Like ADHD, Dyslexia is a common disorder that’s very common and is somewhat problematic to deal with in a classroom setting.  While often paired in conjunction with ADHD, and misdiagnosed ADHD, Dyslexia had its very own set of symptoms independent of ADHD. Dyslexia primarily impairs one’s ability to read, write, and or spell, despite having the adequate intellect to usually perform these tasks. Special abominations have been made to treat Dyslexia such as extended time, and spare time allowing a student to fully understand the information displayed. Studies based on visuals and sound have also been used with mixed results depending on the case

“In general, students with dyslexia benefit when well-prepared teachers provide evidence-based instruction, including instruction in decoding, encoding, and text-based approaches to improving fluency and comprehension. Successful instruction for students with dyslexia should include explicit teaching of critical elements essential for instruction include: phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling and writing, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension” (Vaughn & Roberts, 2007)

Dyslexia and Related Disorders Reporting Study

I myself do have a Sister that was only recently identified with Dyslexia around a half a year ago, by her tutor. Before this point, my sister struggled with her studies, however, now with proper learning methods, My Sister has reached AP Level classes, doing quite well if I do say so. It just goes to show what a marginal difference can be made with a little bit of compensation and understanding.

While Dyslexia is one of the most prevalent learning disorders, understanding its intricacies still seems to be quite a hassle. A test was done to identify the commonality between individuals with dyslexia, both high functioning and low functioning. The result was there were several independent defects working in tandem rather than a singular defect. This makes it so Dyslexia seems more like a case by case disorder, rather than a homogenous one. This can very clearly indicate why some individuals with Dyslexia have an effect on their spelling of speech ability, while other individuals will not require aid in those fields.

“There was no significant difference between the poorly reading groups. The vast majority of those with dyslexia had three symptoms – language disorders, articulation and graphomotor dyscoordination, and visual-perceptual disorders. The results support a model of dyslexia, which she sees caused by multiple independent defects of higher cortical functions, as opposed to the theory of a single causal defect. A clinical description of each syndrome is given and models of dyslexia are discussed. The authors emphasize that it is desirable to include brain-damaged readers as a control group in any further study of causal factors in dyslexia.” Steven Mattis  Joseph H. French  Isabelle Rapin

Dyslexia in Children and Young Adults: Three Independent Neuropsychological Syndromes

Such studied, do make me curious about what can be done to treat Dyslexia in the future. Perhaps one-day advancements can be developed to help mitigate the 3-way tandem. Though considering how treatable Dyslexia is, and how expensive this process is, I doubt we will reach this point anytime soon.

Caffeine has often been attributed as something that’s bad for kids and required for adults. This is due to the assessment that seems to be based on the observation that children tend to naturally be more vigorous and active. However, it seems quite the opposite happens to someone with ADHD. Instead of becoming overly hyperactive, the consumer becomes more focused. This seems due to Caffeine’s ability to stimulate the brain when experiencing fatigue or low arousal. Naturally, the brain would enter a state of boredom when in a situation of low arousal or fatigue. In this situation, Caffeine would stimulate the brain, preventing boredom to ensue. So, Caffeine isn’t exactly supposed to enhance one’s attention, or prevent distraction directly like other treatments, rather it gives something to stimulate the brain, so distraction is less likely to factor in. The article by Diogo R. Lara, which  I mainly attribute the info from this section even clearly says it.

“ However, caffeine failed to reduce resistance to distraction” D.R. Lara / Caffeine and Psychiatry S243

In layman’s terms, it’s a preventative measure. One is less likely to be distracted if they are in a state in which boredom is reduced, however being a mindset where one is less likely to be distracted doesn’t prevent distraction, it just minimizes the likeliness.  

Caffeine, Mental Health, and Psychiatric Disorders

Further beyond this, it seems one’s distraction with ADHD, can be linked to sleep deprivation, further explaining the connection between caffeine and ADHD. Cipollone Gaida reports, not only that there is a relationship between ADHD and sleep deprivation at childhood, but it seems to continue on in adulthood as well. Amongst Military members, it was shown that subjects with ADHD, while their performance was better with caffeine in their system, the study had shown that most of the soldiers with  ADHD did have the greatest struggle going to sleep in comparison to their contemporaries, with the subjects averaging anywhere from 30 minutes for sleep preparation to even further beyond. Outside of Caffeine use, Soldiers with ADHD were also shown to have higher use of tobacco products and alcohol. 

Military ADHD study

Considering the factors present in the information I found, it seems ADHD, can potentially be greater controlled, through better sleep patterns. This is due to the use of caffeine as a treatment, having similar results, to others with standard sleep deprivation, and it’s prevalence in adulthood. Even the prominence of alcohol use in adults with ADHD can be attributed to the need to better engage in sleep. This is however merely a small hypothesis I desired to bring up given what was presented in the studies I read, rather than anything conclusive. Regardless at the moment, caffeine seems to be a suitable substitute or side treatment to standard medications. However one thing Caffeine seems to have that prescription like Rittilan and Adderall, there seems to be less of a need to increase the dosage, as well as seemingly having fewer withdrawal symptoms. “

“If proven effective, caffeine has the advantage of being easily available without the level of abuse potential of methylphenidate and amphetamine derivatives”  D.R. Lara / Caffeine and Psychiatry S244

I find Schizophrenia to be a  highly fascinating mental disorder.  Outside my curiosity of its sorta alienated nature alluring me, my fascination was boosted when one of my former school concealers said I had several of the symptoms of schizophrenia. To clarify, neither me nor her believe I have the mental disorder, nor have my tendencies been harmful enough to consider such a possibility. However, Introspectively thinking about it lead me to notice some interesting parallels. I live life with the mentality that I am never certain about anything about the world. One of my mottos that follows this is “there is no absolute truth, only what we know of the unknown.” This does sorta parallel a schizophrenic’s uncertainty towards the world around them, though I would like to think my outlook is more so out of choice than disillusionment. This branch between schizophrenia shows the potential of being shorter in The slow death of the concept of schizophrenia

While it is commonly believed that people with Schizophrenia have a genetic displacement for experiencing it, which is still believed in this article, the study goes over the different possible levels of a manifested psychosis, alongside the environmental issues that tend to be associated with Schizophrenia. I remember when going over genetic disorders in a class a long time ago, a high school science teacher of mine had stated how children whose parents had schizophrenia were more likely to develop it. After hearing this I enquired that was it because of genetics, or because these children with schizophrenic parents were exposed to the behavior, making them more susceptible to take from it due to the human brain’s natural adaptability.

Through Yrjö Alanen’s studies

Schizophrenia yrjö o Alanen

it seems he believes that Schizophrenia is sort of a type of uncontrolled escapism, noticing similarities between a Schizophrenic’s altered perception, and their own standard problems in life. A commonality between Yrjö’s does seem to be a newfound sense of importance through Scitophrnia. This is probably due to the 2 theories on how schizophrenia is formed that Yrjö implied. Either mentally regressing to avoid major trama, or restructuring one’s world view to avoid trama. In both cases, it seems a higher focus self-importance would be formed.

I have stated previously that I believe all humans are on the mental disorder spectrum to some degree, it is only when these behaviors start to become harmful for one’s self and or others that one is designated as mentally ill. The research in this article “The slow death of the concept of schizophrenia” does sort of support this logic. The human brain is the most complicated piece of machinery out there, thus it’s incredibly complicated to just outright categorize humans, due to a great number of individual differences that are present in humans, and the potential for even more differences to appear latter.  Due to this, it seems foolish to treat schizophrenia as having a set amount of solvents. However, If I have to suggest something for all Scitzophenics, it is a focus on qualitative research. Personal exposure to other humans has consistently shown to increase a schizophrenic’s trust and social interactions. Even if the research shows to be successful in certain areas, it should better inform a researcher how to deal with an individual’s predicament.

Understanding Child Brain Plasticity  

 There always seems to be this ever-prevailing divide between generations. This is both due to environmental differences and also natural human development. When at a younger age people are more susceptible to influence. This is essential for the developing all one’s vital  skills. This also seems to generate a divide between generations. This is why, outside experience, younger people are more susceptible to trends and new ideas, via the brain’s natural desire to accumulate new knowledge. The more applicable these trends become to someone’s everyday life. I often see people indiscriminately hating children, thinking they are all naturally  malicious, however I find it more than likely it usually a select few in a group that act maliciously, while the majority will follow. A key example of this can be seen with Lord of the flies, with only a few prominent figures acting hostile at first, and the rest of the children following though. Now this doesn’t mean children are unempathetic far from it. I would say more so that children’s comprehension is overly homogenized on the entire enviornment. Because of this it is hard to prioritize and or focus on an individual’s needs. I don’t believe this is impossible for children to accomplish, rather just harder considering how complex the world really is. Child psychologist Leonard Shengold who recently passed away has spoken about his thoughts on empathy at an early age. In the below quote reflects an experience Dr. Leonard Shengold had at age 5.

(The NewYork Times,Dr. Leonard Shengold, 94, Psychoanalyst Who Studied Child Abuse, Dies, Sandomir Richichard)“And as soon as she said that, I could tell from her face how distressed she was to have  said it. She started to cry, and I started to cry. Perhaps I had an early talent for empathy.”

leonard-shengold-dead

         While, retrospective, this quote does show children are capable of empathy, despite them  often being attributed with an egocentric world view. In order for a child to empathize they must however be properly informed about a situation. One cannot expect obedience, if one doesn’t bother to explain a situation. If anything, it is likely to build a sense of distrust which will likely  carry on into adulthood.  This seems to be the major reasons why orphans tend to have behavioral problems, due to early distrust via their circumstances.

Mental disorders have oddly become prevalent throughout the modern era. Though I personally believe that everyone falls into the mental disorder spectrum to a degree, it is only when one’s psychologically becomes dangerous to one’s self an or other when something truly becomes a mental disorder, via creating disorder. Perhaps this increase in mental disorders is caused by the internet, causing more awareness of the problems in the world. Perhaps we are only getting results on these mental disorders now because greater knowledge of these fields is available. There is one thing I know for sure however, childhood is hard to experience no matter who you are. The world is hard to understand for even many of the greatest philosophers. Thus what must be done is try to understand the next generation, so they can understand the past.

leonard-shengold-dead
young-minds-matter

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