Hi Diana,

Yes. It is the same Dr Harold Levinson that wrote the book,SMART BUT
FEELING DUMB. I had the same reaction as your son. I agree. He is a
great doctor. He seems very perceptive and understanding of Dyslexics.
He has 2 Dyslexic daughters. I knew that I had to go see him because I
knew that he would understand me. He understands the difference
between Dyslexic speech and Psychotic speech. Psychiatrists
misdiagnosed me psychotic because of my Dyslexic speech.

I had jumbled up speech. The nuns asked my mom what language I spoke
when I was in preschool. I was tested and my mom was told I had a form
of Dyslexia. My mom was told that I was turning stuff around when I
heard and that people need to slow down when talking to me. I did have
auditory reversals. I was in special education for 3 yrs. I was taught
to hear differently and had intensive speech therapy as well as
phonics. I was noted to have problems with balance and coordination. I
had therapy for my fine motor skills. I am rightbrained thinker. I am
a visual-spatial learner. I am predominantly a picture,intuitive,and
feeling type thinker and can think in 3-D. I visualize nonstop. I
always visualize things before I actually do them. I have to create
pictures in my head to understand words. I am also very sensitive. I
am not outgoing. I am very introverted,reserved,and private. I do
have high IQ. My Kiersey psychological profile is INFJ/INFP. I also
took a vocational profile test for vocational rehabilitation,and it
concluded that I am an artistic personality which doesn't like routine
things.

My father had speech problems(stammered,stuttered),auditory processing
problems,and awkwardness with hands. My mother told me that she has a
lot of the Dyslexic symptoms that were listed at Dr Levinson's site.
She told me that her Uncle Gino is Dyslexic. She told me that her half
brother Eddie was in special education for speech problems(stuttering)
and hyperactivity,and he is lefthanded. My mother's father was
lefthanded too. My mother is right handed with both left ear/eye
dominance like me. She can write with her left hand. Actually I feel
that I can too. I feel that it's just practice. After all, I had fine
motor skills therapy to help me use my right hand any way. My family
seem full of highly sensitive,artistic,creative,unconventional people.


I made a mistake on the medication the prescribed. I meant to say
Meclizine. Not Mescaline. I am sorry.




Raymond



--- In dyslexiaclub@yahoogroups.com, The Estate Sale Store
<estatesalestore@s...> wrote:
> Hello,
> Great Info!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm new to the group and have been lurking
a bit. Some of my background:
> My name is Diana and I have been involved with True
Dyslexia/ADD/ADHD and Autism for around 40+ years. I have four
children that use to be afflicted with these illnesses; and yes, the
school systems have paid plenty to educate my children. All had
one-on-one Schooling thru public shools with Certified Mastered
Degreed Special Ed Teachers (not aides) for a full 4-6 hours every
day. My youngest son had his own teacher follow him around from
5th-11th grade. All have gone on to college with the exception of
one. Only one actually finished College and is now a Nurse. One left
College 6 months prior to graduation and needs to go back and finish.
One is a contractor and self-employed and went to college for
Business Administration and one quit high school---my youngest girl
(autistic). Not a bad track record.......as I brush my shoulder.
Unfortunately, all have scars left behind from cruel, ignorant
parents, administrators, teachers and students and have had to work on
self-esteem
> through the years. Of course, how were they afflicted with all
these superhuman dual brain special gifts......genetics, of course.
Yes gifts, since all are ambidextrous(sp?), outgoing, and have IQ's
over 130.
>
> Is this the Dr. Levinson which wrote the book "Smart but Feeling
Dumb"? My oldest son looked at that book once and told me "that is
just how I feel".
> I bought that book and read it over and over about 18 years ago. He
is an amazing doctor and obviously right up-to-date with the latest
research from Dr. Paula Tallal. At that time he was using
antihistamine/sudafed/robitussin/etc. type meds and other OTC type
cold remedy meds with great success and, of course, now we know why
they worked since these open up the inner ear canal from excess
pressure/water, etc. Dr. Tallal is a researcher who has a unique
special reading program/system. She uses a computer program with
attached earphones in a game format which slows down the sound
consonants so younger children will be able to hear them properly thus
converting the sounds into the correct letters. True dyslexics
usually have early speech disorders, as well as, reversals. It's an
amazing system and not widely available but should be. I'll try to
remember the name of it, but I'm sure a search on the web would bring
it up with her name.
>
> My brother is ADHD and one of my son's is ADD/Dyslexic. I truly
believe that ADHD/ADD are caused by allergies. I was able to correct
my son's ADD through diet....no dyes (for him at least).
>
> Best of luck to you......sounds like you're absolutely on the right
track. By the way, avoidance and anxiety are "symptoms" not illnesses
or diseases. I've got those two problems caused by an ancient long
time disease called "lazziness" and "fear". LOL
>
> You're really lucky to have found a good doctor.
>
> I'm happy to share and help anyone if I can.
>
>
>
> astynaz <astynaz@y...> wrote:
> Hi
>
> I saw Dr Levinson. After testing, he did acknowledge that I have
> Dyslexia stemming
> from cerebellar vestibular(inner ear dysfunction). Most of the
> results were abnormal
> including the auditory scanning. He didn't test visual scanning
> because I am not
> a visual dyslexic. He didn't note anything on attention deficits. He
> didn't think
> I had ADD symptoms. He seemed to conclude that I had
> Dyslexic,Dyspraxic,Sensory
> Integration problems. He didn't even say anything about psychiatric
> problems like
> anxiety,dysthymia,and avoidant personality disorder like the
> psychologist diagnosed
> me with after LD/ADHD assessment last year. Dr Levinson just
> confirmed what I already
> knew about myself. Knowing that the Dyslexia cerebellar vestibular
> expert determined
> that I have cerebellar vestibular dysfunction made me feel better
> that I was right
> along. I feel vindicated. After I told him how psychiatrists thought
> I had a slight
> thought disorder(psychotic related) because of how I forget stuff
> when I talk, he
> said that they have the thought disorders. heheheheheh He seemed
> really irritated
> about how the psychiatrists misdiagnose me. I feel so great about
> seeing him. The
> visit was worth it! He prescribed me mescaline which is an motion
> sickness medication,
> and he prescribed Ginko,DMAE,and Piracetam which is used in Europe
> for Dyslexia.
> Man...I am so happy that I got this Dyslexia stuff resolved. I am
> ready to ROCK!
> :)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I wanted to show you the results of my cerebellar vestibular testing
> to give you an idea of what cerebellar vestibular dysfunction is.
> These are the problems that I have that were misdiagnosed as
> schizoaffective bipolar disorder that include slight thought disorder
> (psychotic-related) by psychiatrists in 1999 and 2002 and got me
> diagnosed as inattentive type ADHD,Generalized Anxiety
> Disorder,Dysthmic Disorder,Avoidant Personality Disorder Per
> History:Developmental Coordination Disorder(notably in past)by
> psychologist on LD/ADHD assessment in 2004. Cerebellar vestibular
> dysfunction is
> serious
> stuff,and it can be misdiagnosed as mental illness. Dr Levinson has
> noted that many Dyslexics' problems get mistaken for psychological
> problems.
>
>
> MY CEREBELLAR VESTIBULAR TESTING:
>
>
> NEUROLOGICAL TESTING - consists of a series of standardized
> neurological tests commonly administered to assess the status of the
> integrated function of the cerebellar vestibular system as well as
> other central nervous structures. Difficulties with any of these
> tests indicates dysfunction within the CV or CNS systems.
>
> Romberg Instability - eyes closed,right foot,left foot
> Dysdiadochokinesis - Bilateral
> Finger to finger sequencing problems - with distration
> Finger to nose sequencing problems - eyes closed
> tandem instability - placement
> speech - borderline articulation problems, slow auditory input
>
>
> Romberg instability refers to an inability to stand still with either
> both feet together or on one foot, most commonly abnormal with eyes
> closed
>
> Dysdiadochokinesis indicates a difficulty with rapid alternating
> movements, tested by rotating hands and forearms repeatedly with the
> arms extended
>
> Finger to finger sequencing tests the function of small finger muscle
> in rapid succession, the performance of which is controlled by the CV
> system.
>
> Finger to nose sequencing tests the visuo-spatial perception and
> proprioceptive feedback considered to be controlled by the cerebellum.
>
> Tandem instability refers to a difficulty in heel-to-toe successive
> walking.
>
>
> ELECTRONYSTAGMOGRAPHY - is a standardized neurophysiological test in
> which eye movements are induced and measured under various testing
> conditions. Fine and reflexive eye movements are controlled by the
> cerebellum and the vestibular system. As a result, the ENG can help
> determine whether or not an inner ear abnormality exists.
>
> Positional - normal
> Rotational - abnormal - clockwise and counterclockwise - dysrhythmic
> Saccade - abnormal
> Optokinetic - abnormal
> Gaze - normal
>
> Rotational testing measures vestibular response to rotation. The
> patient is rotated, which induces a rapid, rhythmic nystagmus. If the
> nystagmus is dysrhythmic,hypo,or hyper, this is considered to be an
> abnormal vestibular response.
>
> Saccade testing - a dot moves randomly on the screen and the patient
> must chase it with his/her eyes. A saccade is a quick,jerky eye
> movement which positions a visual target on the retina. The
> cerebellum plays a role in associating the functions of various brain
> stem structures related to generating saccades
>
> Pursuit testing - the dot cycles back and forth across the screen and
> measures the patient's ability to make smooth eye movements. Smooth
> pursuit eye movements continuously follow a a moving target with a
> high acuity retinal region. An inability to produce smooth pursuit
> movements is known to result from cerebellar dysfunction.
>
> Optokinetic testing - a series of dots move off of the screen causing
> the patient to rapidly refix his gaze, testing the ocular reflex.
> Optokinetic testing involves continuous drifting and rapidly
> resetting eye movements
>
>
>
>
> AUDIOLOGICAL TESTING
> 3D Auditory Scanner - abnormal
>
>
> POSTUROGRAPHY - Many of the symptoms in an inner ear disorder
> (imbalance,dizziness,motion sickness,etc.) can sometimes result from
> other illnesses as well (i.e. extreme stess and anxiety, dysfunction
> of cerebral and other related CNS structures). Posturography aids in
> this differentiation since since a vestibular dysfunction produces a
> specific, quantifiable frequency and pattern of movement which is
> distinct from that caused by other disorders.
> It assesses overall balance function (sensory integration), vision
> dependence, proprioception(internal senses)dependence,symmetry of
> weight bearing,lateral sway,and overall assessment of vestibular
> deficit
>
> Sway Frequency - vestibular problems, borderline central cerebellar
> problems, borderline motor cortex problems
> Weight distribution - mild abnormal
> Stability - mild abnormal
> Lateral Sway - mild abnormal
>
> Sway Frequency - this helps to determine the location of a balance
> impairment.
>
> Weight Distribution - the bearing of one's weight in an abnormal and
> dysmetic fashion(i.e. to put more weight on the heels or left foot,
> per se) can indicate either a cerebellar determined muscle tone
> imbalance, or a vestibular imbalance.
>
> Stability - this is a measure of the overall level of instability,
> which is compared to normal subjects in a determination of postural
> control.
>
> Lateral Sway - a large degree of lateral sway is seen in intoxicated
> subjects and results from vestibular impairment. This is also true
> for the non-intoxicated patient suffering from a vestibular problem.
>
>
>
>
> Raymond
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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>
> Stephen & Diana Ricci ~ (SRicci01)
> www.estatesalestore.com
> http://store.ebay.com/theestatesalestore
>
>
>
>
>
>
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