Abstract
My unique way of medically diagnosing the dyslexia or CVS syndrome developed in conjunction with my continuously evolving understanding of this complex four-dimensional disorder. As you’ll recall, I ultimately recognized that the many possible symptomatic outcomes in dyslexics, as well as their respective intensities, were due to four major variables:
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Although dyslexia may start out as a pure inner-ear or CVS (Type III) disorder, patients are often emotionally traumatized by poor schooling and by feeling dumb, ugly, etc.—Type I events. In addition, poor parenting and emotional conflicts (Type II mechanisms), when present, further complicate the learning and concentration process, resulting in a symptomatic and diagnostic mixture that requires more than medication and related therapies. Moreover, patients occasionally present with mixed neurological patterns involving both CVS and non-CVS (Type IV) CNS dysfunctioning. As a result, the diagnostic process can be more complicated than presented above. Nevertheless, these exceptions aside, the CVS diagnostic and related therapeutic process remains a crucial cornerstone in medical management. And once the basic CVS (Type III) parameters can be better clarified, the other determinants, if present, also become more recognizable and treatable.
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These signs are more evident when the task is rendered more difficult (by speed and/or complexity) and compensation is minimized by distractibility, etc.
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The exceptions I have encountered, upon investigation, revealed significant insights about compensatory functioning as well as about possible errors made in interpreting these and related auditory processing scores. For example, those with mild degrees of the so-called CAPD can compensate when tested, using substantial degrees of concentration, especially over short periods, and thereby obtain “normal” or “false-negative” scores. And by contrast, when impairments in concentration ability affect normal speech-processing mechanisms, “false-positive” auditory delays may occur. Indeed, the response delay in some dyslexics can reflect difficulties in properly recalling and/or sequencing the words normally heard and/or mentally thought of, as well as motor or expressive delays.
Although many other variations were discovered during my testing of thousands of dyslexics, the above examples will hopefully prove sufficient to highlight the need to consider quantitative test scores within the overall context of clinical experience and “knowing your patient.” In other words, the most reliable data and insights are obtained when both qualitative and quantitative analyses are performed by open-minded clinicians who recognize that “unexpected exceptions often highlight the overall hidden rule.” Thus, this method requires further study.
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Although not emphasized here, it is crucial to note that standardized quantitative assessment tests and scores are absolutely vital in measuring before-and-after treatment results and in establishing baselines for the varied functions found impaired in dyslexics.
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Despite the fact that all four diagnostic steps were initially required for a certain diagnosis, I eventually recognized that shortcuts were possible—thus substantially shortening the diagnostic time and effort, while preserving accuracy. Clearly, all the diagnostic results provided unique insights—especially those obtained from my 3-D scanners. But over time and with experience, I separated those results that were vital from those that merely added “whipped cream” to the diagnostic pudding.
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Levinson, H.N. (2019). Four Steps to a Certain Diagnosis. In: Feeling Smarter and Smarter. Copernicus, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16208-5_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16208-5_19
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