I have had learning disabilities and dylexia my whole life. I have been through all of the dumbell math classes and english classes when in college. I had "special tutors" when I was in grammar school. Just a lifetime of embarrassing situations and disapointment. Be that as it may I have been able to compensate to a degree, and I am successful in the field that I work in.

With that being said I have spent a good amount of time doing research on dyslexia and I have gone to numerous doctors trying to correct the condition ranging from "motion therapy" to drugs. The best information that I can find on this condition of "learning disabilities" and dyslexia is that it is more common then we think and now doctors classify it into the terms of ADD and ADHD. If you look at the symptoms for these they are identical and really the same according to Dr.Harold Levinson who wrote the book called "Smart but feeling dumb." He has written a book on ADD and has concluded that these conditions stem from the same problem and that is an inner ear dysfunction which can be corrected with a number of drugs.

I am currently taking Lexapro and have been doing so for about 4 weeks and I can tell you my memory has drastically improved and so has my ability to reason with numbers. For the first time in my life I have been able to remember my bank account number without having to look it up. My writing is improving. I have a high IQ which when I was last tested was 129, but when I was in high school I barely graduated with a below D average.

Dr. Harold Levinson believes that ADD and Learning disabilities and Dyslexia and even phobias fall into the same catagories in that there is a dysfunction with the inner ear due to childhood illnesses such as ear infections or genetics or the mother's labored pregnancy due to alcohol abuse or a number of illnesses which causes the inner ear to be knocked off of balance.

For many of you who have been frustrated with these conditions I would suggest picking up "Smart but feeling dumb" or the "Riddle of Dyslexia" or "ADD" or "Phobia Free" by Dr. Harold Levinson. He is a psychiatrist out of New York. I have worked with my ADD Doctor along with Dr. Levinson's book to correct the problems with learning disabilities that I have had my whole life and it seems as though things are getting better.

I hope this helps,

Andrew

Hi, That is very interesting, I never thought to put the two together. I have adult ADD and probably have had it all my life, also when I was a child I had numerous ear infections. In fact my siblings all had chronic ear infections but so far I'm the only one diagnosed with ADD. Anyways my youngest son has ADHD and has had alot of ear infections. If I could get some more info on this it would be very interesting researching this. thank-you..Nikki

Hey i'd like to know what you find out because i am a 19 year old mother whom was just diagnosed with add, i have had MANY MANY MANY ear problems, mastoid (SP?) operation 3yrs ago... i' really don't want my child to feel like i have

Wow. Thanks for the info. I have 2 children with learning disabilities and I always suspected that one was connected to his frequent ear infections. I'll get the books! Thanks for sharing.

wow that's awesome, I've had many many many ear infeactoions my whole life, so I can see how they would connect. I'm so glad you posted this.

Wow that is some good info, my son is ten and since he was born he had bad ear problems and plus cthey were telling me that he has some heareing lost in his right ear, later on in the years when he started school I found out that he has ADD and that he needs special help in school, plus he can't seem to remeber nothing he would do his home work and sit it on the kitchen table and like 20min later I ask him did he put his homework in his bookbag all of a sudden he can't find it and it's still sitting on the kitchen table! Thats amazing thanks for the info!:)

I'm interested in this as though I have always done 'ok' at school, I've always felt I struggled very hard to achieve an 'ok' mark and expected more of myself. I am however dyspraxic and though have learned to cope as an adult despite still not being able to eat without getting it all down my front. I've been told by doctors that this is in the same category as dyslexia also. I have always suffered from ear infections since being a child and have extensive scar tissue according to my doctor.

My eldest child does not suffer from ear infections but we have been told that she is displaying dyslexic tendencies and at 10 yrs old is really struggling hard at school. We have been told that she is very eloquant in her speech and shows a good understanding of oral work but that she does not show this with her recorded work (written).

My middle child has been referred for speech therapy and frequently has ear ache and blocked nose. Another thing I've noticed is that my eldest child and my youngest child have both had heart murmurs detected, perhaps this could also be related! My eldest child seems to have difficulty with accepting responsibility for her own actions too and is angry most of the time. When she was a baby till she was about 7 years old she also used to make a low groaning noise when she was doing something such as reading or playing.

My son was in 2nd grade when he was diagnoised with ADHD and a speach language learning disability. My husband and I took our son to a Dr. that specialized in tutoring L.D. kids.

Eventhough my son had ADHD and does have a specah lang L.D. he does not have dyslexia. As some of you have said, he has all the informatioin in his head, and if asked a question he can ans verbally; however, if he were to write the information down, he can not get the informatioin from his head to the sheet of paper. For EX. verbally he would spell black... black, but on paper, he would spell black... blak.

When he was a baby he always had ear infections; with each new tooth came an ear infection. Some were so severe his Dr. sent him for hearing test. He does have a slight hearing loss.

One question though, do your kids have above average I.Q.'s? I have read that kids that have ADHD have above average I.Q's.

Vic