Dyslexia - what is it?
 Dyslexia explained
 Characteristics of Dyslexia

Dyslexia – what is it?

The Macquarie Dictionary defines dyslexia as 'an impairment in reading ability, often associated with other disorders especially in writing and co-ordination.'

The Oxford English Dictionary defines dyslexia as 'a disorder involving difficulty in learning to read words, letters and other symbols.'

Dyslexia explained

We use the term Dyslexia as an umbrella term for all of the following conditions or labels.

 Dyslexia - reading and spelling problems
 Dysgraphia - handwriting problems
 Dyscalculia - math problems
 Dyspraxia - balance and co-ordination problems
 ADD/ADHD - Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

According to program creator Ron Davis, picture thinking is the cause for all of the above learning difficulties, and is also the basis for success using the Davis methods to deal with all these terms.

Picture thinking is the human mind's primary thinking process. It is the thinking mode we all used until we learnt to speak. It is a faster and more detailed way of thinking, and therefore forms a foundation for excellence in various areas, when it remains the preferred mode of thinking. Because the ‘picture thinker’ needs any new learning to be built on their own experience in order to retain it, the result is often above average general knowledge.

Dyslexia varies greatly from individual to individual.  Problems with reading and spelling are the most common signs, but will usually be accompanied by other problems as well as special abilities. Dyslexics usually excel in some areas while being deficient in others. Most of these strengths and weaknesses originate from the same cause - disorientation.

Dysgraphia

This is a learning disability showing up as difficulty in writing and graphing. It generally refers to extremely poor handwriting.

People with dysgraphia may display the following signs:

	May exhibit strong verbal but particularly poor writing skills
	Random (or non-existent) punctuation
	Generally illegible writing, despite appropriate time and attention given the task
	Inconsistencies: mixtures of print and cursive, upper and lower case
	Irregular sizes, shapes or slant of letters
	Unfinished words or letters, omitted words
	Inconsistent position on page with respect to lines and margins and inconsistent spaces between words and letters
	Cramped or unusual grip, especially holding the writing instrument very close to the paper, or holding thumb over two fingers and writing from the wrist
	Talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing
	Slow or laboured copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible

Dyscalculia

Dyscalculia is when there are problems with maths - counting, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, not to mention more complex mathematical functions.

The following are some of the common characteristics of people with dyscalculia:

	Difficulty with the abstract concepts of time and direction.
	Difficulty with time management, schedules, and sequences of past or future events.
	Unable to keep track of time. May be chronically late.
	Inconsistent results in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
	Poor mental math ability.
	Poor with money and credit. May have fear of money and cash transactions.

When writing, reading and recalling numbers, these common mistakes are made:

	Number additions, substitutions, transpositions, omissions, and reversals.
	Inability to grasp and remember math concepts, rules, formulas, and sequence.
	Gets lost or disoriented easily. May have a poor sense of direction, lose things often, and seem absent minded.
	May have difficulty grasping concepts of formal music education.
	Difficulty remembering dance step sequences, rules for playing sports.
	Difficulty keeping score during games, or difficulty remembering how to keep score in games, like bowling, etc.

Solution: Davis Math MasterySM Program

Dyspraxia

A dyspraxic person has balance and co-ordination problems. They will show several of the symptoms below:

	Shows up as "clumsiness" caused by motor difficulties caused by perceptual problems, especially visual-motor and kinesthetic-motor difficulties
	Prone to accidents, may fall a lot, bump into furniture
	Poor hand-eye, foot-eye coordination
	Slow and poor at dressing, unable to tie shoelaces, do up buttons etc
	Speech and language difficulties
	Difficulty in holding a pen properly
	Poor writing and drawing abilities
	Reading and spelling difficulties
	Walk awkwardly
	Confused about which hand to use
	Difficulties throwing or catching a ball
	Poor short term memory, they often forget tasks learned the previous day
	Reading and writing difficulties
	Cannot hold a pen or pencil properly
	Cannot hop, skip or ride a bike
	Cannot answer simple questions even though they know the answers
	Speech problems, slow to learn to speak or speech may be incoherent

Solution: Davis Dyslexia Correction® Program

ADD/ADHD

People with ADD/ADHD display problems with hyperactivity, hypoactivity, inability to focus, difficulty staying on task, and inappropriate social behaviours.

ADHD usually persists through a person’s lifetime unless it is corrected – for example with the Davis methods.

Approximately one-half to two-thirds of children with ADD will continue to have significant problems with ADD symptoms and behaviours as adults, which impacts their lives on the job, within the family, and in social relationships.

The most common features include:

	Hyperactivity (excessive activity and physical restlessness)
	Distractibility (poor sustained attention to tasks)
	Impulsivity (impaired impulse control and delay of gratification)

In order to meet diagnostic criteria, these behaviours must be excessive, long term and pervasive. The behaviours must appear before the age 7, and continue for at least six months. A crucial consideration is that the behaviours must create a real handicap in at least two areas of a persons life, such as school, home, work or social settings.

These criteria set ADHD apart from the “normal” distractibility and impulsive behaviour of childhood, or the effects of the hectic and overstressed lifestyle prevalent in our society.

What is different about the drug free Davis approach to ADD/ADHD?

The Davis approach goes to the root causes of why some people have problems controlling their attention, energy level, and social interaction, and resolves them. 

These root causes are:

	They experience the passage of time inconsistently
	They think in images rather than in words
	They are highly imaginative
	They have little or no concept of self as separate from and/or in relation to others
	They have little or no concept of time, sequence, order, cause, effect, or consequence.

These characteristics are part of a unique thinking style shared by 15-20% of the population.  This thinking style is often associated with the labels, ADD or ADHD.

Characteristics of Dyslexia

 Picture thinking - it's a gift
 Disorientation
 Mis-reading exercise
 37 common characteristics
 Is it Dyslexia? Online assessment

Picture thinking - it's a gift

Discover your gift

Picture thinking can cause learning difficulties as well as giftedness.

This is the reason why so many dyslexics excel in art, sports, science and business.

Picture thinking

The principles of the approach stem from the premise that dyslexic difficulties are an intrinsic part of the dyslexic thinking style, which favours a visual or kinaesthetic, rather than a verbal style. Some thinkers may hear little or no ‘inner voice’, so that they may not make an automatic symbol/sound connection. Similarly, people may not punctuate by listening for pauses, as they are not hearing the words as they read: “When I am told to put a comma when I hear a pause for breath, I just see a person standing there holding their breath.” (Louise, learner)

If you were to close your eyes and imagine a tiger, you would not begin to create it from the tail and move to the haunches, then to the legs, shoulders, head, ears, nose, and add the stripes to figure out you have a tiger. You would see all the parts at once, and conclude "tiger." If most or all of your thinking is in pictures, you would become accustomed to figuring things out by looking at the whole object or situation at once.

Dyslexics are primarily picture thinkers. Rather than using self-talk (words, sentences, or internal dialogue), they specialise in mental or sensory imagery. This method of thinking is subliminal.

Most dyslexics are not aware that this is what they are doing. Since dyslexics think in pictures or imagery, they tend to use global logic and reasoning strategies. They look at the big picture to understand the world around them.

Dyslexics tend to excel in areas such as:

	strategizing
	creative endeavors
	hands-on activities
	solving real world objective problems

They tend to have difficulties in areas such as:

	word-based thinking
	sequential, linear, step-by-step reasoning

Thinking primarily with images, dyslexics also tend to develop very strong imaginations. They use a picture or feeling based reasoning process to solve problems rather than a verbal one. If they are at first confused (or intrigued), they will mentally move around an object and look at it from different viewpoints or angles. From this thought process, they develop many unique abilities and talents in areas such as:

	spatial awareness
	reading people
	strategic planning
	music/dancing
	engineering
	manual skills
	artistic ability
	building
	piloting vehicles
	designing
	mechanical arts
	drama/role playing
	athletic ability
	inventing
	story telling

This ability can also be the foundation for a problem. When disoriented, the individual will experience their own mental images as reality. Most people are able to experience a state of disorientation when looking at an optical illusion, or when exposed to misleading sensory stimuli, such as that created by virtual reality amusement rides. A dyslexic disorients on a daily basis as a reaction to confusion. Disorientation is what occurs when the dyslexic is using their natural problem solving skills. This natural mental response to any confusing sensory information manifests itself as the dyslexic learning style.

Dyslexics tend to have difficulty with unreal (two-dimensional) and symbolic objects, such as letters and numerals. In their effort to comprehend two-dimensional objects or symbols they may become disoriented. This manifests itself as the familiar symptoms of substitutions, reversals, transpositions or omissions in reading or writing letters, words and numerals. Disorientation is not limited to visual input. Many dyslexics commonly garble or mishear words or the sequence of words in sentences. Their internal sense of time can also become distorted and their motor coordination can appear delayed or clumsy.

This same thinking style is categorised under many different labels. Some of these include:

	Dyslexia
	Auditory processing disorder
	Visual processing disorder
	Reading disability
	Language-based learning disability
	Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
	Attention deficit disorder

Ron Davis, author of The Gift of Dyslexia, was himself a severely dyslexic adult. He figured out how to 'correct' his own dyslexia before he ever came up with any theories about dyslexia. Until the age of 38, he had always accepted the official diagnosis of the experts as "mentally retarded

Facilitators, world-wide, have now been trained in methods geared to this unique thinking and learning style; teaching their clients how to learn to read, write, and study efficiently.  They resolve the root of the disability associated with Dyslexia, ADD and ADHD, leaving the gifts intact.

Because dyslexics think in pictures, not with the sounds of words, they mainly have trouble with words that don't produce a mental picture. Ron Davis has identified 217 "trigger words." They are everyday words like "the," "of" and "for." During the program, students master these words by modeling their meanings and spellings in clay.

Harness your gift

In only five days you can harness your gift with the Davis methods to overcome your learning difficulties.

The Davis Dyslexia Correction® works for adults and children from the age of eight.

We talk about correcting learning difficulties, as there is in our view nothing to cure. By giving the individual a set of simple effective tools, their learning difficulties are overcome as is described in an Article in The Sunday Times in the year 2000, and another Article in the Times Education Supplement 2004.

Disorientation

Disorientation is the culprit behind Dyslexia.

People sometimes have a low threshold for confusion, especially when dealing with areas which their thinking style does not readily accommodate. As they encounter triggers, their confusion may mount almost imperceptibly, like waves, until it finally manifests itself as a form of sensory disturbance, known as moments of ‘Disorientation’, which throw the mind off-track.

The disturbance is often visual, causing those familiar features such as reading miscues, tracking difficulties or print instability. It may also be auditory (sounds may appear louder or quieter, nearer or further away) or affect balance and co-ordination (dizziness, poor balance, clumsiness).

Another effect can be the distortion of one’s sense of time (causing hyper- or hypo-activity or a sense of time speeding up or slowing down).

A natural talent that can be a liability at school.

Dyslexics and people labeled as ADD have the ability to disorient. Here are the eight primary attributes of what we call "picture thinking."

Disorientation is a natural phenomenon. You experience it when you get dizzy and things seem to move on their own. A common occurrence is when you're stopped behind another car and it rolls backward. You will sense that your car is moving forward when it's not. You may press on the brake before you think about honking the horn.

When reading, dyslexics become disoriented when they encounter trigger words. This undermines conceptual understanding, and may cause problems with attention focus because of distorted sound and vision, time sense, and balance and motion. Davis Orientation CounselingSM provides a solution.

Dyslexics spontaneously disorient to experience the world multi-dimensionally. They use disorientation to resolve confusion about real world objects and places by constructing a 3-dimensional mental model. This only makes things more confusing when looking at words printed on a page.

Disorientation is what causes symptoms of learning difficulties. The natural ability to experience disorientation can cause learning difficulties in those who primarily think in images.

Most people have experienced disorientation in one form or another. If you look at the image here, and perhaps experience dizziness, then you have disorientated.  Disorientation is a natural response from the brain, when input from two separate senses are conflicting; for example when your eyes tell you that you are moving, but your sense of balance and movement sense that you are still. This is the cause for motion sickness in cars or on boats.

Are the horizontal lines parallel or do they slope?

So how do we address these issues?

The reason these methods are so satisfying is that they work together collaboratively with the learner to discover and tackle the root causes of their own individual difficulties.

The methods are wide-ranging but will always contain containing two main elements:

	using a mental focusing technique to overcome the effects of disorientation
	detecting and tackling the learner’s own ‘triggers’

A mis-reading exercise

To get an idea of how dyslexics see the written word, try to read the paragraph below.

Now move your mouse cursor over the image! We hid all the "trigger words" that cause disorientation. To a dyslexic, they often seem to disappear from the page! (NOTE: if your browser is not javascript enabled, you will not be able to use the exercise above.)

Most dyslexics will exhibit about 10 of the following traits and behaviors.  These characteristics can vary from day-to-day or minute-to-minute.

General

	Appears bright, highly intelligent and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.
	Labeled lazy, dumb, careless, immature, ‘not trying hard enough’, or as having ‘behavior problems’.
	Isn’t behind enough or bad enough to be helped in the school setting.
	High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written.
	Feels dumb; has poor self-esteem; hides or covers up weaknesses with ingenious compensatory strategies; easily frustrated and emotional about school, reading or testing.
	Talented in art, drama, music, sports, mechanics, story telling, sales, business, designing, building, or engineering.
	Seems to ‘zone out’ or daydream often; gets lost easily or loses track of time.
	Difficulty sustaining attention; seems ‘hyper’ or ‘daydreamer’.
	Learns best through hands-on experience, demonstrations, experimentation, observation, and visual aids.

Vision, reading and spelling

	Complains of dizziness, headaches, or stomach aches while reading.
	Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.
	Reading or writing shows repetitions, additions, transpositions, omissions, substitutions, and reversals in letters, numbers and/or words.
	Complains of feeling or seeing non-existent movement while reading, writing, or copying.
	Seems to have difficulty with vision, yet eye exams don’t reveal a problem.
	Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lacks depth perception and peripheral vision.
	Reads and rereads with little comprehension.
	Spells phonetically and inconsistently.

Hearing and speech

	Has extended hearing; hears things not said or apparent to others; easily distracted by sounds.
	Difficulty putting thoughts into words; speaks in halting phrases; leaves sentences incomplete; stutters under stress; mispronounces long words, or transposes phrases, words, and syllables when speaking.

Writing and motor skills

	Trouble with writing or copying; pencil grip is unusual; handwriting varies or is illegible.
	Clumsy, uncoordinated, poor at ball or team sports; difficulties with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks; prone to motion-sickness.
	Can be ambidextrous, and often confuses left/right, over/under.

Math and time management

	Has difficulty telling time, managing time, learning sequenced information or tasks, or being on time.
	Computing math shows dependence on finger counting and other tricks; knows answers, but can’t do it on paper.
	Can count, but has difficulty counting objects and dealing with money.
	Can do arithmetic, but fails word problems; cannot grasp algebra or higher math.

Memory and cognition

	Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.
	Poor memory for sequences, and unexperienced facts and information.
	Thinks primarily with images and feeling, not sounds of words (little internal dialogue).

Behavior, health, development and personality

	Extremely disorderly or compulsively orderly.
	Can be class clown, troublemaker, or too quiet.
	Had unusually early or late developmental stages (talking, crawling, walking, tying shoes).
	Prone to ear infections; sensitive to foods, additives, and chemical products.
	Can be an extra deep or light sleeper; bedwetting beyond appropriate age.
	Unusually high or low tolerance for pain.
	Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection.
	Mistakes and symptoms increase dramatically with confusion, time pressure, emotional stress, or poor health.

* '37 Common Characteristics' is © 1994 by Ronald D. Davis. Reprinted with permission.

 Is it Dyslexia? Online assessment