Most people have some form of dyslexia, though it may be minor rather than severe. Although standard medical science stands baffled by the malady, an alter-native approach through Kinesiology has proven amazingly effective. The diction-ary defines "kinesiology" as the study of muscles and their movements as applied to physical conditioning. Thanks to the science of Kinesiology, by the use of mus-cle testing, we know how to find and eliminate the cause of many forms of dyslexia which have burdened individuals most if not all of their lives. We have found, almost without exception, each particular dyslexia was caused by a single traumatic event much earlier in a person's life. The resulting stress appears to have caused some of the neuron patterns in the right brain to be-come distorted and begin giving an opposite response to that which nature had de-signed. Through a simple process of muscle testing, we can find the ages when these, often totally forgotten, traumatic events occurred. The Relaxed Focus At-tention Process (RFA) can enable us to help an individual bring the details of the event back into consciousness. Once the circumstances are known, the disruptive memory can be de-traumatized, enabling the neuron function to be restored back to its original design. In a high percentage of cases, this correction is permanent, just as correcting software in a computer becomes permanent. The results of a person being released from the particular malady is to experience life in a much more productive and joyful way, free to start learning without the handicap.

     A recent Newsweek cover story, "Kids Who Can't Learn," October 27, 1997, reported how researchers say they have begun to unlock the puzzle of bright kids who can't learn. The culprit, they say, is dyslexia. Another current article, "Un-derstanding Dyslexia," in People Magazine, September 22, 1997, featured com-ments by Dr. Gordon Sherman, director of the Dyslexia Research Laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He emphasized that dyslexia has nothing to do with intelligence or motivation, but has plagued people as accom-plished and diverse as Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill, Tom Cruise and Whoopi Goldberg. Dr. Sherman emphasized that dyslexia is not a disease, meaning a pathology of the brain. At the same time, although traditional medical science has not as yet found a cure, they know these distorted neuron patterns can be reprogrammed through arduous training. In response to the question, "How does it develop?," Dr. Sherman explained that he too believes it has to do with the way neurons are organized in the brain. Neurons are the cells which conduct impulses. Thus, psychologists are focusing on neuron dysfunction in such diverse areas as (1) perception, (2) processing, (3) memory and (4) attention. As for most common learning disabilities, dyslexia re-lates to language¾reading, writing and spelling. In these areas, many show trou-ble in comprehending words or letters in sequence. Others can read words very well but don't understand the content. Still others have trouble naming letters and sounding out words, despite the fact that they often have large vocabularies and reason well. The article lists many kinds of classifications, such as dyslexia (lexia - read-ing), dysgraphia (graphia - writing), dyscalculla (calculla - mathematics), dys-praxia (praxia - muscle coordination) and dysomia (omia - memory). Some mala-dies are being found so basic they are given initials. Three are ADD ¾ Attention Deficit Disorder, which is distractibility, and VPD ¾ Visual Perception Disorder, which is difficulty in visual comprehension, and APD ¾ Auditory Perception Dis-order, which is difficulty in audio comprehension. The dictionary includes other "dys," which means abnormal. Dysphonia describes the emotional state of depres-sion, anxiety and restlessness. The term for a morose disposition is dyspepsia. However, since the term dyslexia is becoming well known, there is a tendency to include many of these neurologically programmed malfunctions under that familiar umbrella term.

     Obviously, dyslexia is the result of the mind working opposite to its normal function. By including many different forms of abnormal programming of the mind under that familiar name, we are able to emphasize that all distorted neuron pro-gramming is a mental software problem rather than a hardware problem. With this broader definition of dyslexia, an important breakthrough might be made in emo-tional healing if we treat all such unnatural, subconscious programming as treatable dyslexia. Like the senses, we think we have only five primary senses¾touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell ¾ but in reality we have over 300 specific senses. A few examples of other senses would be the sense of falling, direction, what is up, pressure, danger, etc. So although dyslexia is defined specifically as difficulty in reading, it also includes math, attention, comprehension, and many other manifes-tations. ¦ These would include all phobias, such as irrational fears of height, water, freeways, untidiness, germs, insects, snakes, flying, etc. Claustrophobia, the fear of being shut in, would be another. Hypochondria, the fear of becoming ill, is a big one for some people. ¦ Most allergies also fit into this problem of trauma induced, incorrect neu-rological programming. We find that the body is not allergic to any non-poisonous thing. It is the right brain which connects some present stimulus with an old trau-matic event, thus producing an allergic reaction. When the event or events are dis-covered and released, the allergy is either greatly reduced or disappears altogether. ¦ Many physical conditions are the result of lingering stress due to old traumatic events. Typical of this are such maladies as asthma, hay fever, migraine headaches, frequent colds, bursitis, arthritis, high blood pressure, chronic pain, chronic fatigue and many others. Each of these can be the manifestation of an-other form of faulty neuron programming.

     Since the RFA process includes several extra steps when dealing specifically with dyslexia, we are now beginning to treat every form of self-limiting program-ming as a form of dyslexia, thus providing more permanent changes than we have achieved before. Of course, we all have our unique personalities and individual differences, but when we function below our true capacity, it is well to recognize that a distorted program is involved.

We have had a saying in our counseling which helps to support this wider understanding of dyslexia. It is this:
     Once a decision is made with feeling (right-brain programming), it becomes the rule of attitude and action from then on until it is recognized and altered.

     When traumatic events occur in our lives, starting in the womb, these events are interpreted by making definite, deeply felt decisions about perceived dangers in life. The left brain, the conscious mind, makes them with thought, the right brain, the subconscious mind or heart, makes them with feeling. The conscious mind easily forgets, but the right brain NEVER FORGETS, thus redirecting the neurons to come up with a permanent response to anything which reminds the heart of the event, thus reproducing the conditioned reaction to the old event. In this way, we can begin to understand why we are intolerant, impatient, or incapable with things that other people have no problem feeling comfortable with. We casually insist that we are just who we are, but the truth is that we are what we may have become through dyslexic programming.

The following list can function as a mind jogger.

¦ Easily embarrassed and self conscious
¦ A feeling of shame about hidden secrets
¦ Fear of abandonment
¦ Morbid fear of speaking before a group
¦ Chronic depression
¦ Tendency toward extreme gullibility
¦ General lack of ambition
¦ Difficulty in knowing or asking for what you want
¦ Fear of intimacy
¦ Deep hurt because of having been molested or raped
¦ Deep distrust of the opposite sex
¦ Insatiable need for approval
¦ Difficulty in making up your mind
¦ A need to control or manipulate others
¦ Constant procrastination
¦ Sexual impotence (male)
¦ Sexual frigidity (female)
¦ Uncontrollable, spontaneous body movements (ticks)
¦ Deep sense of unworthiness
¦ Feeling of financial insecurity or bondage
¦ Persistent and disabling jealousy
¦ Addictions to alcohol, drugs or tobacco
¦ Compulsive over-eating
¦ Feeling of being too fat without being fat
¦ Sleeping problems
¦ Real intolerance to certain people, music, subjects, situations, places or sounds
¦ Severe times of loneliness
¦ Deep resentment for having been offended, exploited or misunderstood
¦ Feelings of being overwhelmed
¦ Persistent feelings of being unloved or unappreciated
¦ Deep dissatisfaction with your job, career, home, spouse, church, car, life, etc.
¦ Frustration in not having a meaningful life, not doing what you really want to do
¦ Difficulty with remembering or concentrating
¦ Constantly comparing yourself to others
¦ Feeling like a victim of other people or circumstances.
¦ And many others

     Now that we are treating all subconscious restrictive programming the same way we treat ordinary dyslexia, the healing process is usually much more perma-nent and complete for a specific condition. In the past we have thought, simply, of a person as having dyslexia or not having dyslexia. Later, we found that some people have more than one dyslexia, sometimes half a dozen, each of which ex-plains different forms of negative reactions and limited capacity. But now, from this broader definition of dyslexia, we can test to see if a person actually has a multitude of different dysfunctional programs. The truth is that most of us fall into this multiple category. By working on even a few of these obstacles, an individual begins to experience a much more capable, healthy, joyous, and unburdened way of life. Private sessions can be scheduled in both the Sacramento and Salt Lake Ar-eas. The modest fee is only $40.00 for a one and half hour, RFA and counseling session.

Max B. Skousen