WHAT do the following have in common: Albert Einstein, Richard Branson, bill Gates, John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, Leonardo da Vinci, Kara Tointon, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg? each one has achieved great success in their chosen field, despite having dyslexia.
This week is National Dyselxia Awareness Week and the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) is spreading the word – don’t let dyslexia hold you back.
Dyslexia is a specific learning disorder that affects one in 10 people in the UK. Typically, Dyslexics have problems associated with reading, spelling, writing and numeracy. The challenge with dyslexia is that symptoms, such as Reading slowly or hesitantly, Letters changing shape or reversing and Difficulty remembering what has been just read can often be subtle and easily overlooked
While these problems are normally brought to attention at a young age, many people’s symptoms go undetected and untreated throughout adulthood.
“Many ‘dyslexic like’ symptoms can often go undetected or misdiagnosed, especially as it is easy to mistake a child who is experiencing these difficulties as having behavioural problems,” explained Romana Hashim, specialist optometrist and director at The Eye Academy in Guildford.
“Parents can also be frustrated at their child’s apparent dislike for reading and may assume that the child lacks interest rather than being uncomfortable reading.
“Younger children, in particular, find it hard to articulate their vision problems. they feel that what they are experiencing is the norm, after all, they do not know any different.”
While the introduction of Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) and Educational Psychologists in schools has helped the diagnosis and support of children with dyslexia, Ms Hashim has concerns that individuals are being diagnosed with dyslexia prior to having a specialist vision assessment.
Romana added: “In my 12 years experience, I would say that around 80% of the children I see that present symptoms that can be associated with dyslexia, in fact have an underlying eye condition that may be significantly contributing to the severity of the dyslexia. these conditions can be effectively treated with vision therapy.
“It is important that any child that is experiencing problems undergoes a comprehensive vision assessment to rule out an underlying eye condition before being referred to an educational psychologist for further investigation and this is why we have formed a partnership with a number of schools in the area to provide a referral programme for testing and treatments.”
Following a detailed vision assessment with a specialist optometrist, sufferers can begin a course of treatment often including a series of exercises to strengthen weak eye muscles; the use of coloured filters and specialist prescription lenses that will significantly improve, or in some cases, completely alleviate the symptoms a person is suffering with. In-depth visual assessments are not normally available from high street opticians and specialist optometrists should be sought.
For more information on The Eye Academy visit theeyeacademy.com or call 01483 577 957.