THE DAVIS APPROACH

The Davis approach to working with people with Dyslexia is based on the principle that dyslexic strengths and difficulties share the same root- the dyslexic thinking style. Dyslexics tend to think primarily through pictures and images rather than through the internal monologue used by verbal thinkers.

People who think in pictures tend to use global logic and strategies, capturing the whole picture rather than working through a process in sequential steps. When they are confused or intrigued by an object or situation, they will mentally move around and explore it from different viewpoints or angles. From this, they develop many abilities and talents in areas such as spatial awareness, creativity, practical skills, lateral thinking and problem-solving.

However, picture thinkers may become, confused by things that do not make sense to their non-verbal thinking style. With two-dimensional symbolic objects, such as alphabet symbols, they may not make the automatic sound-symbol connection. They may be less likely to use a phonic approach to reading or spelling, grouping a word like ‘leaf’ not with other words with similar sounds, but with ‘feather’ because they both float.

Functional high frequency words for which there is no instant mental picture also cause confusion. For example, the word ‘dog’ easily conjures up a picture, but it is difficult to make a picture for a word like ‘the’ apart from seeing the letters of the word itself. Davis practitioners refer to these words as ‘trigger’ words – the words that trigger confusion.

People with dyslexia become confused and stressed when this picture thinking process does not work. They will concentrate harder and become more tense, until the intense concentration causes disorientation. At this point, the senses become distorted and the brain will no longer receive accurate messages. This may manifest itself in print instability – substitutions, reversals, transpositions, or omissions in reading or writing letters, words and numerals. Many dyslexics commonly garble or mishear words or the sequence of words in sentences. Their internal sense of time can also become distorted, their motor control can appear delayed or clumsy and balance and motion may be affected.

A Davis practitioner works with learners individually. A self -assessment process draws out their strengths, weaknesses and goals. Learners are then guided through a programme tailored to their need. A Davis programme will contain many elements and  will be based around two key practices.

The first is to help the learner to establish a mental focusing tool that s/he can use to bring their mind on track when disorientation occurs. Davis Orientation counseling SM teaches the students learn to turn off the thought processes that cause misperceptions. Instead, they are able to restore their minds to a relaxed and focused state, suitable for reading and other studies. Once orientation is learned, the student is ready to allow them to overcome problems stemming from dyslexia.
The second key practice is the Davis Symbol Mastery SM to work with the learner to deal with things that triggered the disorientation in the first place. Typically, this will include work on the alphabet, punctuation marks and trigger words and other areas such as numbers. When the children are confused or frustrated, they begin to experience distorted perceptions, such as reversals of letters and develop life-long learning blocks that hamper their progress.

In this practice the learner masters trigger words (such as ‘a’, ‘the’, ‘of’) by making models of them in clay. They usually start by making and working on a clay alphabet and set of punctuation symbols. They use their focusing tool to make sure they are perceiving the letters accurately. This may be the first time a learner has the alphabet accurately and can really get to know it.

They may move on to tackle trigger words by discussing the meaning of the word and making a model of the meaning, together with the word itself. The combination of accurate perception and the elimination of confusion leads to improvements in areas like reading performance.

There are further specialist techniques for reading, maths concepts, handwriting and attention deficit difficulties. Strategies to help the learner address stress and energy levels, balance and coordination can also be used.

History of the Davis Approach

These methods have been used since the1980s in the USA, when Ronald Davis, himself  severely dyslexic, began to discover ways to overcome his difficulties and founded the reading Research Council. Between 1981 and1995 around 1500 students, adults and children, received a five day Davis dyslexia programme at the center. In those early years, practitioners also visited the center and learnt Davis methods through an informal apprenticeship and applied or integrated methods within their own practice, as they felt appropriate.

Training and delivery of the programme was standardized in 1995 with the establishment of Davis Dyslexia Association International. Since that time, approximately 400 individuals in 29 countries worldwide have undertaken the full training programme and currently 412 of these are licensed as qualified facilitators. The methods are used in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, as well as in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Africa.

Most Facilitators work privately, although some are now working in schools and colleges. In the private sector, a client will work with a facilitator on an intensive 30-hour programme, usually over a week, follow- up. In colleges and schools, the work will often be spread out over a longer period.

For more information: Contact Manisha Shah on 0733-513821 or 0721- 492217 or Email info@dyslexia-africa.com .  Detailed information on Davis methods, the organization and research articles can be found on the Davis Dyslexia Association. Website. www.dyslexia.com and www.dyslexia-africa.com

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