Dyslexia: Is it time to rethink or examine the diagnosis?

Some years ago, a student informed me that she was encountering a problem with my classes.

When asked to explain a little further, she told me that she had been diagnosed as dyslexic.

I asked if she could be a little more specific about the particular difficulties she was encountering.

Responding, “I can’t understand what you are talking about”, she explained that the ideas I was expressing were complex and she found them difficult to grasp.

I enquired how I might help her with this problem. She replied that she would welcome a single sheet of A4 for each lecture containing a set of bullet points that summarised the key points.

This anecdote exemplifies some of the confusion that surrounds “dyslexia”, a term used to describe a variety of problems. Researchers tend to describe as dyslexic all those who struggle to decode text.

Others, often clinicians, argue that only some poor decoders are dyslexic. Still others contend that decoding difficulty is but one part of a much broader dyslexic condition.

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that diagnosis is deemed to be highly subjective and lacking in scientific rigour. 

While special tests and symptom profiles are commonly used, there is no means of making a consistent and meaningful judgement.

As the list of so-called signs and symptoms is lengthy, most people reporting reading difficulties will demonstrate some of them.

Many such symptoms are found in good readers, and those diagnosed as dyslexic often differ substantially from one another.

Many clinicians still employ IQ tests as a basis for diagnosis, even though this practice has been discreditted and no longer has any scientific support.

Meanwhile, research studies in neuroscience and genetics, often used by proponents to justify the dyslexia construct, are typically conducted with poor decoders (not a so-called dyslexic subgroup), and currently offer no additional diagnostic information.

The key problem is that dyslexia diagnoses have moved far away from their original focus (severe reading difficulty) to incorporate an ever-increasing range of cognitive and self-regulatory deficits including poor working memory, processing speed limitations, attention/concentration problems, difficulties in analysing and synthesising complex information, and in organising and expressing ideas.

For any students who struggle to cope with academic demands for such reasons, there are obvious equity issues within our highly competitive higher education sector between those who are diagnosed dyslexic and those who are not and, instead, are considered to be academically weaker performers.

Read the full article here

More TV time equals higher consumption of sweetened beverages among children

Stina Olafsdottir

More time in front of the TV set and higher exposure to TV adverts may lead to increased consumption of sweetened beverages among children.

This is the conclusion of a new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

The parents of more than 1,700 two- to four-year-olds in Sweden responded to questions about their children's TV and screen habits and consumption of sweetened drinks.

About one parent in seven indicated that they tried to reduce their children's exposure to TV adverts; the same parents stated that their children were less prone to drink soft drinks and other sweetened beverages.

Children of parents who were less strict about TV adverts were twice as likely to consume sweetened beverages every week.

The study was conducted in 2007–2010 as part of the EU research project IDEFICS – Identification and Prevention of Dietary and Lifestyle -Induced Health Effects in Children and Infants.

It reveals a very clear link between children's TV habits and their consumption of sweetened drinks. 'The children who watched more TV were more likely to drink these beverages.

In fact, each additional hour in front of the TV increased the likelihood of regular consumption by 50 per cent.

A similar link was found for total screen time,' says Stina Olafsdottir, PhD student at the Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science and one of the researchers behind the study.

The study also found that children with higher exposure to food adverts on TV were more likely to consume sweetened beverages on a regular basis in a follow-up study conducted two years after the initial study.

However, exposure to TV adverts could not explain the link between TV habit and beverage consumption entirely.

It is therefore likely that the TV programmes watched also matter or that children simply enjoy drinking these types of beverages while watching TV.

The article Young children's screen habits are associated with consumption of sweetened beverages independently of parental norms is published in the International Journal of Public Health.

More information: Olafsdottir, S. et al. Young children's screen habits are associated with consumption of sweetened beverages independently of parental norms, International Journal of Public Health. link.springer.com/… 8-013-0473-2

Dyslexic Artist and The Chronophage: Time-eater at Museum

The 3.3 metre Midsummer Chronophage, which has no hands or numbers and is inspired by the idea that everyone experiences time differently, will be on display from Thursday 24 May 2012 until Sunday 13 January 2013.

Dr Taylor’s clock is controlled by a Chronophage, which is a mythical beast that eats time. It slowly opens its jaws for 59 seconds and then snaps shut on the 60th – chews the minute – swallows it. Then, you can never get it back… 

Dr Taylor explains:

"It takes a dyslexic inventor to produce a clock without hands that that also plays games with you. Once you have seen the Chronophage all other clocks will seem rather boring - all they do is tell the time. 

This one surprises you, sometimes stopping, running fast or backwards as it tells relative time and yet still managing to be accurate to within 100th of a second on every fifth minute.

"It was Einstein who said Time was relative. When asked for an example, he paused and then said, “If you think about it, an hour spent on a park bench with a pretty girl passes in a moment, but a moment sat on a hot stove seems like an hour.""

The clock face is made of 24ct gold-plate, on stainless steel. It was formed into its wave shape by several underwater explosions. 

Accurate time is shown once every five minutes through the light slits which replace traditional hands and numbers. 

A fabulous light show is created in concentric circles as each minute passes. The hour is struck by the sound of a chain clanking into a small wooden coffin concealed in the back of the clock to remind us that our time on earth is limited.

The Chronophage which chomps away time on top of the clock was inspired by the work of the horologist John Harrison (1693-1776). 

Harrison is famous for his portable sea clocks, invented to solve the problem of measuring longitude at sea, and for his many inventions to increase the accuracy of timekeeping, including the grasshopper escapement.

Dr Gordon Rintoul, Director, National Museums Scotland, said:

"I am delighted to have this spectacular timepiece on loan. The Chronophage is a beautiful and amazing work of engineering, and is certain to generate a huge amount of public interest."

The clock represents a fusion of art and technology. It took more than two years to make and involved over a hundred people including artists, engineers, scientists, jewellers and calligraphers. 

It is up to the observer to decide whether this is simply a beautiful clock, or a work of art or even an installation on Time.

Dr Taylor said:

"The Chronophage is a unique blend of art and science, and each one is completely unique, with a different mythical creature eating away time. I’m grateful to National Museums Scotland for the opportunity to exhibit the Midsummer Chronophage in one of the most amazing public spaces in Scotland."

Dr John C Taylor is an inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, best known for his ubiquitous kettle safety switch or thermostat which turns the kettle off when it has boiled or overheats. 

The Chronophage is one of only three in existence, with another at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and the third, featuring a Chinese dragon, set to go to Shanghai. A fourth is currently in development.

The clock is displayed alongside two more traditional clocks: a panelled Longcase Clock by Ahasuerus Fromanteel, dating from around 1660 and an Ebonized longcase wooden regulator designed by John and James Harrison, circa 1726.

On Friday 6 July at the National Museum of Scotland, American author Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter will be in conversation with Dr John Taylor. 

John Harrison, the inspiration behind the Chronophage, appeared as a main character in Longitude, and was played by Michael Gambon in the BAFTA-winning TV adaptation of Sobel’s book, which also featured Jeremy Irons, Bill Nighy and Brian Cox. The event is part of the RBS Museum Talks series.

Notes to Editors

1. The Year of Creative Scotland begins on January 1, 2012 and will spotlight and celebrate Scotland’s cultural and creative strengths on a world stage. Through a dynamic and exciting year-long programme of activity celebrating our world-class events, festivals, culture and heritage, the year puts Scotland’s culture and creativity in the international spotlight with a focus on cultural tourism and developing the events industry and creative sector in Scotland. 

More information about the programme can be found at: www.visitscotland.com/creative The Year of Creative Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative led in partnership by EventScotland, VisitScotland, Creative Scotland and VOCAL.

2. Please note that National Museums Scotland (no ‘of’ or ‘the’) is our corporate name. Our individual museums are called the National Museum of Scotland, the National Museum of Flight, the National Museum of Rural Life, the National Museum of Costume and the National War Museum.

Dyslexia and the Artist: Corpus Clock and Chronophage

Known as the Corpus Clock, the machine has been invented by and designed by Dr John Taylor, a dyslexic artist, for Corpus Christi College Cambridge for the exterior of the college's new library building.

The Clock was unveiled on 19th September by Stephen Hawking, cosmologist and author of the global bestseller, A Brief History of Time.

Dr Taylor, an inventor and horologist, has put 500,000 pounds of his own money and seven years into developing the clock, which has been inspired from a design by a clock made by the legendary John Harrison, the pioneer of longitude.

Of John Harrison's many innovations, he came up with the 'grasshopper escapement, explained Dr Taylor, referring to the device used by Harrison to turn rotational motion into a pendulum motion for timekeeping.

No one knows how a grasshopper escapement works, so I decided to turn the clock inside out and, instead of making the escapement 35 mm across, it is 1.5 m across, he said.

He calls the new version of the escapement a Chronophage (time-eater) a fearsome beast which drives the clock, literally eating away time.

The Chronophage is currently installed and on public view in Edinburgh, at the National Museum of Scotland.
For more information please log on to http://www.corpusclock.co.uk

The Secret Powers of Time - Animated video

Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act in the world. View the full video of Professor Philip Zimbardo’s talk at the RSA.