futher commentary on dyslexia approaches
Meowse's brother Chris, who has worked directly with Ron Davis in his dyslexia correction methods, adds the following clarification & expansion of my previous post on dyslexia. In case my previous post wasn't sufficiently clear about it, I'm not claiming that my extremely abbreviated adaptation of one technique can fix dyslexia by itself, nor that it is a faithful representation of the Davis method. Just that it is a very useful addition to my toolbox! Chris's words below.
I've talked with Eva at length about her methods and approach. In my
opinion, she can indeed fix dyslexia, but she didn't give herself
enough credit, because simply doing the visualization exercise will
not fix dyslexia long-term. The dyslexic person must also learn
whatever has been confusing them. Eva's educational techniques can
guide them through that, but they will probably need that help.
Dyslexia is caused by sensory distortion (vision and/or hearing) in
response to confusion. Since confusion causes unreliable perceptions -
which are confusing - dyslexics who are confused by some aspect of a
reading (or other) task may find their perceptions confusingly
distorted whenever they attempt it, and so learn over time to
associate confusion with certain stimuli.
Controlling the perceptual distortion - what Eva taught her student to
do - is not enough to fix dyslexia. It can give rapid success and can
set the stage for rapid learning. But the student must go on to learn
whatever has been confusing them. If they don't - if they simply force
their perceptions back on track, time after time, despite the
confusion - then eventually (weeks or months) they will accumulate
failure and the perceptual trick will stop working.
So it's important to realize that, while Eva can fix dyslexia, she did
not fix dyslexia in that one session. Having control over their
perceptions will allow students to learn what's been confusing them,
so that they don't build up confusion during school tasks, and in the
end they won't need the perceptual trick anymore (except to transition
from another activity that was using their perceptual flexibility
talents, such as sports, daydreaming, or art).
At the point where they have unlearned their confusions, their
dyslexia will have been completely fixed. But it's important for
parents, IEP planners, teachers, and students to understand that, even
though school skills may improve dramatically once perceptions are
under the dyslexic's control, the confusions still need to be cleared
up, which probably will take expert help. As long as confusions
persist, the visualization method by itself will be only a crutch.
Chris
I've talked with Eva at length about her methods and approach. In my
opinion, she can indeed fix dyslexia, but she didn't give herself
enough credit, because simply doing the visualization exercise will
not fix dyslexia long-term. The dyslexic person must also learn
whatever has been confusing them. Eva's educational techniques can
guide them through that, but they will probably need that help.
Dyslexia is caused by sensory distortion (vision and/or hearing) in
response to confusion. Since confusion causes unreliable perceptions -
which are confusing - dyslexics who are confused by some aspect of a
reading (or other) task may find their perceptions confusingly
distorted whenever they attempt it, and so learn over time to
associate confusion with certain stimuli.
Controlling the perceptual distortion - what Eva taught her student to
do - is not enough to fix dyslexia. It can give rapid success and can
set the stage for rapid learning. But the student must go on to learn
whatever has been confusing them. If they don't - if they simply force
their perceptions back on track, time after time, despite the
confusion - then eventually (weeks or months) they will accumulate
failure and the perceptual trick will stop working.
So it's important to realize that, while Eva can fix dyslexia, she did
not fix dyslexia in that one session. Having control over their
perceptions will allow students to learn what's been confusing them,
so that they don't build up confusion during school tasks, and in the
end they won't need the perceptual trick anymore (except to transition
from another activity that was using their perceptual flexibility
talents, such as sports, daydreaming, or art).
At the point where they have unlearned their confusions, their
dyslexia will have been completely fixed. But it's important for
parents, IEP planners, teachers, and students to understand that, even
though school skills may improve dramatically once perceptions are
under the dyslexic's control, the confusions still need to be cleared
up, which probably will take expert help. As long as confusions
persist, the visualization method by itself will be only a crutch.
Chris