Characterised by being intelligent and articulate but unable to spell, read or write at an age-appropriate level, children with dyslexia are not always diagnosed until grade five but often symptoms are noticed in preschool children, such as they have difficulty pronouncing words or being unable to connect rhyming words. Many amazing people have suffered with dyslexia such as Albert Einstein, Steven Spielberg and Richard Branson.
A child with dyslexia may have low self-esteem and constantly feel he is not good enough for his parents, teachers or classmates. Just because he doesn’t fit into the normal school system does not mean he isn’t clever or capable. Kinesiology can help support a child with dyslexia in many ways:
FLOWER ESSENCES: the following 2 essences can be purchased from most health food stores and some pharmacies:
Larch – for low self-esteem, not wanting to try as expects to fail. To help give confidence to try new things.
Bush Fuchsia – for poor learning ability. To balance left and right hemispheres of the brain and to give clarity.
AFFIRMATIONS: your child can repeat the following affirmations morning and evening
- I enjoy learning.
- I release all frustration around reading and writing.
- Learning is fun and easy for me.
EXERCISE:
‘Cross-crawl’ exercises can be beneficial in integrating left and right brain hemispheres, which can increase your child’s ability to focus. Ask your child to put his left hand across to his right knee and then his right hand across to his left knee. Repeat this exercise about 20 times every day. Cross crawl can be done to music and with eyes open or eyes closed!
FOODS TO EAT:
Protein and essential fatty acids for the brain development.
Water – stay hydrated
FOODS TO AVOID:
Dyslexic children often have food sensitivities to additives and chemical products. Get your child tested by a kinesiologist to see which foods drain his energy as this can be very individual.
PURE ESSENTIAL OILS:
These can be inhaled by placing a few drops of one of the following oils in a diffuser in the room where your child is studying.
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Lemongrass
DANIEL’S STORY
Daniel had not been formally diagnosed with dyslexia but he showed many traits. He could never get his b’s and d’s or 2’s and 5’s the right way round and he struggled to read. He was 11 when he came to see me as his parents were becoming concerned that he may never learn to read and spell correctly.
Daniel hated reading and school in general and had found the leap from primary to his first year at high school very difficult. I asked his mum about his early childhood and learnt that he had never crawled as a baby. Crawling is such an important stage of development to help the left and right brain hemispheres connect so I recommended some ‘cross-crawl’ exercises for Daniel. This involves moving one arm at the same time as the opposite leg across the body. i.e. to get the right hand to touch the left knee and then the left hand to touch the right knee. This simulates the brain as if we were crawling.
Daniel’s body was very dehydrated and his dad explained that Daniel only liked drinking sparkling water and his school water bottle always came home full. It is important to drink still water to stay hydrated. Daniel agreed that he would try to drink more still filtered water. His dad said he would ask the teachers at school to remind Daniel to have a drink.
Simple tasks like crawling and drinking more water may be all you need to help your child. If you feel they need more help consider a Kinesiology balance to get other supports.
For more information see Your Child’s Body Has The Answer.