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VOL. 40 DOUBLE ISSUE
DavisDyslexiaAssociationInternational
ISSUE3&4 • 2005
DyslexicReader
´´
The
 
News & Feature Articles
ReadOn Interactive Software . . . . . . . .1Waking Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Strategies for Spelling . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Good Spelling Days and Bad . . . . . . . .4Do Davis Methods Address Spelling? 5TPR Language Instruction . . . . . . . . . .6Famous Dyslexics Remember . . . . . . .11Testing Out of Special Ed . . . . . . . . . .15You Want Me to Write a What? . . . . .16The Best of Both Worlds . . . . . . . . . .17UC and the SAT Exam . . . . . . . . . . . .18Davis Launched in Kenya . . . . . . . . . .20Gerda Berakos-Jeger:In Memoriam .21Russian Gift of Dyslexia Released . . .23Dream Test for Picture Thinkers . . . . .25
Regular Features
In the Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Book/Software Reviews . . . . . . . .12-13Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9New Facilitators . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26-29Davis Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . .30-31
In This Double Issue
(Cont’d on p. 10)(Cont’d on p. 14)
Announcing ReadOnInteractive Software!
inspired by the Davis Dyslexia CorrectionProgram and Davis Learning Strategies
ReadOn is a comprehensive learningtool designed to assist people
of all
agesto learn to read, or overcome reading problems associated with dyslexia.Unlike other software packages thatare purely assistive in nature, ReadOnincorporates specific learning strategiesto help people
become independentand fluent readers
. Reading is a complex process andwhen this process is not mastered,students will struggle to become independent readers. Regardless of reading level, ReadOn allows the student to experience reading with
minimal supervision and support
.Mistakes can be made and risks takenresulting in
an increased willingnessto read, as well as improved readingability
and a
boost in self esteem
. The developers of the softwareare Jane and Phil Mangano who livein West Australia. The initial inspirationfor ReadOn was to motivate and assisttheir daughter after she completed aDavis Dyslexia Correction
®
Programwith Heidi Rose in Adelaide. Their 
Waking Up: The Origin of Concept Mastery
by Ronald D. Davis
At the age of twelve, I was waking up.I was coming alive in a world that wasfull of chaos and pain. I have no actualmemories of being a Kanner’s baby— of being autistic. I have a sense of it but no actual memories. My sense of itis – as if it were a void. Avoid that is both everything and nothing at the sametime. Mostly, the void is a feelingthatis not describable with words other thanto say it is the feeling of love—pure,unconditional love.The world I was coming alive in was a terrible place; it was full of chaos and pain. Chaos was everywhere
The Concept of Change: somethingbecoming somethingelse. The balloon full of air becomes empty.
 
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The Dyslexic Reader 
is published quarterly by Davis Dyslexia Association International (DDAI),1601 Bayshore Hwy.,Suite 245,Burlingame,CA 94010 USA.Tel.+1(650) 692-7141.
OUR GOALS
are to increase worldwide awareness about the positive aspects of dyslexia and related learning styles;and to present methods for 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:
AliceDavis,Abigail Marshall,Maria Fagioli & Dee White.
 DESIGN:
Gideon Kramer.
 SUBSCRIPTIONS:
one year $25 in US,add $5 in Canada;add $10 elsewhere.
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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 of DDAI.Davis Dyslexia Correction
®
,Davis Symbol Mastery
®
,DavisOrientation Counseling
®
,and Davis Learning Strategies
®
are registered trademarks of Ronald D.Davis.Copyright © 2004 by DDAI,unless otherwise noted.All rights reserved.
I’m a mother of a smart and beautiful10 years old daughter, Nadia, whowas diagnosed as dyslexic a year ago.We both have worked hard and have passed a long way trying to overcomethe difficulties, but... I’m alone withmy efforts to help my daughter. Her teacher doesn’t want to hear myexplanations, and isn’t cooperative atall. And in addition there aren’t anyqualificated specialist on dyslexia inthe town we live, and I doubt thereare many of them in our country. We live in a small, poor,although very beautiful country inEastern Europe, called Bulgaria. Ifound a specialist in Sophia (the capitalof our country). She has spent amonth or so in Paris, specializing onworking with dyslexic kids. So I wentwith my daughter to Sophia to meetwith her, she worked with my daughter for 5 days, for 2 hours a day. It wasreally helpful, but far not enough.But, as you could guess, I can’t travelto Sophia very often, because I’m aworking mum, a widow, and have onemore child—an 8-year old son. Afriend of mine advised me toget to your site, and to check your learning program. I was
very
interestedin it, but I don’t know how could Ilearn more about the techniques andmethods which will help me to helpmy kid. I did some searching, but
Copyright 2001 Randy Glasbergen. www.glasbergen.com
Dear DDAI:
In the Mail: Letters from Bulgaria
what I saw was that there is no of your facilitators around here. May you evendon’t know that almost nobody in mycountry have never heard aboutdyslexia?Doctors, teachers,  psychiatrists—very few of them haveheard the word “dyslexia” and almostnone of them know what is it like. I’m a teacher myself, and to behonest I hadn’t known about dyslexia,up to the time when by chance I foundmy daughter is dyslexic. I work with10-18 year old students, and see signsof dyslexia in many of them, but neither their parents, nor their teachers in earlyclasses paid attention to their learningdifficulties. I would like to help themall, because I understand that they
The oppositeof a correctstatement is a
false statement.But theopposite of a profound truth may well be anotherprofound truth. —Niels Bohr,physicist (1885-1962)
(Cont’d on p. 22)
 
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 About the author:
 Abigail Marshall has beenthe manager of www.dyslexia.com website and moderator of the Dyslexiatalk.com forum since 1985.She is the mother of a son with dyslexia, now age 22. She has a B.S. degree in applied behavioral  sciences and a law degree. She lives in Pacifica,California.
by Abigail Marshall 
Reprinted with permission from
The Everything Parent’s Guide toChildren with Dyslexia
©2004; F+WPublications, Inc., by AbigailMarshall, Adams Media, $14.95 trade paperback.
Building Visual Memory for Spelling
Difficulty withspelling is themost common and persistent difficultythat accompaniesdyslexia. Evenafter your child becomes a capablereader, his writing islikely to be riddledwith spelling errors.One reason is theextreme variability of Englishspelling; almost every “rule” that can be taught has numerous exceptions,and many words simply are notspelled the way they sound.Good spellers generally havestrong visual memories for whatwords look like in print. Try to avoidstudy or practice techniques thatexpose your child to incorrectlyspelled versions of the word. Manychildren with dyslexia have strongvisual memories, but they willremember erroneous spellings as easilyas correct ones, and they will have noway to remember which is right.Teachers might try to make spellinghomework fun by offering a practicequiz where your child must select thecorrect word from a list of incorrectspellings, or find the word in a puzzle
Strategies for Spelling
where the letters are scrambled. Your child may enjoy some of thesegames, but they are counterproductivefor learning correct spelling.One technique that sometimesworks for children with dyslexia is tolearn how to spell the word backwardsas well as forward. Encourage your child to try to visualizethe word in his mind;with a clear mental  picture, the word can bespelled backwards by“seeing” the letters inorder and calling off theletters from right to left.
Word Families andPatterns
Good spellers also recognize familiar spelling patterns and understand morphological word structure,including common prefixes, roots,and suffixes. It will be easier for your child to learn when words are taughtin groups which sharea common pattern or structure. This is better than learning “rules”in isolation, especiallywith rules that havemany exceptions.Make sure that your child's word list for each study sessionincludes only wordsreflecting the pattern being studied. Work with your child’steacher to modify school spelling listsso as to avoid confusion, and limitthe number of words being studied.Do not try to teach your child
A Helpful Hint
When practicing spelling wordsat home, observe your child to see whether she does better when asked to orally spell thewords as opposed to when writing them. This will give you a clueas to how to best reach your child. If your child does better with oral spelling, encourage her to say the letters out loud as she practices writing her  spelling words.
homophones, such as “their” and“there,” in the same session. Most people with dyslexia find homophonesextremely confusing, and they willnot be able to simply memorize thedifference. It is better if the words aretaught separately with words sharinga similar pattern; for example, “there”can be taught along with “here” and“where.” Make sure your child learnsword meanings along with spelling; it will aid in memory to associatemeanings withspelling patterns, asopposed to individualwords. That is, itmay be easier toremember that the“ere” sequence isassociated withwords signifying place (“here, there,everywhere”). Have your childlook up words with irregular patternsin the dictionary, to learn about theword derivations and etymology. Shewill soon discover other keys tospelling—for example, that the word“their” comes from the Old Norsetheirra. Knowing that some wordswith similar sounds come from different languages will help your child understand why they are spelled so differently.

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