New research in New England is attempting to shine a light on the root causes of Dyslexia, and there’s a massive study in progress there on pre-reading children, hoping to increase early detection in dyslexic children. Dr. Nadine Gaab “is part of the leadership team in the Boston Longitudinal Study of Dyslexia, a project that has now tested 1,320 kindergarten students in 21 schools in New England for learning disabilities over the past four years.” She addressed a charter school in Marbelhead, MA, recently to share some of what they’re learning. Here’s an excerpt from an article in The Marblehead Reporter about the event, and you can click through the link below to read the full story. If you’re in the greater Cleveland area and you’d like to have your children tested for Dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning disorders, please give us a call. As this study is showing, early detection can lead to earlier support and a better learning experience.
Well-known people, living and dead, known to have or have had the disorder include Steven Spielberg, Thomas Edison, Anderson Cooper and Ludwig van Beethoven.
According to Gaab, dyslexia profoundly affects a person’s language, writing and reading. People with dyslexia may have difficulty learning and using vocabulary words, recognizing, writing and associating sounds with letters.
“There are currently seven theories that try to explain the cause of dyslexia,” Gabb said, adding that no medications exist to treat the disorder.
Gaab talked at length about one hypothesis comparing the neurological activity in a typical reading brain to a dyslexic one.
To provide perspective, Gaab displayed an image of the neurons in a typical brain’s so-called “reading highway” lighting up when a person read one word. In the dyslexic brain, the same activity could barely be detected.