Landmark Parents Association hosts a free presentation, “Dyslexia and the Reading Brain: Challenges and Unusual Gifts” by Dr. Maryanne Wolf Saturday, April 11, 9-11:30 a.m. at the Landmark High School Dining Room, 412 Hale Street, Beverly.
Acclaimed author, literacy expert and professor, Maryanne Wolf will present an evolutionary view of the reading brain that helps us re-conceptualize dyslexia and intervention. Individuals with dyslexia may possess a somewhat different organization of the brain that predisposes them to both challenges and unusual gifts. Wolf is the director of the Center for Reading and Language Research and professor of child development at Tufts University. A book signing of “Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain” will follow the presentation.
Registration is required and can be done online at www.landmarkoutreach.org/saturday.htm. Contact Irena Sinclair at 978-927-1456 or irenasinclair@comcast.net.
The school’s Outreach Program will host a free workshop, “Landmark’s Approach to Developing Phonemic Awareness” Saturday, May 9, 9-11 a.m. at the Elementary-Middle School campus, 167 Bridge St., Manchester. An overview of the Lindamood-Bell® LiPS Program and how it is used to impact decoding and written expression skills will be discussed, with ample time for questions. To register call 978-236-3216 or visit www.landmarkoutreach.org/saturday.htm.
Landmark School Invititation
Dyslexics Images Reversed
It took a while -- almost a century -- for the assumptions made about dyslexia in 1896 to catch up with Dr. Harold N. Levinson's theory, first espoused in 1973, about what he felt to be the cause of the malady.
"Dyslexia has remained a scientific enigma, defying most attempts at medical understanding, diagnosis, prediction, treatment and prevention," explains Levinson, a world-renowned psychiatrist and neurologist considered a pioneer in this field. "Few, if any experts have fully recognized how deeply this disorder impacts sufferers."
But what experts do agree on is the fact that dyslexia is not a form of retardation, but generally a reading and language disorder in which people see letters and numbers reversed. In fact, people with the condition often have average to above-average IQs. Prominent examples include Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso and George Washington.
But, as Levinson sees it, dyslexia is much more than a reading problem: It's "an inner-ear syndrome," he says, "that can be easily treated with simple and safe combinations of inner-ear improving medications and related nutrients."
Levinson, former clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the New York University Medical Center, is currently director of the Medical Dyslexic and ADD Treatment Center (which is also known as the Levinson Medical Center for Learning Disabilities) in Great Neck, N.Y.
All About the Inner Ear
Through his work with dyslexics and those with learning, concentration and balance/coordination disturbances -- research he began when he first worked for the New York City Board of Education -- Levinson says that he uncovered the fact that all of his patients appear to have one thing in common: a malfunction within the inner-ear system. He credits his discovery with bringing about a dramatic medical breakthrough in the understanding, diagnosis and successful treatment of dyslexia and its many related signal-scrambling disturbances of the inner-ear and the cerebellum.
His work is described in his book Smart but Feeling Dumb: The Challenging New Research on Dyslexia -- and How It May Help You, now in a revised and updated paperback edition.
Complete with case histories and research that led to his medical breakthrough and the medical establishment's recognition of his theories, this book reports how you may be able to get safe, effective, immediate treatment for you or your child.
Detailed in his book are the origins, treatment and inner-relationships of dyslexia; learning disabilities; attention-deficit disorder; and anxiety and phobic disorders, based on the detailed examination and successful medical treatment of more than 35,000 children and adults.
He also says that his work resulted in an unforeseen side benefit: "While treating my reading-disabled patients, many of them confided in me that they had lost their phobias. They were no longer afraid of the dark, of escalators, of heights and much more."
"It seemed that these phobias also seemed to stem from inner-ear disturbances," he continues. "My patients began seeing unexpected improvements in a wide range of phobias, which are, to me, a warning signal from the body telling you you're not well enough or balanced.
"And so," he sums up, "the main message in my book is that there are hundreds of unexplained symptoms with differently named disorders -- all of which can be traced to hidden inner-ear problems [that] can be successfully treated -- even prevented -- by testing early before symptoms even arise."
http://www.jewishexponent.com/
Scientology Members
Scientology is like other religions in some ways. It seems the group believes in educating children in the principles of this religion early. Tom Cruise is preparing his daughter Suri for Scientology school now.
Suri, the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, turns three years old this month. According to newspaper reports, father Cruise is very interested that his daughter begin to learn Scientology and its precepts. The Mail reports that the school in question is New Village Academy in Los Angeles. This school was initiated by another actor and friend of Cruise by the name of Will Smith.
The tabloid reports that children at the academy begin to learn and accept individual responsibilities when they are very young. The diet of the school emphasizes nutritional standards that include low sugar, low-carb and low sodium meals. Other sources go on to say that the school includes what is called “study technology.” This technology reinforces the need to be responsible throughout life for one's behavior. The education is reported to cost $12,000/year.
Not long ago Cruise was in the news for maintaining that his dyslexia was cured through Scientology. This became a controversial topic among educators as well as those in the entertainment business. Dyslexia, according to experts, isn't cured but improved through special education methods, not just becoming involved in a religion.
Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis daughter, was introduced as a very young person to Scientology. She and her mother Priscilla learned about it through John Travolta, another famous celebrity who is a Scientologist. There wasn't the Will Smith new school for her to attend but the years of early education in the religious group have provided her with strong support for her beliefs and positions in the Scientology religion. She was reported to have been cured of drug addiction through Scientology.
Although there are frequent criticisms of Scientology in many quarters, primarily for its secrecy and what is alleged to be extreme ideas and brainwashing, Belief.net provides an overview of the group's beliefs that allow mature discussion about this religion that is frequently in the news
http://www.digitaljournal.com/
