Aditi Shankardass: A second opinion on learning disorders

Translator: Lum Zharku Reviewer: Lirim Pepaj

When I was 10 years old,

Kur isha 10 vjec,

a cousin of mine took me on a tour of his medical school.

nje kusheri me mori ne nje vizite ne shkollen e tij te mjeksise.

And as a special treat,

Dhe si nje trajtim te vecantë,

he took me to the pathology lab

ai me çoi ne laboratorin e patologjise

and took a real human brain

dhe nxori nje tru te vertete njeriu

out of the jar

nga kavanozi

and placed it in my hands.

dhe e vendosi ne duart e mia.

And there it was,

Dhe aty ishte,

the seat of human consciousness,

vendi i vetedijes njerzore,

the powerhouse of the human body,

centrali i fuqise i trupit njerzor,

sitting in my hands.

i ulur ne duart e mia.

And that day I knew that when I grew up,

Dhe ate dite e kuptova qe kur te rritesha,

I was going to become a brain doctor,

do te behesha mjeke e trurit,

scientist, something or the other.

shkenctare, dicka ose tjeter.

Years later, when I finally grew up,

Vite me vone, kur me ne fund u rrita,

my dream came true.

endrra ime u realizua.

And it was while I was doing my Ph.D.

Dhe ishte kur po beja doktoraturen time

on the neurological causes

mbi shkaqet neurologjike

of dyslexia in children

ne disleksine tek femijet

that I encountered a startling fact

qe hasa nje fakt befasues

that I'd like to share with you all today.

qe do te doja ta ndaja me ju sot.

It is estimated that one in six children,

Mesatarisht nje ne gjashte femije,

that's one in six children,

pra nje ne gjashte femije,

suffer from some developmental disorder.

vuan nga ndonje çrregullim zhvillimor.

This is a disorder that

Ky eshte nje çrregullim qe

retards mental development in the child

vonon zhvillimin mendor tek femija

and causes permanent mental impairments.

dhe shkakton demtime te perhershme mendore.

Which means that each and every one of you here today

Qe do te thote se secili nga ju

knows at least one child that is suffering

njeh te pakten nje femije qe po vuan

from a developmental disorder.

nga nje çrregullim zhvillimor.

But here's what really perplexed me.

Por ja cfare me ka hutuar me te vertete.

Despite the fact that each

Perkunder faktit qe secila

and every one of these disorders

nga keto çrregullime

originates in the brain,

buron ne tru,

most of these disorders

shumica e ketyre çrregullimeve

are diagnosed solely on the basis

diagnostifikohen vetem ne baze

of observable behavior.

te sjelljes se vezhgueshme.

But diagnosing a brain disorder

Por diagnostifikimi i çrregullimit ne tru

without actually looking at the brain

pa e shikuar me te vertete trurin

is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem

eshte analog me trajtimin e nje pacienti me problem ne zemer

based on their physical symptoms,

bazuar ne simptomat e tyre fizike,

without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray

pa bere as nje EKG ose rreze X ne gjoks

to look at the heart.

per te shikuar zemren.

It seemed so intuitive to me.

Mua me dukej aq intuitive.

To diagnose and treat a brain disorder accurately,

Per te diagnostifikuar dhe trajtuar çrregullim truri me saktesi,

it would be necessary to look at the brain directly.

do duhej te ishte e nevojshme te shikoje trurin drejtperdrejt.

Looking at behavior alone

Veshtrimi i vetem sjelljes

can miss a vital piece of the puzzle

mund te humbase nje pjese thelbesore te enigmes

and provide an incomplete, or even a misleading,

dhe te siguroje nje pamje jo te plote, ose edhe mashtruese,

picture of the child's problems.

te problemit te femijes.

Yet, despite all the advances in medical technology,

Megjithate, perkunder zhvillimeve ne teknologjine mjeksore,

the diagnosis of brain disorders

diagnostifikimi i çrregullimeve te trurit

in one in six children

ne nje ne gjashte femije

still remained so limited.

vazhdon te qendron i kufizuar.

And then I came across a team at Harvard University

Dhe pastaj hasa nje ekip ne Universitetin e Harvardit

that had taken one such advanced medical technology

qe kishte marre nje teknologji te tille te avancuar

and finally applied it,

dhe me ne fund e kishte aplikuar,

instead of in brain research,

ne vend te hulumtimeve te trurit

towards diagnosing brain disorders in children.

drejt diagnostifikimit te çrregullimeve te trurit tek femijet.

Their groundbreaking technology

Teknologjia e tyre revolucionare

records the EEG, or the electrical activity

regjistron EEG, ose aktivitetin elektrik

of the brain, in real time,

te trurit, ne kohe reale,

allowing us to watch the brain

duke na lejuar ta shikojme trurin

as it performs various functions

duke kryer funksione te ndryshme

and then detect even the slightest abnormality

e pastaj zbulon edhe anomaline me te vogel

in any of these functions:

ne njeren prej ketyre funksioneve:

vision, attention, language, audition.

shikimi, vemendja, gjuha, degjimi.

A program called Brain Electrical

Nje program i quajtur Brain Electrical

Activity Mapping

Activity Mapping

then triangulates the source

pastaj trekendon burimin

of that abnormality in the brain.

e anomalitetit ne tru.

And another program called

Dhe nje program tjeter qe quhet

Statistical Probability Mapping

Statistical Probability Mapping

then performs mathematical calculations

pastaj performon llogaritje matematikore

to determine whether any of these abnormalities

per te caktuar nese njeri nga anomalitetet

are clinically significant,

jane klinikisht te rendesishme

allowing us to provide a much more accurate

duke na lejuar te sigurojme nje

neurological diagnosis

diagnoze me te sakte neurologjike

of the child's symptoms.

e simptomave te femijes.

And so I became the head of neurophysiology

Dhe keshtu une u bera drejtuesja e neurofiziologjise

for the clinical arm of this team,

per krahun klinik te ketij ekipi,

and we're finally able to use this technology

tani ne mundemi ta perdorim teknologjine

towards actually helping

ne drejtim te ndihmes

children with brain disorders.

se femijeve me çrregullime te trurit.

And I'm happy to say that I'm now in the process

Jam e lumtur te them se tani jam ne proces

of setting up this technology here in India.

te vendosjes se kesaj teknologjie ketu ne Indi.

I'd like to tell you about one such child,

Do te doja t'ju tregoja per nje femije te tille,

whose story was also covered by ABC News.

historia e te cilit u mbulua edhe prej ABC news.

Seven-year-old Justin Senigar

Shtate vjecari Justin Senigar

came to our clinic with this diagnosis

erdhi ne kliniken tone me diagnoze

of very severe autism.

te autizmit te rende.

Like many autistic children,

Si shume femije autike,

his mind was locked inside his body.

mendja e tij ishte mbyllur brenda trupit.

There were moments when he would

Kishte momente kur ai do

actually space out for seconds at a time.

te humbte vemendjen per disa sekonda.

And the doctors told his parents

Dhe mjeket i thane prinderve te tij

he was never going to be able

se ai nuk do te ishte kurre ne gjendje

to communicate or interact socially,

te komunikoje ose bashkeveproje ne shoqeri,

and he would probably never have too much language.

dhe kishte mundesi qe te mos kishte shume gjuhe.

When we used this groundbreaking EEG technology

Kur perdorem kete teknologji me EEG

to actually look at Justin's brain,

per te shikuar trurin e Justin,

the results were startling.

rezultatet ishin befasuese.

It turned out that Justin was almost

Doli se Justin ishte gati

certainly not autistic.

aspak autik.

He was suffering from brain seizures

Ai po vuante nga kriza epileptike te trurit

that were impossible to see with the naked eye,

qe ishin te pamundura te shiheshin me sy te lire,

but that were actually causing symptoms

por qe po shkakton simptoma

that mimicked those of autism.

qe i imitonin ato te autizmit.

After Justin was given anti-seizure medication,

Pasi Justin iu dhane ilaçe kunder epilepsise

the change in him was amazing.

ndryshimi ishte i mahnitshem.

Within a period of 60 days,

Brenda nje periudhe 60 ditore,

his vocabulary went from two to three words

fjalori i tij shkoi nga dy deri tre fjale

to 300 words.

ne 300 fjale.

And his communication and social interaction

Dhe komunikimi dhe bashkveprimi ne shoqeri

were improved so dramatically

u permirsuan ne menyre aq dramatike

that he was enrolled into a regular school

sa qe u regjistrua ne nje shkolle te rregullt

and even became a karate super champ.

dhe ai u be poashtu nje super kampion ne karate.

Research shows that 50 percent of children,

Hulumtimet tregojne se 50% e femijeve,

almost 50 percent of children

gati 50% e femijeve

diagnosed with autism

qe diagnostifikohen me autizem

are actually suffering from hidden brain seizures.

jane ne te vertete duke vuajtur nga epilepsi e trurit.

These are the faces of the children

Keto jane fytyrat e femijeve

that I have tested

qe kam testuar

with stories just like Justin.

me histori si te Justin.

All these children

Te gjithe keta femije

came to our clinic with a diagnosis

erdhen ne kliniken tone me nje diagnoze

of autism, attention deficit disorder,

autizmin, çrregullimi i deficitit te vemendjes,

mental retardation, language problems.

prapambetje mendore, probleme gjuhesore.

Instead, our EEG scans revealed

Perkundrazi, skenimet tona me EEG treguan

very specific problems hidden within their brains

probleme specifike te fshehura ne trurin e tyre

that couldn't possibly have been detected

qe nuk do te mund te zbuloheshin

by their behavioral assessments.

nga vleresimet e sjelljes.

So these EEG scans

Pra keto skenime me EEG

enabled us to provide these children

na mundesuan t'u sigurojme ketyre femijeve

with a much more accurate neurological diagnosis

me nje diagnoze me te sakte neurologjike

and much more targeted treatment.

dhe me nje trajtim shume me specifik.

For too long now, children with developmental disorders

Per nje kohe shume te gjate, femijet me çrregullime zhvillimore

have suffered from misdiagnosis

kane vuajtur nga diagnostifikimet e gabuara

while their real problems have gone undetected

ndersa problemet e verteta kane mbetur te fshehura

and left to worsen.

duke u lene te perkeqsohen.

And for too long, these children and their parents

Dhe per nje kohe shume te gjate keta femije me prinderit e tyre

have suffered undue frustration and desperation.

kane vuajtur nga deshperimi i panevojshem.

But we are now in a new era of neuroscience,

Por tani jemi ne nje epoke te re te neuroshkences,

one in which we can finally look

nje ne te cilen me ne fund mund te shikojme

directly at brain function in real time

drejtperdrejt funksionin e trurit

with no risks and no side effects, non-invasively,

pa asnje rrezik, efekt anesor, ne menyre jo invazive

and find the true source

dhe te gjejme burimin e vertete

of so many disabilities in children.

te kaq shume çrregullimeve tek femijet

So if I could inspire

Keshtu qe nese do mund te frymezoja

even a fraction of you in the audience today

vetem nje pjese te publikut te sotem

to share this pioneering diagnostic approach

per te ndare kete qasje diagnostike

with even one parent whose child

edhe me nje prind femija i te cilit

is suffering from a developmental disorder,

po vuan nga nje çrregullim zhvillimor,

then perhaps one more puzzle

atehere ndoshta nje enigme tjeter

in one more brain will be solved.

ne nje tru tjeter do te zgjidhet.

One more mind will be unlocked.

Nje mendje me shume do te hapet.

And one more child who has been misdiagnosed

Dhe nje femije qe eshte keq diagnostifikuar

or even undiagnosed by the system

ose edhe nuk eshte diagnostifikuar nga sistemi

will finally realize his or her true potential

me ne fund do ta kuptoje potencialin e tij ose saj te vertete

while there's still time

perderisa ka akoma kohe

for his or her brain to recover.

per trurin e tij ose saj te sherohet.

And all this by simply watching the child's brainwaves.

Dhe e gjithe kjo vetem duke pare valet e trurit te femijes.

Thank you.

Falemnderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)