Dyslexia : Perception Poster

Language: How we gave colours names, and it messed with our brains

Imagine that you had a rainbow-coloured piece of paper that smoothly blends from one colour to the other. This will be our map of colour space.



Now just as you would on a real map, we draw boundaries on it. This bit here is pink, that part is orange, and that’s yellow.



Here is what such a map might look like to a native English speaker.

If you think about it, there’s a real puzzle here.  



Why should different cultures draw the same boundaries?



If we speak different languages with largely independent histories, shouldn’t our ancestors have carved up the visual atlas rather differently?



This question was first addressed by Brent Berlin and Paul Kay in the late 1960s.  



They wanted to know if there are universal, guiding laws that govern how cultures arrive at their colour atlas.





Here’s what they found. Languages have differing numbers of colour words, ranging from two to about eleven. Yet after looking at 98 different languages, they saw a pattern.



It was a pretty radical idea, that there is a certain fixed order in which these colour names arise. This was a common path that languages seem to follow, a road towards increasing visual diversity and they suggested that the road looked like this:

The figure above is really telling a story. What it says is this. If a language has just two colour terms, they will be a light and a dark shade – blacks and whites.



Add a third colour, and it’s going to be red. Add another, and it will be either green or yellow – you need five colors to have both and when you get to six colours, the green splits into two, and you now have a blue.



What we’re seeing here is a deeply trodden road that most languages seem to follow, towards greater visual discernment (92 of their 98 languages seemed to follow this basic route).



Critics of Kay and Berlin said they were reading too much from too little. Some argued that their study was too small, that they surveyed too few people from each language.



They also said that study was skewed, as most the languages were from industrialized societies with written scripts. And to top it off, their methods weren’t very quantitative.



To respond to these criticisms, the authors launched what they called the World Colour Survey, a project that started collecting data in the late 1970s. This was a survey of 110 languages, all spoken by pre-industrial societies, many that have no written script.



Read more of this article here: Empirical Zeal

PAS: Parental Alienation Ayndrome and Divorced parents

The American Psychiatric Association is contemplating adding something called "parental alienation syndrome" (PAS) to the new edition of the DSM, scheduled to be published in May 2013, and the question has launched a national lobbying in the US and letter-writing campaigns on both sides.

Angry letters and editorials should not play any part in a debate about mental health and custody disputes but the fact these are being listened to tells you most of what you need to know about the validity of PAS.

What is parental alienation syndrome? William Bernet, a professor of psychiatry at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and an advocate for its inclusion in the DSM-5, describes it as "a mental condition in which a child, usually one whose parents are engaged in a high conflict divorce, allies himself or herself strongly with one parent, and rejects a relationship with the other parent, without legitimate justification."

Recognising Parental Alienation

There is no doubt that an ugly divorce can affect kids' relationship with their parents or cause children to choose sides, often in anger. In fact, that probably happens more often than not.

But Bernet and others who argue for adding PAS to the new edition of DMS, the official catalogue of mental health, want to see it recognized as a legitimate mental health disorder because it will "spur health insurance coverage, stimulate more systematic research, lend credence to [the] charge of parental alienation in court, and raise the odds that children would get timely treatment."

In other words, they want to affix a name, some blame, and also a price tag on a broad range of child responses to a custody fight (some may be perfectly justified and some may not) in the hopes of expanding its use in court.

There are downsides to including PAS in the DSM. A minimum of three participants are needed to diagnose PAS therefore it looks less like a mental health disorder than an epidemic.

It assumes that one unbalanced person (the mother) brainwashes or unduly influences, a second unbalanced or suggestable person (the child) into telling lies about a third person (the father).

Simply because a number of parents have experienced the frustration of blocked visitation rights and unreturned phone calls, doesn't mean that this conduct is the result of a medical "syndrome."

Joan S. Meier, a professor of clinical law at George Washington University School of Law, has explained it this way:

"PAS is a label that offers a particular explanation for a breach in relationship between a child and parent, but insofar as that breach could be explained in other, more rational, ways, it is not in itself a medical or psychological diagnosis (a certainty) so much as a particular legal hypothesis."

Read more about PAS here

The Holy Grail: A Cure for Dyslexia | Dyslexic Brian

The Cure for Dyslexia from Dyslexic Brian

I found this interesting article debating the possibility of a 'cure' for Dyslexia. This is a very emotive discussion point and one that has been extensively explored but I believe this article has greater impact because it is written by Antonio, who is Dyslexic and is therefore eminently qualified to provide us with added insight.

Antonio says;

"I often get asked if it is possible to cure dyslexia to which I generally reply “No”. I reply “No” not because a cure for dyslexia doesn’t exist […], but simply because such a question implies that ‘dyslexia’ stems from some form of ‘deficit’, ‘abnormality’, or some other form of ‘less than normal state of functioning’ that exists within the individual.

Put in another way, such a question implies that the existence of ‘dyslexia’ is not a ‘normal’ aspect of what it is to be ‘human’. Such a question assumes that a ‘norm’ exists; a ‘norm’ that the individual would be brought back to if they were ‘cured’ of their ‘dyslexia’.

So, by me answering “No” to the question, is in my opinion, the correct answer to give, even though [as implied], I believe there to be a ‘cure’ for dyslexia.

[…] what a paradox I have created! How can I, with one breath, say that there is no cure for dyslexia and yet with another, say that there is?

To answer this we need only step into the abstract realm of our dyslexic consciousness and whilst there, in this magical, mysterious space, partially step out (as best we can) from what we have grow to know as our ‘dyslexic self’.

In this ‘in between’ state of consciousness, if the balance is just right, we can simultaneously be and not be our ‘dyslexic self’. We become, so to speak, both dyslexic and non-dyslexic within the same moment of time.

It is here, that we can rise above the ‘reality’ in which we ‘exist’ and look down at ourselves with our new found ‘in between eyes’ and see, maybe for the first time, the ‘true’ person that we have become.

Whilst holding this state we might see how the ‘reality’, to which we were born, has imposed its ‘norms’ upon us, and how it has shaped our identities using false ‘hand me down’ beliefs, views and values.

On seeing this we can, if we choose, begin to recreate our existence as neither dyslexic [nor] non-dyslexic. And, in so doing we precipitate our own ‘cure’; we liberate our thoughts and begin to recreate a new ‘self’ that becomes free with our current, actual ‘reality’."

Antonio Farruggia-Bochnak

Our Belief Window - Hyrum W. Smith

Hyrum W. Smith is the US author of a number of self-motivational management books, one of which is 'What Matters Most.' I have just finished reading it and would like to share with you his view on 'Belief Windows'.

His 'Belief Window' and it's relationship with our basic needs is a very much simpler version of Maslo's Triangle or hierarchy of needs but it is none the less interesting.

4 Basic Needs
In contrast to Maslo, Smith tells us we have 4 basic needs in our lives that should be met.

1. To live - basic survival
2. To Love and be Loved
3. To be Important - status, standing, respect, etc.
4. Variety - Amusement, entertainment, lack of drudgery

Belief Window
He tells us that we have a 'Belief Window' through which we look and perceive our lives. This window on the world contains all our perceptions of the world. It shows us what we think we know. The view from everyone's 'Belief Window' is slightly different. We see the world in different ways, depending on who we are, our upbringing and experiences.

Our Beliefs
Our 'beliefs' are the things that we think, accept or believe are true and by which we live our lives; e.g. I never win at conflict therefore I avoid it, big dogs bite therefore I avoid them, if I don't wear nice clothes people will not like me or think I am not important, if I don't do what people ask of me then they will not love me, to be a good mother I must give up my own needs, etc.

Being a Good Mother
NB - I have to say that the belief system surrounding 'being a good mother' and, to a lesser extent 'being a good father', is a vast area of concern for us and one in which we can face and address many unresolved issues. It is an area that most councillors and therapists make a steady income from.

Exam Beliefs
We need to go discover and exam our own beliefs to determine what they are and why they appear to meet your needs, albeit in the short term. The difficulty comes when some of these beliefs may be helping us with conflict but not be meeting our long term needs. These are the ones we really need to change.

Conflicted
If we feel 'conflicted' or concerned in our daily lives, then it may be that our 'beliefs' are not meeting our 'needs' and we should sit down and examine them, to find the 'source' of this conflict. Of course, this is often easier said and sometimes not so easy to do.

Seek Help
It can be difficult to examine the content of our 'belief windows' on our own but a good coach or therapist can assist and at the same time, be objective. They are well trained in helping us to examine our beliefs and from this thoughtful 'examination' we are able to see where the conflict is and what is needing changed.

Changing
The change itself may be simple once it is revealed but it may also be more complex and we may need some assistance through that change. Change in all things is difficult and needs to be carefully managed to reduce the stress and discomfort of it.

Benefits of Change
We should not be afraid to seek help in working our way through changes in our thinking or in our lives. We will be pleased that we did so. We will reap the long term benefit of resolving conflict in our lives and see life more clearly through our brighter less complicated Belief Window.

Autism: Thinking and Understanding in Pictures

Temple Grandin, ("Autism is part of who I am.") was diagnosed with autism as a child. She talks about how her mind works -- sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss.

She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids. More info.

Dr. Bruce L. Miller: UCSF Memory and Aging

Dyslexic Brian’s Principles 1 | Dyslexic Brian

Dyslexic Brian’s Principles 1 Dyslexic Brian

Be clear about which area of dyslexia you are exploring

There are four main areas that are worth exploring if you are trying to increase your knowledge and understanding of dyslexia, these are:

- The subject area of ‘dyslexia’ i.e. professionals, academic opinion

- Other dyslexic peoples perspectives of dyslexia, i.e. their opinions, views

- Non-dyslexic peoples perceptions of dyslexia

- Your own dyslexia, i.e. how you conceptualise it, how it affects you, and how you are dealing with it

To read the full article click on this link

Speech perception deficits by Chinese children with phonological Dyslexia

Speech perception deficits by Chinese children with phonological Dyslexia

Findings concerning the relation between dyslexia and speech perception deficits are inconsistent in the literature.

This study examined the relation in Chinese children using a more homogeneous sample-children with phonological dyslexia.

Two experimental tasks were administered to a group of Chinese children with phonological dyslexia, a group of age-matched control children, and a group of adults. In addition to a categorical perception task, a selective adaptation task was carried out.

The results indicated that Chinese children with phonological dyslexia were less consistent than both the child and adult control groups in identifying stimuli within a given phonetic category.

Furthermore, they did not show any significant adaptation effects in the selective adaptation task even when the adapting stimulus was identical to an endpoint stimulus in the test continuum. It seems that children with phonological dyslexia have a general deficiency in representing and processing speech stimuli.

Further papers on Dyslexia and Chinese or Oriental languages here ...............

Dyslexia Untied: Perception of Reality and the Reality of Perception

We have long since been aware that our version of the truth and reality is based on our view and perception of the world, and that this can vary from person to person. The Present day philosopher Thomas Nagel states;

"For many men and philosophers alike, the exemplary case of reality is the world described by physics, the science in which we have achieved our greatest detachment from a specifically human perspective on the world.

But for precisely that same reason, physics is bound to leave undescribed, the subjective character of conscious mental processes, whatever may be their intimate relation to the physical operation of the brain.

The subjectivity of consciousness is a feature of reality, without which we could not do physics or anything else, and it must occupy as fundamental a place in any credible world view as does matter, energy, space, time and numbers."

Is it so difficult to understand that the dyslexic person is experiencing a different perception of this world and does not share our rather simplistic and static view. Perhaps we adults are just better at suppressing our visions and have long since learned to prevent them intruding into our fixed view of reality. We left that behind when we moved from being a child to a scholar, a receptive pupil in a class of excited minds.

But we left someone behind. Someone who could not quiet their busy imagination or stop the images dancing around in their vision. When the teacher stated that "A is for Apple", not everyone saw a single apple. Someone saw an avalanche of apples and some were green and some were red and some hung in the trees and the trees swayed in the wind and the leaves were also green and the leaves blew across the blue sky and ......

"Please miss, I am confused! Where do I put this symbol you call 'A' and why will it not stay still?" To this someone, 'A' was for chaos! They do not perceive your reality. Can you perceive their dyslexia?