Dyslexia – Age of Expression
Some of the children who are coming to the Dyslexia Association of India™ and who are being screened and diagnosed in details are showing a phenomenon where we are observing a thickening of cortex areas, which would be normally, only be implicated in cases of mental illness. We are also observing a trend where there is an increasing genetic influence as the brain develops in childhood and adolescence.
These areas happen to be the located in parts of the brain that evolve at a time when the cognition of a child can be affected to the maximum possible as these areas are the latest to evolve and the last to mature. When this genetic influence in these areas is going to get switched on is also coinciding with the typical age-of-onset of most mind related disturbances and disabilities as the child moves into adolescence and early adulthood.
The Dyslexia Association of India™ has screened both monozygotic and dizygotic twins and we are noting how important the DNA is and how it makes a difference for a specific childs brain or behavior as well as a spectrum of different variables that are expressed as the child grows. An important variable that is expressing itself in the population of children of school going age is the component of age. Age is becoming a factor that we are observing which is creeping up on children as they mature and the effect of a particular gene in a particular environment can be very different for two children of the same age but different combination.
This is important because how a gene expresses itself and how the environment interaction works is showing up as vast differences between brothers and brothers and sisters and sisters as well as brothers and sisters. Performance in school between siblings of the same parents as well as their behavior, their emotions, their cognition are evolving over a wide platform.
Developmental histories are also showing us at the DAI™, which parts of the brain are more or less heritable and which are changing and which can be changed as these children go from a baby to a child to a teenager to an adult. Unfortunately it is not a scenario where we can have a one-size-fits-all as certain parts of the brain become more heritable during adolescence while others are more heritable in early childhood, others in late teenage years.
The major cause of Dyslexia is that the same brain areas that are changing in heritability during adolescence are also the parts which we as human beings acquired most recently in our evolutionary history and also these areas are involved in specific differences that occur in academic and behaviour related changes that happen during the growing up years.
Why do things happen when they do? For a genetic illness, children are actually born with those genes and the risks are high. For Dyslexia it can be Genetic and it is to a very high extent, but it is also the difference in the way the brain has wired itself and how it perceives the world around itself.
The warning signs come quite early when the child struggles, to write or read and school becomes a dreaded word. But how many parents understand this and take proactive action is another story. By the time parents in India begin to even accept that there is a Learning Difficulty, the neurological differences have began to become evident and the heritable component starts to get irreversible.
Even with twins and even triplets who have come to the DAI™ the differences if they're not being expressed when the children are younger doesn't matter if you're identical or non-identical, because those genes are still dormant. But with the onset of puberty or other unknown timing factors, when these genes express themselves, those parts for which the gene is programmed for the brain becomes heritable and in this if the process goes awry, then the difficulties are unleashed.
Most difficulties if they are illnesses like eating disorders, substance abuse, anxiety, panic attacks or behavioural issues - literally over fifty percent of difficulties occur during a specific period and it varies for each child and must be screened correctly and factors like Learning Difficulties and Dyslexia develop faster as they may possibly have genetic factors that impact earlier in life.
At the DAI™ we try to explore this link between the Learning Difficulty the child is facing and the onset time during this time and the typical brain changes possibly driven by the underlying genetic and or developmental factors.
Children with Dyslexia show a great deal of biodiversity and at it is possible that at any one age a specific or particular gene might affect a particular brain area in a specific way and at a different age it can manifest totally differently and give an opposite effect worsening the condition.
Adolescence is a complex transitional time period, which is evident when we observe the physical maturation, cognitive development, along with the emotional, social and behavioral changes.
As adulthood begins to emerge, and childhood is left behind, we are yet not on the precipice of a decline which comes with adult aging where as dimorphism driven by changes in the body driven by maturation may cause the underlying cause of cognitive and emotional developmental differences to exhibit themselves in the normal brain maturation cycle and it is crucial for parents to keep an eye open to develop a better understanding of the mechanism underlying the neurological disorders.
If you are noticing changes in your child, which were not there before and you are wondering what happened to the cute little girl who was once your pet or the son who never shouted back at you and now just does not want to hear your well intended advise, we suggest you for you to make an appointment with the DAI™ before it is too late in life. Please call us on +91 – 8826022886 or e-mail us for an appointment on info@dyslexiaindia.org.in
As at the Dyslexia Association of India™ we have a strict policy to comprehensively check and diagnose only one child per day.
Any payment that is made for your appointment at the DAI™ qualifies for exemption from Income Tax (IT) and parents are provided a Section 80G receipt so that they can use it when filing their Income Tax Returns.
* Opinions and information expressed by the DAI™ are equivocal and personal to the researchers and specific to the organization.