The Dyslexic Advantage

Congratulations to Drs. Fernette & Brock Eide for the release of their new book, The Dyslexic Advantage.  They bring a refreshing new look at “dyslexia”, which is a term not consistently defined or utilized within educational circles. Rather than dyslexia being a condition to be “overcome“, the Eides emphasize that dyslexia is a condition reflecting a style of processing.

As in their first book The Mislabeled Child, The Eides do a great job of clearing the air about myths and misconceptionby those who have precious little knowledge of vision as related to learning.  Here are some key things they have to say about the subject on pages 180-181 of their new book:

1) “Fluent reading also requires a well-functioning visual system, which is something many persistently slow readers lack.”

2) “There really does seem to be a subset of individuals with dyslexia whose inadequate visual skills delay their reading progress and who can benefit from visual evaluation and treatment.”

3) “For some, the difference can be dramatic and can prevent prolonged underperformance, or often uncomfortable symptoms like eyestrain or headaches while reading; visual wobbling (where the letters seem to move); eye tearing; doubling of visual images; skipping lines or frequently losing place while reading; or behaviors like squinting, tilting the head, closing one eye, or putting the head very close to the page.”

4) “Individuals with dyslexia who often experience visual symptoms while reading or doing other forms of fine-detail close-up work deserve a thorough visual evaluation.”

5) “The appropriate specialist to perform this exam is a developmental optometrist who has specialty training in the kinds of functional eye skills that allow the eyes to work well for fine-detail work.  These specialists will usually have the letters F.C.O.V.D. in addition to O.D. after their name, and many can be located atwww.covd.org.”

It’s so nice to see that two very well respected MDs understand complex learning difficulties and include vision deficits as one of the factors involved in learning.

Thanks to Dr. Len Press for his summary and blog of the new book.

By Dr. Lynn Hellerstein,  Colorado Optometrist in Vision Therapy & Visual Processing