Raising a child with dyslexia can stir up a lot of emotions. You may look ahead and wonder if this learning issue will affect your child's future. But dyslexia is not a prediction of failure. Dyslexia is quite common, and many successful individuals have dyslexia.

Research has proven that there are different ways of teaching that can help people with dyslexia succeed. There's a lot you can do as a parent too.

What are the symptoms of dyslexia?

Because dyslexia affects some people more severely than others, your child's symptoms may look different from those in another child. Some kids with dyslexia have trouble with reading and spelling. Others may struggle to write or to tell left from right.

Dyslexia can also make it difficult for people to express themselves clearly. It can be hard for them to structure their thoughts during conversation. They may have trouble finding the right words to say.

Others struggle to understand what they're hearing. This is especially true when someone uses nonliteral language such as jokes and sarcasm.

The signs you see may also look different at various ages. Some of the warning signs for dyslexia, such as a speech delay, appear before a child reaches kindergarten. More often, though, dyslexia is identified in grade school. As schoolwork gets more demanding, trouble processing language becomes more apparent.

Here are some signs to look out for:

Warning Signs in Preschool or Kindergarten

Has trouble recognizing the letters of the alphabet

Struggles to match letters to sounds, such as not knowing what sounds b or h make

Has difficulty blending sounds into words, such as connecting C-H-A-T to the word chat

Struggles to pronounce words correctly, such as saying 'mawn lower' instead of 'lawn mower'

Has difficulty learning new words

Has a smaller vocabulary than other kids the same age

Has trouble learning to count or say the days of the week and other common word sequences

Has trouble rhyming

Warning Signs in Grade School or Middle School

Struggles with reading and spelling

Confuses the order of letters, such as writing 'left' instead of 'felt'

Has trouble remembering facts and numbers

Has difficulty gripping a pencil

Has difficulty using proper grammar

Has trouble learning new skills and relies heavily on memorization

Gets tripped up by word problems in math

Has a tough time sounding out unfamiliar words

Has trouble following a sequence of directions

Warning Signs in High School

Struggles with reading out loud

Doesn't read at the expected grade level

Has trouble understanding jokes or idioms

Has difficulty organizing and managing time

Struggles to summarize a story

Has difficulty learning a foreign language

Skills that are affected by Dyslexia-

Dyslexia doesn't just affect reading and writing. Here are some everyday skills and activities your child may be struggling with because of this learning issue:

General

Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.

Labelled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem."

Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting.

High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.

Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.

Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.

Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.

Difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper" or "daydreamer."

Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

Vision, Reading, and Spelling Skills

Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.

Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.

Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.

Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.

Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem.

Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.

Reads and rereads with little comprehension.

Spells phonetically and inconsistently.

Hearing and Speech Skills

Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.

Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking.

Writing and Motor Skills

Trouble with writing or copying; pencil grip is unusual; handwriting varies or is illegible.

Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks; prone to motion-sickness.

Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.

Math and Time Management Skills

Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.

Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can't do it on paper.

Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.

Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra or higher math.

Memory and Cognition

Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.

Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced.

Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words (little internal dialogue).

Behavior, Health, Development and Personality

Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.

Can be class clown, trouble-maker, or too quiet.

Had unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes).

Prone to ear infections; sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.

Can be an extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age.

Unusually high or low tolerance for pain.

Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection.

What can be done at home for dyslexia?

Helping your child with dyslexia can be a challenge, particularly if you're never been confident in your own reading and writing skills. But you don't have to be an expert to help work on certain skills or strengthen your child's self-esteem.

Keep in mind that kids (and families) are all different, so not all options will work for you. Don't panic if the first strategies you try aren't effective. You may need to try several approaches to find what works best for your child. Here are some things you can try at home:

Read out loud every day

Tap into your child's interests

Use audiobooks

Look for apps and other high-tech help

Focus on effort, not outcome

Make your home reader-friendly

Boost confidence

What can make the journey easier?

Dyslexia can present challenges for your child and for you. But with the proper support, almost all people with dyslexia can become accurate readers. Your involvement will help tremendously.

Wherever you are in your journey, whether you're just starting out or are well on your way, this site can help you find more ways to support your child. Here are a few things that can help make the journey easier:

Connect with other parents. Remember that you're not alone. Use our safe online community to find parents like you.

Get behavior advice. Parenting Coach offers expert-approved strategies on a variety of issues that can affect children with dyslexia, including trouble with time management, anxiety and fear, frustration and low self-esteem.

Build a support plan. Come up with a game plan and anticipate what lies ahead.

Understanding dyslexia and looking for ways to help your child is an important first step. There's a lot you can do just don't feel you have to do everything all at once. Pace yourself. If you try a bunch of strategies at the same time, it might be hard to figure out which ones are working. And do your best to stay positive. Your love and support can make a big difference in your child's life.

9 Dyslexia Signs & Symptoms - Your Kid is Suffering from it!

With age, just like other body functions, the mind too begins to slow down. This could lead to problems in communication, focus, recall, reasoning, and thinking. So with dementia, the person faces problems which are a combination of above-mentioned activities. Dementia is a symptom associated with many diseases and is not a disease on its own.

Alzheimer s is the main cause of dementia, followed by stroke or brain injury, Huntington s disease, and Lewy body disease. However, there are some symptoms that can be indicative that a person is gradually progressing into dementia. Watching out for these symptoms can help one seek help at an early stage, thereby helping the affected person, and slowing down its progress.

Short term memory loss: With age, people tend to forget what happened recently, and this can even be something as recent as the previous day. However, they can very clearly recollect events from the past. They might forget things like where they have placed their glasses, where the television remote control is, etc. They may also ask for the same information repeatedly, even after it is answered.
Mood changes: Rapid mood swings is observed in a person suffering from dementia. Their emotions keep changing within a matter of seconds, and they may show also less emotion than what they used to show previously.
Personality changes: Since dementia affects reasoning and judgment, someone who was earlier shy could suddenly become outgoing. Their inhibitions which led to a shy personality are lost, making them more outgoing.
Difficulty in performing regular tasks: Be it forgetting things like laying out tables, keeping things back in their places, or organising medical kits, with dementia setting in, these tasks slowly become more difficult to do. Also, learning new tasks, even simple ones, seem tough and are often not accomplished.
Losing storylines: The elderly would usually be good with telling and appreciating stories like telling tales to their grandchildren or following television soaps and stories. However, as dementia begins to set in, they tend to lose storylines, both when observing and telling.
Repeating actions: As they are not able to register things, they tend to repeat things, both in words and in actions.
Feeling lost: Things like heading out to a store to buy something and then wondering why they came there are common. Short-term memory loss can cause such situations. This confusion, especially with regard to time and things, is very common.
Spatial and time orientation: There could be problems relating to space and time, seasons, and they may often ask questions like what time it is, etc. Routine tasks like paying bills, cooking using recipe books, which were easily managed, suddenly begin to look difficult.
Apathy: Losing interest in people, hobbies, or other things like puzzles, which they once enjoyed, become boring and unenjoyable.

9 Early Symptoms of Dementia!

Obesity is the new-age lifestyle disease with multiple ramifications. While its effects on the physical aspects are very evident, the damage it does to the brain are more severe, though not obvious. Read on to know some harmful effects of obesity on the emotional well-being.

Leads to binge eating: There is a certain pleasure in eating sugary and fatty food, and this is lost with depression. Therefore, to get that emotional satisfaction, people tend to eat more chocolates, cookies, milkshakes, and other weight-accumulating food items, which further add to obesity. Greater the weight gained by a person, lesser the response or happiness from such food products.
Increases impulsivity: The area of the brain known as orbitofrontal cortex, which is in charge of controlling impulsivity, shrinks in obese people. This results in people eating more impulsively.
Affects immunity: Obesity is a major cause of inflammation, leading to damage in certain parts of the brain. This impairs the immune system, making the affected person more prone to infections and tissue damage. This leads to increased chances of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleeping disorders, eating disorders, etc. The chemical known as C-reactive protein increases as seen on MRIs in obese people, and which is usually seen in patients with chronically increased inflammation.
Effects on memory: As the BMI increases, there is a decrease in scores of memory tests. This effect is more obvious in women after menopause. With increased fat accumulation, more hormones are released, which affects the memory. Increased inflammation also affects cognition and memory.
Increased risk of dementia: With more belly fat accumulating, there is extra stress on the body to burn the visceral fat. This reduces brain size and causes certain hormones to release, which further affects the body s ability to remember things. It has been proven that people with smaller brain size are at greater risk for developing dementia.
Weight loss stress adding to more stress: When obesity sets in and the BMI goes up, there is an added pressure to lose weight, which further ups the stress levels. During these dieting days, the brain is constantly alert and finds ways to eat more. This also leads to excess eating. Moreover, there are indications that there could be genetic changes during this phase, which may leave a permanent mark in the person s composition.
Depression: When a person is not happy with their reflection in the mirror, the chances of feeling good and happy are very less. In this age, where aesthetics plays a major morale booster, an obese image staring back does not help at all.
So, if you have a risk of obesity, watch out. It is not just how you look, but how you feel is also altered.

Obesity - How It Affects The Human Brain?

Asperger's Syndrome or Asperger's Disorder is a neurotypical condition that affects the development of the child the effects of which continue into adulthood. This condition typically shows up as difficulties faced by the patient when it comes to social interactions as well as other nonverbal means of communication. It should not be confused with autism as the patient has no speech and cognitive development delay. 

Asperger's syndrome can show up as restricted and repetitive patterns in the behaviour of the patient. It lies at the higher end of the autism spectrum and the signs are usually less obvious. Here are a few ways with which you can effectively deal with someone who is suffering from this disorder.

1. Routine: The patient suffering from this condition will need a certain kind of stability as it is very difficult to predict what will happen in the near future or to even plan for it. The best way to tackle this scenario is with the help of a proper routine that can help the patient achieve some kind of control over the situation surrounding him or her so that he or she is better equipped and more capable of handling normal functioning and social situations as well.

2. Information: It is also a good idea to help these patients in looking at and in processing information. While normal people may easily be able to discard insignificant or unimportant information, the brain of the patient suffering from asperger's syndrome does not allow him or her to do so. In many cases, the patient is not able to filter the important and the unimportant information. This can debilitate many functions. So, it is important to be present to help the patient in making decisions and processing information that is actually relevant to his or her functioning.

3. Learning: One of the most crucial things to remember with the Asperger's patient is that they tend to understand and process things when they have a visual presentation rather than being told verbally. So showing them things practically in the proper manner is the right way to help them learn and process situations in a correct way. This will prevent them from doing things in the same old way even when their brains tell them that it will lead to wrong results.

4. Physical Abilities: Poor motor skills as well as lack of proper organisation skills are traits that usually characterise these patients. It is important to make them aware of this during games and activities that require management as well as use of social skills. For example, football and other such activities can be introduced in the routine. This will promote interaction with the team in order to play and enjoy the game.

How to Deal With a Patient Suffering From Asperger's Syndrome?

Facial Palsy is a paralysis of facial muscles. The weakness of facial muscles is also known as Facial Palsy. It may be caused by temporary or permanent damage to facial nerves. There are different facial nerves for different sides of the face. When nerve bundles on one side are affected, muscles on that side of the face become weak. 

Since different nerves are involved, cerebral palsy may affect different parts of the face such as lower part, left side, right side, etc. There are medicines for Facial Palsy. However, there is no standard treatment approach in modern medicine for treating Facial Palsy. However, Ayurveda can help in treating these patients.

Ayurvedic Interpretation of Facial Palsy:

In Ayurveda, Facial Palsy is referred to as Ardita, and it is defined as a disability in facial expressions and communication. The source of the disease is facial nerve paralysis, which precipitates motor and sensory impairment on the affected side of the face. According to Ayurveda, this disease can affect people of all ages. 

Ayurveda targets the dosha responsible for this disease. According to Ayurveda, the dosha responsible for this problem is known as Vata. It is thought that the face or the relevant side of the face is afflicted by Vata, which needs to be rectified.

Factors Responsible for Facial Palsy:

According to Ayurveda, there are some factors which may precipitate Facial Palsy in the long term. These include:

Speaking loudly.

Chewing hard stuff.

Laughing, sneezing or yawning excessively.

Putting heavy load on head.

Sudden change of direction of head or neck.

Having uncomfortable posture during sleep.

Using too high or too low pillows.

Anemia.

Injuries.

Excessive sleeping during the day.

Excessive use of tongue scrapers.

Excessive rubbing of the ears, eyes, and nose.

Consuming excess of alcohol.

Symptoms of Facial Palsy According to Ayurveda:

Preliminary symptoms of Facial Palsy, as mentioned in different Ayurvedic books, include: 

Blurred vision.

Loss of sense of touch on facial skin.

Pain.

Neck stiffness.

Jaw stiffness.

Distortion of the affected side.

Tremors of the head.

Shaking of teeth.

Incomplete closure of affected eyelids.

Distortion of nose.

Slurred speech.

Hoarseness in voice.

Impairment of hearing loss and smell sensation.

Pain in the ear on the affected side.

Trouble chewing and swallowing.

Sneeze getting suppressed.

Severe pain in the neck, chin, teeth, on the affected side.

Ayurvedic Treatment of Facial Palsy:

Ayurveda depends on the following to treat the problem.

Oil massages on the head.

Applications of oil to the ears and eyes.

In the case of any burning sensation, therapeutic bloodletting may also be conducted.

Medicated oil in nostrils

Oral drugs include Akaangavira Rasa, Sameera Pannaga, Ashwagandha Churna, Ashwagandharishta, etc.

Exercise including balloon breathing exercise

Conclusion:

A study published in the European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research has come up with astounding results for the efficacy of Ayurveda on Facial Palsy. This indicates that in the absence of any standard therapy, Ayurveda can offer an excellent remedy against Facial Palsy. However, it is always recommended to consult an Ayurvedic physician before opting any ayurvedic remedies or purchasing any ayurvedic medicines. Any treatment depends upon the condition of the individual. This is why one should always consult a doctor before going for any treatment.

Facial Palsy - Causes, Symptoms & Ayurvedic Treatment For It!

Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous sleep disorder in which you stop and start breathing frequently while you are sleeping. Symptoms of sleep apnea often include loud snoring and fatigue even if you sleep uninterrupted through the night. Obesity and age are the common risk factors of sleep apnea.

The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea, in which the throat muscles contract and relax while you are asleep. The other type of sleep apnea, called central sleep apnea, usually occurs in people who have been diagnosed with brain tumors, infections or heart failure, or have had a stroke.

Treatment of sleep apnea includes:

CPAP: The Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device is generally recommended in the treatment of sleep apnea. CPAP is a breathing machine that stops your airways from getting blocked when you are sleeping. The CPAP device is normally the size of a tissue box. It comes with a mask that you put over your mouth and nose. The machine attached to the mask pumps a continuous flow of air that keeps your airways clear as you sleep.
BPAP: The Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure (BPAP) device is used as an alternative to the CPAP device, if you find it hard to adjust to the CPAP. If you have a weak pattern of breathing, the BPAP can be helpful.
ASV: The Adaptive Servo-ventilation (ASV) device is used to treat both central and obstructive sleep apnea.
Treatment for other medical conditions: Sometimes sleep apnea can be caused by underlying health conditions. Problems such as rhinitis (nasal passage inflammation) and hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid gland) can cause sleep apnea. In such cases, your doctor needs to diagnose these conditions first before treating your sleep apnea.
Lifestyle changes: Excessive weight sometimes can cause sleep apnea; so losing excessive weight should be a priority. Also, alcohol and tobacco can contribute to your symptoms, so try avoiding those.
Medication: Usually, doctors do not prescribe any medicine, since sedatives and sleeping pills actually worsen sleep apnea. But, in case of sleep apnea in children, doctors typically suggest intra nasal corticosteroid medicine to treat the symptoms.
Surgery: Surgeries to increase the size of your airway or to remove your adenoids, tonsils or extra tissues in the rear of your throat or your nose can prove helpful.

Sleep Apnea - 7 Ways it Can Be Treated!

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