Can Dylexia Have a Different Cause? This New Book Says "YES!":

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book from the Ascot Media Group, free of charge, for review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own

Feeling Smarter and Smarter—Discovering the Inner-ear Origins and Treatment for Dyslexia/ LD, ADD/ADHD and Phobias/Anxiety, looks at dyslexia differently.

Synopsis:

In this ground-breaking book, Dr. Harold Levinson, a renowned psychiatrist and clinical researcher, provides his long-awaited follow-up work about truly understanding and successfully treating children and adults with many and diverse dyslexia-related disorders such as those found on the cover. This fascinating, life-changing title is primarily about helping children who suffer from varied combinations and severities of previously unexplained inner-ear-determined symptoms resulting in difficulties with: 

• reading, writing, spelling, math, memory, speech, sense of direction and time
• grammar, concentration/activity-level, balance and coordination
• headaches, nausea, dizziness, ringing ears, and motion-sickness 
• frustration levels and feeling dumb, ugly, klutzy, phobic, and depressed
• impulsivity, cutting class, dropping out of school, and substance abuse
• bullying and being bullied as well as anger and social interactions
• later becoming emotionally traumatized and scarred dysfunctional adults

Feeling Smarter and Smarter is thus also about and for the millions of frustrated and failing adults who are often overwhelmed by similar and even more complicated symptoms—as well as for their dedicated healers.       Having laid the initial foundations for his many current insights in an earlier bestseller, Smart But Feeling Dumb, Dr. Levinson now presents a compelling range of enlightening new cases and data as well as a large number of highly original discoveries—such as his challenging illumination that all dyslexia-related manifestations are primarily inner-ear or cerebellar-vestibular—not cerebrally—determined and so do not impair IQ, and an “ingeniously simple” explanatory theory of symptom formation.       Most important, all the dyslexia/inner-ear based impairments and their symptoms were discovered by Dr. Levinson to respond rapidly and often “miraculously” in 75 to 85 percent of cases when treated with simple and safe inner-ear enhancing medications—thus enabling bright but dumb-feeling children and adults to feel… smarter and smarter.

Review:

This book took me a bit longer to review than most, for 2 reasons. The first is that it is VERY technical, with a lot of medical terminology and discussion. And there is a cylindrical aspect to the book, so you're nto sure if you're going over the same info, or if more is added to it. And it is, especially with info on medications used and dosages. The second is that I wanted to see if I could test Dr Levinson's theories at home, with Miss Grace, who has dyslexia. Unfortunately February has been drama driven, with her having multiple bouts of the flu, bronchitis and viral stomach bugs. But I was finally able to get some trials done, so I feel like I have a better idea about this book and how it's theories can affect real life.

The theories present by Dr Levinson make a LOT of sense in this book (which is actually a follow up to his earlier book, with more research). When you look at dyslexia from a neurological view point, versus a psychological/learning disability one, things seem to click into place like Legos. After all if you're internal sense of balance is OFF, then of course certain things like riding a bike would be undoable, and concentrating to read would seem impossible. But if you can get the internal balance back to normal, what then? Would those dyslexia symptoms disappear?

During the past month, Miss Grace has been on antihistamine and steroids, and at times she had told me she felt like she was having a brain epiphany- like she just HAD to learn and her focus was amazing, even with being SICK. But because she was on so many different meds, it was hard to say for sure they were the cause. Then this week, I tried her with a low dose of children's Benadryl for 3 days. Not only were there NO melt downs when it came to school work, she actually WANTED to do her chores, and she said she felt 'less clutzy and off'.....hmmmm. So just with a sample trial, there seems to be some validity to Dr Levinson's theories. We'll be trying the actual anti-dizziness meds this next week to see how those work.

In looking back at Miss Grace's school history, when she was ON anti-histamines for sinus issues, was when she didn't seem to be having as many focusing and learning issues. But you don't want your kid on meds if they don't need them, so when her allergies seemed to abate, her ped took her off of them, and that was when things got much worse. At the time, literally NONE of us made any connection, as it was a slow tide of symptoms, versus a sudden onslaught. And she did suffer a burst eardrum when she had an ear infection before she was 3. But it was unusual as she showed NO symptoms of the infection until it progressed to that point. Ped thought everything had healed just fine, but with this new book, I now wonder, if everything did. 

This book is not the easiest of reading, but if you have a dyslexic child, it is a MUST read, to open your eyes that there may actually BE a medical cause, that can be dealt with, to reduce or do away with the symptoms your child has. The issue I'm sure many readers will have, is getting their ped to understand the tests needed, and why neurology and auditory refererals are needed. And for most insurances, those referrals are needed to cover the costs. Thusly, your option may feel like you have to take your child to NY to see Dr Levinson, as why the tests are described in the book, dosaging and which meds to use for different levels are not. So while the info is invaluable, being able to DO something with it, for your child (other than trying your own at home trial), may be a huge roadblock. But I think it is something you DO have to try!

Please see Dr. Levinson’s videos at: http://dyslexiaonline.com/media/media.html for more info!

About the Author:

Harold Levinson, M.D. is a world-renowned psychiatrist and neurologist. He is credited 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.

Dr. Levinson began his dyslexia research over 30 years ago within the New York City Board of Education. Formerly Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at New York University Medical Center, Dr. Levinson is now Director of The Medical Dyslexic Treatment Center (also called The Levinson Medical Center For Learning Disabilities) in Great Neck, NY. Dr. Levinson's research has been published in many scientific and peer-reviewed journals and reviewed by top media including The New York Times, Science, TIME, Smithsonian, "The Today Show" and "Larry King Live." he currently runs the The Levinson Medical Facility for Dyslexia in Long Island, NY.