Educational device for dyslexic children

Disclosed is an educational device for dyslexic children which comprises a base, a shaft mounted on the base, a plurality of blocks mounted on the shaft for rotation relative to the base, and a mirror mounted on the base facing the shaft. Mirror-image and/or totally backwards indicia are carried by the blocks on at least one face of each of the blocks, whereby the blocks can be rotated to positions in which the indicia are reflected by the mirror.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to educational devices for dyslexic children. 
Dyslexia may be broadly defined as the loss of power to grasp the meaning 
of that which is read, Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the 
English Language (2d. ed. 1965), or as an inability to read understandably 
due to a central lesion. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (1965). 
In particular, dyslexia is often characterized by perception of objects, 
including letters, either in mirror-image form or in what might be called 
totally backwards form -- that is, rotated about two separate orthogonal 
axes. The first of these conditions is referred to herein as partial 
dyslexia, and the second as total dyslexia. 
Various methods for treating dyslexia are known, and most of these methods 
employ various kinds of educational devices. Typically such devices employ 
one or more mirrors to rotate the image of objects, including letters, in 
a fashion contrary to the incorrect rotation perceived by the individual 
being treated. A need has remained, however, for such a device which is 
simple and sturdy, which can be used with very young children (or with 
children or adults who are retarded as well as dyslexic), and which can be 
used to teach basic manipulative skills as well as to treat dyslexia. 
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
It is, therefore, a general object of the invention to provide an 
educational device for dyslexic children. 
It is a particular object of the invention to provide such a device which 
is simple and sturdy, which can be used with very young children (or with 
children or adults who are retarded as well as dyslexic), and which can be 
used to teach basic manipulative skills as well as to treat dyslexia.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Preferring now particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there will be seen an 
educational device for dyslexic children comprising a base 10, a shaft 12 
mounted on the base 10, a plurality of blocks 14 mounted on the shaft 12 
for rotation relative to the base 10, and a mirror 16 mounted on the base 
10 facing the shaft 12. Although not directly visible in FIG. 1, 
mirror-image indicia (specifically, letters) are carried by the blocks 14 
on their faces adjacent to the mirror 16, and those indicia are visible in 
normal orientation in the mirror 16. Additional indicia which are totally 
backwards (that is, rotated about two separate orthogonal axes) are also 
carried by each of the blocks 14 on their uppermost faces in FIG. 1, and 
the other two working faces can carry pictures of animals, flowers, 
numbers, arithmetic symbols, etc., or they can carry means, such as those 
shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and described hereinafter, for releasably mounting 
additional indicia. It should be particularly noted that the mirror-image 
indicium and the totally backwards indicium on each block are of the same 
thing (e.g. of the same letter), and the totally backwards indicium and 
the mirror-image indicium are related so that, when the totally backwards 
indicium is directly visible, the mirror-image indicium is reflected in 
the mirror 16 in its normal orientation. 
Preferably, the educational device additionally comprises two bearing 
blocks 18, one mounted at each end of the base 10, and two pegs 20 mounted 
in and projecting from each end of the shaft 12 outside the bearing blocks 
18, thereby limiting the axial movement of the shaft 12. The bearing 
blocks 18 have open-topped slots 22 at their tops sized to journal the 
shaft 12 and tapered dowels 24 at their bottoms sized to fit into 
corresponding holes 26 in the base 10. Preferably the bearing blocks 18 
are releasably mounted on the base 10, the pegs 20 are releasably mounted 
in the shaft 12, and the blocks 14 are releasably mounted on the shaft 12. 
This feature permits the child to take the device apart and re-assemble 
it, thereby developing his manipulative skills as well as helping in the 
treatment of dyslexia. Of course, providing that at least one of the pegs 
20 is releasably mounted on the shaft 12 also permits the child to 
rearrange the order of the blocks or to substitute other blocks, thereby 
permitting him to spell other words. 
Preferably, the blocks 14 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 12, and to 
that end bearing holes 28 are provided in each block 14. That feature 
permits the various blocks to be rotated relative to each other, giving 
the child practice in lining up the mirror-image letters or lining up the 
animals, etc. However, it is possible to provide that the blocks 14 are 
not rotatable on the shaft 12, in which case the shaft 12 itself must be 
rotatable relative to the base 10. In this case, the various blocks rotate 
together as a group, but the child can be given practice in correctly 
"stringing" the blocks on the shaft 12 so that all the faces in one group 
(for instance, the animal faces) are lined up. 
In the FIG. 1 embodiment, the mirror-image indicia are painted on the 
blocks 14, and this manner of construction is specificially intended to be 
embraced by the term "carried" in the claim. However, the present 
invention also contemplates releasably mounting both the mirror-image and 
the totally backwards indicia on the blocks, and two of many possible 
means for doing so are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The FIGS. 3 
embodiment is one where the block 30 and indicia bearing panels 32 are 
held together by magnetic attraction, and the FIG. 4 embodiment is one 
where the block 34 and the indicia bearing panels 36 are held together by 
hook-and-eye panels of the type sold under the brand name "Velcro". While 
FIGS. 3 and 4 show embodiments in which releasable indicia bearing panels 
can be mounted on each of the four working faces of each block, it is also 
within the contemplation of this invention to mix permanently painted on 
and releasably mounted indicia on a single block. Also, it is of course 
possible to releasably mount just the indicia on each block, rather than 
mounting panels bearing the indicia. Moreover, it is within the 
contemplation of this invention to make the face of the indicia 
(particularly letters, numbers, and arithmetic symbols) of a raised and/or 
rough surface material to enable students to touch the letters and numbers 
and to learn by touch as well as sight. 
The educational device described above can be used to treat children with 
either partial or total dyslexia. In the child with partial dyslexia, the 
blocks will have the letters spelling a word as the child sees it. Turning 
of blocks to reflect in the mirror enables the child to read the word 
correctly. For the child with total dyslexia, the top or the front of the 
blocks will spell the word as the child sees it -- totally backwards --, 
while simultaneously the back sides of the block will show the correct 
spelling in the mirror. 
ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION 
From the foregoing description of an educational device for dyslexic 
children in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, those 
skilled in the art will recognize several advantages which singularly 
distinguish the subject invention from previously known devices. Some of 
the advantages are set forth below. However, while the following list of 
advantages is believed to be both accurate and representative, it does not 
purport to be exhaustive. 
A particular advantage of the subject educational device for dyslexic 
children is that it is simple and sturdy and that it can be used with very 
young children (or with children or adults who are retarded as well as 
dyslexic). 
Another advantage of the subject invention is that it can be used to treat 
both partial and total dyslexia. 
A further advantage of the subject invention is that it can be used to 
teach basic manipulative skills as well as to treat dyslexia. 
CAVEAT 
While the present invention have been illustrated by a detailed description 
of a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be obvious to those skilled in 
the art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein 
without departing from the true scope of the invention. For that reason, 
the invention must be measured by the claims appended hereto and not by 
the foregoing preferred embodiment.