Our journey to find the help to get our son out of Special Education.

My husband and I struggled for several years trying to help our youngest son who had been diagnosed with dyslexia in the third grade. We read about many "helps" and tried several approaches to give our son reading and writing skills appropriate to his intelligence level. I became involved with the orthodox methods promoted by several dyslexia organizations and spent several years being trained to teach dyslexic children. These methods generally make use of strong phonics and multi-sensory approaches, which proved to be "band aids" that only covered over but never corrected the cause of his problems. 

Frustration . . .

Our son was placed in "special-ed" classes where his self esteem plummeted and school lost any charm for him. He attended summer school in Seattle for two years at a special school for dyslexic children. During his fourth grade year he began an extensive program at a clinic dedicated to helping this type of child. Vision therapy, ADD bio-feedback, counseling sessions and individual tutoring were strongly emphasized. Still he struggled and was discouraged by having to be in special-ed classes where he never seemed to get the help he needed to be self-sufficient.

The Solution Found! . . .

During this time I tutored several dyslexic students but became discouraged to discover that gains in reading skills were often temporary, even though the students worked hard to master the techniques. I renewed my search for some method or technique which would help and discovered Dyslexia, the Gift  web page. I called the Davis Dyslexia Association and asked for more detailed information and ordered a copy of Ron Davis' book, The Gift of Dyslexia, and an audio tape set of the book. As my son was listening to one of the tapes he commented, "Mom, that's just how it is! Isn't it like that for you?" After some discussion he stated "Mom, I really want to go down there, I really want to do this."

Results . . . 

Jonathan and I traveled to San Francisco where he completed the Davis program. As he progressed day by day through the program it was evident that he was being empowered to control and utilize his "special gift". After returning to school his confidence increased and we removed him from special-ed classes. The following year he took advanced classes in math and science. In the last semester of 9th grade (1999) he earned a 3.06 grade point average while continuing to take accelerated courses. At last we had found the method that worked.

Enthusiasm . . .

Because I was so enthused by this change in my son I enrolled in the DDAI classes to become a facilitator of the Davis program. I have used this program with over 100 of my former and current clients, and  I am happy to report, with great success! This program really works! 

Renie