How the story starts…
I want to share my middle child’s story hoping it may benefit others. Before my son entered public school he was an outgoing, curious and bright little boy. When he began learning to read and write things changed drastically. Phonics was torture. He could read large words like “encyclopedia” but small words like “and” and “the” would send him spiraling. Handwriting was also a struggle for him.
Even with these challenges in reading and writing the public school wouldn’t test him for a learning disability, saying, “he wasn’t low enough.” I watched my own brother struggle through school with the same symptoms. I wanted to help my son in any way I could. We sought educational diagnostic testing from an outside source. He was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia but we felt lost and didn’t immediately know how best to help our son.
After many long hours of working with him one-on-one while also continuing to search for help, a friend suggested I read a book called, The Gift of Dyslexia By Ronald D. Davis. I was blown away by the author’s description of the very struggles my own son was experiencing! I thought dyslexia was simply something that caused individuals to see and write backward but I learned it SO much more. I eventually searched for a Davis Dyslexia Correction facilitator. Unfortunately, New Mexico didn’t have a facilitator and the closest facilitator was in Arizona. I decided the time, money and effort was worth making the trip.
Finding help. The happy ending.
The Davis Dyslexia Correction Program is a five-day one-on-one intensive, multisensory, meaning-based approach geared toward resolving perceptual issues, building reading ease, fluency, and comprehension while also improving attention and focus. During the five days, my son was taught how to turn off the part of his brain that causes confusion during reading and writing. No more painful attempts at sounding out words because the reading exercises did not use phonics. He was taught Symbol Mastery, a method using clay to understand words without images such as “the” & “and”.
My son increased 3-grade levels by the end of the five day intensive! Along with the reading gain, his confidence was renewed. I witnessed him become the happy, inquisitive little boy he was before he started school! After our success, I decided that New Mexico could use a Davis Facilitator of its own. I pursued my Davis Dyslexia and ADD/ADHD Correction Facilitator’s license from Davis Dyslexia Association International. In 2013 after a year and a half of traveling to Burlingame, CA, 340 hours of both class time and independent case studies I obtained my Davis® Facilitator license.
I am currently working with individuals with and without an official diagnosis for dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. The fact is, anyone struggling for any reason with reading, math, handwriting, attention and social issues will benefit from a Davis Program. In 2019, I will begin the Davis Autism training. I look forward to expanding my knowledge and being able to help a wider population of children and adults learn proven tools to support their learning process.
Take the online quiz on my website to discover if the signs and symptoms you or your child are experiencing could be dyslexia. How can you learn more? Watch this: video Read: The Gift of Dyslexia and/or The Gift of Learning by Ronald D. Davis; visit www.riograndelearningsolutions.com and/or www.dyslexia.com. For more information on Davis Autism visit www.davisautism.com
In the next blog post, “Should I Seek An Official Learning Disability Diagnosis?”
