Dyslexia is a learning disorder that can cause difficulties with reading, writing and spelling. It is quite common, affecting approximately 1 in 10 people. Although the cause of dyslexia is unknown, it is considered to be a genetic condition that can be passed from parents to children.
While the signs of dyslexia aren’t always easy to identify, especially in young children who have yet to start school, the following are eight indicators to keep an eye out for.
1. Delayed speech
Compared to other children of the same age, kids with dyslexia may experience delayed speech development. This is often one of the first signs of the disorder. In some cases, Dyslexia Victoria says that the child does “not start speaking until as late as three or four years of age.”
In other cases, however, the source notes that dyslexic children can “start talking very early, at about one year of age, and even in full grammatically correct sentences.” This is often most noticeable in “their use of language and pictures, but not necessarily letters and numbers.”
2. Trouble calling things by the right name
According to Understood.org, dyslexia “affects the way the brain processes language.” This can make it challenging for a child to associate the correct words with objects and symbols.
As a result, they may not be able to easily recall the correct word to describe something. The source says this may lead them to use “general words like ‘thing’ and ‘stuff’ instead of the names of objects.”
3. Struggles with rhymes
Nursery rhymes are typically quite fun for young children to learn and repeat, but those with dyslexia may struggle to recite them. Additionally, they may have difficulty recognising rhyming patterns. For example, WebMD says they may “not be able to think of words that rhyme with the word ‘boy,’ such as ‘joy’ or ‘toy.’”
These difficulties are the result of them having difficulty breaking words down into individual sounds, such as buh and at when pronouncing the word ‘bat.’
4. Trouble remembering sequences
A child with dyslexia may also have trouble understanding and remembering sequences, such as the order of the alphabet, days of the week, or counting to 10. Dyslexia Victoria says this is because “they see the ‘big picture’ easily but not the individual parts.”
The child may also struggle to learn the names of colours, shapes, how to spell, and how to write his or her name, which the source says is because they “think primarily in images and not necessarily letters and numbers.”
5. Slow development of fine motor skills
Fine motor skills may be slow to develop in children with dyslexia. For example, WebMD says they “may take longer than others of the same age to learn how to hold a pencil in the writing position, use buttons and zippers, and brush his or her teeth.”
As they reach school age, weak fine motor skills—along with challenges memorizing sequences—can lead to difficulties with writing, which is known as dysgraphia. According to Dyslexia-Reading-Well.com, some signs to watch for include “poor pencil grip and moving the wrist or arm (gross motor skill) instead of the fingers (fine motor skill).”
6. Mix up sounds and letters
When pronouncing long words, children with dyslexia may mix up the sounds of the syllables. For example, the NHS says they may say “hecilopter” instead of “helicopter”, or “beddy tear” instead of “teddy bear.”
They may also mix up the order of letters while reading or writing. WebMD indicates these errors can include: letter reversals such as “d” for “b”; word reversals such as “tip” for “pit”; inversions such as “m” and “w” and “u” and “n”; transpositions such as “felt” and “left”; and substitutions such as “house” and “home.”
7. Poor reading ability
Children with dyslexia have difficulty with phonemic awareness, which Dyslexia Victoria defines as “the ability to hear individual sounds in a word.” As a result, they are often slow to learn the sounds associated with each letter, causing them to have trouble sounding out new words.
WebMD says they may also struggle to read single words that are not part of a sentence, especially if they are small words such as “at” and “to,” or “does” and “goes.”
8. Other symptoms
Recurring ear infections are also common among young children with dyslexia. While the infection themselves are not often the cause of the disorder, they can contribute to a child’s issues with phonemic awareness and language difficulties. Dyslexia Victoria adds that they may also be “sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.”
Additionally, the source says that dyslexic children may be late in establishing a dominant hand. They may be as old as 7 to 9 years of age when this happens, and even still many will alternate between hands for tasks such as “eating, printing, throwing a ball or drawing with a crayon.”
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Spine surgery in old people , by Dr. Biodun Ogungbo
A case story
Mama Yunusa stopped walking in March. Her arms and legs simply stopped moving. She also complained about pain in the neck. She was effectively bedridden and had to be carried to the bathroom by her daughter. A fiercely independent woman was reduced to a helpless state and indignity. Her MRI scan showed severe pressure on her spinal cord – by arthritis. She needs an operation. She is 80 years old.
Arthritis in the elderly
The causes of neck pain are nearly as numerous as terms used to describe the symptoms. Neck pain can be caused by arthritis which is really wear and tear of the joints in the neck. The joints simply wear out. More and more elderly will suffer from back pains, neck pain due to the degeneration caused by arthritis. Arthritis is one of God’s Apps: a computer program embedded in our genes!
Arthritis causes wearing out of the bones and pressure on the nerves and spinal cord. This destruction of the bone causes instability which may require operation to reinforce the bones. The pressure on the nerves may require operation to free the nerves and release the pressure.
Other causes of neck pain are injury from poor positioning of the neck to falls and road traffic accidents. People can break their necks following a road traffic accident. Another important cause is infection especially due to tuberculosis. Finally, we have some patients who have neck pain from cancer in the bones.
Age and spine surgery
There is real fear of spine surgery, especially in the elderly. The poor results of the past are still clouding the present and jeopardising the future. The fear is of paralysis and death as well as of becoming disabled due to weakness of an arm or leg.
Because of this, many patients are not offered surgery and instead are taken to the village or to church. Many are left at home in pain until death eventually comes. Before death though, someone has to look after mama or papa, and someone may have to leave employment to stay home with them.
Elderly patients suffering from arthritis of the spine should not be left in pains and misery. More importantly, what is happening in the present? How many days will mama or papa suffer in pain, helpless and hopeless? How much pain can they tolerate? How can you cope with the misery and the cries in the middle of the night? Something should be done when an older person starts crying in the mornings and praying for early death on dark nights.
The important issue as regards planning for surgery is a firm diagnosis, clear evaluation of the physical status of the patient, assessment of the fitness for surgery, a clear surgical plan, honest balance of the benefits and risks of surgery in the hands of the surgeon and effective post- operative support by spine-trained physiotherapists.
Surgery on the spine is safe if performed by experienced surgeons and with adequate expert support from the nurses and physiotherapists.
Age is no barrier to surgery in the elderly. If it can be done safely and if the benefits outweigh the risks, then, no problem! Of course, no one can guarantee 100 per cent success but the majority will benefit and have a new future.
Some doctors still believe that spine surgery is a death sentence. But, this is not true, at least not in Abuja. The operations have been performed safely on the neck and back for many patients with a good outcome in the majority.
We are collaborating and cooperating with many hospitals, many surgeons and industry to ensure we maintain and improve on the successes of managing the elderly.
