What is Dyslexia?

Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty which mainly affects the development of literacy and language related skills. It is likely to be present at birth and to be lifelong in its effects.It is characterised by difficulties with phonological processing, rapid naming, working memory, processing speed, and the automatic development of skills that may not match up to an individual’s other cognitive abilities.It tends to be resistant to conventional teaching methods, but its effects can be mitigated by appropriately specific intervention, including the application of information technology and supportive counselling. Difficulties and strengths:

Possible difficulties:

• Reading hesitantly.

• Misreading, making understanding difficult.

• Difficulty with sequences, e.g. getting dates in order.

• Poor organisation or time management.

• Difficulty organising thoughts clearly.

• Erratic spelling.

Possible strengths:

• Innovative thinkers.

• Excellent trouble shooters.

• Intuitive problem solving.

• Creative in many different ways.

• Lateral thinkers.

When was dyslexia first discovered?

Dyslexia is a term coined by Rudolf Berlin of Stuttgart, Germany, in 1887 to describe the inability to read.

The condition as we know it – an inability to learn to read occuring in an otherwise bright and developmentally normal child – was first described by Dr. Pringle Morgan in a paper on ‘Congenital Word Blindness’ which appeared in the British Medical Journal on November 7th 1896.

What is Word Blindness?

“Word blindness” is an old-fashioned term used to mean that a person is unable to recognize and understand words that he sees. This was the term used to describe dyslexia when it was first described by doctors about one hundred years ago. It is sometimes still used to describe the symptoms of a person who cannot remember the order and sequence of letters in a word from one time to the next.

That is, even after intensive study and drill, the student is unable to recognize the word.In our experience, this apparent severe dyslexia is caused by disorientation, which for dyslexic people means that they have an inaccurate perception of the words. That is, they might see the letters of the words jumbled around in all sorts of different ways. There is no way that a dyslexic person who suffers from this sort of disorientation can ever remember a word, because the word seems different every time they look at it.

Fortunately, we can can correct this problem of distorted perceptions quickly with Davis Orientation Counseling®. Once the student has a consistent perception of the letters and words, it is easier to remember the words when they are seen again. This method, together with Davis Symbol Mastery®, will enable dyslexic students to develop whole word recognition skills and increase their reading speed and comprehension.

What does a dyslexic person see when he or she reads?

There is no single pattern of difficulty that affects all dyslexic people. A dyslexic person might have any of the following problems:

• He or she might see some letters as backwards or upside down;

• He or she might see text appearing to jump around on a page;

• He or she might not be able to tell the difference between letters that look similar in shape such as |o| and |e| and |c|;

• He or she might not be able to tell the difference between letters that have similar shape but different orientation, such as |b| and |p| and |d| and |q|;

• The letters might look all jumbled up and out of order;

• The letters and words might look all bunched together;

• The letters of some words might appear completely backwards, such as the word “bird” looking like “drib“;

• The letters and words might look o.k., but the dyslexic person might get a severe headache or feel sick to her stomach every time he or she tries to read;

• He or she might see the letters o.k., but not be able to sound out words — that is, not be able to connect the letters to the sounds they make and understand them;

• He or she might be able to connect the letters and sound out words, but not recognize words he or she has seen before, no matter how many times he or she has seen them — each time he or she would have to start fresh;

• He or she might be able to read the words o.k. but not be able to make sense of or remember what he or she reads, so that he or she finds herself coming back to read the same passage over and over again.

A dyslexic person could have any of the above symptoms — or none. It is possible for a dyslexic person to be able to read very well, yet find it extremely difficult or impossible to write or spell. Sometimes the writing problem is called ‘dysgraphia’ instead of ‘dyslexia’ – but we find that often these symptoms stem from the same underlying causes as dyslexia.It is important to understand that when a dyslexic person sees letters or words reversed or mixed up, there is usually nothing wrong with his or her eyes. The problem is in the way the mind interprets what the eyes see — like an optical illusion, except this mismatch between what illusion and reality happens with ordinary print on a page.

Can someone have dyslexia without reading problems?

Ron Davis refers to dyslexia as a “self-created” condition. He does not mean that it is a person’s fault that they have dyslexia, but rather that the particular symptoms stem from an individual’s life experiences.

Many dyslexic people are, in fact, very good readers, but struggle tremendously with spelling or writing.It is also very possible for a person to have only mild symptoms of dyslexia, or to have severe symptoms but only experience them occasionally.

If these symptoms are significant enough to cause problems for the person — in school, the workplace, or other aspects of their lives – then it would be appropriate for the person to seek help to correct their problems.

Will my children inherit dyslexia from me?

Scientists believe that there is a genetic influence for dyslexia, but there is no way to predict whether a child of dyslexic parents will develop dyslexia or not.

Researchers who have studied identical twins with reading disabilities have found a little more than 50% correlation among the twins – that is, if one twin has a reading problem, the other twin will have a reading problem only about half the time. From this, they surmise that reading disabilities are about half due to heredity, and half due to other factors such as the individual’s environment, experiences, education, or upbringing.

Genes on at least eight different chromosomes have been identified as having some role or connection with dyslexia. None of these are implicated in all cases of dyslexia. Thus, whatever genetic influence exists does not come from a single cause, but from a combination of factors.

Will my child outgrow dyslexia?

“Dyslexia” is a word used to describe a pattern of thinking and learning that is characteristic of the dyslexic person. It will not be “outgrown.”

However, there is no standardized way to test for dyslexia, and testing often involves looking for specific academic weaknesses, such as difficulty performing phonetic tasks or reading. Many educators still view dyslexia only as a weakness or disability.

As a result they have not developed diagnostic tests that look for the talents and strengths that are typically also part of dyslexia. For that reason most educational testing for dyslexia is not really complete and may not be accurate. While dyslexic children do not merely ‘outgrow’ their early learning problems, many do overcome them. Thus, the specific symptoms or problems identified early in life may no longer exist in adulthood, and therefore would not be measurable.

A dyslexia adult who has learned to read well is still dyslexic – but has learned the skill that once was difficult for her. If she performs well on a reading test, some testers might conclude that she is not dyslexic, but this merely reflects the limitations of such testing. The person’s overall style of thinking and learning has probably not changed.

What is the Davis® Correction Programme?

The Davis® Correction Programme was developed in 1982 by Ronald Davis in order to overcome his own learning difficulties. Davis sees dyslexia as a ‘talent’, allowing those with this talent the ability to think multi–dimensionally and to alter or shift mental perceptions.

This explains why so many dyslexics are highly creative, intuitive people, who have vivid imaginations, which enable them to offer unusual solutions to many problems.

By undertaking a Davis® Correction Programme, individuals are able to discover their innate gift and how to apply it to their learning difficulty. In this way the blockages to effective learning are removed. Clients are shown how to clear up confusions regarding letters, numbers, words and language symbols using multi–sensory techniques.