What is dyslexia? Chances are that if you are reading this — you don’t have it. According to Louise Brazeau-Ward, founder and director of the Canadian Dylsexia Centre in Ottawa “a dyslexic (someone who suffers from dyslexia) is someone, who due to inherited or medical reason, organizes information in a different way. A dyslexic sees the word in a three dimensional, intuitive way that causes them difficulty in anything to do with reading, writing and speaking. Dyslexics have the capacity to see in 3D and visualize at a rapid rate. This extra perceptual ability is a blessing as well as a curse.”

The symptoms of dyslexia vary, because according Gerry Grant, Director of Dyslexia Solutions in Princeton Ontario “it doesn’t just affect reading or writing skills. It can affect the way a person orients their body in space or the way they perceive time. It also extends to how people see numbers…. the mixing up of numbers is called dyscalculia.

However, the main symptom of dyslexia seems to manifest, around the age of nine, as an inability to read or write. I am already wondering if my nine-year-old son has it, as he is so slow at reading.

I am worried as this is problem that can last a lifetime. There are no real statistics about how many people have dyslexia, because it is often confused with other related disorders such as attention deficit disorder and emotional problems. People who have dyslexia often have low self-esteem and feel stupid. The fact is that most dyslexics are of above average intelligence. We have been led to believe that dyslexia is the result of a genetic flaw or nerve damage or that it was caused by a malformation of brain, inner ears or eyes. Dyslexia is actually a product of thought and a special way of reacting to confusion and disorientation. And it is not limited to reversals of letters and words.”

However there is a doctor called Charles Drake who claims: “Dyslexia is the wave of the future.” We practically live the experience of a dyslexic every time we visit a website. The experience is non-verbal and reliant on abstract thought and linking in unorthodox, non-linear ways. Grant comments on the “modern” headset of the dyslexic “dyslexics think in terms of pictures. They already see in 3D. It is an effort for them to see in the print medium, which is two D. They are all about creativity and visualization.” In other words, dyslexics see more like filmmakers than writers.

Most of us suffer a little bit of dyslexia, especially when fatigued, stressed or tired. It is mainly experienced as a reversal of letters and words. However, other symptoms include “reading or writing with additions, omissions, substitutions and repetitions. Dyslexics will also transpose one letter for another or confuse left and right with over and under. Other concrete symptoms include, having difficulty telling or managing time, being on time or breaking down information and tasks. Dyslexics also often mispronounce long words. Does that sound like your kid? Or does it sound like you? It is not a problem that is ever solved. You just have to work with.

The Barrie Journal in Canada recently printed an interesting article about how to keep those rowdy kids in line. The tips actually come from Alan Kazdin who is the director of the Yale Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic, and he’s president of the American Psychological Association. Still I couldn’t help but think his tips were pretty academic, as they sound good in theory.

Here is a condensed version of what I learned in that article. I actually tried a few of these tips to see if they work and unfortunately my conclusion is that they would work on a kid that was a good kid in the first place and not one that had ADD or a real resentment problem.

First of all, the doctor tells us we are supposed to think in terms of the “positive opposite.” For instance the next time my teen daughter treats me like I am invisible and ignoring me I am not supposed to be negative. Instead of taking the approach that “It drives me crazy when she doesn’t listen,” I am supposed to take a more positive attitude as in “I want her to listen to me the first time I say something.”

I say wanting is one thing and having it happen on the other. It isn’t much use practicing “The Secret” on kids. They like to do the opposite all of the time. I don’t think this particular tip is going to be very effective.

His second tip is to use lavish praise on your child. I have actually tried this one. Now I have a very conceited teen who thinks that she should be lavishly praised all of the time. She is still rowdy too. She thinks she is the Queen and flirts too much with men. I try not to criticize her but I think there is such a thing as raising a teen that is too cocky.

Another tip from this book which is called the Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child is to not punish the child. I think I do agree with this one if you have a defiant teen. The reason is that punishing them whips up their adrenalin and makes them even more rowdy. When it comes to these types of kids, what you resist seems to persist.

Furthermore punishment really does seem to affect these defiant kids because they are so sensitive in the first place.

So what do you do exactly if you do have a defiant kid? My police are mainly to try and praise a little more and punish a little less to see if I can achieve a little balance. The problem with this book by Alan Kazin is that it simply does not take into account that my daughter might not even want my approval. The assumption that children do want your approval all of the time is the great flaw that is in that work.

I am a little perturbed because I keep hearing that sippy cups can cause speech problems in children. However I am not the only one that is thinking that this must be an exaggeration as Teresa Zwierzchowski who writes for Pensacola News Journal is wondering the same thing – “Is this a fact or a rumor.” If it were a rumor by the way, who would start it? Bottle manufacturers. This is why at first I was inclined to thin it was true.

I don’t know where the rumor started but basically the valve on the sippy cup is supposed to lead to developmental speech delays. I have a four year old who uses a sippy cup and he is a litte slow with the speech so now I am wondering what I have done? However this is a boy and boys are supposed to be slower learners than girls so who knows what the truth of all of this really is.

The threat is supposed to be that if your child is not off the sippy cup by the age of 18 months he or she is likely to develop problems. It is supposed to be even more damaging than thumb sucking.

Teresa Zwierzchowski who has a two year old looked all over Dr. Spock’s book and could not find anything on the subject. Neither than I. There also doesn’t seem to be much on the web about this except on medinenet.com in which a woman named Denise Mann penned an article in February of 2007 that claimed that toddlers that use these cups could develop lisps from using them. Mann is not a fly by night mom with an opinion like me or like Theresa Zeierzchowsk. She is a certified specialist. An orofacial myoligist from Coconut Creek. Her opinion is that staying on that sippy cup causes problems with articulation and clarity of speech in some children.” Thank God it is only some children and not my child. Right?

So what do you do if you think have a child that you suspect has this problem? You are supposed to trade in the sippy cup for a straw. This way the tongue is not misplaced causing a speech impediment.

So are sippy cups such a bad thing. To tell you the truth I am a mystified. There does not seem to be any studies done on this. However should there not be some studies done at least by the companies that make these things so that we know the effects on speech from the prolonged use of a sappy cup? Why shouldn’t this be done? After all there have been hundreds of studies done on breast-feeding and on using the bottle and the effect of those on speech.

Don’t think you will have much luck talking to your child’s doctor about this. It is unheard of. However I bet my dentist has something to say about it that makes more sense.

Inspired by the last blog I decided to come up with my own Anti-Flue Juicing Recipes.

Here are some juicing recipes that can help treat the symptoms and causes of the flu –

Immune System Builder Tonic

The garlic and Vitamin A content help restore lost minerals and electrolytes to the body.

Handful of parsley
1 garlic clove
5 carrots
3 stalks of celery

Bunch up the parsley and push it through the hopper of your juicer with the carrots and celery and drink immediately for best results.

Potassium Broth

Sometimes a person with the flu can tolerate lukewarm broths better than sweet or salty juices. This is a juice that can be served hot or cold that is valuable when it comes to replacing fluids that have been lost through diarrhea or through a high fever.

Handful of parsley
Handful of spinach
4 to 5 carrots
2 stalks celery

Push parsley and spinach leaves and push them through the juicer hopper. The juice the carrots and celery. Drink immediately or warm in a saucepan and serve as a clear soup.

Anti-Dizzy Tonic

The flu can make people dizzy either due to dehydration or to congestion. The following recipe contains ginger root juice, which is the classic remedy for dizziness.

¼ inch slice of ginger root
4 to 5 carrots
half an apple, seeded

Push the fruits and vegetables through a hopper and serve as immediately for best results.

Fever Fighter

The cucumber is a vegetable with a cooling effect on the body.

Cucumber with skin removed
Dash of salt

Juice cucumber and serve as is to fight dehydration.

Sinus Clearing Tonic

Radish is traditionally used to clear phlegm from the body.

2 whole red radishes
1 tomato
2 celery sticks
2 carrots’
handful of parsley

Push ingredients through the juicer’s hopper and serve immediately. Even holding this juice in one’s mouth for one or two moments will increase its effectiveness.

Body Rebuilder Juice

This vegetable cocktail contains a lot of greens and sprouts which contain all types of enzymes that can help clear and rebuild a body that has been battered and weakened by a bout with a cold or flu.

1 cup alfalfa sprouts
½ cup cabbage sprouts
½ cup asparagus stems
5 kale leaves
1 medium carrot

Push all ingredients through the hopper of your juicer. Drink immediately. For optimum results hold the juice in your moth for a few moments so that the enzymes can accomplish their beneficial work.

Flu Prevention Cocktail

The grapes have potent antiviral and antibacterial activity.

2 apples without seeds
1 large bunch of grapes, off the vine
1 lemon

Juice all of the ingredients. Serve as is or over ice.

The key to getting a sick person to drink juices is to serve them with plenty of water in case the taste is too strong. Also drinking juices with small sips is better then drinking no juice at all if the person is having trouble keeping juice down