I am so very pleased with this program. I am an Internal Medicine doctor. I attended MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) for my undergraduate training and have my MD. I am Board Certified in my specialty. Hence, I am very science oriented and rely heavily on data and evidence based research results. The Davis technique may not be an accredited program, but it has valid concepts and definitely has proven results.
I want to start with some background information because you may recognize some of these attributes or comments about yourself or your child. My son "J" is a bright, creative and energetic 7 year old who has been active making "inventions" and constantly asking questions regarding how things work and frequently attempts to improve function/design on common household items. He has made many profound and insightful comments and observations over the last few years and has a very good verbal vocabulary. I had noted some letters and numbers written backwards and voiced a concern in kindergarten regarding dyslexia, but was assured that "they all do this and it goes away". However, my father is dyslexic, so I still had my concerns, but adapted a "wait and see" approach. By the end of kindergarten he was a solid performer and ready to move onto first grade. Hence, when his first grade instructors voiced concern about his reading, I thought perhaps he was just a little slower than his sister in this aspect. I am not an educator, so evaluating what is "normal" reading skill acquisition for a new reader is not clear to me. I did not want to make the mistake of comparing siblings inappropriately.
We continued to struggle with homework, which was sent home 3-4 times per week. These intended 15 minutes work assignments inevitably took 60-90 minutes. He constantly labored to read: read the directions, read the sentences he needed to correct for English, etc. Once he understood the directions he had no problem with the concepts. He understood the phonemes (phonetic rules) and applied them painstakingly to every word, even if he had just "read" it in the previous sentence. He could not remember/recall "sight words", these words appeared new to him each time he saw them.
We went through a 4-6 week period where he hid his homework so that he would not have to struggle through it. Once it was found stashed in a drawer, he had to complete it anyway and he ended up with some ramifications that subsequently deter similar attempts. By the end of the school year I saw improvement, albeit very slowly. He only confused b and d's, and p and q. He continued to write many numbers backwards. All reading was still laborious. Unfortunately, his instructors' assessment had him at a level where he should have been 6 months prior. They stated he was a "delightful" boy but "immature", "frequently daydreaming and difficult to engage", and frequently tired which was manifested in his reading problem. They recommended repeating first grade.
I thought about those comments. J was a preemie, born 4 weeks early, so his May birthday should really be a June birthday, he IS the smallest in his class—maybe he is just a little young and would have done better if I had delayed his entry into first grade. spoke with his kindergarten teacher who was surprised because she felt he had been definitely ready to proceed. Is he just being stubborn and resistant to something he doesn't like? He loves to be read to, and even after struggling through a primer when he is reading, when he completes a story he will often ask to read another. Reading is hard for him—why?
Just before school ended, we caught him reading upside down and backwards more fluently than upside right. I asked him why. He stated that some of the letters are backwards or upside down and sometimes they move. He hadn't wanted to tell me because he didn't want to go to a different school. He doesn't read upside down at school because he "doesn't want the other kids to think he is weird".
I wrote out a phrase "buzz light year" and had him write it the way he sees it. The z's were backward, and the g and y were upside down mirror image. Then I had him write it the way he knew it should be. And he was able to write it correctly without mistake. I took this to his headmaster. J was indeed dyslexic.
Now, I think this is an important aspect for J's particular form of dyslexia. Dr Sally Shaywick, the present renown expert on Dyslexia, states in her book that children do not see letters differently because she had them write "was" and they were able to, yet when asked to read the word, they would say "saw". I suspect either none of her patients reversed letters, or they were compensating just as my son. This compensation requires constant decoding with every relevant word/letter. No wonder one cannot recall sight words-they don't look the same as they "should" be- and no wonder these kids are tired. It is a lot of work to constantly decode all the time. Additionally, Dr Shaywick states that dyslexics have difficulty with phonemes; that they don't understand the rules of language, or the concepts of word and sentence structure. J understood all these, he constantly applied them to each word he read, even if that word was in every other sentence, he would sound it out each time. She had an example in her book: take the word frog, now take out the "r", what is the word? Her dyslexics would not be able to come up with the new word "fog". However, I stopped J in mid-play and gave him the test and without hesitation he gave the correct answers.
You or your child may not fit Dr Shaywick's definition of dyslexia. It is difficult to test for if one isn't in what I consider the extreme category of the patients she sees. Hence, knowing where to get help can be quite problematic, especially if the school doesn't recognize the problem and one isn't "bad enough" to qualify for help.
Fortunately, one of the three books I picked up was "The Gift of Dyslexia" by Ron Davis. I found Mr. Davis' explanation of how those with dyslexia problem solve to be fascinating. It appeared to fit well with my son. I could understand the rationale behind his techniques as described in the book. The other book I highly recommend is "A Parent's Guide to Children with Dyslexia", very helpful to let a parent know what obstacles their child will face and how and when to advocate for your child as they go through the school system.
J underwent assessment with a Davis Orientaions facilitator, Aleta Clark in Auburn, Washington. J tested in the kindergarten level. He really hadn't gained much in one year.
Davis' techniques program requires a 5 day, 6hrs per day, 30hr class. I peeked in on J mid morning of day number two: he was reading fluently, with little hesitation in a second-grade reader, and he was smiling and enjoying the process! It still brings tears to my eyes to see him in less than two days accomplish what he couldn't in one year of school. He came for his lunch break later and wanted to read to me! Over the ensuing week I saw an improvement in self esteem. He is a positive guy anyway, but he became bubbly and more talkative. He is no longer afraid to read.
The letters aren't moving, the numbers have turned around, he can spell and use a dictionary with confidence.
The program has provided tools that J will be able to use throughout his life and academic career; tools that will facilitate his education and provide diversity to what could have been limited career choices if he never learned to read well. I highly recommend the program and would like to see it as part of the mainstream education program for all preschool, kindergarten and primary levels. Children who are more kinesthetic learners will benefit, and it can only enhance the learning for all those young minds attempting to decipher the written concept of the English language.
As a personal recommendation, Aleta Clark is an excellent facilitator. She works well with kids and parents, is very professional, and obviously well trained. Her enthusiasm for the program is evident.
Highest regards,
Francee J Taylor MD