexia therapies have been presented and discussed. When properly understood and utilized via a holistic approach, all dyslexics can be helped and all possible favorable responses will be maximized.
Specific Smart Drugs and Nutrients For Dyslexics
The aim of this discussion is to provide interested professionals and others with general guidelines for the medical treatment of Dyslexia and related disorders.
When properly administered by physicians, this approach will help 75–85% of treated dyslexics. However, no one should treat himself — even with over-the-counter medications. As a result, the names of specific drugs will not be listed here. They can be found in my books — where they are noted so that physicians and their patients can benefit from my 30+ years of clinical experience.
Smart Drugs
The antimotion-sickness antihistamines have the greatest chance of helping the academic and non-ADD part of the dyslexic syndrome.
The stimulant medications have the greatest chance of helping the ADD part of the dyslexic syndrome.
Depending upon symptoms and test findings, most dyslexics would benefit from specific combinations of the above two groups.
Smart Nutrients — Inner-Ear (CVS) and/or Neurotransmitter Enhancers
Because nutrients add to the overall chance and quality of an improvement in dyslexia, I would like to mention a few specific substances which I and/or others have found helpful. And since patients know significantly more about these "herbal substances" than most physicians, I feel very little hesitation in naming a few here that I've used and had good results from. They certainly have no negatives — allergies aside. And so some help is infinitely better than none.
A Starting Sample:
- Ginger Root
- Multivitamins and Minerals
- Lecithin
- Ginkgo
- DMAE
- Unsaturated Long Chain Polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP's) — DHA and AA
- Mentalin
Newer and other substances will be added to this list over time.
| PREV: Vital Facts About Dyslexia and Other Disorders | Back to Info | NEXT: Patient Responses |