Dyslexia

Most dyslexics will exhibit about 10 of the following traits and behaviors. These characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute. The most consistent thing about dyslexics is their inconsistency.

General

• Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
• Labelled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, "not trying hard enough," or "behavior problem."
• Isn't "behind enough" or "bad enough" to be helped in the school setting.
• High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
• Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school reading or testing.
• Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story-telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
• Seems to "Zone out" or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.
• Difficulty sustaining attention; seems "hyper" or "daydreamer."
• Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

Vision, Reading, and Spelling

• Complains of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.
• Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.
• Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
• Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.
• Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don't reveal a problem.
• Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
• Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
• Spells phonetically and inconsistently.

Hearing and Speech

• Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
• Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking.

Writing and Motor Skills

• Trouble with writing or copying; pencil grip is unusual; handwriting varies or is illegible.
• Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks; prone to motion-sickness.
• Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.

Math and Time Management

• Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.
• Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can't do it on paper.
• Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.
• Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra or higher math.

Memory and Cognition

• Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.
• Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not been experienced.
• Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words (little internal dialogue).

Behavior, Health, Development and Personality

• Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
• Can be class clown, trouble-maker, or too quiet.
• Had unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes).
• Prone to ear infections; sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.
• Can be an extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age.
• Unusually high or low tolerance for pain.
• Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection.
• Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress, or poor health.

The Root Cause

What makes the Davis Dyslexia Correction Program unique, special, and so effective is the understanding of the root cause of dyslexia and many other similar disorders. Ron Davis discovered that a natural function of the brain of a dyslexic is to disorient when confused. This disorientation when used in the 3 dimensional world helps resolve the confusion. When dealing with 2 dimensional work and encountering a symbol or other visual stimulus for which the dyslexic has no mental image for its meaning, he naturally disorients to resolve the confusion. Unlike the 3 dimensional world, which always renders a correct view of the object, disorientating in the 2 dimensional world just adds more confusion because spacial orientation often dictates object identification.

Symbols Verses Objects

There are three parts to a symbol; what it means (or stands for); what it looks like; and what it sounds like. Example: The word "saw" is a symbol for:

And means: a tool or device for cutting, typically a thin blade of metal with a series of sharp teeth.

When a physical saw (which is an object) is viewed from any angle it always is a , we just have a different perspective. However when the symbol "saw" is viewed from a different perspective the symbol makes no sense. Both the object and the symbol "saw" have been rotated together in the box. Notice that the object is recognizable, however the symbol "saw" is confusing.

Davis Dyslexia Correction

Ron then devised a set of mental tools which give the dyslexic the ability to detect and concisely control the disorientation. When the dyslexic is oriented then his perception of reality is accurate.  When he disorients as a result of confusion about a symbol, sound or concept he knows he is confused and must resolve the confusion to prevent a reoccurrence when encountering the stimulus in the future. Symbol Mastery is the tool to resolve the confusion. The client also obtains other tools allowing more rapid progress in his correction.