Dyslexia Seminar Addresses Warning Signs

When organizers began planning Saturday’s seminar on dyslexia, they invited hundreds of pediatricians in hopes of heightening awareness of the reading disorder in medical circles.

But only a handful of physicians signed up, and educators, parents and some nurses instead dominated the audience of 150. The absence of pediatricians concerned Joyce Kassouf, who said they could aid in early detection.

“We’d like them to recognize there are some red flags that ought to be noted,” said Kassouf, co-president of the Orange County branch of the Orton Dyslexia Society, which sponsored the seminar with the Children’s Hospital of Orange County.

Those who did attend the all-day seminar at the hospital’s Wade Education Center took copious notes about such “red flags” as well as new medical breakthroughs and dyslexia’s educational and psychological ramifications.

Dyslexia, which can impair a person’s capacity to perceive and process words and numbers, typically is not diagnosed until early grade school.

Speaker Jennifer C. Zvi, a learning disability specialist at Cal State Northridge, described dyslexic behavior in younger children--such as problems in drawing basic images or patterns in walking up stairs--that could suggest they might be at risk.

A single symptom in itself does not herald a problem, Zvi cautioned. But several symptoms might signal a child could benefit from early intervention such as working with a language therapist, she said.

One preschool educator in the audience praised the notion of early screening. Gwen C. Berger, director of early childhood education at the Temple Beth Emet Preschool in Anaheim, recalled a 4-year-old boy who struggled with visual perception and sometimes walked into people or things. She spoke with his parents about a possible visual perception impairment that was later confirmed.

Another speaker, Glenn Rosen, assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, described the status of research into possible links between dyslexia and changes in the brain.

One woman asked Rosen about reports this month in the journal Science that therapy using computer games and other equipment could have the potential to correct certain language learning disabilities in children. Rosen called the research promising but preliminary.