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How Cognitive and Visual Training Affect a Child with Dyslexia

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Cognitive processing training and therapy are necessary before or during dyslexia training. Most experts agree that dyslexia is a minimal or limited brain dysfunction, resulting in reading and writing difficulties. There are medigating factors that will determine how quickly and effeciently a child will respond to help and training for dyslexia. 

Cognitive development in a capsule is how fast and how efficiently we learn. 
How fast we learn and think and how well we remember, are just two of many important cognitive skills. When a child has been diagnosed with dyslexia, it is important determine his or her level of cognitive processing function as well. Cognitive skills determine how fast and effeciently we learn and perform basic tasks such as reading, writing,  Cognitive skills are the backbone of the learning process and can be developed.

attention
concentration
memory
processing speed
visual processing speed
visualization
visual memory
logic and reasoning

The brain as well as the body must be exercised and developed to learn fast and effectively. Cognitive processing training is exercise for the brain as physical exercise is for the body. Just as a person who has lost muscle strength in a leg must exercise and walk a little more each day to gain strength; a child with dyslexia must build and develop cognitive skills to overcome a disability like dyslexia. Cognitive training makes the learning process faster and easier because more of the learning process becomes automatic through intense and progressive exercise.

For example, Daniel age 8 has dyseidesia. Typical for this type of dyslexia, he often reverses letters and phonetically sounds out even simple words. As a result, Daniel’s reading skills are slow and methodical as he sounds out each word as he reads. His strength is in phonetics; therefore, the phonetic approach will be used to help Daniel now. Later in therapy sessions sight words will be incorporated. Daniel is now preoccupied with the mechanics of reading and writing and is still reading too slowly and not comprehending what he reads. Cognitive processing training would improve his reading speed, efficiency and comprehension.
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For Daniel to learn faster, cognitive training exercises should be introduced early in the dyslexia training sessions. The exercises should start with patterns and objects and progress to letters and numbers as processing improves. As the intensity of the exercises increase, Daniel’s processing speed, visual motor speed, and visualization skills will improve.

Eye-teaming is also important to include in dyslexia training. Although vision is not a component of the cause of dyslexia, vision problems can hinder the dyslexia training. One aspect of vision that is often overlooked is eye-teaming. Unlike refractive errors that must be corrected with lens, eye-teaming problems can improve with therapy. Eye-teaming occurs when both eyes converge or come together exactly on the same object of regard. In the case of reading, this would be a letter or word. Vergence insufficiency occurs when binocular fusion (in both eyes) is broken and one eye is not pointed at the letter or word.

Over-converging means one eye moves too far inward, missing the target letter or word. Under-converging means that one eye does not reach the target letter or word. Physical manifestations of eye-teaming difficulties can include blurring, itching, aching, and excessive blinking and squinting of the eyes. In addition, skipping small words and lines of print and a short attention span with avoidance of reading, may be the result of an eye-teaming problem. There are more sophisticated tests available but the one below can detect an eye-teaming difficulty.

Stand in front of your child and hold a pencil upright with the tip of the eraser about 6 inches from your child’s nose. Instruct your child to focus on the tip of the eraser…now slowly move the eraser toward the tip of the nose, almost touching it. Look at his/her eyes as you are doing this… if one eye turns outward or inward this is an indication of an eye-teaming problem. Remember that both eyes must focus on a word to see it correctly and accurately when reading.

Optometric vision therapy can be performed by a parent or teacher to alleviate an eye-teaming problem. These procedures can be incorporated into dyslexia therapy and training and only take a few minutes a day. An optometrist or visual therapist can help you determine the correct exercises for your child.

Cognitive processing training and eye-teaming therapy are two of the ways a parent or teacher can help a child with dyslexia learn faster and easier. Dyslexia is a complex disorder but cognitive and visual training can clear the pathway to make learning easier.