Overcoming Dyslexia

His IQ was 148, yet eighteen-year-old could hardly read. When his reading efficiency was assessed by means of an ophthalmograph or eye-camera—one of the many assessments he had undergone in his life—it was found to be equal to that of a second-grade child. This meant that his reading ability was about ten years behind his chronological age. His eyes fixated 164 times and regressed 36 times with every one hundred words of reading. His reading speed was only 107 words per minute. It is therefore quite understandable that Werner had been battling since his first year in school.

He attended third grade in a remedial class for two years, after which he was placed in a school for learning-disabled children, repeating third grade for the third time. His condition was diagnosed as "minimal brain dysfunction." Although his parents went from pillar to post to try and solve his reading problem, nothing seemed to help. As he grew older, a sense of inferiority took hold and he had to receive treatment for depression. "I didn't know what to do, which way to turn. Nothing we did seemed to help his problem," his mother told a reporter. It was therefore with great skepticism that the Louw parents came to see Dr. Jan Strydom to try yet another avenue.

Five months later, after working faithfully according to Dr. Strydom's recommendations for two half-hour sessions per day, five days per week, Werner's reading efficiency was retested. It then equaled a ninth-grade level. The number of fixations dropped to 37 and regressions to three. His reading speed was now 163 words per minute.

Six months after this second reading test, Werner's reading efficiency was tested once again and found to be equal to a second-year college level. His eyes now fixated only 37 times in one hundred words. The number of regressions, already low, remained the same. He could now read 230 words per minute. This means that, in less than one year, Werner's reading efficiency level improved by twelve years.

Needless to say, this newly found reading ability changed Werner's life.