The Davis Dyslexia Correction® program was first developed some thirty years ago by Ronald D. Davis, himself a gifted dyslexic. To hear more about Ron Davis, you can watch his fascinating story below or listen to a recording of an interview with Ron — or both!
Ron Davis found that he, and all dyslexics, see the world differently to everyone else. They are able to automatically visualise three dimensional objects from different perspectives, and think in whole and often detailed pictures, rather than with words or internal dialogue. This means they can think very quickly, problem solve and strategise. Their thinking is often innovative and creative; they ‘think outside the square’ and ‘see the big picture’ – the whole. This can give them a great advantage in many fields. There are many who have used their unique abilities to become successful in their particular careers.
You can see some of these people on the Famous Dyslexics page.
But with these wonderful talents comes difficulty seeing simple two dimensional objects, such as letters and numerals, accurately. When a three dimensional object is seen from different angles, it remains the same. For example, an elephant is still an elephant, no matter which way you look at it.
But two dimensional symbols change when they are viewed upside down or from the other side.
Elephant
Elephant
Elephant
phetElan
And so the learning and processing challenges develop.
As gifted visual spatial learners, dyslexics approach reading quite differently. They tend to visualise what they are reading; some even describe it as watching a movie playing in their head.
You may have watched your dyslexic child (or a teen/adult) frequently stumble over small ‘simple’ words when reading. They may even have become so frustrated that they threw the book away!
Ron Davis found this is because dyslexics can’t visualise many of these ‘sight’ words – they have no associated picture, which means they have no or an incorrect meaning. Many of these are the first words children are taught when they start school.
For example, what picture goes with these words?
theandon
The answer is, none. As a picture thinker, a dyslexic will often struggle to read such words, guess, or make mistakes. Without the picture, they have no meaning for him/her, so they often have to re-read in order to remember or understand what they’ve read.
This can make reading a very slow and difficult process, and quite simply, hard work. This applies to teens and adults as well as children. While adults or teens may ‘know’ them, the blank picture and the confusion remain, although they may not be aware of it.
When a dyslexic person is confused, or wants to understand something, they automatically disorientate and ‘look at’ the thing that is confusing them from a different perspective. That learnt skill worked beautifully for them when they were very young, beginning to understand their world and the names of everything – particularly the special people, around them. So, surely it should work with these new things they have to learn – these letters and words. But as two dimensional symbols change when you look at them from a different point of view, this only starts a downward spiral of confusion. For example, when a dyslexic reads the following sentence, there are blanks. Missing information.
They work hard to fill in the blanks. As their concentration increases, so does their confusion, leading to disorientation and all meaning is lost. They may feel sick, dizzy, have a headache, or just be plain miserable and give up. Their frustration levels are definitely high and self esteem sinks lower.
Even many adults with more difficult texts than this, will re-read to gain meaning, or read very slowly with little understanding. And that in itself is a mystery!
Such things as reading aloud, writing or written assignments, tiredness, hunger, and time or emotional pressure can also trigger disorientation.
This is where Davis℠ can help. A number of different programs have been developed over the years to best suit various people who present with particular weakness as well as their associated talents and gifts.
Davis Programs
Davis Attention Mastery℠ (for ADD/HD)
Davis Reading Program for Young Learners