I recently got a call from my son's first grade teacher, who says that my son has exhibited signs of dyslexia and dysgraphia (the mirroring of words).
In accordance with her recommendations, we have scheduled an appointment with an opthamolgist, and will be having him assessed by the child study team.
The teacher feels that this is necessary, so that she will know what to do to best help my son.
The symptoms that she has observed include writing letters and words backwards, copying a graph, words and all, in complete reverse, from the blackboard, a lot of difficulty/very slow with reading.
His teacher is aware that he has lyme, and I have explained that he is doing MUCH better than he was last year, when he was very symptomatic.
As of now, he has night sweats, and we will find out in Oct. if there is still seizure activity when he has a scheduled EEG. Otherwise, he is symptom free.
If any others have had their kids diagnosed with dyslexia and/or dysgraphia, do you feel that this was due to lyme, did it improve or go away with tx, and do you have any words of wisdom?
posted
Dyslexia (I don't know as much about dysgraphia) tends to be genetic. Did anyone else in your family struggle with learning to read as a youngster? When we were kids, those conditions weren't diagnosed as often so they might have existed in your family or in your husband's family, but may not have ever been labeled or treated.
Ask you r MIL about how your DH and his siblings learned to read... he might not remember.
If you can rule out genetic links, it could be caused by the Lyme as it affects the brain.
The most important thing is that you attack the reading problems head-on. Best of luck!
-------------------- Diagnosed with :yme and mycoplasma pneumonia Aug 08. Treating with Doxy and Ceftin ever since. 15 sessions in hyperbaric o2 chamber Posts: 183 | From all around | Registered: Jul 2008
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They've been able to identify numerous abnormalities in my son all falling under the label of learning disabilities. At one point he could read upside down better than he could the right way up.
His work was far more normal in grade 2 before he got really sick than it is right now at 19 years old. On days when he is doing better physically, it is reflected in his reading and written work. On bad days, you need a translator to interpret what he is attempting to express.
Effective treatment is the key!
Best Wishes, bf
Posts: 191 | From Ontario | Registered: Feb 2006
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There is no family history of dyslexia or any other kind learning disability in my family (quite the opposite, we have many class validictorians in my family), nor, do I think in my husband's family.
In fact, I was a very early reader, at my son's age I was reading college-level books (for real!) and there was talk of having me skip grades because I was so far ahead.
My son was starting to read at age 4, but then contracted lyme. He literally lost skills throughout his kindergarten year, and his letters, which he had written properly prior to this, started to flip over.
So I'm pretty sure that this is a lyme thing.
We tried having neuro-psychologic testing done last year, to determine what, if any difficulties he was having, but the results were inconclusive due to his age being that at which many other disorders have there onset.
Thank you for your input, it helps in figuing out what exactly this illness has done to our child, so we can better help him.
posted
My son, who is now 22 and a college graduate, has learning disabilities.
Since dyslexia and disgraphia are caused by a disruption of information in the brain going through the usual neural pathways, it would seem that Lyme could be the cause of your son's difficulties.
My son started having behavior problems in school when he was six. It took us two years to figure out that he couldn't learn to read, not because he wasn't trying, but because he couldn't process the information correctly.
This was a child who was never sick and had always been quick to learn. Our first child was a girl so we thought it unfair to compare their progress, as they were very different. I could read before I went to school, so it was a mothering challenge to have a child who struggled so!
My husband and I both have cousins who had learning problems. It doesn't affect intelligence: my husband's cousin is a doctor and mine has a very good job.
Sometimes there's no family history.
I don't know if my son has any TBD, but as I said, he's never sick.
I do have words of wisdom:
Rule out vision and hearing problems. If he attends public school, they may not be able to help him. Make sure he maintains his self-esteem, it's going to be hard if he gets put into a class for slow-learners. We took our son to a center for private tutoring. For a year it was expensive, but he caught up to his classmates. We didn't have the school district test him until he was starting middle school because I prefered taking care of him myself. I imagine the diagnostic process has improved since then.
My son still has trouble with standarized tests, and may be facing a brick wall when it comes to continuing his education. His goal is to go to medical school, but when he took the MCAT and GRE tests he didn't do very well. He had no trouble in college and got good grades. It's still frustrating as the process to get learning disabilites documented again is hoop-jumping to the max.
I wish you well and hope you find a good answer for your son!
Lynne
Posts: 353 | From Florida boonies | Registered: Nov 2005
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Thank you for the advice. My son is not in public school, he attends a Catholic school, and there are only 11 kids in his class.
The small class part is great, but on the downside, small Catholic schools don't neccessarily have the resources to provide the support needed for a child with special needs. They are willing to try though.
So far, my son is keeping up, but that won't last as his peers become more accomplished at reading, and he has to work much harder to interpret what he is seeing.
He has been compensating by memorization, as best as we can tell. So despite his difficulties, he has gotten 100% on all but one test so far, and scored in the 90's on the remaining test.
I'm hoping for the best, but also feel terrible for him, after all that he has been through for the last year.
But like dory in Nemo, we'll just keep swimmin', swimmin'.....
Take care, kp
Posts: 394 | From tinton falls nj | Registered: Jul 2007
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I forgot to add, prior to being infected, there was no sign of dyslexa. He wrote all of his letters the right way.
Then after he was diagnosed, when he was the most symptomatic, his letters started flipping over. His kindergarten teacher didn't recognize the problem, because it is not uncommon for kindergarteners to write letters backwards.
But I think that it was kind of weird that he started to write them backwards, when he had been consistantly writing them the right way for the year or so prior.
This is why I think lyme is the culprit.
Take care, kp
Posts: 394 | From tinton falls nj | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
My daughter became dyslexic after contracting Lyme disease. Like your son, she had always been able to write her letters correctly, up until 2 years ago.
Two years ago I asked her to write her father a card for his birthday. She handed me the card with a smile and said she was "all done"...I opened the card, and to my horror most of the letters were written backwards.
I immediately brought it to her LLMDs attention, and several tests and appointments were set up.
The diagnosis isn't simple and needs input from several different professionals, similar to Lyme.
I hope you are able to find the answers you need!
Posts: 371 | From CT | Registered: Jun 2008
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posted
I am not a kid but I did not develop dyslexia until my Lyme disease hit. Then I got it. And, unfortunately still have it although it's gotten a little better with treatment.
Alison
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The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. --- Edward R. Murrow Posts: 923 | From California | Registered: Aug 2005
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