Special Lens Seems To Help Dyslexic Patients See Better Jan 15, 2007 05:15 PM EST
By Lori Lyle
(LOUISVILLE) -- Up to 15 percent of American students struggle through school, unable to read simple words and sentences because of dyslexia. After decades of research, science is still looking for answers, but as WAVE 3's Lori Lyle reports, many are convinced the solution is right here in Louisville.
About 25 million Americans are functionally illiterate, struggling to read the simplest words and sentences, and that often leads to struggling in life. It's the life a Louisville veterinarian Dr. Robert Dahlem's didn't want for his oldest son who has dyslexia, and many now believe that incredible love accomplished what research could not.
"I'm not really a people person, That's why I work with animals," Dahlem says.
Yet hundreds of people come to his office for a prescription for dyslexia that no medical doctor can provide.
They're called Ricochet Angled Deflective lenses, or RADs.
At 16, Dahlem's oldest son, Austin, is a star student at Trinity. He's also dyslexic, and struggled for years with simple reading and writing skills.
Dahlem recalls feeling bad as he watched while his son had to perform simple tasks like "reading a paragraph at Scouts, all the kids had to pass around the book -- the anxiety, to watch him sweat for his turn coming, to be embarrassed in front of all of his friends."
But Dahlem never once thought his son wasn't trying or simply not capable. "I started thinking 'I know him. I know he's smart. You can talk to him and know he's smart. It just doesn't make sense.'"
So Dahlem set about finding the cause of Austin's problem -- as well as a solution. After eight years of observations and calculations, he made a breakthrough by linking facial symmetry and how the eyes process light to the problem dyslexic patients have with reversed images.
"Sure enough," Dahlem says, "there was an issue that only a small group fell into, but I could repeat it time and time again."
Dahlem's theory: the lack of facial symmetry in dyslexics prevents light from activating a switch in the brain.
"Here's the true cause of dyslexia: if the left eye is in tight and the right eye turns too far," Dahlem says.
One severely dyslexic patient, 15-year-old David Durbin, who is severely dyslexic, seems to bear out that theory with a "classic left eye dominant trait, so that tells me your switching."
It all adds up, Dahlem says.
In fact, research from Yale uncovered a glitch in the back left part of the brain in dyslexics where there was no activity.
"You can see that the back left part is hooked directly into inside of right eye," Dahlem says, pointing to a diagram of a dyslexic eye. "So it's not that that's the cause. That's just another symptom."
The fix: a precisely measured prism over the right eye to theoretically correct the light flow. David
David's mom, Pam, is a reading recovery teacher, and believes in Robert's theory because of the results she's had with her own son. "I was basically convinced when he read fluent. And it was amazing."
He was much improved from 3-hour study sessions every night when Pam says "he was so busy decoding what the words said, by the time he got to the end he couldn't comprehend what it was. Which it makes total sense now."
The lenses do have their critics.
Dahlem says "if you went to pediatric ophthalmologist, they'd say it couldn't work -- only one lens could just move the image slightly. That's all it would do."
And years of scientific research points to a hearing, or processing problem as the cause, so Dahlem says he was turned away from both UofL and Bellarmine when he asked them to help him compile credible data.
For now, the only proof is in people like David, who says it's "awesome really. I can see the words, I can read faster. It's really a miracle."
Dr. Dahlem's RAD lenses are patent pending, but unless they're recognized as proven science, he knows it's going to be tough to ever reach the masses.
Meanwhile, he has teamed up with one reading class at Lexington Traditional Middle School to gather data on his own.
The teacher, Pam Jackson, is dyslexic. She says when she took her college entrance exams, her scores were so low she was told she couldn't enter college.
Now, some 30 years later, the 2005 National Teacher of the Year continues to challenge nay-sayers, using Dahlem's scientifically unproven RAD glasses in her classroom.
Lexington Traditional is documenting progress through lexile measurements, reading and comprehension testing. The average expected growth is 75 to 100 lexiles a year.
"To get more than 500 lexiles in a 9-week period is like off the charts phenomenal," Jackson said. "That's like a freak of nature. And now more than half our kids are there now."
One child in the class increased his reading level by five grades after wearing the RAD glasses for nine weeks, and many others have jumped ahead three or four grade levels.
If you're interested in learning more about RAD lenses, you can visit Dr. Dahlem's website at http://www.readfluent.com or call 402-499-2744.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=5627188
Poster Comment:
pass along to any dyslexics you may know. i always though Dyslexia sounded like one them ethnic names.