The Dyslexia Label

It has been estimated that about one in four British people suffer from a condition called dyslexia. Dyslexia is broadly described as a learning difficulty that makes it difficult for the sufferer to read the written word. The condition is taken so seriously by the Department of Education that sufferers of dyslexia are given extra time in examinations to make up for this handicap.

Despite the numerous studies academics still are not in agreement on whether the condition actually exists. Some claim that the symptoms put forward are no different to the problems everyone encounters at some stage in their learning development and do not warrant labelling a child in this way.

Professor Julian Elliott, an Educational Psychologist at Durham University in the United Kingdom could find no scientific evidence for the existence of dyslexia and that he himself could not diagnose such a condition with any confidence.

Professor Elliott believes the condition called dyslexia is no more than a reading difficulty and that there is no reason for it to be a called anything else or given any more attention than that. He is further perplexed by the confusion surrounding the definition of dyslexia as he found no less than 28 different definitions of the condition. It is as if definitions have been created in order to encompass as many people as possible and in so doing enlisting the support of more people in a drive to validate a condition that actually does not exist.

Professor Elliott believes that dyslexia is a very convenient label for parents to use as a way of explaining why their children are not living up to their parents' academic expectations. He feels it is easier for a parent to believe in a condition that prevents their child from achieving than accepting the idea that the child is not very clever. In his view it is an elaborate self deception designed to placate parents who can heave a sigh of relief for having found a plausible explanation for why their children are not achieving in school now they have this 'condition' called dyslexia to blame.

He believes that the condition is satisfying and emotional need in parents who have a vested interest in having their children diagnosed with this mysterious condition than to have themselves and their children bear the stigma of being labelled with low intelligence. It is very important for parents to have dyslexia recognised as a valid condition so you can imagine the reaction Professor Elliott got when he made his views public in the United Kingdom.

Those who oppose Professor Elliott's views argue that there is a difference between people labelled dyslexic and those labelled as poor readers. They say that people lacking in intelligent are slow learners and slow learners are poor readers. Dyslexics on the other hand are intelligent people who have problems reading. They say that there are lots of poor readers who have problems reading because they lack the necessary intelligence to be good readers and so they would not be labelled dyslexic.

Professor Elliott sees this argument as ironic in that those who oppose him rely on tests of intelligence for their proof of the existence of dyslexia when in fact scientific studies have shown that it is not reading that requires a high degree of intelligence but the comprehension of what is read.

Dyslexia has become a multi million pound (dollar) business. People now depend on dyslexia being a real condition for their livelihood so people with views like Professor Elliott receive a lot of hate mail and unless you were a very courageous individual or actively sought notoriety you would simply keep your mouth shut.

People pay a lot of money to have their children diagnosed with dyslexia but you will find no where a cure for this condition. Labelling a child with dyslexia is far more profitable than curing the condition.

As a teacher and hypno-psychotherapist I have taught children labelled with dyslexia and I have also treated children in my private practice who were diagnosed with dyslexia. I have written the transcript of one of my lessons teaching a severely dyslexic boy how to spell in a separate hub called Spelling Help. As a hypno-psychotherapist I have found that every child and adult I treated with dyslexia had some things in common. All of the people I treated were male. They all had fathers who were dyslexic. All of their fathers were 'absent'. When I say absent I mean either physically absent in that the parents were separated or divorced and no longer living together or emotionally absent in that the mother wore the pants and the fathers remained ineffectual in the background for most of the time. The strong male role model figure was not present and in his place was a dominant controlling mother. These are my findings and the numbers would not be sufficient to warrant any conclusions be drawn. They could well be coincidences and that I why I approached the British Dyslexia Association with my findings many years ago.

When I called the association and told them my credentials they were very friendly until I shared my findings. In my naivety I believed that this association would be interested in pursuing any avenue that would lead to a discovery of the cure for dyslexia so I asked if any study had been made to check the links that I had found in the background of people who suffered with dyslexia. I was met with nothing less than a torrent of anger. The idea that dyslexia could be as a result of some emotional root was completely preposterous to them and they asked me not to call again.

I have written many articles on the power of thought and feelings to create reality and whether or not you agree with Professor Elliott you would have to admit that it all smells rather fishy. This is a classic example of how enough people investing enough energy in a thought can actually create a belief that the becomes an unquestionable truth. To those people who spoke to me from the British Dyslexia Association, Professor Elliott and anyone who supported his views was no less than a devil because idea that any condition could have an emotional root cause let alone dyslexia was like Copernicus putting forward the idea that the earth was round.

If someone believes he is dyslexic then he is dyslexic. No amount of logical reasoning is going to convince him otherwise. I spend no time trying to convince people about anything because their critical filter will only entertain ideas that fit their belief system. In order to reach an informed decision about what you want to continue to hold as a belief, and therefore your truth, you would have to suspend the very belief system that protects you from entertaining ideas that conflict with your beliefs. This is where hypnosis comes in. By learning the art of self hypnosis you learn how to suspend your critical factor in order to deliberately entertain ideas that would be in your own interests. Not everything you hold to be true is good for you so wouldn't it seem like common sense to learn how to access the subconscious to change those beliefs that are limiting you and holding you back?

I created an audio recording called “Introduction to Hypnosis”, that I require each of my clients to play for at least one week before starting their treatment with me. The audio is available for download from my website so that it can be put on iPod , MP3 player or burned to CD and played in the privacy of your own home. The audio teaches the art of self hypnosis so successfully that my clients come for their first session already able to achieve the state of hypnosis deliberately by themselves.