The disease reads and does not understand the meaning of what is written. The meaning of illness. What is a disease? What we read

Every parent dreams that their child will be born healthy and grow up beautiful and smart. Fortunately, in most cases this happens, but sometimes there are unpleasant exceptions.

Modern medicine has made great strides forward, and many dangerous diseases are already curable. But there are rare and strange diseases that have not yet been studied enough. Even the best doctors are unable to understand the causes of their occurrence and help people who suffer from them.

1. Dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalcuria

At first, everything looks completely normal: the child grows, plays, learns. But at certain times, parents are faced with strange problems. It is absolutely impossible to teach their children to read, write, and count. What is the reason and what to do? Is it just laziness or some strange disease?

Written speech consists of two types of speech activity - writing and reading. Strange and somewhat scary words like dysgraphia and dyslexia mean the inability or difficulty in mastering writing and reading. Most often they are observed simultaneously, but sometimes they can occur separately. A complete inability to read is called alexia, a complete inability to write is called agraphia.

Many doctors do not consider these deviations to be a disease, but attribute them to the structural features of the brain with a completely different worldview and a different view of familiar things. Dyslexia should be corrected, not cured. The inability to read and write can be complete or partial: the inability to understand letters and symbols, entire words and sentences, or complete text. A child can be taught to write, but at the same time he makes a lot of blots and confuses letters and symbols. And, of course, this does not happen because of inattention or laziness. This needs to be understood. This child needs specialist help.

The previous symptoms are often accompanied by another unpleasant symptom – dyscalcuria. It is characterized by an inability to understand numbers, which is likely due to an inability to understand letters and symbols when reading. Sometimes children perform operations with numbers in their heads quite well, but they cannot complete tasks described in text. This probably happens because a person does not have the ability to perceive the text as a whole.

Unfortunately, modern medicine does not yet provide a definite answer to the question of why a dyslexic cannot learn to read, write, or count either at 6 or 12 years old, or as an adult.

2. Dyspraxia - lack of coordination

This abnormality is characterized by the inability to perform simple tasks, such as brushing teeth or tying shoelaces. The trouble for parents is that they do not understand the specifics of this behavior, and instead of paying due attention, they show anger and irritation.

But, in addition to childhood diseases, there are many such, no less strange, ailments that a person encounters in adulthood. You most likely have never even heard of some of them.

3. Micropsia or Alice in Wonderland syndrome

This is fortunately a fairly rare neurological disorder that affects people's visual perception. Patients see people, animals and objects around them much smaller than they really are. In addition, the distances between them appear distorted. This disease is often called “Lilliputian vision,” although it affects not only vision, but also hearing and touch. Even your own body may seem completely different. Typically, the syndrome continues even when the eyes are closed and more often appears at nightfall, when the brain lacks information about the size of surrounding objects.

4. Stendhal syndrome

A person may not even realize that he has a disease of this kind until his first visit to an art gallery. When he gets into a place where there is a large number of art objects, he begins to experience severe symptoms of a panic attack: rapid heartbeat, dizziness, increased heart rate and even hallucinations. In one of the galleries in Florence, such cases often occurred with tourists, which served as the basis for the description of this disease. This disease got its name thanks to the famous writer Stendhal, who described similar symptoms in his book “Naples and Florence.”

5. Maine Jumping Frenchman Syndrome

The main symptom of this rather rare genetic disease is considered to be severe fear. Such patients, at the slightest sound stimulus, jump up, scream, wave their arms, then fall, roll on the floor and cannot calm down for a long time. This disease was first recorded in the United States in 1878 by a French lumberjack in Maine. This is where its name comes from. Another name for it is heightened reflection.

6. Urbach-Wiethe disease

Sometimes this more than strange disease is called the “brave lion” syndrome. This is a very rare genetic disease, the main symptom of which is an almost complete absence of fear. Numerous studies have shown that the absence of fear is not the cause of the disease, but is a consequence of the destruction of the amygdala of the brain. Typically, such patients have a hoarse voice and wrinkled skin. Fortunately, since the discovery of this disease, less than 300 cases of its manifestation have been recorded in the medical literature.

7. Alien hand syndrome

This is a complex neuropsychiatric disease, which is characterized by the fact that one or both of the patient’s hands act as if on their own. German neurologist Kurt Goldstein first described the symptoms of this strange disease when he observed his patient. During sleep, her left hand, acting according to some incomprehensible rules of its own, suddenly began to strangle its “mistress.” This strange disease occurs due to damage to the transmission of signals between the hemispheres of the brain. With such a disease, you can harm yourself without realizing what is happening.

Latest research offers new hope for those suffering from this disease

Eight-year-old Seryozha Kaledin* did well in mathematics, drew well, and was skilled in sports, but reading and writing were a real punishment for him. Even by the end of 2nd grade, Seryozha was unable to remember how to write the simplest words and could not retell the text.

The teacher suspected something was wrong and advised Serezha’s parents to contact a specialist. The speech therapist diagnosed dyslexia. This means a partial disorder in the process of mastering reading, which manifests itself in repeated errors. “In recent years, the number of children with dyslexia has increased significantly,” says G.V. Chirkina, a professor at the Moscow Research Institute of Corrective Pedagogy. “The high pace of learning and intensive programs are identifying more and more of these children.”

According to L.V. Lopatina, head of the department of speech therapy at the St. Petersburg State Pedagogical University named after. Herzen, dyslexia is often detected when the disorders become persistent and the child has a lot of related problems: the process of reading causes disgust, low self-esteem is formed, and difficulties arise with adaptation in the team.

Many parents have a misconception about what dyslexia is. Moms and dads breathe a sigh of relief when the child begins to parse words syllable by syllable and even read entire sentences, but dyslexia in its mild form can remain undetected until high school. Others begin to sound the alarm when they notice that a small child writes the letter "I" or the number 3 backwards - they simply do not know that almost all children at some stage of development turn their letters upside down.

Approximately eighty percent of reading problems among first-graders are associated with inept help from parents and the fact that the school program is not coordinated with the preparatory program of the kindergarten, says E.Yu. Klimontovich, a speech therapist with 26 years of experience, a specialist at the Center for Psychological, Medical and Social accompanying children and adolescents.

Dyslexia is a phenomenon in all languages ​​and cultures. Although scientists have not reached a consensus on the frequency of its occurrence, many put the figure between five and 15 percent. “It all depends on where to draw the line,” says Dr. Chirkina. “Whether we mean understanding the direct meaning of what we read or understanding allegories and allegories. We can only say with confidence that dyslexia begins with difficulties in mastering reading techniques ".

Many children, having a good memory, simply hide how difficult reading is for them.

Experts wondered whether dyslexia was related to a lack of verbal communication. “Children from families with low socio-economic status are more likely to experience educational neglect,” says Dr. Lopatina. “Such families, as a rule, seek help later. But gradually, if there are no underlying biological factors, the reading problem can be solved ".

The likelihood of dyslexia also depends on the child’s level of intellectual development. According to Dr. Chirkina, children with disabilities have a much more difficult time mastering reading skills. And if you place excessive demands on such a child or keep him in a general education school, then, of course, the lag behind his classmates will be very noticeable. But there are methods by which such children can be successfully taught to read and write.

Dyslexia is often detected in children with attention deficit disorder. “Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is often accompanied by a delay in the maturation of higher mental functions and, consequently, specific learning difficulties,” says Ph.D. A.L. Sirotyuk, author of the book “Neuropsychological and psychophysiological support of learning.” However, dyslexia also occurs in children with reduced activity. And the reason may be anxiety due to the inability to read and study.

Boys are usually more impulsive and show excessive activity in class, so they are more often referred for examination - then problems with reading are often revealed. However, research shows that gender does not particularly affect reading ability.

In most cases, the cause of dyslexia is a disorder in the processing of sounds and sound combinations, called phonological processing, says Dr. Chirkina. Then the child has difficulty understanding that words are divided into individual sounds, and is slower to learn to manipulate sounds. For example, a child may be confused by being asked to pronounce the word “mole” without the “k” sound.

Scientists have found that when children with dyslexia read, certain areas of the brain are not activated.

The question arises: what causes this neurobiological failure? It turns out that the speed and automaticity with which a reader translates letters into speech sounds is influenced by genes. People who have difficulty doing this usually have relatives with the same problems.

Another probable cause of dyslexia is fetal hypoxia, a lack of oxygen during intrauterine development. “This is a common phenomenon, especially among urban residents,” says Dr. Klimontovich. “As a result of hypoxia, the metabolism of brain cells is disrupted, as a result of which the child may experience some brain dysfunction.” However, according to G.V. Chirkina, “to say that dyslexia is directly related to hypoxia is very incorrect.”

Although difficulties in translating letters in unfamiliar words into speech have a genetic basis, the most effective way to cope with dyslexia is not medicine, but corrective pedagogy. Science is putting forward new arguments in favor of early intervention. Now in the majority kindergartens Speech therapists work. They conduct screening tests to determine which children are at high risk of abnormalities.

According to experts, identifying dyslexia in grades 1-2 contributes to reading development in 82 percent of cases, in grade 3 - in 46 percent, and in grades 5-7 - only in 10-15 percent of cases. Dr. Sirotyuk believes that the later correctional work is started, the more pronounced secondary disorders appear: protest reaction, anxiety, neurotic symptoms, and so on.

If parents have reason to suspect dyslexia, do not wait. Now there are children's consultation centers in all major cities and regions. You can also contact a speech therapist at the clinic.

Olga Tarasova, the mother of seven-year-old Grisha, was concerned: by the middle of 1st grade, her son was still unable to master basic reading and writing skills. In addition, the usually cheerful boy became anxious, irritable and whiny. Tarasova turned to a speech therapist, who diagnosed Grisha with emerging dyslexia and dysgraphia.

As it turned out, the cause of all the boy’s troubles was a pedagogical error: the teacher, in the old fashioned way, forced the left-handed boy to write with his right hand. This caused severe neurosis in the child, the consequences of which led to difficulties in mastering the program. After a course of classes, the boy’s problems were successfully resolved.

Some parents believe that they can confidently rule out the possibility of dyslexia if children do not lag behind their peers in the early grades. Although it is known that many children, having a good memory, simply hide how difficult reading is for them. Problems become apparent in high school when more complex texts are read.

How to recognize dyslexia in a timely manner? “The criterion is very simple,” explains E.Yu. Klimontovich. “If a child not only reads slowly, but also misses letters, distorts endings, poorly understands the meaning of what he read, cannot tell what he just read about, we believe that The child develops dyslexia."

Once it turns out that a child has difficulties with reading, parents are faced with the question of which curriculum to choose.

For full-fledged auditory phonemic development, close interaction between two speech analyzers is necessary: ​​auditory and speech motor, says G. V. Chirkina. - We have developed a special program for children with phonetic-phonemic underdevelopment. Many domestic speech therapists are now effectively working under this program.

It should be taken into account, believes A.L. Sirotyuk, that children with dyslexia develop cognitive interests late and retain play motivation for a long time. Role-playing games are most effective when they include actions necessary to develop the required skill. At the same time, reading becomes not an end in itself, but a means of achieving a game goal.

Discussion

Dear author, is it possible to talk about the formation of dyslexia if a child reads fluently, writes well (almost without errors), shares impressions about books and their characters, but is completely unable to retell in his own words what he has read? Either he categorically refuses (saying that it’s boring for him to repeat), or he recites the text memorized by heart instead of conveying the meaning in his own words. And how to teach him to retell the text? I have a boy, age 5 years and 10 months. Thank you.

04.05.2006 17:10:37, copywriter

The topic is interesting, but it’s bad that the article did not give a clear definition of dyslexia or at least outline the range of disorders that are usually classified as this disorder. It remains not entirely clear what signs should alert parents.

04.05.2006 13:22:17, Mrs. John

Comment on the article "Dyslexia: it is important to notice in time"

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Is it possible to confuse Luo with dyslexia? Medicine/children. Adoption. Discussion of issues of adoption, forms of placing children in families. She gave him tests such as “horse-foal”, “cow-donkey, kid-calf”. To my question, what should children actually know...

Section: ...I find it difficult to choose a section (Dyslexia in a child). Dyslexics, how do you live and learn? There is no suitable topic here, in Others Thank you for your kind words! I can’t understand what kind of beast this is - CAS. I’m also afraid for the music and the extra mother: she’ll throw them away...

Dyslexia: important to notice early. Diagnosis of dyslexia: how to recognize the disease in a child? Then the child has difficulty understanding that words are divided into individual sounds, and learns more slowly Raising a child from 10 to 13 years old: education, school problems...

I am an adult dyslexic - dysgraphic in the 9th grade. We did not deal with the correction of dyslexia as such, but decided. My daughter from grades 1 to 7 had a private language teacher, part-time mother of a dyslexic, with whom my daughter studied constantly...

Dyslexia: important to notice early. “In recent years, the number of children with dyslexia has increased significantly,” says G.V. Chirkina, a professor at the Moscow Research Institute of Corrective Pedagogy. “The high pace of learning, intensive programs are identifying more and more of these...

About dyslexia. School problems. Child from 10 to 13. Hyperexcitability, instability of attention, weakness of concentration... After all, all these things (as well as interest in the printed word) are thoroughly formed before the child actually begins to read.

Dyslexia, dysgraphia. Need feedback. Has anyone with these problems contacted the Israeli clinic Medis Correction Center, which has been working in Moscow for 10 years using the Davis method? Dyslexics and dysgraphics are all very different. One thing helps some, another helps others.

Dyslexics catch up, especially with a mild form, and at first it is very important not to bully or press them, so that the child does not lose confidence. Dyslexia - what is it. Features of teaching children with dyslexia. Teaching reading and writing, advice to teachers and parents.

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Dyslexia. Whose children managed to get rid of this problem or achieve noticeable results. What were the violations? Which specialists did you work with and for how long? My daughter confuses the letters B-D, T-P, etc. in pairs. She has been studying with a speech therapist for four months...

Raising a child from 10 to 13 years old: education, school problems, relationships with classmates, parents and teachers, additional activities, leisure and hobbies. Dysgraphia in a schoolchild. The child has speech therapy problems, but mild dyslexia...

Dyslexia: important to notice early. And how to teach him to retell the text? How to teach him to check the written text in a quality manner, because it is important to find the text himself The text is backwards, first Our teacher told us this technique, she told us so...

Even people who study abroad apply for certificates of dyslexia from the Dyslexic+ Regional Public Organization, and thanks to these certificates they receive the conditions they require in the learning process.

Dyslexia: important to notice early. school for a child with dyslexia and mental retardation. Dyslexia: important to notice early. “In recent years, the number of children with dyslexia has increased significantly...

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Dyslexia: important to notice early. The speech therapist diagnosed dyslexia. This means a partial disorder in the process of mastering reading, which manifests itself in repeated errors. According to L.V. Lopatina, head of the department of speech therapy...

Aphasia in medicine is a disease characterized by a speech disorder: the patient loses the ability to perceive the speech of others and use words to communicate on his own. At the same time, the functionality of the hearing and speech apparatus is completely preserved. Aphasia is often accompanied by an inability to read and write. The occurrence and development of the disease does not depend on gender and age.

There are several types of disease depending on the symptoms, course and causes.

1. Amnestic aphasia. In this case, the patient confuses and forgets the names of objects, but describes their purpose and use - for example, he cannot say “book”, but says “this can be read”, cannot say “dress” - but says “women wear this”. If you nudge him by saying the initial letter of the name, he will remember it on his own, but will soon forget it again.
2. Motor aphasia. In severe cases, the patient is able to adequately perceive speech, but cannot utter a word in response. In easy forms it is possible to pronounce individual sounds.
3. Sensory aphasia. The patient's hearing remains excellent, he can speak, but at the same time he poorly understands or does not understand at all the speech of others and does not react to it. At the same time, he himself can chat for a long time and meaninglessly, confusing words and rearranging them.
4. Semantic aphasia. Patients can express themselves clearly, understand and respond to speech addressed to them, but do not grasp the meaning and difference of certain combinations of words. For example, a patient may show a finger or nose when asked, but will not understand what is wanted from him if he is asked to show his nose with a finger.
5. Total aphasia. The person does not understand the speech at all and cannot respond to it in any way.

Causes, factors of occurrence, methods of spread of the disease

The main reason that provokes the disease is damage to the parts of the cerebral cortex that are responsible for speech and the perception of speech by a person from the outside. May be due to the following factors:

• traumatic brain injuries;
• cerebral hemorrhages;
• abscesses of the brain or its cortex;
• blood clots in the vessels of the brain;
• malignant or benign neoplasms and brain tumors;
• degenerative-atrophic disorders - Alzheimer's disease;
• hypertension;
• rheumatism;
• hereditary predisposition.

Sometimes the disease is periodic, immediate in nature as a consequence of an epileptic attack or migraine. Aphasia cannot be classified as a mental illness and its treatment does not require the help of a psychiatrist.

Signs and symptoms

For amnestic aphasia the patient cannot remember the names of objects on his own, but names them when reminded of letters or syllables. In severe cases, he cannot even repeat a word if it is spoken to him. Almost always this type of aphasia is combined with sensory aphasia.

For motor aphasia the patient finds it difficult to pronounce long words, although he understands their meaning. At the same time, he can swap letters or syllables in a word, change case or declension. Spontaneous speech suffers greatly, and automatic speech suffers a little less. In complex forms, speech is completely absent.

For sensory aphasia Characterized by non-stop talkativeness, the necessary words can be replaced with similar ones in sound, but different in meaning. Understanding of oncoming speech is impaired or completely absent. It is also difficult to read and understand what is written. The patient may get stuck on certain words, sometimes his speech becomes completely meaningless.

For semantic aphasia the patient does not understand the meaning of nouns, which is why they are almost absent from his speech. He himself can repeat word for word everything he heard, but not understand the meaning.

With total aphasia the person completely loses the ability to speak, does not react to the speech of others, and can neither read nor write.

It is undesirable to carry out treatment on your own, since the disease can become chronic, expressed by severe stuttering.

Complications of aphasia, why the disease is dangerous

The main danger if the disease is ignored and there is no adequate treatment is the complete inability to speak, read and write, as well as understand the speech of others. You need to understand that the causes of aphasia are serious damage to the cerebral cortex; this disease is only a consequence of a much more dangerous pathology, which always requires long-term and always complex treatment, often surgical intervention.

Diagnostics

First of all, to diagnose the type and severity of the disease, the following methods are used:

• speaking test. Attention is drawn to rich or poor vocabulary, repetition, coherence of the story, grammatical construction of sentences and phrases, automatic speech - names of numbers, days of the week, recitation of poetry, etc.;
• checking written language - mandatory dictation, rewriting the text, retelling the text in your own words;
• perception of oral speech - understanding simple and complex words and phrases, highlighting meaningless expressions;
• reading - speed and quality of reading, ability as such, reading comprehension.

To diagnose the main cause of aphasia - damage to the cortex or blood vessels of the brain, etc. - computed tomography, ultrasound, and MRI are performed.

Treatment of aphasia

Comprehensive treatment is required, aimed at eliminating the main cause of the disease and working with a speech therapist to restore speech functions.

Drug treatment of aphasia

Various drugs are prescribed: elatin, mydocalm, amiridine, galantamine, vinpocetine, caventin, piracetam, etc.

Other treatments for aphasia

Physiotherapeutic procedures also help - massage, acupuncture, electrical stimulation, magnetic therapy, exercise therapy.

The speech therapist, for his part, uses computer techniques to restore skills and correct speech, and intonation therapy.

An additional effect is provided by treatment with folk remedies - these are various herbal tinctures and drops that have a calming, tonic and restorative effect on the body: ginseng root, motherwort, valerian.

Prevention

In the treatment of aphasia, it is important to diagnose it in time to prevent progression and complications. If the first symptoms are identified, the patient should be protected as much as possible from additional diseases and brain injuries.

Features in children

The disease can also develop in young children, the main difficulty is that it is rarely diagnosed in the initial stages, attributing speech disorders to age. At the same time, the prognosis for aphasia for children is better than for adults, since at their age brain tissue has greater plasticity and recovers faster.

Treatment with a speech therapist can begin only after examination and permission from the doctor, when the exact cause of aphasia has been established. Complete restoration of speech in aphasia occurs no earlier than two years later, provided that all instructions and procedures are followed.

Despite the fact that phobias are not contagious, they are widespread, and people suffer from them regardless of age, social status, or ethnicity. Some people cannot stand the sight of insects, others panic if they find themselves in the dark—the list is endless. But if we are accustomed to the fact that more understandable phobias are a common phenomenon, then rare types of this disease can simply be surprising. Those people who are familiar with phobias from their own experience know what difficulties arise from this in life.

Acribophobia is a phobia that is fairly well known, but not very common. Translated from Greek, akribo means “I know for sure,” and the word phobos means fear. A person susceptible to this disease is constantly under the influence of the fear of not understanding the text he is reading and its semantic meaning. In this case, it does not matter what caused this fear, but in any case it is abnormal.

Interestingly, sometimes acribophobia can occur on its own, and in some cases it is a symptom that accompanies other mental disorders, such as schizophrenia. There are cases when patients with schizophrenic disorder claim that they do not understand anything when reading the text. Phrases are perceived as something unrelated to each other; they represent a certain indefinite set of words. Those, in turn, break down into syllables or even individual letters and punctuation marks. As a result, the patient sees complete nonsense in front of him, even if the text is absolutely simple, understandable even to a first-grader.

Acribophobia often develops in students of various educational institutions. For example, a student claims that when exams approach, a real wave of fear rolls over him, and he constantly thinks that now he will take a ticket, and the question will be incomprehensible to him. And the scary thing is not that the student is poorly prepared, he just doesn’t understand what exactly he should talk about! As a result, when the crucial moment really comes, and the text appears before his eyes, the patient begins to panic, he becomes distracted, and cannot concentrate and understand the meaning of what is written. In such a situation, it sometimes helps if someone present reads the contents of the text out loud. But this is not always possible during the exam, unfortunately.

In most cases, people suffering from acribophobia are well aware that their fear is irrational, and therefore they try to somehow overcome it, not to show their painful condition to strangers, so as not to look strange in the eyes of others. But it is impossible to hide the signs of a phobia, although in certain cases this condition can be regarded as a manifestation of problems with the cardiovascular system, etc. A patient with acriophobia shows anxiety, becomes very nervous, his face turns red, and his pulse quickens. Breathing becomes heavy and intermittent. General weakness, dizziness, and tremor are also observed.

So is it possible to get rid of this obsessive fear? After all, if most other phobias are based on the subconscious instinct of self-preservation, then what does acribophobia mean, and where to look for its sources? Almost every psychologist, answering this question, will begin with the fact that the original source of the problem needs to be identified in the past; perhaps certain events in a person’s life are connected with this. In addition, sometimes people make an unfounded diagnosis for themselves, considering themselves acribophobic. But is this really so? If the meaning of what you read is unclear, you should take a few simple measures, for example, try not to focus your attention on what is happening around, but to delve into the meaning of what is written. In addition, you should be objective in assessing your own condition. Sometimes thoughts are occupied with something else, and the meaning of the text is not entirely clear for the simple reason that a person cannot concentrate on it. Another option is that there may indeed be a lack of certain knowledge if the text belongs to the category of special technical ones, and this area is completely unfamiliar to the person. In this case, it is completely natural that the meaning of what you read is unclear, no matter how much you re-read it.

This specific phobia has a significant element of dependence on the opinions of others. Acribophobes are always afraid that other people, such as colleagues or classmates, will consider them incompetent. In this case, the intervention of a psychotherapist is required, since the patient must realize at what stage it happened that he became completely dependent on someone else’s opinion, and this significance acquired catastrophic proportions.

When starting treatment, you should know that it will not be as fast as you would like. The doctor must figure out exactly when the patient began to react painfully to the opinions of others. First of all, an acribophobe must learn to perceive the situation differently. For example, when left alone with himself, a person must understand that no one is controlling him, and if the text is not clear to him the first time, then he can read it as many times as necessary, even ten times in a row. And most importantly, no one will criticize, make bad jokes, and so on. If the people around you are normal and have a friendly attitude towards a person prone to acribophobia, then they will not behave tactlessly, aggravating the situation. The best they can do is read aloud a certain paragraph that seems incomprehensible to the patient. In most cases, oral speech is perceived much easier, and after that the text seems not difficult.

Parents must first of all have patience and endurance. Not all children learn to read easily and quickly. The reasons for this can be very different. This does not mean that the child is lazy. In addition, we must keep in mind that the problem of dyslexia sometimes gets in the way of learning to read. This is a violation when a person constantly makes mistakes when reading, sometimes cannot read the text, swallows parts of words and sometimes simply does not understand the meaning of what is written. As a consequence of problems with reading, problems arise with writing... Moreover, people in all countries of the world suffer from dyslexia, and quite often. According to world statistics, every tenth person in the world is dyslexic! Candidate of Psychological Sciences Lyubov MOSHINSKAYA talks about what dyslexia is and how to overcome it.

MORE than 100 years ago, in 1896, the English doctor Morgan published an article in which he described a fourteen-year-old boy who differed from his peers in only one thing: he could not read. Otherwise, he was in no way inferior to them: he was dexterous and smart in the game, loved mathematics, and spoke beautifully and convincingly. But he couldn’t read what was written on the paper.

The assumption was that such children simply do not see the text. And then, naturally, they need to be treated by an ophthalmologist. Ophthalmologists gave children lines in large print and tried to teach them to read at least in this way. Nothing worked...

Further examinations confirmed that the vision of such “strange children” is generally in perfect order. Dr. Morgan suggested that they had a problem with their hearing! That is, they hear something, but “not like that.” This feature was called the word "dyslexia". Today, this term refers to various deviations and difficulties in reading.

In order for a person to start reading, he must be taught to distinguish individual sounds in a word. In the overwhelming majority of cases, all children “skip through” this initial stage quickly and easily, distinguishing sounds in a word automatically and correlating them with letters. For dyslexics, the problem is that they are not able to connect sound and symbol, so they get “stuck” in this initial phase.

The number of phonemes, as a rule, does not coincide with the number of letters. For example, in the Russian language there are 39 such indivisible particles of language (phonemes), and only 33 letters. Thus, the word “cat” consists of three phonemes: k, o, t. As a rule, people understand this. But dyslexics hear the word "cat" as one sound!

What are they thinking?

For MANY years, scientists have been trying to figure out why this happens? Assumptions were confirmed that dyslexia is associated with improper functioning of one of the areas of the cerebral cortex.

Research using brain scans has shown that when dyslexics try to separate words into sounds, activation of certain areas in the back of the brain decreases. But at the same time, some areas of the frontal part are activated.

One study compared the brain scans of six boys with dyslexia and seven healthy boys. The scans were performed while performing three different tasks: pronouncing two musical tones separately, separating meaningful words from quasi-words (nonsense words), and selecting rhyming syllables.

Differences were only found during the final task - dyslexics scored lower, and scans showed that there was increased activation in the frontal lobes of the brain. This led the researchers to assume that dyslexics have to expend much more effort on analyzing sound patterns.

Recently, a new technique has emerged - functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMTI). It allows you to monitor blood flow in the brain - those areas that are most abundantly supplied with blood work more intensely. Gradually, scientists came to the conclusion that increased activity occurs in those areas of the brain that are responsible for speech. Scientists have suggested that dyslexics try to "get close" to the sounds that make up words in other ways - for example, by muttering them under their breath. Ineffective pathways in the brain may be one of the causes of dyslexia.

THANKS TO all this research, scientists now have a much better understanding of how the human brain processes written text. It became clear that mastering reading skills is not the same completely natural process as the ability to speak.

Almost all human beings master speech in the same way: humming, muttering, using single words, two-word sentences - and the transition to full speech.

Scientists believe that speech is approximately 100,000 years old, while writing is quite young - it is no more than 5,000 years old. Perhaps this is why a child has to make special efforts to master written speech.

The sooner you can recognize the symptoms of dyslexia in your child, the more effectively you can help him. Scientists believe that basic reading skills are best acquired between the ages of 5 and 7 years. Children who are at risk can be trained for 30 minutes a day already in kindergarten.

If you first realized it when the child was already 8-9 years old, it will take two hours of daily special exercises.

Can parents themselves, even before school, identify symptoms of dyslexia in their child? Yes!

The first and most simple test - preschoolers are asked to name the sounds corresponding to certain letters and letter combinations. If it is difficult for a child to do this, he makes a lot of mistakes, or has difficulty completing this task, he should be sent for a more serious test.

In the future, it may be possible to monitor the problem even at a very early age. American scientists studied electrical waves in the brains of infants and correlated these observations with the reading skills of the same children at the age of 8 years. They found that infants who later had trouble reading responded to a series of taps more slowly, perhaps because their brains were unable to process the sounds.

It is not very clear how these data fit into the overall picture. Some experts believe that such a lag is associated with another harbinger of reading difficulties - insufficient “fast naming” skills, when the child is required to quickly name well-known letters and numbers. In this case, the speed of establishing a connection between a visual symbol and its sound analogue is measured. This skill is the basis of learning to read.

Is it possible to help such children learn to read?

Quite a lot of research is being carried out in THIS direction. For example, there is a program in which children are taught to distinguish the sensations that arise when pronouncing certain sounds. Consonant sounds are designated according to the movements accompanying their pronunciation. For example, [p] is called "ppaf!" - after all, to pronounce this sound, the lips first close, and then the exhaled air, like a shot, opens them. Thus, children master a new way of recognizing sounds. Why is this method more effective than the usual one? One reason appears to be that it helps dyslexics overcome a major obstacle - the inability to separate words into sounds. They may not be able to isolate sounds in a word by ear, but they are very sensitive to individual movements made by the articulatory apparatus. Scientists are now trying to figure out what changes occur in brain activity during such learning.

Dyslexics also need intensive help in the area of ​​so-called phonetic awareness - dividing words into sounds. Another important point is teaching letters that correspond to certain sounds. The expediency of such training is not subject to discussion - this material must simply be learned. And lastly, you need to constantly practice; for example, reading interesting stories develops reading fluency, increases vocabulary, and improves reading comprehension. Of course, these components are in any case necessary when teaching reading, but it is especially important to pay attention to them when teaching dyslexics.

Unfortunately, at present, teachers are not sufficiently trained to work with dyslexics, and therefore the entire burden of dealing with the disease falls on the shoulders of parents. There is a lot they can do even before a child starts school: language games develop the ability to manipulate sounds in words. As much attention as possible should be paid to playing with rhymes and words. This is, of course, not a 100% guarantee of success, but scientific research suggests that children who work hard with rhymes tend to hear the individual sounds of a language better.

When children begin to attend kindergarten, parents should closely monitor the child's development so as not to miss the first signs of retardation, if any. It is not always easy to find a qualified specialist on this issue, so parents will have to actively gather information, be determined and persistent in finding educational programs for their child. After all, this is your child, and it is absolutely not his fault that he was born this way. The predisposition to dyslexia generally has genetic roots. So it is likely that your child “owes” his reading difficulties to your great-grandmother - the genes were at work. Do not under any circumstances accuse your child of laziness and stupidity! Remember that what children with dyslexia need perhaps most is emotional support. After all, they have school ahead of them...

Everything is OK

• Hans Christian Andersen composed his fairy tales in his head at night, and in the morning he tried to write them down and take them to publishing houses. Repeatedly, texts were returned to him without even having read them to the end, due to the amazing illiteracy of the author. On one manuscript the editor wrote the following inscription: “A person who mocks his native Danish language like this cannot be a writer.”
• The famous architect Sir Richard Rogers, creator of the Pompidou Center in Paris, is convinced that only dyslexics have the spatial imagination necessary for an architect. Therefore, he tries to hire only dyslexics to work in his workshop.
• US President Johnson was distinguished by his sharp mind, encyclopedic knowledge and monstrous mistakes. It is he who is credited with the origin of the famous American “OK!” According to legend, after reading the report, the president marked O.K., which should have meant “everything is correct.” But in English, both of these words are written with different letters - with A and C (All Correct).