Case Histories of Acupuncture - Dyslexia

Dyslexic Children

The secretary of our holistic heath centre had a 10 year old nephew who was a slow learner and diagnosed as dyslexic. A visitor who gave a talk on dyslexia to the school children mentioned that acupuncture helps dyslexics. The secretary asked us to try acupuncture on her nephew and we agreed. To our surprise, changes took place and so we started to treat dyslexics with acupuncture.

HISTORY

Dyslexia was a term coined by Rudolf Steiner, an ophthalmologist in Stuttgart Germany in 1887.

In 1896, W. Pringle Morgan, a British physician, described a case.

In the 1900’s, James Hinshelwood, a Scottish ophthalmologist, published articles and called the condition Congenital Word Blindness asserting that the primary disability was in visual memory for words and letters causing letter reversals, however with normal undamaged brains.

Various workers have later described the condition as a matter of reduced phonological awareness (the ability to analyse and link the units of spoken and written language).

Today the best definition of dyslexia is “A type of learning disability that impairs a person’s ability to read, write, or talk.” In most cases, the following characteristics are seen.

• The letters are reversed, and reading is a problem.
• Writing is difficult, and is now termed dysgraphia.
• Trouble with mathematics is termed dyscalculia.

Various causes are put forward such as dysfunction of the left brain without organic change, hormonal dysfunction during fetal life and so on. Dr Levinson discovered that Learning Disorder (LD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and Dyslexia all stem from inner-ear (Cerebellar-Vestibular dysfunction).

There is no cure for dyslexia. There is a great deal of research showing that specialized instruction can help to improve the reading deficit.
There are now special schools for dyslexic     children and also associations to help them. Special methods have been devised to help them learn. Some methods invented by dyslexics themselves are used all over the world including India.

Whatever the causes or the methods to help them learn, we are recounting our experiences with dyslexics and acupuncture. They are gifted children—some with normal IQ but with mood disorders and lacking self esteem which cause difficulty in school.

NOTE ALL NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED

 Case Studies

AJAY came to us when he was 8 years old. He was referred by another patient who found out we were helping slow learners. The only history available was that he talked only at 4 years old.

Mother’s history during the pregnancy She revealed that she had tried unsuccessfully to abort this boy three times. Finally her obstetrician told her to stop trying to abort the baby as it was too late.

Observations He had a problem with speech and his pronunciation was not clear. He was not able to write. He was a loner in school. He had been going for speech therapy.

Treatment  Session 1 (January 20th – January 30th 1999) Changes seen after the 1st session: His aggression had decreased. His fear had also decreased. He talked better and more intelligently. Session 2   (May 1st–May 11th 1999) Though he was calmer and friendlier, his hand writing showed no improvement. His speech had improved. His mother reported that he did well orally, but not in written work. Session 3   (July 17th–July 30th 2000) Changes seen after this session: He was a happier boy and now had friends in school. His speech was very clear. Session 4   (Nov 21st – Nov 30th 2000) He was now able to study on his own. He was interested in studying. His writing had improved and was legible and well formed. His rebelliousness had almost disappeared. He was now sociable. His family and he moved to another state. After 5 years, he suddenly visited the centre. He had grown tall, mature and poised. He hugged those who were there and thanked them for helping him to be what he is today.

JAGDISH was the younger one of twins. He was 14 years old when he came to the centre. At birth, the child had the cord around his neck. He was kept in an incubator for 2 days for observation. As a toddler, he was controlled by the older twin. And this dominance continued. He had to change his school as he developed short term memory. In the next school, he had special attention from the teacher. He says he feels insecure and has suicidal thoughts at times.
	Session 1   (April 18th – April 29th 2005)	Changes seen after the 1st session: His aggression had reduced. His concentration has improved. He is more at ease with himself. He is happier. He has gone for an IQ test. The result is now above average. Earlier it was below average.
	Session 2 (May 30th –June 30th 2005) He took the session in his stride.	At times, he seemed to be less insecure and his anger had also reduced. The teachers say he has improved and was more at ease and was able to spell and read better.

We heard the boy did well in his examinations and is improving.They have moved to another state.

NARESH was 13 years old when he came to our centre on 28th August 2007. His was a normal delivery and all the milestones were normal. At the age of 6 months, he had a heat stroke and was seriously ill. He has had jaundice twice. He is weak in studies and has a poor memory. He is teased by others in class. There is one thing he excels in and that is the technical line. He loves to repair things and is good at electronics. He hopes to be a pilot some day.  Mother’s history during the pregnancy We observed and heard from the family that the mother had emotional difficulties in the joint family. But she insisted she was ok and that there was no problem.

Observations He was not able to study. He had no interest in doing homework. He failed in the 3rd and 5th Std. He sat quietly and had no friends. He did not like sports. He liked to be taught alone.

Treatment  Session 1 (Nov 5th–Nov 20th 2007) Changes seen after the 1st session: He was very frightened. However by the 4th day, he said he started to take an interest in his studies. By the 9th day, he said he understood his lessons better and remembers them. By the end of his acupuncture session, he had started studying at home. Session 2   (April 16th–May 2nd 2008) Earlier he was poor in mathematics and he now got 64% in the subject. He could understand the class teacher and class material and was interested in studying. He had been detained for one more year in the same class, but he was confident he would do well. His confidence level had increased and he was happy to go back to school. He is doing well in class, but his aggression has increased. This was a problem for the school. He never returned as the mother did not want any more acupuncture for him

INDERJEET was 6 years old when he came to our centre on January 12th 2009.  Mother’s history during the pregnancy The mother was a 3rd year nursing student when she was pregnant with this boy. She found it very difficult as she was on night duty most of the time during those 9 months. She was very nauseated in the first 3 months. She had trouble with her supervisor.

Observations at our center He had a history of Constant colds and coughs. Wheezing. Allergy to certain foods and fruit. Nocturnal enuresis. He could not read or write, and was doing very badly in class.

Treatment This boy has had 6 acupuncture sessions of 15 days each. With each session, he has improved and is now able to sit in class and read and write. His confidence level has improved. With the 1st session, his aggression surfaced and his father said he was unmanageable. Enuresis still continued. He still had difficulty in class. After the 2nd session, there still was very little change. He was back answering his father and mother. After the 3rd session, his asthma was better and his cold and cough was less. After the 4th session, the enuresis was less and he was able to sit still in class. After the 5th and 6th sessions, he was able to pay attention in class and follow the lessons on the board and write which he never did before and is doing fairly well.

KRISHNA was 8 years old when his mother brought him for acupuncture on May 29th 2009. She had heard that acupuncture helps dyslexia and the boy was diagnosed as a dyslexic at the child development centre—they now call it a Learning Disability..

Observations His main difficulty was that the letters were reversed especially ‘p’ and ‘q’ and reading becomes very difficult. His mother has to help him. It was difficult to bring the boy regularly as his father did not approve of any help for his problem—he felt he was lazy. His IQ test was normal. He had spina–bifida at birth and was operated for it.

Treatment  He has been able to have 2 sets of acupuncture, but not regularly because of the father, who does not believe in the diagnosis of dyslexia and dubbed him as lazy. Changes seen after the sessions: He could now concentrate and read on his own for 2 hours at a time. Letters were not interchanged any more. His self esteem had improved as a result. His enuresis had almost disappeared..

ABHINAV was 10 years old when he came to our centre. He had a learning disability problem.

Mother’s history during the pregnancy Around 32 weeks, the mother had preterm labor. Her obstetrician postponed it by an injection. Four weeks later, she delivered normally and the baby cried normally.

Observations He had delayed milestones. He started walking only after 2 years of age and talking at 3 1/2 years. He had a low IQ and a poor memory. However he exceled at computer and TV repairs. He has been assessed at 3 child development centers and all 3 have said that he has mild mental retardation with an IQ between 65 and 67. His performance IQ 71 was better than his verbal IQ 49 on the Weschler Intelligence Test. One institution thought he had slight autism, but this was ruled out. He was moody, withdrawn and stubborn and did not mix with other students. His mother reports that orally he knows his work but cannot put it down on paper. He finds writing difficult. He is better off with the objective type of exams. He had been told to leave 6 schools to date, and that could be a good reason for his moodiness. He was not toilet trained.

Treatment  Session 1 (September 15th–October 1st 2009) In the evenings of the first 3 days, he was wild and uncontrollable at home. By the 2nd week, he had settled down. He was responding to people, and was happier. In the 3rd week, he was smiling and talking to his classmates and able to read in class. Session 2   (November 30th–December 17th 2009.) Changes seen after this session: According to the father, his behavior had improved and he responded when called. He had better toilet habits now. He was now interested in studying and applied himself to his books on his own. He was more sociable in school and understood the teacher (according to her). He was now able to study for half hour on his own. Session 3   (March 16th–March 31st 2010) Changes seen after this session: He was able to do small calculations on his own. His memory was improving. He was sociable and happy. His father noticed that he blinked his left eye when facing the sun Session 4   (May 24th–June 7th 2010) Changes seen after this session: He had started talking to his class mates. His writing had improved. He had started talking in the centre and was reading books now. He could now see better in the sunlight. The school reported that: He is adjusting well. He is excellent at the computer and mathematics. His writing has improved. His memory is now sharper. He is 80% more alert than before. He appears as normal as the other children. This child will come again for treatment in the summer holidays in 2011.

Since ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is now included in this group, we are including this case.

GAURAV was brought to the centre when he was 5 years old.

Mother’s history during the pregnancy The mother had vaginal bleeding at 3 1/2 months of pregnancy. According to her statement, slight leaking during the next 3 months was present. He was a premature child (7 months) and was kept in an incubator for 1 month.

Observations His right heel did not touch the ground when he walked. Though he was in Upper KG, he was unable to learn like the other children and was hyperactive. He was a premature baby who was kept in an incubator for 1 month. All milestones were delayed. He only walked at 2 years. It was only at 2 years that he spoke a few words, but not clearly. He could not eat till 10 a.m. and then only biscuits and tea. He rolled about at night and had enuresis. He woke up often at night, and kept the whole family up. He bit the inside of his cheek whenever he woke up from sleep.

Treatment  Session 1 (November 1st–November 21st 2007) After the 1st week: He was eating and sleeping better. He was asking for food in the mornings. Earlier he was aggressive and had no friends. He cried often. He now had friends and was happy. Earlier he was not interested in studies. Now he was paying attention in class and was interested in studies. His speech had improved and he could be understood. Session 2   (April 14th–May 2nd 2008) Changes seen after this session: He now ate solid food normally. His speech was clear. He walked with his foot down when reminded. He was able to study well and got a high percentage and an A grade in class. He was now able to sit still in class. Remarks: This child did not return as the mother could not bring him because of distance and transport constraints.