A few years ago, dyslexia was not a widely-recognised condition. But a Hampshire clinic is now working on a drug-free treatment for the learning disability, with astounding results...

LOOKING at ten-year-old Charlie Turner you would never guess that he was dyslexic.

But then that may be why he was not diagnosed with the condition until the age of six.

The first instincts of Charlie's parents and teachers were to send him to a dyslexic expert, where he underwent a series of spelling tests and sums in a bid to improve his reading and writing skills.

But the constant focus on trying to get Charlie to do something he already knew he could not did not seem to help his learning ability.

The youngster's mum, Fiona, said: "For three years Charlie had these lessons from this woman and she was lovely and she knew what she was doing, but the memory just wasn't there.

"He could go and learn sounds and things like that and a week later he wouldn't remember them. The shortterm memory just wasn't there."

It wasn't until Fiona, from Stourton Caundle in Sturminster Newton, Dorset, saw a Tonight with Trevor McDonald programme focusing on a new, drug-free treatment for dyslexia that things began to improve for Charlie.

Fiona signed him up for treatment at the new Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Attention Deficit Disorder Treatment Centre (DDAT) at the Abbey Industrial Park in Romsey.

The centre, which opened in May, was the second of its kind to open in the country and offers new ways of treating disorders like dyslexia, dyspraxia and attention deficit disorder (ADD).

Siobhan Lees, centre manager, said: "What we do is look at a delay in the cerebellum in the brain.

"The cerebellum helps the process of learning to be automatic so people who have cerebellum delay will find that they do all of their learning, all of their everyday things, using their thinking brain, as opposed to it just happening with their cerebellum.

"Symptoms of that tend to be dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder."

Siobhan added that most of the centre's patients know they are dyslexic or dyspraxic and refer themselves for treatment.

Patients go for an initial assessment and a series of tests on their first appointment, followed by a consultation with a doctor to see if they would benefit from the treatment DDAT offers.

They then return every six weeks for follow-up assessments and tests after being given exercises to do at home.

Siobhan said: "It's so simple. It's completely exercise-based. One of the simple exercises is to sit in a chair, stand up, turn around and sit down again.

"It stimulates the pathways to the cerebellum. It releases their thinking brain so that they can do that without thinking and then think about other things like having a conversation."

The treatment, which was developed by businessman Wynford Dore in his search for help for his own dyslexic daughter, takes anywhere between nine months and two years and the centre has both children and adults - up to the age of 70 - on their books.

"You're never too old," said Siobhan.

Charlie takes tests to check his balance and eye tracking when he visits the centre and also has tasks to do at home twice a day.

He said: "I have to do things like standing on one leg, tying knots in string and a wobble board, which is like a surfboard and it's got a thing underneath and you have to try to balance on it.

"It's quite fun. It's better than all the spelling tests and things. It's a lot easier now."

Fiona, 33, added: "In one of the exercises he holds a bean bag in each hand and throws one from one hand to the other. While he is doing that he must drop the other one so he is thinking about two things at the same time.

"He's given a programme that he has to work through and it depends on what he's stimulating."

It may sound simple, but the results have been amazing for Charlie.

"I can do longer stories now," he said.

"My arm doesn't ache as much and I can concentrate for longer."

Fiona said: "He used to describe the words on the page as dancing. But he's doing his English homework and things now.

"He's completing it solely on his own and he's saying he's proud of it, which is a huge step. He's also been moved up into the top maths group.

"It's all just started to come together in the last six weeks. Suddenly it happened. I thought it might be a very gradual thing and that I wouldn't notice or Charlie wouldn't notice, but he actually said to me 'it's working mum'.

"The teacher who's head of the junior side of the school said 'whatever they're doing it's working', which is great."

DDAT centres are expanding across the UK and Australia with plans to develop in America and the Far East.