WHAT IS DYSLEXIA?

Uncovering the mysteries of Dyslexia – Montefiore Hospital Community Chats presentation with Suzanne Buchauer helps us understand the dyslexic mind.  This is a summary of the book “The Gift of Dyslexia” by Ronald D Davis.

Dyslexics are intelligent people who experience challenges with some or all of the following: reading, writing, spelling and math, coordination and balance, handwriting and more.  It is important to note that Dyslexia is not limited to literacy issues. It can affect a range of areas, including: motor skills, organisation, focus, time and processing difficulties. Because the root cause of dyslexia is not understood, individuals are often treated as though they are being deliberately ‘difficult’ and uncooperative or lazy.

Dyslexia is an alternative way of thinking. Dyslexics think predominantly with pictures as opposed to the sounds of words. The difficulty is with two-dimensional symbols such as letters of the alphabet, numerals, musical notes and with the high frequency words such as ; the, and, is, it, etc. These symbols can cause the picture thinker to feel confused.

Try this: imagine an elephant, a house, a stack of books, a pencil or your cat.  Imagine;  ‘the’ , what do you see? A picture or a word – or nothing. When there isn’t a picture for a word, such as ‘the’ this is the moment the confusion starts for a picture thinker. They will become more confused and become disoriented, when this picture thinking process does not work. Being disoriented causes the brain to no longer receive accurate messages.

The resulting sense of frustration and negative emotional reactions leads to low self esteem and coping and covering up solutions i.e class clown, day dreaming, dependence on others etc.

To give you an example of what it feels like to be dyslexic – imagine sitting in your car, stopped at the lights. The car next to you moves forward and you put your foot on the brake – because you think you are moving. At that moment your brain is not receiving an accurate message about what is happening around you. You are experiencing the feeling of dyslexia.

There is a tremendous amount of shame, embarrassment and humiliation attached to not being able to read and write fluently. It is a picture thinkers worst nightmare to be caught out and exposed in the workforce, school or within the family circle.

Why is Dyslexia a Gift?

Dyslexic people are visual, multi-dimensional thinkers. They are intuitive and highly creative, and excel at hands-on learning. Because they think in pictures, it is sometimes hard for them to understand letters, numbers, symbols, and written words.

They can learn to read, write and study efficiently when they use methods geared to their unique learning style.

What is Davis Dyslexia Correction?

Davis Dyslexia Correction® provides tools to overcome problems with reading, writing, and attention focus. These methods enable children and adults to recognize and control the mental processes that cause distorted perceptions of letters and words and other symbols. Once students can be sure that their perceptions are accurate, they can resolve the underlying cause of their learning difficulties through methods that build upon their creative and imaginative strengths.

The Davis approach is not based on tutoring, drill, or repetition, but actually resolves the root causes of problems experienced by individuals with language-based learning difficulties. The Davis program is explained in detail in the book, The Gift of Dyslexia.

Copyright Davis Dyslexia Association International – Used with permission.  www.dyslexia.com