The Gift of Dyslexia: Information and Synopsis

Why Some of the Smartest People Can't Read and How They Can Learn.

By Ronald D. Davis with Eldon M.Braun.
(Perigee Books, Revised and Expanded Edition, 2010)

This breakthrough book changed the face of how dyslexia is viewed - and how it is remedied - worldwide. The new revised and expanded edition contains added information to help with the mental techniques for orientation and attention focus that are the hallmark of the Davis program.

Synopsis of The Gift of Dyslexia.

Part One: What Dyslexia Really Is

Each case of dyslexia is unique because it results from a combination of an underlying talent, or predisposition, and from environmental influences and unsuccessful learning experiences. As a result, no two dyslexics will have exactly the same set of symptoms.

Ron Davis describes dyslexia as "The Mother of Learning Disabilities." He explains why many other conditions have the same root cause as dyslexia. These include Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD), Autism, Dyscalculia/Acalculia, Dysgraphia/Agraphia, and Hyperactivity.

Part Two: A Developmental Theory of Dyslexia

Ron Davis shows how the learning disability of dyslexia is caused by the successful use of visual thinking skills at an early age. This "gift" works well for recognizing real life objects, but not printed symbols such as alphabet letters and words. Disorientation is turned on by confusion, so the stress and invalidation typically encountered during the early school years compound the problem. Mental tricks are adopted to give the appearance of learning. Loss of self-esteem causes many dyslexics to adopt ingenious methods to hide their learning disability.

Part Three: The Gift

Ron Davis explains that multi-dimensional thinking (using all the senses) takes place much faster than verbal thinking. Dyslexics also tend to be more curious, creative, and intuitive than average. They tend to be highly aware of the environment, inventive, and good at real world tasks. Their special mode of thought also produces the gift of mastery: once they have learned something experientially, they understand it on such a deep level that they know how to do things intuitively without thinking about how.

Part Four: Doing Something About It

• Davis Orientation Counseling: The first step of the Davis program is learning to turn off disorientation to focus the perceptions. The book details two alternative, easily learned mental exercises that allow dyslexics to overcome distorted perceptions and accurately recognize printed symbols method.
• Davis Symbol Mastery: Davis offers a stress-free way for dyslexics to learn the basics of written language. Students model symbols and word concepts in clay--a multi-sensory process that enables them to exercise their creativity.
• Davis Reading Exercises: Three simple reading exercise for daily practice that will improve reading fluency, and establish robust visual word recognition and passage.

Holiday reading = New Inquiry

Having recently discovered my eldest daughter has mild dyslexic tendencies, along with numerous students I teach, I decided to purchase this brilliant book so I could find out how I could better support dyslexic learners.

Upon starting this book, I was instantly empowered.  What an inspirational read!  I highly recommend it to all educators.

The biggest thing I took out of this book was just how lucky dyslexic learners can be.  While they may struggle with day to day reading or writing tasks etc, the unbelievable talents and abilities that they can possess makes them very lucky. Dyslexia shouldn't be thought of as a learning disability, but rather 'a different approach to learning'.  It is now my job to do the best I can to ensure I help these students overcome the barriers dyslexia can create for their learning within a conventional classroom.  To do this I need to adapt my teaching and try new approaches for delivering my lessons, so I can cater for 'ALL learners' in order to help them all unlock their talents.  This will also form my new inquiry for 2016.

Below is an exert from the book to get you started.

Chapter One.

Usually when people hear the word dyslexia they think only of reading, writing, spelling, and math problems a child is having in school. Some associate it only with word and letter reversals, some only with slow learners. Almost everyone considers it some form of a learning disability, but the learning disability is only one face of dyslexia.

Once as a guest on a television show, I was asked about the "positive" side of dyslexia. As part of my answer, I listed a dozen or so famous dyslexics. The hostess of the show then commented, "Isn't it amazing that all those people could be geniuses in spite of having dyslexia."

She missed the point. Their genius didn't occur in spite of their dyslexia, but because of it!

Having dyslexia won't make every dyslexic a genius, but it is good for the self-esteem of all dyslexics to know their minds work in exactly the same way as the minds of great geniuses. It is also important for them to know that having a problem with reading, writing, spelling, or math doesn't mean they are dumb or stupid. The same mental function that produces a genius can also produce those problems.

The mental function that causes dyslexia is a gift in the truest sense of the word: a natural ability, a talent. It is something special that enhances the individual.

Dyslexics don't all develop the same gifts, but they do have certain mental functions in common. Here are the basic abilities all dyslexics share:

1. They can utilize the brain's ability to alter and create perceptions (the primary ability).
2. They are highly aware of the environment.
3. They are more curious than average.
4. They think mainly in pictures instead of words.
5. They are highly intuitive and insightful.
6. They think and perceive multi-dimensionally (using all the senses).
7. They can experience thought as reality.
8. They have vivid imaginations.

These eight basic abilities, if not suppressed, invalidated or destroyed by parents or the educational process, will result in two characteristics: higher than normal intelligence, and extraordinary creative abilities. From these the true gift of dyslexia can emerge -- the gift of mastery.

The gift of mastery develops in many ways and in many areas. For Albert Einstein it was physics; for Walt Disney, it was art; for Greg Louganis, it was athletic prowess.

Paradigm Shift

To change our perspective of dyslexia from disability to gift, we must start with a clear, accurate understanding of what dyslexia really is, and what causes it. Doing this will bring out the positive as well as the negative aspects of the situation and allow us to see how dyslexia develops. Then the idea of correcting it won't seem far-fetched. Going a step beyond correcting the problem, we can also recognize and explore this condition as the gift it truly is.

Before a dyslexic person can fully realize and appreciate the positive side of dyslexia, the negative side should be addressed. That doesn't mean the positive side will not surface until the problems are solved. The gift is always there, even if it isn't recognized for what it is. In fact, many adult dyslexics use the positive side of dyslexia in their life work without realizing it. They just think they have a knack for doing something, without realizing their special talent comes from the same mental functions that prevent them from being able to read, write or spell very well.

The most common disabilities of dyslexia occur in reading, writing, spelling, or math; but there are many others. Each case of dyslexia is different, because dyslexia is an unintentionally self-created condition. No two dyslexics have created it exactly the same.

In order to understand the gift of dyslexia, we need to view the learning disability known as dyslexia from a different angle.

Dyslexia is the result of a perceptual talent. In some situations, the talent becomes a liability. The individual doesn't realize this is happening because use of the talent has become compulsive. It began very early in life and by now seems as natural as breathing.

Classroom environment 2016

When I met my new class at the end of 2015, we made plans for what our class should look like.  After lots of excitement from the students, their three requests were:

• Fun 
• Bright
• 3D

After many hours creating, this is my new Year 6 classroom for 2016.  

The feedback from both parents and the students has been phenomenal.  The only regret I have, is not videoing the reactions of the students as they entered the classroom on day 1.

The buzz in our classroom is absolutely fantastic.  I couldn't have asked for a better start to the new year.  Now that we are already into week 3, many new displays of student work has been added, as well as a change around of furniture because of the lack of space once the students were inside.  This afternoon, the kids and I rearranged the furniture so that we could move around the class a bit easier.

Student feedback on writing and mixed ability groups

Last week I asked my class to give me feedback on the recent changes to our writing programme.  Many students chose to add their thoughts to the PMI charts below.

Changes to the way we do writing.

After having run an accelerated literacy learning (ALL) group this year, I decided to transfer many of the successes into the rest of my writing groups.

Changes made to our writing programme included:

• No follow-up rotation.  (This was a rotation that involved the student independently continuing with their piece of writing that they had been co-constructing with the teacher).  The reason for removing this rotation, is because I found that what could have been a great, high level example a piece of writing, would often end up off-track or have irrelevant information etc, making it loose the high quality of what was started.  In order to develop student's writing, students are now asked to take what they have been working on with the teacher, and transfer this into their independent writing.  This means they independently practise and apply the newly taught skill, as well as keeping the co-constructed example piece of writing in tact and at a quality level.
• No pencil.  Many students would spend a lot of time rubbing out and correcting mistakes, and as a result it made it difficult to see the changes made and their thought process.  Now students only write in pen.  This allows me to see how much work has been done - because half of it hasn't been rubbed out, and more importantly, I can see the development in the student's thinking.
• Mixed ability writing groups.  My writing groups were always set according to ability, however after trailing mixed ability groups for over a term now, I believe this is a great way of arranging students for writing.  I gave my student's a PMI chart too, to gauge their thoughts on mixed ability groups.  It was amazing to note that the 23/26 students preferred working in a mixed ability group.  The key reasons for this included: *All students have different strengths so they can learn from them; *Love not having a top or bottom group - even more importantly, struggling learners loved not being in a bottom group for everything.
• Publishing rotation: A new rotation is publishing.  Giving students an opportunity to present their crafted piece of writing, and see it nicely presented in a range of different ways, has motivated students to create more quality pieces of work because their writing will be shared with an audience.  It also gives their writing a purpose.
• Highlighters used for editing and proofreading: Students swap their writing with a buddy.  The buddy then uses a highlighter to identify changes needed.  The students have really enjoyed using highlighters for this and it has shown some improvement in the corrections made.
• Purpose to writing focus: Planning writing units now focuses on ensuring students have a purpose for writing and an authentic context.  Examples of recent units include creating a newspaper, and publishing and illustrating their own narrative picture book.

Mixed ability writing groups

At the end of last term I changed my writing groups from streamed ability to mixed ability.  After having the opportunity to reflect on how it was going, I am pleased to say my changes were the right changes to make for my class.

Writing time in Room 2 has a positive 'buzz' about it.  Students are all willingly sharing their ideas, thoughts, feedback etc with one another, irrespective of whether they are boys or girls, friends or someone they haven't really worked with before.  I have noticed a big improvement in both the quality and volume of work that students are writing. 

At present, students are confidently helping one another and offering feedback on ways to improve writing.  Students who have tended to find writing difficult, are also asking a lot more questions and seeking advice from peers, using the writing tools from within the classroom.  As the teacher I am not being interrupted while i'm working with a writing group, as the students are able to seek help and advice for more able writers.

The more able writers have also grown in confidence and maturity as they relish in their supportive roles which also helps them to reinforce their writing process.

The next step or me is to now get student feedback and see what their thoughts are about working in mixed ability groups.

Self review report

This year I have undertaken two self review reports via Interlead Appraisal Connector.

In March this year I completed the review of myself, and in September I completed another self review, but this time, my team leader also completed the review on me.

Below is the statement from Appraisal Connector about the reasons for a self review:

Guiding Concepts

In developing this self-review we have endeavoured to create a set of items that address the key challenges of a teaching professional's work; that can operate within guidelines established by the New Zealand Ministry of Education; that are applicable to the school environment; and which are firmly based on established conceptual frameworks (ways

of thinking about a topic). I have attached the full reports of my reflections from both March and September 2015.  Both reports show my own judgements of myself as a teacher.  They also indicate my self chosen areas of development.  The September report also shows my team leaders judgements.  I found this report very gratifying about myself as a teaching professional.  It was wonderful to see that my team leader and I were often on the same wave length and placed my teaching practice at the same level.  Where there were differences - my team leader placed me higher than I had.

Appraisal Connector Report March 2015

Appraisal Connector Report September 2015