The Dyslexic Reader 2010

THE DYSLEXIC READERPAGE 1

Dys lex ic Read er

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VOLUME 54IN THIS ISSUE

ISSUE 1 • 2010

DAVIS DYSLEXIA ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

T

he

Justin Carson was just nine years old when

he ew to Arizona for a Davis Programwith Davis Facilitator, Dr. Edie Fritz. Justin’s Davis experience not only changed his life, but also ultimately led his mother, Kim Carson, to become a Davis Facilitator and Davis Learning Strategies Mentor and Presenter. Today Justin is a high school senior in Brookings, North Dakota.

A Davis “Graduate” Answers a BIG Question

He’s applying for college scholarships,hoping to major in Sports Marketing.Many scholarship applications require students to write extensively about their experiences so far in life, and Justin wasasked to answer a major question: “What is the most signicant challenge that youhave achieved?” Just seventeen years old when he composed his answer in the spring of 2009, I think you’ll agree withme that he’s writtenan articulate and insightful answer.Congratulations and good luck, Justin!

Simply stated,

my most signicantchallenge in life was learning how to readand write independently. My journeylearning how to read and write is morechallenging than it is for most becauseI am a diagnosed dyslexic learner. Thatmeans that I think predominately inthree-dimensions, but all our wordsand letters are two-dimensional. Thetransition from thought to written wordwas nearly impossible for me as an

(continued on page 3)(continued on page 3)

Justin’s Senior Picture

News & Feature Articles

Opening the Gift ....................................4Questions Teachers Ask .......................5-7Labelled “Learning Disabled” .............7, 19Creativity ...........................................8-10Lazy Readers’ Book Club ..................14-15Book Reviews .................................16-17Creatividad .....................................20-22

Regular Features

In the Mail ..............................................2Famous Dyslexics ..................................18Q&A ................................................11-13New Davis Licensees .......................23, 24Davis Workshops .............................26, 27

By Justin Carson

Timmy Subdues aCloud o Letters

By Lesa Hall, Davis Facilitator Pooler, Georgia

Timmy Thornburg is a nine-year-old third grader. His parents broughthim in for a Davis Perceptual AbilityAssessment because he was havingtrouble with reading. One of the thingsTimmy told me during his assessmentwas that when he built things with Legoshe knew just what to do with the pieces, but when it came to letters, he was at a

Timmy Thornburg, Cloud Master!

elementary student. As a third grader,I struggled immensely to read rst gradelevel books. Also, I was unable to writea complete sentence on my own.Back in third grade, my parents gaveme the opportunity to seek help throughthe

Davis Dyslexia Correction Program

.My parents only showed me the door, but I made thedecision to walk through it. Ispent one week working with aDavis Facilitator,who providedme with learningtools. Althoughthe program lastedone week, the work has continued for each one of my school years. I feel thiswas the start of building my very strongwork ethic, which has extended into myinvolvement in my school, community,and church activities.I can think of so many goals thatI never thought I would be able toaccomplish. Starting with when I was

“”

My parents only showed me the door, but I made the decisionto walk through it.

THE DYSLEXIC READER

PAGE 2

In The Mail

A Mother’s Lament

Dear Editor:I just wanted to say that I’ve come tohate the phrase “standardized test”. Myson has failed every standardized test he’staken, because he’s an “out of the box”thinker.Public school teachers also told me myson didn’t pay attention and was “just notcatching on” in class. They asked me tohave him tested for ADD. So I took himto the doctor. At that appointment, thedoctor asked what my son was interestedin. I said, “Human anatomy.” He lookedat me strangely, because my son is only 6.He then started to talk to my son about thecardiovascular system....Forty-ve minutes later, after answering my son’s questions, the doctor said, “There is nothing wrong with your son. Either he is not interested in what theteacher is teaching or the teacher is notanswering his questions.”I relayed this to my son’s teacher.Her response was, “ Yes, he seems toask “LOTS” of questions!” I was leftwondering, why is that a problem? Isn’tthat one way a child learns?According to last year’s report card,my son is two years behind his fellowclassmates. I’ve chosen to home schoolhim this year and I am shocked todiscover that he’s denitely not belowgrade level. I know he is working atgrade level, as that is what I teach.

A Frustrated Mom

The Dyslexic Reader

is published quarterly by Davis Dyslexia Association International (DDAI)1601 Bayshore Hwy., Suite 260, Burlingame, CA 94010 USA. Tel. +1 (650) 692-7141.

OUR GOALS

are to increase worldwide awareness about the positive aspects o dyslexia and related learning styles;and to present methods or improving literacy, education and academic success. We believe that all people’s abilitiesand talents should be recognized and valued, and that learning problems can be corrected.

EDITORIAL BOARD:

Laura Zink de Díaz, Alice Davis & Abigail Marshall.

DESIGN:

Michael Troller.

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

one year $25 in US, add $5 in Canada; add $10 elsewhere.

BACK ISSUES:

send $8.00 to DDAI.

SUBMISSIONS & LETTERS:

We welcome letters, comments and articles. Mail to DDAI at the above address.

VIA FAX:

+1 (650) 692-7075

VIA E-MAIL:

editor@dyslexia.com

INTERNET:

www.dyslexia.comThe opinions and views expressed in articles and letters are not necessarily those o DDAI. Davis

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, Dyslexia Correction

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, Davis Symbol Mastery

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,Davis Orientation Counseling

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, Davis Math Mastery

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, Davis Autism Approach

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, Seed o Genius

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, and Davis Learning Strategies

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The Fourth Meal

Dear Ronald D. Davis:My son did a Davis Program lastSeptember with Laura Zink de Díaz inBogotá, Colombia. I want to tell you thatthe Davis Program has helped my sona lot! I have to confess, I was skepticalat rst, but all through September andOctober, the results were marvelous.When he brought home his next progressreport, I was delighted with his grades.The head teacher said, “What did they doto your boy in Bogotá? Because he’s come back changed. Now he’s so condent andsure of himself, very enthusiastic, and he participates so much in class.“ His gradeshave dramatically improved. The onlysubject in which he didn’t reach some of the standards was math.Later, at the second semester, I thought,“Oh, heavens, I’m not going to see suchgood grades this time!” That’s because myson got involved in a theatrical productionat church. He played two roles, and hadto learn to perform some dances. Theyrehearsed for two months, and he had notime for homework or to prepare for theend of term exams. He’d get home fromschool and have to rehearse for two hoursevery night, even on Saturdays. As aresult he was just too tired to do any of his Davis exercises.But I have to tell you that he surprisedme: he managed to maintain his gradesand the only subject in which he failed tomeet all the standards was English. Andhe recognizes that happened because heand his friends fooled around too much inthat class.Soon he’ll be going back to schoolafter Christmas break, and we’ve starteddoing Symbol Mastery and all the rest of his follow up exercises again. We’re bothsure that this coming term he’ll get even better grades than ever, because we’re both very focused on moving ahead withhis home program.Thank you and Laura so much for thisamazing Davis Method! The results areso wonderful, especially the condencethat it gives people with dyslexia. I’m surethat the results would be even better if we parents were more disciplined about thefollow up work, which I think of as our “fourth meal” of each day.

ESN, Colombia, South America

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THE DYSLEXIC READERPAGE 3

good score, but I couldn’t ask for anything better. I achieved this withoutthe help of any accommodations. I look younger, I wanted to read Harry Potter.But knew I never would. After my program, I started to read these booksand nished each one before its movierelease. More recently, I’ve beennamed a Varsity Athlete Scholar, a goalachieved by maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or higher during the corresponding season.I never dreamed of receiving even oneof these awards in my entire high schoolcareer. This year, I earned three.Earning a 21 on the ACT collegeentrance exams may not seem like a

A Davis Graduate (continued from page 1) A Cloud of Letters (continued from page 1)

loss. It seemed to him that letters were“like a cloud spilling over my head.”“When I see a letter, like “F”,” hetold me, “Instead of seeing it as a letter,I see what I can make it into.” Quicklysketching a drawing, he showed me howhe can make an “F” turn into a forklift.Timmy could do this with any and everyletter of the alphabet!Sometimes when Timmy wasreading, his forehead would get hot.And sometimes he’d even start to sweat.It’s just not fun to read under thosecircumstances! So Timmy decided to doa Davis Program in late October of 2009.During the program, just after we hadnished Symbol Mastery of the word “a,”Timmy asked me if there were any wordsthat didn’t have letters. I said, “Look atthe model you just made. Words havethree parts: what they look like, whatthey sound like, and what they mean.”We discussed this quite a bit, and Timmyshowed me how his model depicted allthree parts. It was an “aha moment” for him to realize that every single word inour language is made up of those three parts.Timmy’s parents, Ceciel and JimmyThornburg, were present during the entireweek of his Davis program. Timmywanted them there, and it was a greatexperience for all of us. His father saysit was a gift for him to be present andwatch as Timmy progressed through theDavis Program. He feels it allowed himto understand how his son’s mind works.At the end of his Program I askedTimmy what changes he’d noticed abouthimself that week. Timmy’s head hadn’tgotten hot all week, and he felt he waslearning to read. I asked him if that“cloud of letters” was gone. “Oh, yes!”So I asked him to draw me before andafter pictures. Here they are:

“”

It’s like Timmy has a whole new lease on life.

“”

After my program,I started to read theHarry Potter books

and fnished each

one before its movierelease.

Mr. Thornburg was in the roomlistening to this and when Timmynished drawing, he looked at the pictures and said, “Well, that tells methat everything is in order now!”Timmy’s mother tells me that on hisrst day back at school after his program,his teachers commented, “It’s like Timmyhas a whole new lease on life.” YesterdayI spoke with Timmy on the phone andhere’s what he had to say:“Before the program I didn’t knowa whole lot about reading. I enjoyedreading but I didn’t

like

it. After the program I like reading; and science andhistory are easier now. I’m having awhole bunch of fun at school now andI’m reading faster. At school I’m totallyon my gray dot.”

Congratulations, Timmy,Master of the Cloud!

v

The cloud

before

Timmy’s Davis ProgramThe cloud

after

Timmy nished his program

at how much I’ve struggled in schooland I’m very proud of my score.Finally, the biggest surprise is beinga Boys State Delegate. Boys State isa summer leadership and citizenship program sponsored by The AmericanLegion. I never dreamed I would receivean invitation to apply for Boys State.I am so glad to have this opportunityto strengthen my future with this honor.But I am not anywhere near nishingmy goals. I only see this as just the beginning to the rest of my life.

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