Sex, Lies and Dyslexia

[bulldogg]

So I lied about the sex part... that just leaves us with the last one- dyslexia. George Bush is dyslexic. He, his family and political handlers can deny it all they want but it does not change whether or not he truly does have dyslexia. It would not be the first nor last time that any politician has denied something that they know is false. Nor would it be the first nor last time a politician has denied something because they know they have plausible deniability. In this particular case George Bush has never been tested for dyslexia so that despite all the signs and indications he can with clear conscience say he did not have sexual relations wi... wait wrong president... GW can claim he does not have dyslexia.

Going through the Texas school system of the 1950's and 60's it was highly unlikely for anyone to even KNOW about the disorder let alone pick out the symptoms of an at risk child. And even if they had the political dynasty of the Bush's would not have let something like this occur as it would mar the chances for GW to have a future in politics.

The part I find funny is that people who constantly berate this president for being a liar are so willing to believe this statement from George that he is not dyslexic. Even though he later said he "had dyslexia" in a later interview. But I know why they believe it... because if he isn't dyslexic then they can feel comfortable calling him stupid.

I will leave the rest of the argument to "Bush Watch" an decidedly anti-bush site but in terms of this issue a very decisive and logical argument is formed to support the claim that Bush has dyslexia. The strongest proof I would ask people to notice comes from actual experts in the field of diagnosing adults and children with dyslexia and their verdicts.

Bon apetit...

He also has a severe grammar problem ("Is our children learning?) as well as serious difficulties with syntax ("I am against hard quotas, quotas they basically delineate based upon whatever.") His sense of parallelism is faulty ("It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature.'') and his use of conventional figures of speech are often unclear ("We ought to make the pie higher"). Brian Williams told Bush that one writer recently suggested he may be dyslexic. Bush called the suggestion "foolish" and said the writer was "writing fiction." Dyslexia, which affects how a person processes language, has been said to run in families and affects males in particular. Ex-President Bush's language difficulties in public were described as "dyslexic" more than once, and Barbara Bush wrote an article at that time in the Washington Post about W's younger brother Neil's dyslexia. Given that as background, it's curious that Bush has been so dismissive about the possibility that his "tortured syntax" and "verbal howlers" are the results of dyslexia. --Politex, 9/20/00

There is evidence that Bush knew he was going to be asked the question of his possible dyslexia weeks before advance copies of Gail Sheehy's Vanity Fair article on Bush reached reporters. By then, the decision was apparantly made to stonewall reporters with misleading responses to the question. When the story broke on Monday, Sept. 11, one aide suggested Sheehy had George W. mixed up with brother Neil, who has dyslexia. Communications Director Karen Hughes said to reporters, "No, the governor does not have dyslexia. In this case fiction is stranger that truth." Bush spokesman Ray Sullivan went even further, telling reporters that Sheehy "was informed prior to publication of this article that the governor is not dyslexic....This is not a credible story. Most journalists when presented with the facts would choose to report the facts rather than something that is not true." (Reuters, 9/11) To sum up, then, the Bush response to Sheehy's story about dyslexia and Bush is that she's not a good reporter because she's presenting fiction in the guise of fact and that she's a liar. These are pretty heavy charges against someone who never wrote that Bush was dyslexic. The closest she comes to doing so is to write that a Bush essay written at Phillips Academy "may have been...a hint of possible dyslexia." Why, then, is the Bush camp so upset with the Sheehy story?

My father is 71 and has had dyslexia all his life. He didn't make it past 3rd grade, and still can't read or write. He flubs words EXACTLY like G. W. Bush has all his life. I think I even inherited a touch of it myself. Nothing to be ashamed of, many great historical figures apparently had it. It can be embarrassing I'm sure, like stuttering. But its hard not to laugh when its coming from someone running for president. everyone has a little drawl or twang or speech peculiarity, but the problem with Bush is much deeper. its not so much that he's dumb, but that he doesn't have a clue. He needs a script to sound coherent. you can tell when things have been written for him, and when he wings it. What's really unsettling is the way he overpronounces words now, placing hyphens between syllables and slowing way down to avoid stumbling, like the way he pronounced 'mus-cu-lar scle-ro-sis' the other day. And after the last month, the press is simply waiting for flubs and bloopers and counting them all up for articles.

 

[bulldogg]

Continued

George W. Bush recently passed through ABC's Good Morning, America on the talk show trail and denied that he was dyslexic: "No, I'm not dyslexic. That's all I can tell you." In an Orange, California diner later in the day, he elaborated by alluding to Gail Sheehy, whose Vanity Fair profile includes a discussion of Bush and dyslexia: "The woman who knew that I had dyslexia--I never interviewed her." Reporter Frank Bruni writes, "He did not appear to be making what would have been an incredibly clever joke," implying that Bush's remark about dyslexia was, in itself, dyslexic. First, in that statement Bush is saying "I had dyslexia," implying that he did once, but no longer does. Secondly, he indicates that he wanted to sit Sheehy down and ask her some questions. It's doubtful that he meant to say either thing, but he did.

British gadfly reporter Christopher Hitchens, who has taught dyslexic students, simply calls Bush a dyslexic in a recent Nation story: "I kicked myself hard when I read the profile of Governor George W. Bush, by my friend and colleague Gail Sheehy....All those jokes and cartoons and websites about his gaffes, bungles and malapropisms? We've been unknowingly teasing the afflicted. The poor guy is obviously dyslexic, and dyslexic to the point of near-illiteracy. Numerous experts and friends of the dynasty give Sheehy their considered verdict to this effect. The symptoms and clues have been staring us in the face for some time....The rhetorical and linguistic train wrecks in the speeches of Reagan and Bush Senior were of a different quality, arising variously from hysterical lying, brutish ignorance, senile decay and cultural deprivation. But the problem was chiefly syntactical. The additional humiliations of Dubya derive from utter failures of word recognition. A man who has somehow got this far in politics and refers to "tacular" weapons is unclear ...on the concept....His brother Neil is an admitted dyslexic. His mother has long been a patron of various foundations and charities associated with dyslexia. How plain it all now seems."

What we find troubling about Bush's responses to the dyslexia question on both "Good Morning America" ("That's all I can tell you.") and the Brian Williams news show ("It comes from somebody who�s writing fiction.") is that he left his questioners and the TV viewers with the impression that he has no idea where this dyslexia question comes from. Apart from this being a family problem for at least two generations, it's no secret that the Bushes concentrate on charities dealing with an illness and a disabilitity, both experienced first-hand, cancer and dyslexia. The Barbara Bush Foundation has awarded a substantial grant to a Houston institute that helps to train teachers to teach dyslexics how to read. The Texas book festival fostered by George and Laura Bush each November is an outgrowth of their interest in dyslexia. Further, it's not surprising that both Poppy Bush and Junior married women who are known for their use of language, Barb for her sharp wit and a memoir actually written by her, and Laura for her profession as a librarian and her avid reading. (Poppy's children have gone on record as not being readers.) Yet, Bush would have us understand that in spite of his regular abuse of the English language in public, his behavior is par for the course. It is not

As noted in our recent story about Bush's treatment of a victim of a hate crime murder, it appears that he puts politics before people, and he's done it again with the dyslexia question, according to Houston Chronicle reporter, R.G. Ratcliffe, who happens to be dyslexic. (HC, 9/14/00) Ratcliffe found that Bush's reaction to the "Good Morning, America" question ("No I'm not dyslexic. That's all that I can tell you.") "focused on protecting his image from any hint of imperfection [and] promoted the stereotype that there is something wrong with being dyslexic." In fact, Ratcliffe continues, "the more honest answer for Bush and his spokes-people would be that he does not know whether he is dyslexic. At an earlier time in the campaign, I asked Hughes about this subject. Her answer at that time was the governor has never been tested for dyslexia and has no reason to believe he is." The fact is, of course, that Bush has every reason to believe that he's dyslexic, based on family history as well as public behavior, as Ratcliffe goes on to point out.

Why, then, does Bush continue to deny it? As Ratcliffe puts it, "Is George W. Bush somehow diminished as a potential president if he is dyslexic?...I'm sure it is partly because Bush and his campaign are trying to overcome questions about whether he is intelligent enough to be president. But they could have put some of those questions away early by admitting that he might be dyslexic and that his goofs occur because of that. But Bush and his aides react as if being called a dyslexic is the same thing as being called stupid. That is the stereotype that Bush has promoted." Bush, then, is perfectly willing to promote the age-old myth that dyslexics are just stupid, when studies have demonstrated that it's quite possible to be intelligent and dyslexic at the same time. This fact is nothing new, but, because of people like George W. Bush, the old myths hold sway over the minds of many. At present, the most important place the fight for facts about dyslexia is taking place is in education, a field that Bush brags is his number one priority. Yet, he is doing education a disservice by reinforcing stereotypes. In short, he is putting politics before people.

If Bush wanted to prove his willingness to raise the level of education in our country, he should prove it by starting with himself. One would hope that, as Al Gore has previously challenged him in another context, he will "put up or shut up." That is, it's clear that Bush is saying he is not dyslexic because he's never been tested, weasel words in case he changes his mind at a later date. One would think he would want to know as soon as possible so that, if he is dyslexic, he could be given the help of professionals to deal with his disability rather than denying it, be it reading, writing, speaking, or all three. Presidential candidates are expected to provide such information to the voters. Why is Bush sandbagging? And if he is not dyslexic, he then could look elsewhere for an explanation of his obvious communication problem. This is hampering his leadership because many voters are laughing at him rather than listening to what he is saying. --Politex, 9/26/00

KING: The dyslexia thing, did that bother you?
G. BUSH: Oh, that was just fiction.
KING: But did it bother you? Because, first of all, millions of Americans have it.
G. BUSH: Of course they are. My little brother, Neil, is dyslexic.
KING: Successful people have it.
G. BUSH: Very much so. Winston Churchill, one of my...
KING: So how did you react when a thing like that made...
G. BUSH: I just smiled. I just thought it was silly, you know. We've got a writer who just made something up. And, you know, I'm -- even if I were, I would be a good president. But I'm not.
KING: Hey, there could be good dyslexic president.
G. BUSH: But you know something, I mean, -- listen, I remember what they did to Ronald Reagan. They belittled him and they said, oh, he can't possibly be smart enough to be president of the United States. He is simply an actor. The man turned out to be a great president. And, you know, I think it is partly because those of us who don't spend our adult life in Washington, D.C. are seen to be -- somehow be deficient. But the great news is, most people don't spend their adult lives in Washington, D.C. The voters who make the determination in the elections are really looking for somebody who has got good judgment, common sense, and can relate to them. And that is why governors have tended to be president of the United States: President Clinton, President Carter, President Reagan, and President Bush, I hope.
KING: We'll be back with our remaining moments with Bushes. It won't be their last visit.

More to follow

 

[bulldogg]

Dyslexia Diognosticians Comment on Bush's Language

Bush's inability to distinguish between the word "tears," meaning to rip, and "tears," meaning crying, while a student at Andover, suggests, "he really didn't understand the language. Bush is probably dyslexic, although he has probably never been diagnosed." --Sue Horn, former president of the Maryland branch of the International Dyslexia Accociation, who has been diognosing dyslexics for 25 years. (Vanity Fair, October, 2000)

"The errors you've heard Governor Bush make are consistent with dyslexia." --Nancy LaFevers, Houston Dyslexia Diognostician. (Vanity Fair, October, 2000)

"Based on his speech and behavior, his hyperactivity and impulsivity, you can say there is a possibility of some sort of disorder. If he were in a New York City school, they would pick up on this and say, 'Let's check out this person.'" Dr. Irwin Rosenthal, who sits on the board of the New York Association for the Learning Disabled. (Daily News, 9/12/00)

Note: Dr. Rosenthal appears to be considering the belief in a 30% crossover between dyslexia and attention-deficit disorder. As far as school testing, Gail Sheehy notes in her Vanity Fair profile that younger brother Neil, like George, was tutored by his mother for language deficiencies. "Neil was later diagnosed as dyslexic, but it is unlikely that lower schools would have identified the problem in either boy in the 50's or 60's. Even today it is often missed, and learning difficulties are attribute to laziness or poor teaching. Although Barbara Bush has previously told the nation, "Please don't treat [dyslexia] as a secret. Treat it with help," her son George is unwilling to take a test to determine if he is dyxlexic. At present, the Bush team says Bush is not dyslexic and notes that he has never been tested, implying that without taking the test, he could not be dyslexic. --Politex

"I don't think you can diagnose anyone with dyslexia just from the way they talk." --Dr. Larry Silver, president of the Learning Disabilities Association (Daily News, 9/12/00)

Note: Here, Dr. Silver agrees that an actual professional diagnosis demands a test. --Politex

Bush "definitely has problems with word retrieval. He's dipping into the right word pool in his brain but pulling out the wrong word. We all do that to some extent, but we catch ourselves doing it. He doesn't seem to correct himself. That's kind of curious." --Linda Bejorian, speech pathologist, New York's Speech Matters, suggesting that, in the words of the reporter, "Bush sometimes sounds like a stroke victim." (Daily News, 9/12/00)

http://www.bushwatch.com/dyslexia.htm

There is more but this sums up why I believe our President is indeed dyslexic despite his and anyone else's protestations to the contrary.

 

[Missileer]

In the South, especially before the late 60s, people were very defensive and secretive of any abnormality in their children. Especially the richer, influential people. There were sanitariums that got kids who were stricken with polio, MS, ADD, and mild retardation. So anything that would cast any doubts about the sound mind and body of the family was shifted aside or hidden. Back then, Dyslexia was equated with stupidity, so it was denied. I actually heard a farmer in East Texas brag about having "ten kids and not an idiot in the bunch." I remember my older Brother being whipped in school because he was slower than the rest of his class. Our parents finally took him out of school about the sixth grade. So it's not uncommon for the truth about a human frailty to be denied under such circumstances. I did learn a valuable lesson, never tease or belittle someone who had a mental or physical problem. Polio was not uncommon when I was a kid and left a lot of kids with deformities.

 

[5.56X45mm]

Hell, I think Bush speaks like a normal American. I understand him without any problems.

He doesn't speak like some hig end rich boy from some upper classmen college. He speaks like a good old southern boy.

 

[Chief Bones]

No bull tossing ...

I will NOT get into a bull tossing contest with you Bulldogg ... let's look at this as though your assertions are REAL.

GW has a very real problem with mustering enough attention span to stick with a discussion or decision long enough to REALLY resolve it in a timely manner (based on stories that he has broken off discussions with advisers to go take a nap). Dyslexia - maybe.

GW has 'proudly' asserted he does NOT read ANY paper or magazine articles (and) refuses to watch ANY television program about ANY issue he deals with ... the reason he gives for this conscious decision is, it confuses the issue (substitute, it confuses him). That means that EVERY important issue is decided by GW by the application of ONLY one side of the issue (you can substitute, by the application of what GW thinks is the important side of the issue without much information that doesn't fit with his decision to balance out the arguments). Dyslexia - maybe.

GW is **** when it comes to admitting that one of his decisions MAY not have been the correct decision ... hindsight is completely lacking from his vocabulary (hence the accusation that he is stubborn to the point of being unable to compromise). Dyslexia - maybe.

I can list a whole laundry list of items that would fit with your theory ... where the rub comes in, is the fact that GW has continuously and very forcefully denied the allegations he suffered from Dyslexia. Dyslexia - maybe.

I can agree, he does exhibit some of the symptoms of Dyslexia ... this DOES NOT mean that I buy into the allegations of Dyslexia though.

I will go so far as to admit that there is the POSSIBILITY of Dyslexia ... but ... barring an admission or a medical diagnosis from GW's doctors that he suffers from this affliction ... I have no choice but to say that GW also exhibits every symptom of being just plain iggorant ... and ... it appears it is a 'self choice'.

This is the man that Republican Conservatives everywhere have touted as the greatest thing since blue cheese ... what a laugh.

 

[bulldogg]

Ya know Luis, that is exactly the quality that got him elected from everything that I have read.

 

[mmarsh]

Likewise, I am not going to get into a pissing contest with you.

Chief is right...

Bush exhibits symptoms of dyslexia, but his symtoms can ALSO be explained as from other causes as well like Ignorence. The key in Bush's case is his open hostility to anything intellictual. This is not a trait of Dyslexia. Some Dyslexics can become frustrated in learning and choose not to persue higher learning, But there have been many famous other minds that have suffered from Dyslexia such as Einstien, Churchil, De vinci, Alexander Graham Bell who have overcome dyslexia to continue to be the greatest minds in history. But none of these people became "Great" because of a hostility to intellictualism. I have never seen anybody hate intellectualism to the point that he openly and gleefully admit it. To put it simply, Bush is PROUD of being anti-intellictual. Given what he know about Bush, I'll hazard a guess and say he suffers from a large inferiority complex.

In addition some of Bush's faux-pas have not been in speaking, take the recent example with the famous backrub on Angela Merkel. That is not Dyslexia, that is exercising poor judgement because someone didnt bother to study proper etiquette. So even if Bush were diagnoised as Dyslexic it still wouldnt explain all his oddities...

Also some of Bush's temperment is certainly genetic in his family. Stubbornism and the inability to compromise can be a symptom of dyslexia, or it can also be a trait he simply inherited from his parents. During the Reagan Administration, Barbara Bush in particular was known in the Washington circles for her stubbornism and vindictiveness. Two traits the president is known to have as well. I'd say its more likely these 2 traits were inheritied then from Dyslexia. Of course, this is all a guess.

I'll agree with the Chief that its possible he's dyslexic. Its equally possible that he's ignorant (or a combination of the two) but unless either Bush or his doctor admit anything all of this is speculation.

5.56x5.45

Which brings me to another reason I don't like him, hes a phoney. He may walk, talk, and act like a normal American but he ain't. He's from money and from privilage. He has never fallen down without Dad, or a friend of Dad, to help pick him up. He has never done anything without his support network behind him, and the really sad part is he doesnt realize it, he thinks this is how all people are. Like the old saying goes "born on 3rd base, thinks he hit a triple". To me, thats even worse than the snobby liberals like Kennedy and Kerry because at least they dont pretend they arn't privilaged.

 

[bulldogg]

In the South, especially before the late 60s, people were very defensive and secretive of any abnormality in their children. Especially the richer, influential people. There were sanitariums that got kids who were stricken with polio, MS, ADD, and mild retardation. So anything that would cast any doubts about the sound mind and body of the family was shifted aside or hidden. Back then, Dyslexia was equated with stupidity, so it was denied. I actually heard a farmer in East Texas brag about having "ten kids and not an idiot in the bunch." I remember my older Brother being whipped in school because he was slower than the rest of his class. Our parents finally took him out of school about the sixth grade. So it's not uncommon for the truth about a human frailty to be denied under such circumstances. I did learn a valuable lesson, never tease or belittle someone who had a mental or physical problem. Polio was not uncommon when I was a kid and left a lot of kids with deformities.

My step-father had polio and spent a year on an iron lung when he was 15-16. He never spoke of it without visible discomfort even 40 years later, the scars were too great. Through high school in rural Kansas he was picked on for being a freak... because he was left with one foot a half size smaller than the other one. It also was what blocked him from serving in the Army as he repeatedly volunteered to join while others ran for the border to escape the draft.

So I can understand how bad it was for someone with a more serious problem than he had. I too would have kept any "defect" unknown. You know you can have a problem or suspect you have a problem but as long as you never take a test and get diagnosed you can always deny it.

Missileer, has it changed much now in Texas?

 

[Missileer]

Missileer, has it changed much now in Texas?

Like day and night. The hiring discrimination laws helped people in the 70's and later. Kids will always tease other kids different from themselves but now, there are more kids who will stick up for the little guy. I attribute it to the medical profession and support groups getting the message out that a badly burned face or other deformity does not make anyone a freak. And just because a kid rode the "short bus" to school didn't make him/her stupid. I pity the Thalidomide babies of the 50's, they must have gone through hell.

 

[AlexKall]

In the South, especially before the late 60s, people were very defensive and secretive of any abnormality in their children. Especially the richer, influential people. There were sanitariums that got kids who were stricken with polio, MS, ADD, and mild retardation. So anything that would cast any doubts about the sound mind and body of the family was shifted aside or hidden. Back then, Dyslexia was equated with stupidity, so it was denied. I actually heard a farmer in East Texas brag about having "ten kids and not an idiot in the bunch." I remember my older Brother being whipped in school because he was slower than the rest of his class. Our parents finally took him out of school about the sixth grade. So it's not uncommon for the truth about a human frailty to be denied under such circumstances. I did learn a valuable lesson, never tease or belittle someone who had a mental or physical problem. Polio was not uncommon when I was a kid and left a lot of kids with deformities.

Simular as when I went to school, had and still have dyslexia. Was pure hell! My parents didn't know untill around two years ago when I talked about it for the first time. I've only told three people directly, I can do it writing but it just brings up to much crappy memories to talk about it person to person. My teachers never told my parents or anyone else, it was to be cept inside the school, still not sure why. My school did however do something good, even if I hated it and it was emotionly pure hell I got special tutoring for 9 years, and can now act "normal" I still read alot slower then "normal", I can't spell worth crap either (Swedish is worse then English actually) I also still twist words in a order they ware never ment to be spoken or written. But it's atleast a hell of a lot better then when I started school. What's worst today (now theres computers to correct my spelling) is my hadwriting, its practicly unreadable, its however something I will always live with but the fact that I have it easyer with other languages then other swedes help alot, makes me seem bright in other cases!

Bit off topic heh

 

[Missileer]

Bit off topic heh

No, since Bulldogg started this thread to show how people went undiagnosed with learning problems because of the stigma attached by society, it's on topic.

 

[bulldogg]

Kudos to you Alex. With some of the Chinese kids I have come across I have seen similar cases to what you describe, some of these kids dyslexia is more or less pronounced in different languages. They do fine in Chinese but like one kid, in English it is really bad or vice versa.

When it comes to learning disabilities this is one place, China, that is still in the stone age. ADD kids are told, "You need to concentrate more!" and dyslexic kids are openly berated by parents, teachers and fellow students as "Stupid!" It breaks my heart and has led to more than one confrontation with people over their backwardness. Too many painful memories myself come up here watching these kids... its like Alexander City, Alabama in 1980 all over again... except now I am bigger than the bloody teachers.

 

[bulldogg]

Further compelling arguments...

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2004/nf20040312_0969_db056.htm

"SUBTLE DISORDER." To some learning-disability experts, the signs are clear: Bush might want to pay them a visit. These experts haven't tested the President, so they caution that they can't be certain of the diagnosis. Yet, ample signs indicate that something unusual is going on in the left side of his brain, where language and hearing are processed.

The possibility is high that there's some dysfunction in the way he hears words, the way he processes what he hears, or the way he retrieves words when he tries to speak. When someone uses the wrong word or malapropisms and has difficulty with grammatical sentences, experts on learning disabilities "typically suspect at least a subtle language disorder," says William Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist in Silver Spring, Md.

Some voters infer from Bush's syntax and behavior that he isn't the sharpest saw in the tool box. Yet, learning and processing disorders aren't indicators of native intelligence. If anything, a learning disability would better explain how Bush has accomplished so much, with his critics underestimating him every step of the way.

ALL IN THE FAMILY? … Such disorders often are genetic, and the Bush family has a history of them -- Bush's brother, Neil, has been diagnosed with dyslexia. Bush's other brother, Marvin, has a son in a Washington school for children with learning disabilities. Perhaps as a result, the President's mother and First Lady Laura Bush have both been big advocates of improving reading skills.

Journalists have tried in the past to explain Bush's peculiar speech and processing patterns. In May, 2000, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post suggested that Bush's speech patterns reflect the patois in Midland, Tex., which Eastern elites disdain. Maybe it was something he learned or inherited from his dad, for whom uttering a complete, syntactically correct sentence often was a challenge.

Another possibility Milbank cited, which was suggested by a Bush aide: The President's agile brain works faster than his mouth. Milbank also quoted an expert who opined that the symptoms resemble apraxia, an inability to position the lips, jaw, and tongue properly when speaking. In a Bush profile in the October, 2000, Vanity Fair, Gail Sheehy postulated that Bush, like his brother, has dyslexia, which is commonly seen as a reading disability.

DIGGING DEEPER. Weisberg says in the introduction to his first volume of Bushisms that he doesn't buy these theories. He notes, as Milbank did, that apraxia usually produces shortened words, while Bush sometimes elongates them, as when he says "analyzation" instead of analysis. And if Bush had dyslexia, he wouldn't be able to read a TelePrompTer so well, Weisberg postulates. But with sufficient practice, someone with the disorder could read a speech adequately, says Kathy Hosty, a Washington, D.C., speech-language pathologist.

Bush has denied in the past that he has dyslexia. Asked for this column if the President has a language disorder, White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan dismissed the idea, without flatly denying it. She told Business Week Online Bush's medical records have been scrutinized for 15 years. "The American people know more about the President's health than just about anyone's," she added.

I started to look for a more satisfactory explanation for Bush's demeanor for several reasons. Frankly, I've long been mystified by the way Bush expresses himself off-the-cuff. Secondly, the President's way of expressing himself clearly throws foreigners, especially diplomats, for a loop. They're appalled, since they view his mastery of language as critical to persuading others of the correctness of America's course in world affairs. A third reason is that a friend of mine has a son who doctors suspect has something called central auditory processing disorder (CAPD). My friend says whenever she sees the President, she sees her son's traits.

"OTHER KINDS OF INTELLIGENCE." That led me to do some Web research and talk to some experts on the subject to see what they think. I'm no doctor. I'm a journalist. But it turns out there's an intriguing consensus afoot, and I'm here to report it.

According to an article on the Internet by Judith W. Paton, a San Mateo (Calif.) audiologist, CAPD is a physical hearing impairment that doesn't show up as hearing loss but rather affects hearing beyond the ear. In effect, the auditory nerves don't handle the raw data from the ear properly. It's usually found with a cluster of other symptoms. Among the tell-tale signs she cites: Confusion of similar sounding words, terse communications, better hearing when watching the speaker, and trouble hearing when it's noisy.

This syndrome, like dyslexia, probably wouldn't have been diagnosed when Bush was growing up. It could explain why, undiagnosed, he was a lackluster student, Paton said in an interview. "A lot of his IQ points were in political intelligence and other kinds of intelligence," she notes.

… CAPD isn't recognized as a formal diagnosis yet, partly because not enough research has been done on it. "It's a pattern of deficits that has been described by a large body of clinicians, but it hasn't undergone the rigors of scientific verification," says Fresno (Calif.) neuropsychologist Howard Glidden. Some experts also consider it a vague, umbrella term for a lot of traits.

What all the experts seem to agree on is that Bush exhibits "phonological" problems, that is, he has trouble breaking apart and putting together the discrete sounds that make up words. That could explain why the President tortures the language so often. And his clowning around could have been a way to compensate.

Such a syndrome also could explain other characteristics. The nicknames -- he dubbed ex-Treasury Secretary O'Neill "Pablo", for example -- could be a device to help with name retrieval. The infrequency of news conferences could reflect the difficulty someone with CAPD would have in a press-conference setting. While it would be possible to bone up for a quieter one-on-one grilling by Tim Russert, the noise and distractions of a news conference would make the kind of focus Bush may need very difficult. "A news conference would be his worst nightmare," says Hosty. "You can't control the barrage of different communications styles."

 

[Chief Bones]

bd
Why can't you entertain the possibility that GW does NOT have dyslexia. He continues to deny he suffers from this affliction ... and ... there are no quotable quotes from ANY piece of medical record that would support the charge of dyslexia. So far all you have done is to post anecdotal information ... NOT one bit of 'FACTUAL' information has been uncovered to prove your theory.

There ARE individuals that have made a personal choice that they will NOT attempt to improve their education ... GW is one of those ... he proudly boasts to one and all, that he WILL NOT even read a book, read a newspaper or watch television about any issue he is dealing with. That tells me that he chooses to be 'iggorant' ... it is NOT a proof of dyslexia.

 

[AlexKall]

Kudos to you Alex. With some of the Chinese kids I have come across I have seen similar cases to what you describe, some of these kids dyslexia is more or less pronounced in different languages. They do fine in Chinese but like one kid, in English it is really bad or vice versa.

When it comes to learning disabilities this is one place, China, that is still in the stone age. ADD kids are told, "You need to concentrate more!" and dyslexic kids are openly berated by parents, teachers and fellow students as "Stupid!" It breaks my heart and has led to more than one confrontation with people over their backwardness. Too many painful memories myself come up here watching these kids... its like Alexander City, Alabama in 1980 all over again... except now I am bigger than the bloody teachers.

That will defenetly not help those that has problems of the sort, which is a shame!

 

[Ted]

As far as I know dyslexia doesn't have any influence on your IQ. The facts that Bush can speak in complete sentences doesn't omit the fact that he reads them as bent as a circle.
It is hard to detect because dyslectics are handy in finding a survival strategy and it it of recent days that it is seen as a handicap that can be fixed. So there might be hope for Bush yet.

 

[AlexKall]

No it doesn't influense IQ, I scored good on my military "IQ" test

 

[Ted]

No it doesn't influense IQ, I scored good on my military "IQ" test

Hahahaha isn't this called a "contradiction in terms"? Sorry Alex, I just had to take a cheap shot at this.......

 

[AlexKall]

heh well it doesnt influense badly on IQ