THE DYSLEXIC READER

DAVIS DYSLEXIA ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL

ISSUE 1I 2013 VOL 64

My Dyslexia Story
I dont really mention my dyslexia for quite a few reasons, the main reason being that in general there is still an oh... so youre stupid connotation attached to it, which quite frankly makes my blood boil. (Ive even heard dyslexia described (to my face) as an excuse for laziness. And because, in my experience, the minute you try and explain the reason you find some things difficult, far too many people start treating you like your unintelligent. But today I want to try and talk about my dyslexia and explain why shaving my head is so important to me, and hopefully this story will help other dyslexics out there.

Klaire de Lys, On Her Dyslexia

By Klaire de Lys and Richard Whitehead, Davis Learning Foundation Director, UK

n July 19, 2013, dyslexic singer, artist and make-up artist Klaire de Lys announced on her YouTube channel that she would shave her head if 5000 was raised in bursaries for people with dyslexia and on a limited income to access the Davis Dyslexia Programme. Five thousand thirty-five pounds later, Klaire fulfilled her pledge and shaved her head on August 6, 2013. An account and a short video of the event can be viewed at http://www.klairedelys. com/2013/08/09/i-shaved-my-head/ In January, the twenty-two-year-old Klaire, who lives in Reading, Berkshire, UK, founded KlairedelysArt (www. youtube.com/user/KlairedelysArt) in January 2009, a YouTube Channel devoted to artistic make-up tutorials. To date, the channel has accumulated over 380,000 subscribers. The videos on her channel have been viewed over 86,000,000 times. Klaire was featured

in an article, You Tube of UK: 20 of Britains most popular online video bloggers, which appeared in the UK Sunday newspaper, The Observer. After years of going undiagnosed, Klaire underwent a Davis Dyslexia Correction Programme to address her personal challenges with dyslexia. To say that that experience made a difference is a serious understatement, says Klaire. It changed my life completely and gave me the tools to achieve things I could only dream of before. Klaire has published (in print, and as a video recording) a moving account of her experience of dyslexia and the Davis Programme. Here is the account, reprinted here with Klaires kind permission.

My brain felt like I had a clamp on it permanently.

Most of my problems with dyslexia started when I went to school. Previously, being homeschooled, while there were things I had trouble with like any normal kid, I never had a mental block and learning was something I absolutely loved!
(continued on page 3)

WE ARE ALL DYSLEXIC!

Submitted by Angi Edwards, Davis Facilitator in Whakatane, New Zealand

ngi Edwards worked with Sophie Tierney when she was eight years old. At that time, she would only use upper case letters when she wrote, because she didnt know how to use the lower case letters. She had lost all her self confidence and even had trouble making friends. Sophies twelve now, getting great grades, and she recently gave a talk about dyslexia to her classmates. Its inspirational that Sophie is now so confident that she can talk in front of a group about her struggles. Heres Sophies speech, which she has graciously permitted us to publish. Great job, Sophie!
NEWS & FEATURE ARTICLES Klaire de Lys, On Her Dyslexia .......................1, 3 We Are All Dyslexic!.......................................1, 12 Book Review - Readicide....................................4 Book Review - The Prisoner of Cell 25..............5

We Are All Dyslexic

What do Albert Einstein, Leonard da Vinci, Keira Knightly and Richard Branson have in common with me? We are all dyslexic! My speech is about dyslexia. I am going to talk to you about what dyslexia is, how it affects peoples lives and how I deal with it. Dyslexia is the name used for a certain kind of reading and learning difficulty. People with dyslexia find it hard to read or understand words, letters and other symbols. Being dyslexic does not make a person less intelligent, but people sometimes think that, and they are wrong!

Dyslexia is a disorder causing impaired ability to read. Sometimes I have words stuck in my head but I cant seem to get them down on paper. I get so tired because I am focusing very hard to get the work down in my book.
(continued on page 12)

Book Review - Common Core Vocabulary.......8 Learning to pay attention ....................................9 Dyslexics have better picture-memory.... 10-11 In The News................................................... 14-16

REGULAR FEATURES In the Mail...............................................................2 Q&A...................................................................... 6-7 Famous Dyslexics Remember..........................11 Lazy Reader Book Club.................................12-13

THE DYSLEXIC READER

In The Mail
Dear Mr. Davis: Have you ever wondered how things come into our minds by bits and pieces? I am on the Autism spectrum, considered to have Asperger and Tourettes syndrome. I am 58 and teach kids with special needs. I have spent the last 9 years attending workshops, buying books, trying to figure out, basically on my own, what was the best approach to teaching kids with autism, LD, dyslexia, etc. Today, I finally finished reading your book, The Gift of Dyslexia, and discovered that I also have in my library, The Gift of Learning and Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew. Now, have I read them? No. Why? I guess things had to come together. Reading about the orientation point this morning really made sense to me. Watching The Front of the Class yesterday, about Brad Cohen, another teacher with Tourettes, did too. Grabbing my book about children, clay, and sculpture, and given my knowledge of Emilio Reggio practices and time spent with Sydney Clemons, it is all beginning to make sense. I have contacted Angela Odom and hope to go to a Davis Learning Strategies Workshop here in October. What your book says makes sense. I wish I had read it back when you wrote it in the early 1990s! MH

This thank you letter was sent to Davis being asked to. He also joined a book Facilitator, Marla Verdone, whose office is club at the library! Wow! The book for in Janesville, Wisconsin: the library is 430 pages long. There is no way he would have the time to finish it on Dear Marla, his own at the pace he reads, so he and I are taking turns reading it to each other... Zach is doing great! I was excited to see but he is really enjoying it. how things would go once he started Over all, Im very excited about his middle school. He has been doing his progress so far. His reading is definitely homework most nights with little or no much improved, but the jury is still out on assistance from us, which would not have the writing and spelling. We just havent been possible last school year. had as much work with that yet. In addition to doing reading each Thanks again for all youve done day as part of our work with the Davis for us. Dyslexia Correction Program, he is (for the first time) reading for pleasure each Curt night before bed. He is in the middle of the first Harry Potter book. He tried to Great work, Zach! Congratulations to his read that a year ago, and could not do it! parents and Marla. Marla Verdone has Now, hes doing it with little assistance been a Davis Facilitator since 2010. You from us. Most of all, Im excited that he can contact her at her website at www. decided on his own to read it, without dyslexiawisconsin.com.

The Dyslexic Reader is published quarterly by Davis Dyslexia Association International (DDAI) 1601 Bayshore Hwy., Suite 260, Burlingame, CA 94010 USA. Tel. +1 (650) 692-7141 OURGOALS 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 peoples abilities and talents should be recognized and valued, and that learning problems can be corrected. EDITORIALBOARD: Laura Zink de Daz, Alice Davis & Abigail Marshall DESIGN: Michael Troller Design SUBSCRIPTIONS: one year $25 in US, add $5 in Canada; add $10 elsewhere. BACKISSUES: send $8.00 to DDAI. SUBMISSIONS&LETTERS: We welcome letters, comments and articles. Mail to DDAI at the above address. VIAFAX: +1 (650) 692-7075 VIAE-MAIL: editor@dyslexia.com INTERNET: www.dyslexia.com The opinions and views expressed in articles and letters are not necessarily those of DDAI. Davis, Davis Dyslexia Correction, Davis Symbol Mastery, Davis Orientation Counseling, Davis Autism Approach, Seed of Genius, and Davis Learning Strategies are trademarks of Ronald D. Davis. Copyright 2013 by DDAI, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

THE DYSLEXIC READER

On My Dyslexia continued from page 1

so difficult for me. I wasnt stupid and I wasnt a freak. The family friend was One of my personal points of pride was a trained Davis Facilitator reading the whole of The Lord of the (which is someone who is Rings by the time I was 9. trained to be able to correct But once I went to school things like the confusion which is maths and spelling became extremely caused by being forced into hard. To the point I would get migraines a way of learning which just by looking at numbers. Although I is not normal for dyslexics). She didnt realise it (neither did my parents youd have better luck trying to teach me offered to correct my dyslexia and I cant or my teachers) I was heavily dyslexic fluent Greek in an hour. It took me a good (which meant that my way of learning was even begin to accurately describe the three years to overcome my fear of people, difference it made to with pictures and not talk and force myself to look people in the my life. I had gotten words). It does NOT eyes when speaking to them. so used to having a I had gotten so mean you are stupid, Sometimes my dyslexia gets triggered permanent headache retarded or mentally used to having a and aspects of it such as the depression, from the stress and disabled as Ive permanent headache confusion and disorientation come back. constant confusion heard so many people from the stress and My biggest trigger is anyone elses blood that I thought it describe it. constant confusion because I associate it with a lack of control was normal. Things got so bad that I thought it and helplessness. It can send me in a spiral On the second day over the years that I was normal. where for a few days (or weeks) I find of the Program would have a panic myself unable to focus on things, utterly that pain suddenly attack every time I depressed, letters seem to flip when I read disappeared, I felt had to do maths, any them and I just mentally shut down. But like I had just realised that Id been in kind of test/exam. Also, just the idea of now, because of the Davis Program, Ive a mental prison my whole life and socialising or talking to people would learned tools I previously didnt have. They someone had just helped me walk out make my knees start shaking. My brain help me regain control, and with each year the front door, removing a clamp from felt like I had a clamp on it permanently. I get better and better at managing the my head in the process. No matter how many hours I forced drawbacks. myself to read, and attempt to re-read and The following days were incredible Since Im sure someone is going to and terrifying. For a few days things understand what I had to learn, my brain question why I had such a strange reaction which had been easy and an escape from just refused to absorb it. I was extremely to blood yet love special effects makeup the confusion, things such as writing and socially awkward (I HATED looking I might was well explain it: I love special people in the eye). If some of you go back painting, I just wasnt able to do. Id pull effects because I know its not real. Its out a paper and realise that I couldnt see through my old You Tube videos you can fake, nobody is dying or in pain, I am in what I wanted to draw. Needless to say still see me struggling with so much as control and it cant affect and disrupt my it scared the life out of me! Those skills looking at the camera lens, and its still life. It gives me control. were my escape, and the prospect of not something I find slightly difficult at times. The Davis Program didnt solve all my I couldnt do any form of Maths at all, being able to use them was like someone problems, but it gave me a clean mental had taken my only piece of armour and my spelling was horrific, though reading slate to start on, instead of the tangled web left me exposed to the world. Then a few was something I was always very good of confusion I had before. Hopefully, now days after that, I picked up a paper again at mainly because it was something my that Im trying to raise and I could draw, but parents always encouraged and they money for this charity, so much better! Things had taught me to read using books with I can help other people which previously I had pictures inside them which explained the A few years later finally get out of this found so confusing words. I was introverted, prone to panic I met Ronald Davis, mental hell. seemed to click. attacks, always seemed to be in a daze, the man who had A few years later I and often had to spend several minutes started the program You can read the met Ronald Davis, the to process a simple question or say which changed my life. article, You Tube of man who had started something. Pretty much everything from UK: 20 of Britains the program which when I was 9 years old (when I started most popular changed my life and I school) to when I had the Davis Program online video bloggers, at: http://www. just broke down and started crying while when I was 16 is a complete blur. theguardian.com/technology/2013/apr/07/ trying to say thank you, which was I have a few fragmented images from youtube-uk-20-online-video-bloggers hugely embarrassing but I just couldnt those years but nothing clear and help it (didnt help that he nearly started mostly I just remember feeling alone and You can view the video version of Klaires crying too). confused. Its like a huge chunk of my life story by scrolling down the page at: http:// Did this course solve all my problems? wasnt there to see. www.klairedelys.com/2013/07/19/my It was only when I was around 16 that HahaI wish! As Im sure you have all a family friend recognised my dyslexia and seen either in my videos or blog, there are dyslexia-story still basic spelling mistakes that I make, I asked how I was coping with it. Needless You can find out more about Davis still cant do maths. Handling money and to say when I realised I was dyslexic I expenses? Yes, Im great with that because services in the UK at http://www. pretty much broke down into tears since davislearningfoundation.org.uk. v I can visualise the actual money. But put I finally had a reason as to why things which came so easily to other people were down a simple equation in front of me

4 International Davis Dyslexia Correction Providers

The Davis Dyslexia Correction program is available from more than 450 Facilitators around the world. For updates, call: (888) 805-7216 Toll free or (650) 692-7141 or visit dyslexia.com/providers.htm The following is a current list of all Davis Facilitators, some Facilitators may also offer other Davis services.

THE DYSLEXIC READER

BOOK REVIEW
By Laura Zink de Diaz

Reading, I hate it because of the lack of fun it brings me. Reading is only fun if I have nothing else to do. Hate runs through me when I spend hours of time I could be spending on something enjoyable. Reading is a big waste of time. Reading really sucks. I read books only because my teachers make me.

Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It
By Kelly Gallagher Publisher: Stenhouse Publishers (2009) 160 pages ISBN-10: 1571107800 ISBN-13: 978-1571107800

v Argentina Silvana Ines Rossi Buenos Aires +54 (114) 865 3898 v Australia Linda Alexander Coomera, Queensland +61 (459) 171 270 Brenda Baird Brisbane +61 (07) 3299 3994 Sally Beulke Melbourne +61 (03) 572 51752 Suzanne Buchauer Kew, Victoria +61 (03) 9817 4886 Anne Cupitt Hervey Bay, Queensland +61 (074) 128-2470 Mary Davie Sydney NSW +61 (02) 9521 3685 Amanda Du Toit Beaumont Hills NSW +61 (405) 565 338 Jan Gorman Eastwood/Sydney +61 (02) 9874 7498 Bets Gregory also Autism Facilitator/Coach Gordon NSW +61 (4) 1401 3490 Gail Hallinan Naremburn/Sydney +61 (02) 9405 2800 Barbara Hoi also Autism Facilitator/Coach Mosman/Sydney +61 (02) 9968 1093 Annette Johnston Rockingham WA +61 (8) 9591 3482 Eileen McCarthy Manly/Sydney +61 (02) 9977 2061 Marianne Mullally Crows Nest, Sydney +61 (02) 9436 3766 Janette Padinis Aspendale Gardens Victoria +61 0412 021 604 Jayne Pivac Parkdale Victoria/Melbourne +61 (0) 420 305 405 John Reilly Berala/Sydney +61 (02) 9649 4299 Heidi Rose Pennington S.A. +61 (8) 8240 1834 v Austria Annette Dietrich Wien +43 (01) 888 90 25

Although there are out-of-school issues that contribute to the decline in reading poverty, poorly educated parents, few books in homes, non-English speakers in the home, and a wide variety of activities Every year, those who publish dictionaries are that lure kids away from reading Gallagher faced with a central question: which emerging used to be fairly confident that he could turn words should be added to the new editions?... reluctant readers into enthusiastic ones. But I begin this book by proposing a new word for today he sees in-school obstacles as well: the their next edition. To make it easy on the editors replacement of high-interest and authentic I also include its definition: Read-i-cide: noun, reading with test prep and pre-packaged reading the systematic killing of the love of reading, programs, the abandonment of time for sustained often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing silent reading, overteaching and underteaching practices found in schools. books, to name a few. He rightly asks how much reading we would do if the ONLY reading we Although this book came out in 2009, what it ever did was academic, or has to say about reading instruction in American Shakespeare, or Beowulf? schools is as fresh and applicable today as it was It also seems that at the time of its publication. In fact, with every schools have come to year that passes, as school reform advances it value the development becomes even more relevant. Its central thesis of test-takers over the is that many of the practices in use today in the development of readers. teaching of reading, are leading to the death of Gallagher quotes Ray reading, by destroying many students last chance Bradbury, author of the to develop into lifelong readers. We are instead classic, Fahrenheit 451, in creating a generation of aliterates, those who which firemen no longer can read if they must, but dont, unless theres put out fires, but set fire to every book they find: no way to avoid it. You dont have to burn books to destroy culture. Gallagher worked in education for twentyJust get people to stop reading them. two years, as a classroom teacher, district-level It appears that the money we spend trying to language arts coordinator, and nationally, as a turn kids into good test-takers rather than lovers literacy consultant; of books, and the sterile he knows whereof practices schools have he speaks. His book been implementing to We are creating a generation of is principally aimed improve reading, are teens who look forward to the at middle and high rather successful at end of highschool as a time when school teachers, but getting people to theyll never again have to read what he has to say is stop reading. some boring book. just as applicable at We are creating a the primary level as at generation of teens the secondary. If you who look forward ask a kindergarten teacher about her students to the end of highschool as a time when theyll attitude during reading time, shell be delighted never again have to read some boring book. to tell you about their enthusiasm. By fifth grade, Each chapter in Readicide discusses ways the same question will get a mixed response, and teachers can avoid or at least lessen the readicide by twelfth grade, Gallagher says you can measure phenomenon. In the first chapter he discusses the teachers frustration in nanoseconds. He has the negative effects on reading of standardized observed this pattern all across the country, and testing. He points out what many have observed in his own classroom. Some of his own students about the current emphasis on multiple-choice comments during the first week of school: test preparation: that it drives shallow teaching and learning. State and district school boards and curriculum committees have created literally
(continued on page 17)

THE DYSLEXIC READER

5
syndrome, theyre shouting swear words or barking like a dog. Most of us with Tourettes dont do that. I mostly just blink my eyes a lot. If Im really anxious, Ill also clear my throat or make a gulping noise. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes kids make fun of me. Its no picnic having Tourettes, but there are worse things that can happen to you Michael reminds me of a student with Tourettes I taught in the 1990s. For the most part, you wouldnt have realized she had it, but for occasional tics, made fairly mild by the medication she was on. So, my first reaction was: how great that this author has chosen to portray this condition in realistic terms, immediately humanizing and creating a bond between the reader and his main character! Evans style reminds me of Rick Riordans Olympians series for the same age group, that starts with The Lightning Thief. Both authors write in the first person, and recreate the voices of teenage boys with considerable authenticity. Like Riordans Percy Jackson, Michael Vey has a secret super power: he can generate an electric pulse, to protect himself and others. When Michael was younger, he couldnt control his electrical bursts, and that caused a series of unfortunate accidents. As he got older, he and his mother decided the best thing for him to do was hide this power from others, never using it in any situation where others might become aware of it. At the start of his story, Michael doesnt realize what his mother knows all too well: that keeping his power a secret will protect him from fearsome enemies, even if it means school bullies will consider him fair game. Michael has one friend, a brilliant student called Ostin, whose mother, a fan of the Texas capital, unfortunately didnt know how to spell it. Overweight and nerdy, and therefore also something of a social outcast, Ostin is the only person other than Michaels mom who knows about his power. But one day, a lovely cheerleader named Taylor atypically, one of the nicest girls in school finds out what Michael can do. It turns out that shes got a similar super power. But how did either of them become electric? And how is it that they were born within a day of each other, in the same hospital, in the same city and state? Michael and Taylor simply cant resist digging into their own histories to figure out why theyre so different from their peers. And their search puts Ostin and them (and even the three school bullies) on a dangerous road, and a collision course with an immoral corporate scheme to corrupt them and dominate the entire human race. Jeepers! I dont want to spoil the story for you, so I will tell you no more except that it would also make a great read-aloud in middle-school. And Im fairly sure teachers would be as carried away by the story as their students! v
v Austria (continued) Jacinta Fennessy Wien +43 (01) 774 98 22 Marika Kaufmann Lochau +43 (05574) 446 98 v Belgium Ann Devloo-Delva Veurne +32 (058) 31 63 52 Inge Lanneau Beernem +32 (050) 33 29 92 Peggy Poppe Antwerpen +32 (474) 50 23 32 Bethisabea Rossitto Bruxelles +32 (477) 68 56 06 Chantal Wyseur Waterloo +32 (486) 11 65 82 v Bolivia Veronica Kaune La Paz +591 (2) 278 9031 v Brazil Ana Lima Rio De Janeiro +55 (021) 2295-1505 v Bulgaria Daniela Boneva Ruse +35 (988) 531 95 06 v Canada Angie Bricker-Jones Blackie, Alberta +1 (403) 635-0600 Rocky Point Academy Stacey Borger-Smith also Autism Training Supervisor also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Supervisor Specialist Lawrence Smith, Jr. also Autism Training Supervisor also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Workshop Presenter Calgary +1 (403) 685-0067 +1 (866) 685-0067 (Toll-Free) Paddy Carson Edmonton, Alberta +1 (780) 489-6225 Marcia Code Kanata, Ontario +1 (613) 284-6315 Dyslexia Resources Canada Shelley Cotton Sharon Roberts Brantford, Ontario +1 (519) 304-0535 +1 (800) 981-6433 (Toll-Free) Janet Currie Richards Boutiliers Point, Nova Scotia +1 (902) 826-1512 Elizabeth Currie Shier also Autism Facilitator/Coach Oakville (Near Toronto) +1 (905) 829-4084 Brenda Davies Rosedale Station, Alberta +1 (403) 823-6680 Cathy Dodge Smith also Autism Facilitator/Coach Oakville/Toronto +1 (905) 844-4144 +1 (888) 569-1113 toll-free Sandy Farrell Hudson, Quebec +1 (450) 458-4777 Rene Figlarz Montreal, Quebec +1 (514) 815-7827 Carole Ford Ladysmith, BC +1 (250) 245-8412 Sher Goerzen Maple Ridge, BC +1 (604) 290-5063 Corinne Graumans Medicine Hat, Alberta +1 (403) 528-9848

BOOK REVIEW
By Karen Wehrman and Laura Zink de Daz

Michael Vey The Prisoner of Cell 25 (Book 1)

By Richard Paul Evans Age range: 12 and up Paperback, 336 pages Publisher: Simon Pulse/Mercury Ink ISBN-10: 1442468122 ISBN-13: 978-1442468122 Karen Wehrman, Davis Facilitator in Denver, Colorado, sent me an email a while ago recommending that we review Michael Vey The Prisoner of Cell 25. She wrote, I was looking for a book which would be interesting to a teen or young adult male who had just finished a reading program. This book is full of adventure, characters who are around 15-18 years old (male and female) and life lessons which are good for all of us. Evans writes with exciting images and vocabulary that build confidence while still offering a great deal of new information about electricity, human beings, commitment and other important values. The book has the potential to help a new reader get carried away and move past a lifelong avoidance of reading. Thats a pretty positive review, so I downloaded the book onto my Kindle the other morning and started reading. I thought Id read a couple of chapters, form an opinion, and set it aside for after a full day of work translating documents for a school, working on the Dyslexic Reader, and responding to inquiries about Davis Dyslexia Correction. But once I was a few chapters in, there was no way I could put my Kindle down. By late afternoon Id read the whole thing. Unfortunately, it is Book 1 of three (so far?) in the Michael Vey series. Soon Im going to have to download the second book, Rise of the Elgen. If its as good as The Prisoner of Cell 25, Ill be itching to purchase the third as well, Battle of the Ampere, which has been available since mid-September. The hero of the story, is a fourteen-year-old named Michael Vey. Hes something of a misfit, small for his age, and perenially bullied at school by a gang of three thuggish jerks who like to shut kids inside their locker, hanging upside down. Michael lives in Idaho; he moved there from California some years before the start of the story. He lives with his mother, his father having died when Michael was eight. He isnt dyslexic; he has Tourettes syndrome. He says, Usually when you see someone on TV pretending to have Tourettes

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v Canada (continued) Sue Hall West Vancouver +1 (604) 921-1084 Dvorah Hoffman Toronto +1 (416) 398-6779 Sue Jutson Vancouver, B.C. +1 (604) 732-1516 Mary Ann Kettlewell London, Ontario +1 (519) 652-0252 Colleen Malone Newmarket Ontario + 1 (905) 252-7426 Helen McGilivray Oakville/Toronto +1 (905) 464-4798 Carl Nigi Kanata, Ontario +1 (613) 558-7797 Maureen OSullivan also Autism Facilitator/Coach Newmarket, Ontario +1 (905) 853-3363 Joanna Pellegrino Thunder Bay Ontario +1 (807) 708-4754 Desmond Smith Oakville, Ontario +1 (905) 844-4144 Bernice Taylor Riverview, NB +1 (506) 871-5674 Tracy Trudell London, Ontario +1 (519) 494-9884 Kim J. Willson-Rymer also Autism Facilitator/Coach Mississauga, Ontario +1 (905) 825-3153 v Chile Ximena Hidalgo Pirotte Santiago +56 (02) 243 0860 v China Twiggy Chan Hong Kong +852-6175-8439 Yvonne Wong Ho Hing also Autism Facilitator/Coach Hong Kong +852-6302-5630 Livia Wong also Autism Facilitator/Coach Hong Kong +852-2756-6603 v Colombia Laura Zink de Daz Bogot +57 (1) 704-4399 v Costa Rica Maria Elena Guth Blanco San Jose +506 296-4078 Marcela Rodriguez Alajuela +506 442-8090 Ana Gabriela Vargas Morales San Jose Escazu + 506 2288 0980 v Cyprus Alexis Mouzouris Limassol +357 25 382 090 v Denmark Moniek Geven also DLS Mentor Bryrup +45 7575 7105 v Ecuador Ana Magdalena Espin Vargas Ambato +593 (2) 854 281 Santiago Fernandez Cumbaya Quito +593 (09) 308 9646 Nora Cristina Garza Daz Ambato +593 (3) 282 5998 Germania Jissela Ramos Ramos Ambato +593 (3) 242 4723

THE DYSLEXIC READER

by Abigail Marshall

are primarily 3D visual thinkers who are able to easily move their minds eye. This statistic is based both on Ron Davis own personal experience working with dyslexics over many years, and on independent research into the mental thinking style of dyslexic individuals. As you have difficulty moving your minds eye, Q: My granddaughter sees mirrored writing and I am guessing that the Facilitator you worked with Im wondering if she might be dyslexic. gave you the tool we call Davis Alignment, which relies on a remembered feeling rather than the A: How old is the child? If shes five years old or under, though not common, this is normal and not ability to move the minds eye. The symptoms you describe are common for necessarily tied to dyslexia. The brains ability to dyslexia, and we would consider a person with visually sort out left from right is developed over those symptoms to be dyslexic. There is a genetic time, so many very young children arent yet able component of dyslexia, but there are many different to form a stable perception of letters and words. genes and patterns of gene expression involved, and The reason that directionality is a learned skill it is an inherited tendency only: that is, it is a genetic is that it isnt a survival skill: a right-facing tiger influence that may make your child more likely to in the jungle is the same as a left-facing tiger. be dyslexic, but it is also quite possible that he will Survival depends on the ability to recognize the whole pattern of tigerness, not to get caught up in follow his own developmental path and may show worrying about which way it happens to be facing. very few or no symptoms of dyslexia. Please enjoy your sons progress and encourage Is your granddaughter left-handed, or his growth, and dont worry at such a young age. ambidextrous? Mirror writing is more common If he is eager to stand and walk at 8 months that in people with those traits, so her handedness means he must be strong and healthy, and so could also be a factor. you should be very proud of your son and enjoy A Davis Reading Program for Young Learners can help any child from age five to seven, whether your time with him. It is true that many parents of dyslexic children report that their children or not the reversal is connected to dyslexic were early walkers, but many are not. And many disorientation. If its a matter of immature children who walk early do not become dyslexic. connections in the brain, molding the alphabet If your son seems to have signs of dyslexia at age in clay is one way to help anchor the sense of 4 or 5, you can gently introduce him to Davis direction in her mind. methods at home. We have a kit (Davis Young Learner Kit for Home Use) designed for use by parents to provide a strong foundation to children age 5-7. However, in your case that is still many years off. Q: I currently live in Korea. After reading The It might be helpful for you to read Getting Ready Gift of Dyslexia I traveled to Hong Kong last year for School: Head Start Activities for the Home and completed the Davis Program with a licensed by Sharon Pfeiffer. Sharon is a teacher and Davis Davis Facilitator. I did have many symptoms of dyslexia. For example I mixed up numbers, skipped Specialist Trainer, Fundamentals Workshop Presenter, and Davis Learning Strategies Presenter & Mentor some words when reading out loud, confused left Trainer. You will find her article on our website at: and right, had clumsy motor skills, etc. But I can http://www.dyslexia.com/library/ready.htm also imagine a process in my head before doing a project, and learn crafts by watching others. But I dont seem able to move my minds eye around in space. I am beginning to wonder whether I am Please enjoy your son's really dyslexic or not. The main reason I want to progress and encourage be certain is that I have an eight month old baby his growth, and don't worry who is trying to walk already right after he just at such a young age. started crawling and I wonder whether he might be dyslexic. I did struggle a lot in school and wonder if this could be genetic.

A: We believe that about 82-85% of dyslexics

Mirror, Mirror

A Head Start

THE DYSLEXIC READER

v Ecuador (continued) Ins Gimena Paredes Ros Ambato +593 (08) 418 5779 v Estonia Olga Knut Tallinn +372-56-509-840 v Finland

Davis Facilitators have been using clay for more than 30 years and know from experience that it works.

Fuzzy Figures
Q: Instead of clay, could pipe cleaners be used for
Symbol Mastery of letters and numerals?

A Gift Without Symptoms

Q: I have a question - Im a linguist, busy with
my PhD in historical linguistics. We have severe dyslexia in the family, and my mother bought The Gift of Dyslexia a couple of years ago. I read the book out of curiosity, and to my surprise found that I associate very much with some of the thinking processes described in the book. However, Ive never experienced problems in reading and writing. I did some deep thinking about the matter, and realized I intuitively found coping strategies for trigger words and some writing processes very early on, although these havent worked for me with numbers, causing me to still experience problems with math. So, my question is: are there atypical forms or symptoms of dyslexia, and is it still dyslexia if reading or learning problems never occurred?

Elisabeth Helenelund also Autism Facilitator/Coach Borga +358 400 79 54 97 v France Sophie Bellavoir-Misciasci Noiseau +33 (6) 04 02 99 21 Christine Bleus Saint Jean de Gonville/Genve +33 450 56 40 48 Claudine Clergeat Brunoy + 33 (06) 78 69 79 56 Jayne Cooke Barr +33 (0) 3 88 74 06 01 Corinne Couelle Lyon +33 (04) 78 88 65 52 Patrick Courtois Juvignac +33 (6) 37 40 49 67 Jennifer Delrieu Auffargis +33 (01) 34 84 88 30 Ginette Donnet Le Havre +33 (699) 3882 05 Claudine Garderes Fontenay-Le-Fleury (near Paris) +33 (642) 15 99 27 Marie Gaydon Limas frei de Lyon +33 (06) 66-58-14-26 Virginie Goleret Grenoble +33 (67) 898 6217 Lisa Henry Bordeaux +33 (15) 57 87 19 63 Sophie Flaux Lasnon Riec Sur Belon +33 (61) 457 0338 Emmanuelle Leibovitz-Schurdevin Tours +33 (613) 02 48 85 Franoise Magarian Legny/Lyon +33 (0474) 72 43 13 Chantal Marot-Vannini Arfeuilles +33 (06) 14 24 26 33 Carol Nelson Boulogne-Billancourt/Paris +33 (09) 52 63 02 05 Odile Puget Segny/Geneve +33 (0) 450 418 267 v Germany/Deutschland Theresia Adler Bannewitz +49 (0351) 40 34 224 Ellen Ebert Ammern +49 (03601) 813-660 Gabriele Doetsch Bad Windsheim +49 (098 41) 688 18 18 Cornelia Garbe also Autism Facilitator/Coach Berlin +49 (030) 61 65 91 25 Astrid Grosse-Mnch Buxtehude +49 (04161) 702 90 70 Christine Heinrich Remseck +49 (0)7146 284 65 60 Sonja Heinrich also Supervisor-Specialist also DDA-DACH Director also Autism Facilitator/Coach Hamburg +49 (40) 25 17 86 23

A: Is there a specific reason that you want to use

pipe cleaners? We think clay is best because of its tactile sensation as well as its 3-dimensionality. For more complex modeling, clay is far more versatile, providing the opportunity to create more detailed models, which may be far more memorable for the person doing the modeling. Working with clay can also help build small motor control and strength in the hands of a child who has difficulties with handwriting or similar problems. Use of clay might be particularly valuable with de-triggering the alphabet, because problems with letter formation that are clear with clay may not be as apparent to the helper or support person if pipe cleaners are used. However, the key idea is that the individual be able to build a 3-dimensional model. Sometimes we have clients who have a tactile aversion, unusual sensitivity or allergy that makes them reluctant or resistant to using clay, or a physical disability that makes working with clay particularly challenging. In that case, use of an alternative modeling media, including pipe cleaners, could make sense. It would certainly be better than the not making any models at all. It might also be a nice alternative to help reignite motivation for a student who has already worked through many word models with clay and seems to be losing interest, or for someone would like to combine clay modeling at home with another option for times when clay is impractical or unavailable. Davis Facilitators have been using clay for more than 30 years and know from experience that it works. We havent worked with pipe cleaners, so we dont have any experience to draw from. Certainly you should feel free to experiment, keeping in mind the underlying goals of the Davis approach.

A: We would say that you have the gift of

dyslexia, but were fortunate not to develop the disability except perhaps with math. Dyslexia is not a disease or a brain defect, as reading and writing are learned skills, not abilities that are innate within the brain. But dyslexia is the result of a different pattern and structure of brain development, which is probably genetically influenced, and impacts the way dyslexics think and learn. In general, a dyslexic person will find it hard to learn to read or write using standard school instructional methods. The disability starts when the child feels confusion and frustration in school. Some people do not develop the disability because during the early grades they were fortunate enough to be in a more flexible school setting which better matched their needs, or they were able to work through their early frustrations. Ron Davis says that dyslexia is a self-created condition. By that he means that the symptoms each person experiences are unique, and influenced by the persons life experiences and the way in which the person reacted or responded to those experiences. Of course he does not mean that anyone creates their symptoms on purpose just that the particular pattern of symptoms and strengths are a function of the way the self perceives and responds to the environment. v

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v Germany (continued) Kirsten Hohage Nrnberg +49 (0911) 54 85 234 Ingrid Huth Berlin +49 (030) 28 38 78 71 Rita Jarrar Mnchen +49 (089) 821 20 30 Inge Koch-Gassmann Buggingen +49 (07631) 23 29 Marianne Kranzer Knigsfeld +49 (07725) 72 26 Anneliese Kunz-Danhauser Rosenheim +49 (08031) 632 29 Sabine La Due also Autism Facilitator/Coach Stuttgart +49 (711) 722 2637 Anne Moeller Grbenzell BRD +49 (081) 4251955 Markus Rauch Freiburg +49 (761) 290 8146 Colette Reimann Landshut +49 (0871) 770 994 Brigitte Reinhardt Offenberg +49 (78109) 919 268 Ursula Rittler also Autism Facilitator/Coach Stuttgart +49 (0711) 47 18 50 Christiane Rosendahl Dortmund +49 0(231) 75 81 53 02 Phoebe Schafschetzy Hamburg +49 (040) 392 589 Margarethe Schlauch-Agostini Volklingen +49 (0689) 844 10 40 Gabriela Scholter also Supervisor-Specialist also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Autism Training Supervisor Stuttgart +49 (0711) 578 28 33 Sylvia Schurak Garlipp +49 (0) 39 32 44 82 Carmen Stappenbacher Bamberg +49 (09547) 431 921 Birgit Thun Hamburg +49 (040) 4135 5015 Beate Tiletzek Waldkraiburg +49 (08638) 88 17 89 Andrea Toloczyki Havixbeck/Mnster +49 (02507) 57 04 84 Ioannis Tzivanakis also Specialist Trainer also Workshop Presenter also DDA-DACH Director Berlin +49 (030) 66 30 63 17 Ulrike von Kutzleben-Hausen Deisslingen +49 (07420) 33 46 Gabriele Wirtz also Autism Facilitator/Coach Stuttgart +49 (711) 55 17 18 Elvira Woelki Mindelheim +33 (082) 61 76 36 38 v Greece Evagelia Apostolopoulou-Armaos Patras +30 (261) 062 21 22 Theano Panagiotopoulou Athens +30 (21) 111 953 50 Traute Lutz Marausi +30 (210) 804 3889 Konstatinos Polychronis Athens +30 (215) 550 8228 Irma Vierstra-Vourvachakis Rethymnon/Crete +30 283105 8201 or 69766 40292 v Iceland slaug sgeirsdttir Mosfellsbaer +354 861-2537 Gigja Baldursdottir Reykjavik +354 562 2840

THE DYSLEXIC READER

BOOK REVIEW
By Laura Zink de Daz

standardized test, and certainly on a high school essay test. Here is a short sampling of the words in her book:

Teaching the Critical Vocabulary of the Common Core: 55 Words That Make or Break Student Understanding
By Marilee Sprenger Publisher: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) (June, 2013) Paperback, 216 pages ISBN-10: 1416615717 ISBN-13: 978-1416615712 Marilee Sprengers most recent book focuses on the 55 most critical words that students must know in order to prepare for the testing that will be based on the Common Core State Standards. Sprenger claims that 85% of a students score on these standardized tests will depend on how well he or she knows the vocabulary of the standards. She visited many classrooms asking students questions like, Can you describe whats in this picture? Contrast those ratios. Analyse this poem. Can you compare your lunch with Emilys? Some students could answer without difficulty, but some, even at the high school level, could not. Her purpose with this book is to provide teachers a focus on the critical vocaublary students must internalize, and interesting ways to teach that vocabulary. Sprenger believes that it is urgent that students understand whats expected from them as they work through the more complex and demanding curriculum required by the Common Core. The early chapters in the book examine research on the teaching of vocabulary and on how the memory works. Later chapers provide Sprengers list of 55 critical verbs, nouns and a few other words students need to master. She also offers quite a few strategies that she believes will help students learn these words: jingles, two and three dimensional graphic organizers, computer games, activities involving movement, and many more. Fortunately, at the end of the book, she includes an appendix with templates for some of the visual organizers she suggests. Sprenger includes some additional information about the CCSS vocabulary standards, and many ideas for keeping the target vocabulary fresh in the minds of students Although we cant include all of the 55 critical words, most teachers could probably come up with a list similar to hers. In fact, it seemed to me as I read the book, that shed left out any number of words students would be likely to find on any

VERBS NOUNS Analyze Analogy Cite Argument Delineate Conclusion Evaluate Details Explain Metaphor Paraphrase Point of View Suggest Rhetoric Synthesize Simile
Sprenger is in favor of flooding the classroom with vocabulary as a way to improve students receptive vocabulary, which will eventually also improve their expressive vocabulary. She encourages teachers to use interactive read-alouds, and both independent and teacher-directed readings to allow students to experience dozens of new words each day. Wall charts large enough for students to consult can show multiple meanings of words theyre expected to use in their writing and understand when encountered on tests.

Many of Sprengers suggestions are wellknown practices already in use by most teachers: previewing books by discussing the title, author, and the illustrations; asking students to predict what the book will be about; preparing students by discussing their prior knowledge about a theme before beginning a reading; using think-alouds to assist comprehension, and many more. I imagine that teachers who are justifiably worried about how they should proceed once the Common Core is implemented in their school, will be thrilled to to have a book at hand to get them started preparing their students for the new tests. However, Im equally sure, that once they read this book, theyll realize that theres not really any magic to it. I predict that they will shortly cease to rely on the strategies provided by Strenger, and will instead begin creating their own successful strategies. I wouldnt be surprised if each year their own students began to suggest charming learning strategies as well! v Marilee Sprenger, author and educator

THE DYSLEXIC READER

9
v Iceland (continued) Sigrn Jnina Baldursdttir Snaefellsbae +354 586 8180 Gudrn Benediktsdttir Hafnarfirdi +354 545 0103 or +354 822 0910 Gudbjrg Emilsdttir also DLS Mentor Kpavogur +354 554 3452 Hlmfridur Gudmundsdttir Gardabae +354 895-0252 Sigurborg Svala Gudmundsdttir Mosfellsbaer +(354) 867-1928

Learning to pay attention early leads to long-term academic success

By Abigail Marshall Young children who are able to pay attention and persist with a task have a 50 percent greater chance of completing college, according to a study from Oregon State University. The study tracked educational outcomes of a group of 430 children over two decades, beginning at age 4. Analysis of the data collected showed that social and behavioral skills, such as paying attention, following directions and completing a task may be more crucial than academic abilities. Lead author Megan McClelland explained, Our study shows that the biggest predictor of college completion wasnt math or reading skills, but whether or not they were able to pay attention and finish tasks at age 4. Parents of preschool children were asked to rate their children on items such as plays with a single toy for long periods of time or child gives up easily when difficulties are encountered. Reading and math skills were assessed at age 7 using standardized assessments. At age 21, the same group was tested again for reading and math skills. Surprisingly, achievement in reading and math did not significantly predict whether or not the students completed college. Instead, researchers found that children who were rated higher by their parents on attention span and persistence at age 4 had nearly 50 percent greater odds of getting a bachelors degree by age 25. McClelland also pointed out that interventions aimed at increasing young childrens self-control abilities have been repeatedly shown to help boost self-regulation, or a childs ability to listen, pay attention, follow through on a task and remember instructions.

This work strengthens the body of evidence supporting Davis methodology, which begins with providing tools that enable students to focus attention and regulate their energy level. Very young children learn Davis Focusing and Dial Setting exercises; older children may benefit from the more sophisticated Davis Orientation training. For more information about this study: Relations between preschool attention span-persistence and age 25 educational outcomes, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 3 August 2012:Megan M. McClelland, Alan C. Acock, Andrea Piccinin, Sally Ann Rhea, Michael C. Stallings, Available online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ article/pii/S0885200612000762 Preschool children who are able to pay attention more likely to finish college, Oregon State University, available online at: http://oregonstate. edu/ua/ncs/archives/2012/aug/preschool-childrenbetter-attention-spans-more-likely-finish-college Abigail Marshall is the Webmaster & Internet Information Services Director for Davis Dyslexia Association International. She is also the author of two books about dyslexia, The Everything Parents Guide to Children with Dyslexia and When Your Child Has ... Dyslexia. This article was first published at Dyslexia the Gift Blog News and Views from Davis Dyslexia at: blog. dyslexia.com/?p=308 v

Jon Einar Haraldsson Lambi Akureyri +354-867-1875 Ingibjrg Ingolfsdttir Mosfellsbaer +354 899-2747 Sigrn Jensdttir Mosfellsbaer +354 897 4437 Valgerdur Jnsdttir Kpavogur +354 863 2005 Sturla Kristjansson Hafnarfjordur +354 862 0872 sta Olafsdttir Vopnafjordur +354 473-1164 Thorbjrg Sigurdardttir Reykjavk +354 698 7213 Kolbeinn Sigurjonsson Mosfellsbaer +354 566 6664 Hugrn Svavarsdttir Mosfellsbr +354 698-6465 v India Veera Gupta New Delhi +91 (11) 986 828 0240 Smrati Mehta Powai Mumbai +91 (989) 277 2795 Kalpita Patel Rajkot, Gujarat +91 (281) 244 2071 Carol Ann Rodrigues Mumbai +91 (22) 2667 3649 or +91 (22) 2665 0174 v Ireland Veronica Bayly Dublin +353 (86) 226 354 Paula Horan Mullingar +353 44 934 1613 Sister Antoinette Keelan Dublin +353 (01) 884 4996 v Israel Luba Elibash Ramat Hasharon +972 (9) 772 9888 Angela Frenkel Beer Sheva +972 (52) 655 8485 Goldie Gilad Kfar Saba/Tel Aviv +972 (09) 765 1185 Judith Schwarcz Raanana/Tel Aviv +972 (09) 772 9888 v Italy Stefania Bruno Nuoro, Sardinia +39 (388) 933 2486 Elisa De Felice Roma +39 (06) 507 3570

Quotable Quotes
Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it. Ren Descartes (1596 1660), French mathematician and philosopher, often called The Father of Modern Philosophy. Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 1882), American essayist, lecturer, and poet, perhaps best known for his poetry collection, Leaves of Grass. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Frederick Douglass (1818 1895), American social reformer, former slave, orator, writer and statesman.

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v Italy (continued) Antonella Deriu Nuoro, Sardinia +32 059 32 96 Catherine Day Geraci Murano Province of Venice +39 (041) 739 527 Piera Angiola Maglioli Occhieppo Inferiore/Biella +39 (015) 259 3080 Sabina Mansutti Tricesimo Udine +39 (349) 272 0307 Alessandro Taiocchi Settimo Milanese +39 (333) 443 7368 Silvia Walter Firenze +39 (055) 22 86 481 v Jamaica Leslie Dahl St. Ann +876 459-4917 v Kenya Manisha Shah Nairobi +254 (721) 492-217 v Lebanon Samar Riad Saab, MA Beirut +961 (3) 700 206 Carol Taljeh-Ariss Beirut +961 (3) 588 752 v Luxembourg Anne Guignard also Autism Facilitator/Coach Fentange +352 (27) 767 872 Nadine Roeder also Autism Facilitator/Coach Luxembourg +352 691 30 0296 Eugenie Schares also Autism Facilitator/Coach Bascharage +352 (621) 625 626 v Malaysia Hilary Craig Kuala Lumpur +60 (36) 201 55 95 v Mexico Magarita Saucedo Alvarez Icaza San Jos Insurgentes DF +52 (55) 35 38 52 40 Katharine Aranda Vollmer Ciudad de Mxico 04 45532 007153 Silvia B. Arana Garca Mexico, D.F. +52 (55) 5540-7205 Cathy Caldern de la Barca also Davis Workshop Presenter Mxico D.F. +52 (55) 5540-7205 Mara Silvia Flores Salinas also DDA Director also Supervisor Specialist Garza Garca Monterrey NL +52 (81) 8378 61 75 Alejandra Garcia Medina Mexico DF +52 (55) 17 18 01 34 Hilda Fabiola Herrera Cantu Culiacan, Sinaloa +52 81 6677 15 01 19 Elaine Lions Ramirez Veracruz +52 (229) 152 1763 Maria Cristina Lopez-Araiza Gonzalez Mxico, D.F. +52 (55) 5536 5889

THE DYSLEXIC READER

New Research: Dyslexics have better picturememory

(Researchers puzzled by results)
By Abigail Marshall If you wanted to design a study to test the hypotheses that dyslexics tend to think in pictures rather than words, one way to do that would be to test them on their ability to remember pictures that they have seen. You might guess that picture-thinkers would tend to store and retrieve remembered images more readily than non-dyslexics. If there is a system in the brain for retrieval, a picture-thinker would be more likely to associate images with visual qualities such as size, shape, or color, or an understanding of what the image depicts, rather than object names. So I was delighted to see the recent publication of a study with the title Enhanced Recognition Memory in Children with Developmental Dyslexia. Cool, I thought researchers who are focused on studying a dyslexic gift. I was even happier, when I read the study, to see that the results were exactly as I had anticipated. The researchers compared the performance of group of 11-year-old dyslexic children with a group non-dyslexic children on tests of how well they remembered line drawings 10 minutes and 24 hours after first being shown the pictures. As I would anticipate, the dyslexic children performed significantly better on those tests of visual memory. The results are quite clear. Dyslexic children are marginally faster at distinguishing whether drawings depict real vs. imaginary objects, and much better at remembering whether they have seen a picture before. But apparently that was not the result the researchers expected to see. They had hypothesized that both groups of children would perform about the same. Why? Because they thought they were studying declarative memory (memory of factual knowledge and personally experienced events), not picture-thinking. I suppose they used pictures in their memory test simply because they could not expect children with known reading difficulties to remember words. Heres how they explained their goals: The aim of the present study was to investigate a previously untested aspect of declarative memory in children with DD (developmental dyslexia), namely recognition memory after incidental encoding. Based on previous evidence indicating that declarative memory impairments in DD may be related to less efficient encoding strategies and/or problems with free recall, we predicted that the present paradigm would yield intact performance in the DD group.

Real Object

Made-up Object

In other words, they wanted to test memory in dyslexic children without needing to rely on the ability to remember or recall words. So they expected that once they eliminated word-memory from the experimental setting, dyslexics would perform about the same as other children. So they were puzzled when it turned out that the dyslexic children were so much better at remembering the pictures. That led them to propose three different, rather convoluted, reasons for the disparity in ability:

Researcher suggestion #1 Maybe dyslexic

children are better at making up new labels in their brains for things they see, to compensate for their lexical retrieval deficits. Then when they see the objects again, they have their new labels available to jar their memory.

Researcher suggestion #2 Maybe the

dyslexic children were simply normal in their ability to remember pictures, but the non-dyslexic group was impaired because the process of learning to read required them to use up space in their brains to remember sight words, thus reducing the available memory available for remembering other stuff they saw.

Researcher suggestion #3 Maybe the

declarative memory (conscious memory for facts and experiences) is improved in dyslexia as a way to compensate for deficits in procedural memory (subconscious memory based on repetition and practice). I think its a good thing when researchers try to explore multiple possible explanations for results. But I am puzzled as to why the researchers dont even mention the obvious: maybe dyslexics just store memories of images in their minds better than non-dyslexics. When I store pictures on my computer hard drive, I can look for them in two ways: I can look through a list of their file names, or I can look through a folder with thumbnails of the images. I usually find it much, much easier to look at the pictures than to try to remember the file names.

THE DYSLEXIC READER

I dont get it. I understand that there are some people in this world who arent very good at mental imagery. But this dyslexia study has five named authors is there not a single one who has figured out the visual memory calls upon different mental resources than the memory for things heard or for abstract ideas? That rather than looking at declarative memory as a bucket in which all items that can be consciously recalled are lumped together, that we as humans may use very different neural networks when asked to recall something that we have seen as opposed to, say, something that we touched or something that we smelled? That you cant draw a conclusion about declarative memory without first accounting for the smaller subsets of memories that correlate to different sensory perceptions? I am glad that these researchers conducted this study, and I am glad that they have published it in an open access journal. But I just wish they could have tried to see the picture that was right in front of their eyes.
v Mexico (continued) Ana Menndez Porrero Puebla +52 (222) 750 76 42

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Lucero Palafox de Martin also Autism Facilitator/Coach Veracruz +52 (229) 935 1302 M. Sylvia Salinas Gonzalez Garza Garcia, NL Lydia Gloria Vargas Garza Garca Monterrey NL +52 (81) 8242 0666 Mauro Salvador Villagomez Santana Celaya Guanajuato +52 (461) 614 9892 v Netherlands Lloyd Christopher Blake Rotterdam +31 (10) 262 1664 Manja Bloemendal Den Haag +31 (70) 345 5252 Lot Blom Utrecht +31 (030) 271 0005 Trudy Borst Best (Near Eindhoven) +31 (0499) 471 198 Gerda Bosma-Kooistra Ens +31 (6) 1334 6196 Jeannette Bruinsma Amersfoort +31 (63) 914 8188 Lieneke Charpentier Nieuwegein +31 (030) 60 41 539 Hester Cnossen Veghel +31 (495) 641 920 Aline de Bruijn Sliedrecht +31 (18) 441 5341 Judith de Haan Heiloo (Near Alkmaar) +31 (63) 078 6483 Mine de Ranitz Driebergen +31 (0343) 521 348 Nicole Dirksen-van de Bunt Hertogenbosch +31 62 133 8868 Marijke Eelkman Rooda-Bos Gouda +31 (0182) 517-316 Jolien Fokkens Beilen +31 (0593) 540 141 Ina Gaus Santpoort-Zuid +31 (023) 538-3927 Jola Geldermans Beverwijk +31 (0251) 210 607 Perola Goncalves Mara Hoop +31 (06) 33 79 63 44 Jan Gubbels Maastricht +31 (043) 36 39 999 Judith Holzapfel Deventer +31 (0570) 619 553 Trudy Joling Laren +31 (035) 531 00 66 Marie Koopman Bilthoven +31 (030) 228 4014 Geertruida Kornman Beverwk +31 (62) 000 6857

Heres the citation and link to the study: Enhanced Recognition Memory after Incidental Encoding in Children with Developmental Dyslexia Hedenius M, Ullman MT, Alm P, Jennische M, Persson J (2013) PLoS ONE 8(5): e63998. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063998, available online at: http://www.plosone.org/ article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal. pone.0063998 Abigail Marshall is the Webmaster & Internet Information Services Director for Davis Dyslexia Association International. She is also the author of two books about dyslexia, The Everything Parents Guide to Children with Dyslexia and When Your Child Has ... Dyslexia. This article was first published at Dyslexia the Gift Blog News and Views from Davis Dyslexia at: blog. dyslexia.com/?p=745 v

I am puzzled as to why the researchers dont even mention the obvious: maybe dyslexics just store memories of images in their minds better than non-dyslexics.

Famous Dyslexics Remember

Luz Rello
Luz Rellos childhood was full of disappointments. In an article at daisy.org she wrote, Even though I used to work extremely hard, the results were sadly always the same: bad grades, especially in language and language-related subjects. She describes a recurring dream she used to have, in which she inexplicably received all As. It was a happy dream, but at the same time, a nightmare, because shed wake up and realize that in real life, she was an academic failure. But she kept on trying, and she was lucky. When she was 12, a new teacher offered her a special room where Rello got help specifically designed for dyslexic children. At the end of that term, her report card was filled with As. Nonetheless, Rello cried her heart out, assuming her teacher had made a mistake. She hadnt. Those were indeed, Luz Rellos grades! Rello says she still has trouble accepting good academic news, but the good news keeps coming. This summer, she was unanimously awarded the European Young Researchers Award for 2013. This is an award given to outstanding doctoral candidates. In childhood Rello never imagined shed one day be enrolled in a PhD program, much less that shed win a prestigious award on the basis of the level of her work and her abilities as a researcher. With this award shes brought a spotlight to an important issue: internet accessibility for dyslexics, like herself. Rello has been working on her doctoral thesis at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, supported by a scholarship from the government of Catalonia, Spain. Her thesis is called DysWebxia. Her research is a combination of linguistics and computer science, based on tools borrowed from natural language processing (NLP) and humancomputer interaction (HCI). Rello looked at how computer algorithms could be designed to substitute common synonyms for words dyslexics find difficult. At the same time, she used eye tracking and facial expression analysis to find out what a dyslexia-friendly internet would look like. Her work represents the first time that HCI techniques have been used to throughly test the impact of interface design elements on a representative sample of dyslexics. Rello says, It is very common that a child with dyslexia is left behind. Unfortunately, the most frequent way of finding out if a person has dyslexia is due to their poor school performance. But it does not have to be in this way because people with dyslexia have the same intelligence as those who do not. What is needed is the right approach to reading text, and now, texts in digital format make this approach possible. Text can be transformed to be read more easily and with our research we are finding how to do this. You can read more about Luz Rellos research at: http:// thenextweb.com/insider/2013/07/14/this-young-scientist-is-using-technology-to-help-dyslexics/ v

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v Netherlands (continued) Carry Kuling Heemstede +31 (0235) 287 782 Edith Kweekel-Gldi Soest +31 (035) 601 0611 Imelda Lamaker Hilversum +31 (035) 621 7309 Irma Lammers also DLS Mentor, Autism Facilitator Coach Boxtel +31 (411) 68 56 83 Sjan Melsen Arnhem +31 (026) 442 69 98 Els Neele Utrecht +31 6 253 5060 Marianne Oosterbaan Zeist +31 (030) 691 7309 Fleur van de Polder-Paton Schiedam +31 (010) 471 58 67 Tjalliena Ponje Arnemuiden +31 06 12 888 365 Petra Pouw-Legne also DLS Mentor-Trainer also Mentor-Presenter Beek +31 (046) 437 4907 Karin Rietberg Holten +31 (548) 364 286 Lydia Rogowski Wijnberg also Autism Facilitator/Coach Helmond +31 (0492) 513 169 Hanneke Schoemaker Wageningen +31 (0317) 412 437 Silvia Jolanda Sikkema also DLS Mentor Drachten +31 (0512) 538 815 Suzan Sintemaartensdijk Akersloot +31 (25) 131-26 62 Marja Steijger also Davis Supervisor-Specialist Amstel +31 (020) 496 52 53 Robin Temple also Specialist Trainer also Workshop Presenter also DDA Director Maria Hoop +31 (0475) 302 203 Kirsten Theeuwen Eibergen +31 (545) 286 828 Romina Toroz Utrecht +31 (61) 280-1821 Jeannet Uiterwijk-Booij Almere +31 (61) 148 0885 Mieke van Delden Leek +31 (059) 4514985 Agnes van den Homberg-Jacobs America Limburg +31 (077) 464 23 22 Annette van der Baan Amsterdam +31 (020) 420-5501 Annemarie van Hof Utrecht +31 (030) 65 86 700 Hilde van Westrhenen Delft +31 (610) 681 605 Mieke Verhallen Mierlo +31 (492) 43 05 04 Lia Vermeulen Huizen +31 (062) 3671530
We are all Dyslexic! continued from page 1

THE DYSLEXIC READER

Recent Recommendations from The Lazy Reader Book Club

By Danny Brassell and Laura Zink de Diaz The hardest thing for me is writing my letters the same size. When I work I use my brain differently compared to others. Dyslexic children find it hard to concentrate and learning is often difficult. Sometimes you feel like your school work is so hard you cant do it and you cant understand the teacher, so you copy off a friend and try to get the right answer. You feel scared and you get teased by your brother or sister and sometimes your friends at school. When you try to read the letters mix themselves up and this makes the sentence hard to understand. Did you know dyslexic people take twice as long to copy and write down information on paper? Some interesting points to note are, dyslexic people tend to have a bigger brain compared to other peoples brain; and dyslexia can be passed on through your familys genes. Teachers might not understand, and may think you are lazy because you are not putting much information down on your paper. Kids with dyslexia tend to be very good at other things, such as Art, Sports and Drama etc. Many dyslexics do well when they leave school because they can do what they are good at and statistics show forty percent of self-made millionaires are dyslexic. Kids that have dyslexia have to deal with this every day. We need three dimensional pictures because they help us. I found out that I was dyslexic at the age of eight years old. I was diagnosed by Angi Edwards, who helped me complete a Davis Dyslexia Correction Program. She taught me techniques and skills to make learning easer. If you are struggling with learning at school maybe you should get tested too. v
Every month at Danny Brassells website, The Lazy Readers Book Club, youll find a list of books he recommends for reluctant readers or for those who just dont have time for much reading. (He knows were not lazy, just busy or in need of encouragement!) Dannys recommendations are always organized into categories: AD, for adults; YA, for young adults; CH, for childrens books. He always lists a page count and some brief comments, as below. Danny usually posts about 10 recommendations per month, three or four per category. Heres a sampling of Dannys most recent recommendations in all three categories. You can read more recommendations at the website, www.lazyreaders.com. There youll not only find Dannys current picks, but the archives of past selections by month, reading level, and page count enough recommendations for a lifetime of reading! You can also sign up for monthly book alerts, while youre browsing. If you purchase books at Amazon.com through links at the Lazy Readers website, Bookends (www. bookends.org) will receive a donation. (Bookends is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing childrens access to books, as well as community service awareness.)

Sophie Tierney, at home in New Zealand

Davis Dyslexia Association Bookstore

Books & Tools for Doing it on Your Own
The Gift of Dyslexia: Why Some of the Smartest People Cant Read and How They Can Learn
(Revised and Updated 2010 edition)

Davis Young Learner Kit for Home-Use

Features a new Foreword by Dr. Linda Silverman and two new chapters on Davis methods for correcting Dyslexia. $15.95 Softcover

Provides parents with the instructions and materials needed to provide 5-7 year olds with effective and fun learning strategies for improving prereading and language arts skills. Young Learner Kit for Home-Use $129.95

DVD/AUDIO CD SOFTWARE
Dyslexia The Gift I Can Do It The Confidence to Learn
I Can Do It The Confidence to Learn Teachers, parents, school administrators, and students speak about the many benefits of using Davis Learning Strategies at Vale Elementary School in Oregon. DVD $9.00 (running time: 12 minutes) This documentary introduces the concepts and methods in The Gift of Dyslexia. Viewers of all ages will find the interviews and animated sequences highly informative and entertaining. DVD $39.95

Gift of Dyslexia Audio CD Set

This 4 CD set contains full narration of The Gift of Dyslexia, read by author Ron Davis. 4-CD Set $29.95

Unlocking the Power of Dyslexia A brief look at the life of Ronald Davis and the impact of his remarkable discoveries. DVD: $8.00 (Run time: 15 minutes) The Davis Dyslexia Correction Program This documentary film provides an excellent overview of Facilitators at work with Davis clients,explains how dyslexics think and perceive, what causes dyslexia, and what occurs during and after a Davis Program. DVD: $8.00 (Run time: 18 minutes) Davis Dyslexia Correction Orientation Procedures This detailed instructional DVD provides demonstrations of each of the Davis procedures for assessment and orientation described in The Gift of Dyslexia and The Gift of Learning. These methods help focus attention, eliminate perceptual confusion, improve physical coordination, and control energy levels. DVD: $85.00 Davis Symbol Mastery and Reading Exercises Features 27 examples of Facilitators and clients using the Davis Symbol Mastery Kit and practicing the Davis Reading Exercises. Included are mastering the alphabet, punctuation marks, pronunciation, and words; and reading exercises to build visual tracking and whole word recognition skills, and to improve reading fluency and comprehension. (This DVD is included with Davis Symbol Mastery Kit) DVD: $85.00

NEW!
Davis Orientation and Symbol Mastery Home Kit
Each kit comes with a sturdy nylon shoulder bag and includes: Davis Dyslexia Correction is a comprehensive Ron Davis' book, The Gift of Dyslexia Davis Dyslexia Correction Orientation Procedures DVD approach to dyslexia, which simultaneously Davis Symbol Mastery Manual and Checklist provides tools for attention focus, resolving Davis Symbol Mastery & Reading Exercises DVD perceptual confusion, and building reading Reusable Modeling Clay (2 lbs.) skills. That Davis Orientation tools give Webster's Children's Dictionary - (Hardcover) students the ability to sustain attention in Checking Your Grammar (Softcover Book) a relaxed and natural way. Davis Symbol Laminated Alphabet Strip Mastery is a visual-spatial learning process Stop Signs for Reading Chart that improves anyone's basic literacy skills. Punctuation Marks & Styles Booklet The Davis approach is fun and engaging, Letter Recognition Cards even for young children. Pronunciation Key Cards Set of 2 Koosh Balls Deluxe Kit $249.95 NEW!

Already have a copy of the The Gift of Dyslexia? If you already have the 2010 edition of the book (blue cover), you can choose to substitute another book!

THE DYSLEXIC READER

BOOKS FOR CREATIVE LEARNING

El Don de la Dislexia The Gift of Dyslexia
in Spanish. Newly revised with additional chapters, illustrations and photographs. Published in Spain by Editex Softcover $28.95

The Gift of Learning by Ronald D. Davis, Eldon M. Braun

Expands the Davis Methods with theories and correction procedures that address the three basic areas of learning disability other than reading, which children and adults experience. Softcover $13.95

Picture It!

by Betty Maxwell and Crystal Punch This 250-page illustrated book is full of practical tips and advice for working with students who learn best through visual or hands-on activities. Softcover $19.95

REFERENCE BOOKS
Gabby's Wordspeller

MATH BOOKS
Barrons Mathematics Study Dictionary
by Frank Tapson Comprehensive definitions and explanations of mathematical terms, organized by concept. Geared to ages 10 to adult. Softcover $14.99

by Diane Frank How do you find a word in the dictionary if you have no idea how to spell it? With this book! Lets you look up words by their phonetic spelling to find its correct spelling. $25.95 Softcover

The Everything Parent's Guide to Children with Dyslexia: Learn the Key Signs of Dyslexia and Find the Best Treatment Options for Your Child
by Abigail Marshall A must read for every parent who knows or suspects their child has dyslexia. Second Edition Softcover $15.95

Math Dictionary

by Carol Vorderman Ages 7 to 12. More than 300 entries on words, phrases, and concepts used by gradeschool students in math class and in their lives. $14.95

AU T I S M B O O K S
Understanding Controversial Therapies For Children with Autism, ADD and Other Learning Disabilities by Lisa Kurtz A comprehensive guide to just about every outsidethe-box therapy you might run across, and then some. An absolutely essential reference for anyone who wants to know and explore available options. Softcover: $17.95 $19.95
The Everything Parents Guide to Children with Autism: Know What to Expect, Find the Help You Need, and Get Through the Day by Adelle Jameson Tilton From finding support groups to planning for their child's future, this book provides parents with all the information they need to ensure that their childs and their families needs are met. Softcover: $13.45 $14.95

THE DYSLEXIC READER

A Parents Guide to Asperger Syndrome & High Functioning Autism by Sally Ozonoff, Geraldine Dawson and James McPartland An indispensable guide packed with real-life success stories, practical problem-solving ideas, and matter-of-fact advice. Softcover: $13.25 $14.95

Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew

Born on a Blue Day

by Ellen Notbohm A must have for parents to read and share. Provides the insight needed to better understand, love and support an autistic family member. Softcover $10.50 $14.95

by Daniel Tammet First-person account of living with synesthesia and savantism, a rare form of Aspergers syndrome. Softcover $9.80 $14.00

AUTISM AND THE SEEDS OF CHANGE

Achieving Full Participation in Life with the Davis Autism Approach
by Abigail Marshall, with Ronald D. Davis An in-depth look at a revolutionary approach to empower individuals with autism, and provide the understanding and tools needed to achieve their full potential. The Davis Autism Approach is uniquely geared to the autistic perspective, and enables each person to make sense of their world and the motivations and behaviors of others around them. This book explores the history of development of the Davis method, explores its connections to emerging scientific research, and takes the reader on a guided journey through the three phases of the program: Individuation, Identity Development, and Social Integration.
Softcover $17.95

KIDS CORNER
Charlie's Challenge
by Ann Root & Linda Gladden This richly illustrated story offers a positive view and encouraging news for youngsters struggling in school. Geared to ages 5-9. Softcover $13.45 $14.95

How To Order
Mail DDAI 1601 Old Bayshore Hwy. #260 Burlingame, CA 94010 Fax 1-650-692-7075 Phone Toll free 1-888-999-3324 Local 1-650-692-7141 Online www.dyslexia.com/bookstore

ORDER FORM
ITEM DESCRIPTION UNIT PRICE QTY TOTAL DAVIS DYSLEXIA MATERIALS Unlocking the Power of Dyslexia DVD............................$8.00 Davis Dyslexia Correction Program DVD.........................$8.00 Davis Orientation Procedures DVD.............................. $85.00 Symbol Mastery & Reading Exercises DVD.................. $85.00 I Can Do ItThe Confidence to Learn DVD....................$9.00 The Gift of Dyslexia 2010 Edition................................. $15.95 The Gift of Learning..................................................... $13.95 Dyslexia-the Gift DVD.................................................. $39.95 Gift of Dyslexia Audio CD Set...................................... $29.95 Gift of Dyslexia - Spanish Edition................................. $28.95 Davis Orientation and Symbol Mastery Home Kit....... $249.95 NEW! OTHER BOOKS FOR REFERENCE & LEARNING NEW! $17.95 Autism and the Seeds of Change................................. Barrons Math Dictionary............................................. $14.99 Born on a Blue Day.......................................... $9.80 $14.00 Charlies Challenge ....................................... $13.45 $14.95 Checking Your Grammar.................................................$8.99 Everything Parents Guide To Autism.............. $13.45 $14.95 Everything Parents Guide To Dyslexia......................... NEW! $15.95 Gabby's Wordspeller.................................................... $25.95 Math Dictionary............................................................$14.95 Parents Guide to Asperger Autism................. $13.25 $18.95 Picture It!......................................................................$19.95 Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes... $10.50 $14.95 Understanding Controversial Therapies......... $17.95 $19.95 Websters New World Childrens Dictionary................. $19.95

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Ship to: _____________________________________________ Address: _____________________________________________ City/State: ___________________________________________ Zip/Country: __________________________________________ Check here if you would like to receive FREE INFORMATION on: q Davis Dyslexia Correction Programs q Professional Training in Davis Procedures q Sponsoring Davis Workshops in your area Payment: Check: q Enclosed is my check made payable to DDAI Credit Card: q VISA q MasterCard q Discover q American Express Card # ______________________________________________ Exp. date: Name: ______________________________________________
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THE DYSLEXIC READER

13
v Netherlands (continued) Christien Vos also Autism Facilitator/Coach Tolbert +31 (0594) 511 607 Gerda Witte-Kuijs Heerhugowaard +31 (072) 571 3163 Elisabeth Weterings-Gaaikema Al Harkstede + 31 (623) 045 369 v New Zealand Rochelle Booth Wanganui +64 (027) 306-6743 Kirsteen Britten also Autism Facilitator/Coach Christchurch +64 (3) 348 1665 Vivienne Carson Auckland +64 (09) 520-3270 Catherine Churton also Supervisor-Specialist Auckland +64 (09) 360 7377 Maria Copson Dunedin +64 (03) 479 0510 Ann Cook Warkworth/Auckland +64 (0) 9 422 0042 Melanie Curry Christchurch +64 (03) 322-1726 Angi Edwards Whakatane +64 (07) 308 6882 Martine Falconer Christchurch +64 (03) 383-1988 Wendy Haddon Mosgiel +64 (03) 489-8572 Sandra Hartnett Wellington +64 (4) 499 5658 Margot Hewitt Kaiapoi +64 (27) 455-7724 Alma Holden also Autism Facilitator/Coach Alexandra +64 (027) 485-6798 Glenys Knopp Darfield +64 (03) 317-9072

Recent Recommendations from The Lazy Reader Book Club

The Vacation

By Polly Horvath YA 197 pages Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (2005) ISBN-10: 0307282368 ISBN-13: 978-0307282361 When you read a book by Polly Horvath, you can depend on her providing quirky characters in extraordinary situations. You also will find yourself wishing for more as you quickly devour her stories. Students really enjoy this story of a 12-year-old left in the care of his eccentric aunts on an unforgettable vacation. Terrific read aloud.

Chu Jus House

By Gloria Whelan YA 240 pages Publisher: Harper Collins (2005) ISBN-10: 0060507268 ISBN-13: 978-0439799553 Remarkable story of a 14-year-old girl in China who leaves home so her parents will not sell her baby sister. See, under Chinas rural population law, families are only allowed two babies, and every family wants at least one boy. Think this book will spark some interesting discussions in class?

Lies and Other Tall Tales

By Zora Neale Hurston CH 40 pages Publisher: Harper Collins (2005) ISBN-10: 0060006552 ISBN-13: 978-0060006556

Kaline Klattermaster's Tree House

By Haven Kimmel CH 160 pages Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2008) ISBN-10: 0689874022 ISBN-13: 978-0689874024

Leila Martin Hawera Taranaki +64 (027) 721-3273 Raewyn Matheson Westown New Plymouth +64 (06) 753 3957 Christine McCarthy Waikanae Beach Kapiti Coast +64 (2) 173 4795 Tania McGrath Christchurch +64 (03) 322 41 73 Shelley McMeeken also DDA Director also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Autism Training Supervisor also Supervisor-Specialist Dunedin +64 0274 399 020 Linda McNaughten Dannevirke +64 (6) 374 1575 Colleen Morton Gore +64 (03) 208 6308 Jocasta Oliver Paraparaumu Beach +64 (4) 904 4162 Wendy Person Hastings +64 (06) 870 4243

I dont know how I never saw this book before. Beautifully illustrated by one of my favorites, Christopher Myers, this collection of long-lost, one-line folktales is sure to spawn a classroom filled with students creating their own. Terrific fun.

Kaline is the kid who colors outside the line. Way outside! Kaline Klattermasters Tree House is about the rich inner life of the creative mind. This book would make a wonderful precursor to students interested in reading Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos, as students (and parents, for that matter) delight in these relatable adventures of a third grade boy with ADHD.

14
v New Zealand (continued) Janet Pirie Raumati Beach Wellington + 64 (04) 298 1626 Alison Syme Darfield +64 (03) 318-8480 Lorna Timms also Davis Workshop Presenter also Supervisor-Specialist also Autism Facilitator/Coach, Training Supervisor & Workshop Presenter Christchurch +64 (03) 363 9358 Cherone Wilson Howick Auckland +64 (21) 184 5047 Margot Young also Autism Facilitator/Coach Johnsonville +64 (04) 478-2208 v Norway

THE DYSLEXIC READER

Disturbing changes in Early Childhood Education

A recent survey by the nonprofit, Defending The Early Years (DEY), has encountered a disturbing shift in early childhood education across the USA. Many classrooms, especially those that depend on public funds, look more and more like classrooms for older children where standards, testing, and accountability rule. Federal and state mandates are pushing academic skills and testing down to younger children, even preschoolers. These days, there is less and less emphasis on promoting child development, active, play-based learning, and hands-on exploration for our nations youngest learners.

Maria Olaisen Lovund +47 (9) 027 6251 Ragnhild Slettevold

also Autism Facilitator/Coach

Skjaerhalden +47 413 12 509 Heida Karen Vidarsdottir also Autism Facilitator/Coach Lovund +47 9 138 4744
v Peru Judith Zapata Prange Lima +51 (964) 382 889 v Philippines Maria Catherine (Maricar) Rivera Dizon Pasig City +63 (2) 475 6284 v Poland Agnieszka ubkowska Warsaw +48 (46) 855 77 02 v Portugal Sofia Vassalo Santos Lisboa +35 (191) 911-2565 v Republic of Singapore Phaik Sue Chin Singapore +65 6773 4070 Constance Chua Singapore +65 6873 3873 v Russia Mira Ashush Moscow +972 (3) 635 0973 Nina Gekhman Moscow +7 (495) 788 8386 Luba Niazov Moscow +972 54 476 6203 (Israel) Nadezhda Popova Moscow +7 (495) 683 3182 Kalina Potyak Moscow + 972 (52) 257 2783 Oxana Stein Moscow +972 (52) 223 5015 Maria Stulova Moscow +7 (916) 223 2727 Lora Zakon-Oran Moscow +7 495-7888386

I am required to engage in teaching activities that are not developmentally appropriate for my students.

as the lessons I am mandated to teach. Every day staff members comment on how they cant do this much longer, as it goes against every belief we have in teaching young children. Sixty percent of all teachers agreed with the statement,I am required to engage in teaching activities that are not developmentally appropriate for my students. A striking eighty-five percent of public school teachers agreed. A school teacher from New York commented, Kindergarten students are being forced to write words, sentences, and paragraphs before having a grasp of oral languageWe are assessing them weekly on how many sight words, letter sounds, and letter names they can identify. And were assessing the neediest students reading every other day. In response to the statement, I am required to use assessments that are not developmentally appropriate for my students, 53 percent of all teachers and 79 percent of public school teachers agreed.

During the course of the school year 2012-2013, 185 teachers of Pre-K through third grade at public and private schools across 31 states participated in a DEY online survey. They overwhelmingly reported that recent policy changes have hindered not helped their young students. Teachers at public schools expressed the most concern. Forty-nine percent of all teachers and sixtynine percent of public school teachers responding answered No to the statement, My students have adequate time to play and explore at school. We know that it is through play that young children make sense of their world, learn and develop creative thinking and problem-solving skills, and deal with stress. For this reason, specialists in early childhood education promote optimal development and learning through play. Yet, according to this survey half of all teachers and and two-thirds of public school teachers feel their efforts to do so are hampered by the pressure to teach specific academic skills and adhere to scripted curricula. A teacher from Maine commented, When teachers in my district bring this [need for play] to the attention of administrators for discussion, we get our hands slapped. After thirty-plus years of teaching, I am currently working at least twelvehour days in an attempt to plan in such a way that I can provide time for my students to have opportunities for play and exploration as well

A Connecticutt teacher with over 30 years of experience commented, Everything that is taught is taught [at] an earlier age. It is frightening to see what is expected of young students. I became a teacher because I loved school. I wanted children to love school as well. When I talk to young children and ask them what they like about school, so many say, I hate school. This comes from many kindergarten children. That is very sad. If you are going to love school at any time, you should definitely love being in kindergarten. Public school teachers clearly expressed more concerns than private school teachers, whose programs are not dependent on federal and state funds that mandate standards, testing, and accountability. The DEY concludes that the children of families who can afford the tuition at private preschools receive a curriculum better grounded in play-based learning and child development principles, than children from less affluent families, who are more likely to attend publicly funded programs. You can read the full article, The Disturbing Shift Underway In Early Childhood Classrooms, by Valerie Strauss, at The Answer Sheet Blog at The Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/l6mp7l2

THE DYSLEXIC READER

v Serbia Jelena Radosavljevic Kraljevo +381 (063) 76 28 792

15

The Myth of Lagging US Schools

Americans like to think of themselves as Number 1 in everything, but for years critics of our public school system have claimed that our schools are significantly worse than those in other countries. These claims have been used to justify get tough reforms: high-stakes testing, a nationalized curriculum in the form of the Common Core State Standards, more homework, a longer school day or year the list goes on. Alfie Kohn, a leading lecturer and author on various education topics, has looked into this commonly held belief as have many others. Here are a few of his conclusions:

v South Africa

Test scores are largely a function of socioeconomic status.

Sharon Gerken Salt Rock +27 (82) 828 5180 Axel Gudmundsson also Fundamentals Workshop Presenter Western Cape +27 (021) 783 2722 v Switzerland/CH Tinka Altwegg-Scheffmacher St. Gallen +41 (071) 222 07 79 Monika Amrein also Autism Facilitator/Coach Zurich +41 (01) 341 8264 Regula Bacchetta-Bischofberger Horw/Luzern +41 (041) 340 2136 Priska Baumgartner Wettingen +41 (056) 426 28 88 Renata Blum Niedergosgen +41 (079) 501 52 71 Michelle Bonardi Castel S. Pietro, Ticino +41 (091) 630 23 41 Susi Fassler St. Gallen +41 (071) 244 5754 Ursula Fischbacher Orpund +41 (032) 355 23 26 Antoinette Fluckiger Mohlin + 41 (61) 854 4760 Heidi Gander-Belz Fehraltorf/Zurich +41 (44) 948 14 10 Katharina Grenacher Liebefeld (near Bern) +41(31) 382 00 29 Doris Rubli Huber St. Gallen +41 (071) 245 5690 Christa Jaeger Riehen +41 (061) 643 2326 Consuelo Lang Lumino +41 (091) 829 05 36 Claudia Lendi St. Gallen +41 (071) 288 41 85 Beatrice Leutert Stein am Rhein +41 (052) 232 03 83 Erika Meier-Schmid Bonstetten +41 (01) 700 10 38 Yvonne Meili Reinach +41 (77) 415 69 46 Christine Noiset Av. Floral, 11 1006 Lausanne +41 (79) 332 27 75 Vronique Pfeiffer Zrich +41 (01) 342 22 61 Regine Roth-Gloor Mohlin/Basel +41 (061) 851 2685 Benita Ruckli Ruswil +41 (041) 495 04 09 or (079) 719 31 18

4. Education economy. Is the state of a nations

economy meaningfully affected by the test scores of students in that nation? A number of studies suggest that the answer is no. For individual students, school achievement is only weakly related to their workplace performance in adulthood. And for nations, theres little correlation between average test scores and economic vigor, even if you try to connect scores during one period with the economy some years later (when that cohort of students has grown up). You can read the full article, Were Number Umpteenth!: The myth of lagging U.S. schools at The Answer Sheet Blog at The Washington Post: http://tinyurl.com/cw4updb

1. Even taking the numbers at face value, the U.S.

fares reasonably well. A study of a dozen different international achievement surveys conducted from 1991 to 2001, found that U.S. students have generally performed above average in comparisons with students in other industrialized nations. And the most recent data, which include math and science scores for grade 4, grade 8, and age 15, and reading scores for grade 4 and age 15 shows the same: of those eight results, the U.S. scored above average in five, average in two, and below average in just one.

Groundbreaking Research in Bilingualism

By Laura Zink de Daz, Davis Facilitator in Bogot, Colombia You can still find at the Gallaudet University website an article by Allison Polk, published in Gallaudet Today in 2012. She discusses research by Dr. Laura-Ann Petitto revealing that the auditory cortex isnt exclusively set to sound. Rather, it perceives highly specific temporal patterns at the heart of all human language. When I began those studies, people said I was crazy. This is a revolution. You are going to be wrong. We wont publish your papers, said Petitto. Study after study showed that for every level of language organization, signed languages and spoken languages were using the identical brain tissue. Petitto points out that The human brain does not discriminate between the hands and the tongue. People discriminate, but not our biological human brain. Using fNIRS (functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy) Dr. Pettitos team examines how the brains of young children exposed to sign and spoken language behave. She also studies how children learn to read, and the effects of early bilingual language exposure on the developing brain. Pettito believes the research will provide us with tangible mechanisms for remediation in young children who have dyslexia or young autistic children because we have seen that training children
(continued on the next page)

2. What do we really learn from standardized

tests? One-shot, pencil-and-paper standardized tests especially multiple-choice tests are flawed indicators of learning. They really only measure students skills at taking that kind of test. Authentic, classroom-based assessments do a much better job of determining what students have learned, what sense they make of it, and what they can do with it.

3. Rich American kids do fine; poor American

kids dont. Test scores are largely a function of socioeconomic status. Our wealthier students perform very well when compared to other countries; our poorer students do not. U.S. schools with fewer than 10 percent of students in poverty, ranked first among all nations on PISA tests in reading. However schools serving more than 75 percent of students in poverty scored alongside nations like Serbia, ranking about fiftieth.

16
v Switzerland/CH (continued) Lotti Salivisberg Basel +41 (061) 263 33 44 Sonja Sartor Winterthur +41 (052) 242 41 70 Beatrix Vetterli Frauenfeld +41 (52) 720 1017 Andreas Villain Zrich +41 (71) 977 26 12 Margit Zahnd Gerolfingen +41 (079) 256 86 65 or (032) 396 19 20 Claudia Ziegler-Fessler Hamikon (Near Zurich) +41 (041) 917 1315 v United Arab Emirates Linda Rademan Dubai +9714 348 1687 v United Kingdom Joy Allan-Baker London +44 (0757) 821 8959 Nicky Bennett-Baggs Little Gaddesden, Herts +44 (01442) 252 517 Amanda Bergstrom Manchester +44 (161) 256 3209 Lisa Cartwright London +44 (0773) 890-6500 Sarah Dixon Ranmore Common, Surrey +44 (01483) 283 088 Susan Duguid London +44 (0154) 853 1264 Dyslexia Correction Centre Georgina Dunlop also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Autism Training Supervisor Jane E.M. Heywood also Autism Facilitator/Coach Training Supervisor also DLS Mentor & Presenter Ascot, Berkshire +44 (01344) 622 115 Christine East Kingsbridge, Devon +44 (01548) 856 045 Nichola Farnum MA London +44 (020) 8977 6699 Maureen Florido Harleston, Norfolk +44 (01379) 853 810 Carol Forster Gloucester +44 (1452) 331 573 Ines Graefin Grote Great Yarmouth Norfolk + 44 (1493) 393 208 Achsa Griffiths Sandwich, Kent +44 (01304) 611 650 Tessa Halliwell also Autism Facilitator/Coach Tugby Leicestershire +44 (0116) 259 8068 Phyllida Howlett also Autism Facilitator/Coach Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire +44 (01437) 766 806 Angela James Reading, Berkshire +44 (0118) 947 6545 Liz Jolly Fareham, Hants +44 (01329) 235 420 In The News - continued from page 15

THE DYSLEXIC READER

in temporal patterning can cause that brain tissue thats not working to not only reorganize but to by Abigail Marshall become re-engaged. Its clear that these studies refute any remaining The New Jersey state legislature recently passed bias against considering sign languages real two new laws aimed at helping dyslexic children. languages, as if they were inferior and limited in One establishes the definition of dyslexia; comparison to spoken languages. another requires that all school teachers receive Ive also heard all my life that certain spoken extra training in reading instruction, including languages are inferior to others, that the complexity dyslexia. A third law, which will establish a pilot or flexibility of certain languages allows speakers program for dyslexia intervention, is still pending. to express more complex thought, reflecting and A similar law was passed earlier this year in facilitating higher intelligence. Its more likely that Arkansas, and another bill defining dyslexia is this perception is an effect of incomplete, nonnow pending in Pennsylvania. native fluency of any but our own language. If we These laws are needed because parents in many dont have native fluency in another language and states are often given contradictory and inaccurate a high degree of cultural literacy, can we ever really information when seeking help for a child who is know to what extent weve fully understood the struggling in school. Sometimes they are told that ideas expressed in that language? I expect that as dyslexia is a medical diagnosis, not something Pettito and her team continue their studies, a lot of that the school can help with, despite the fact that ideas on which weve based assumptions about dyslexia is among the specifically enumerated culture, language, and intelligence around the disabilities listed in the federal special education world and in our own multicultural, multilingual law (IDEA). Worse, some parents are told by society will have to be thrown out. teachers or school administrators that there is no Im also interested in the implications these such thing as dyslexia; or perhaps they are simply findings may have for dyslexics. There is told that their school prefers not to use that word. considerable focus on auditory processing as The net result is that parental efforts to seek help the key issue in dyslexia, although I find that are frustrated, as they get caught in a cycle of what only in a small percentage of my clients does an one father called definition dysplacia (when testing auditory processing component contribute to their leads to more confusion). difficulties. Neither are they all visual learners. The New Jersey law adopts the following Whats going on in the dyslexic brain is more definition of dyslexia: Dyslexia is a specific complicated and more interesting than either of learning disability that is neurological in those diagnoses suggests. origin. It is characterized by difficulties And Im interested in how this information will with accurate and/or fluent word recognition be communicated to educators: whether it will be and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. have any effect on how we teach, or be seen as These difficulties typically result from a deficit just another interesting piece of information that in the phonological component of language neednt affect what we do in the classroom. For that is often unexpected in relation to other example, in language classes, will we continue to cognitive abilities and the provision of effective rely on textbooks focussed on memorization of classroom instruction. Secondary consequences grammatical and syntactical patterns? Or will we may include problems in reading comprehension finally recognize that what learners see and do with and reduced reading experience that can their bodies while learning a language, is ultimately impede growth of vocabulary and more important for learning? Seeing and doing background knowledge. allow the brain to create those same patterns for The definitions included in the new Arkansas itself, with little effort, leading to faster and more law and the Pennsylvania bill are similar. permanent acquisition. Yes, humans are pattern For information about all state Some parents are told seekers. But we often seem to laws concerning dyslexia, and by teachers or school want to use the patterns we regularly updated information administrators that perceive to define categories about new legislation, visit: there is no such thing and differences. Perhaps its http://www.dyslegia.com/ comforting to perceive a pattern as dyslexia. that allows us to place people Abigail Marshall is the and things in little boxes, where Webmaster & Internet we can safely presume we know what and who Information Services Director for Davis Dyslexia they are. But ultimately, the more we learn about Association International. She is also the author the universe beyond our biosphere, and deep within of two books about dyslexia, The Everything our own brain, the more we ought to be noticing Parents Guide to Children with Dyslexia and how many of the patterns we find are interrelated When Your Child Has ... Dyslexia. This article and dependent on one another. Literally everything was first published at Dyslexia the Gift Blog News is more complicated and yet at the same time and Views from Davis Dyslexia at: blog.dyslexia. more simple than we think. v com/?p=761 v

New Jersey Passes Dyslexia Laws

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writing scores!) Yet many schools have removed novels, light reading and even challenging hundreds of standards, turning the curriculum into works, to provide more time for test preparation. We put our students in a race to perform well a river of facts a mile wide and an inch deep. When teachers must cover as much material as on high-stakes reading tests, but we dont give them enough access to reading to be able to do possible in too short a period, students become well. If we really want them to become great demotivated, realizing theyre not understanding readers, we need to provide them with easy the complexities of what theyre studying. This rush to cover, rather than to teach, is demotivating access to all kinds of high-interest reading for teachers as well, most of whom really want to material. We not only dont do that in many schools, but public libraries have been closing give students a good education. all over the country, and many communities Gallagher also quotes Robert J. Sternberg, have no book stores either. (Check to see if your former president of the American Psychological school library has been cut back or eliminated, Association. Sternberg notes that the facts or if theres even a librarian any more!) he learned in his own introductory course in psychology would today be entirely irrelevant. Facts change as our society learns and progresses. What can you do to prevent readicide in your school? Here are a few suggestions Gallagher Rather than to ask students to memorize facts, mentions in Readicide: Sternberg suggests that we should emphasize skills that would make our students expert 1. Take a stand, asking your school administrator, citizens: creativity, common sense, wisdom, ethics, dedication, honesty, teamwork, hard work, school board, the community, whoever it takes, to invest in more high-interest books at all grade knowing how to win or how to lose, a sense of levels for your school library. fair play, and lifelong learning. But memorizing books is certainly not one of them. 2. If youre a teacher, augment the books Sternberg adds that active and engaged available to your students with authentic, real citizens must be creatively flexible, responding to world text and you can do this at home as rapid changes in the environment; able to think well. Cull newspapers, essays, blogs, speeches, critically about what they are told in the media, magazines and websites for interesting writings whether by news-casters, politicians, advertisers, that will broaden your students or childrens or scientists; able to execute their ideas and knowledge of the world. persuade others of their value; and, most of all, able to use their knowledge wisely in ways 3. Establish a book flood zone. For teachers, that avoid the horrors of bad leadership, as we this means gradually building a classroom library, have seen in scandals involving Enron, Arthur with multiple copies of popular books. You can Anderson, Tyco, Clearstream, and innumerable do this by requesting discretionary funds from other organizations. As Gallagher points out, these are not skills emphasized in todays schools, your school principal, Title I or Title II school improvement funds. The focus should be on fun because our students are drowning in shallow books, high interest, motivating themes. You water, too busy covering standards, to have any can do the same at home through trips to the time for deep thinking. library or allowing your child to buy books from Another side effect of our narrow focus on Scholastic every month. If your childs teacher isnt reading exams rather than authentic reading, is that many of our students are leaving high school participating in Scholastic Books classroom sales, send him or her this link: https://clubs2.scholastic. without the cultural literacy they need in order com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/LogonForm to fully participate in our democratic society. Teachers are alarmed to discover that they can Gallagher is correct when he writes, We give count on the fingers of one hand, the number of struggling students a treatment that does not seniors who can name the vice president, or even recognize his name when they hear it. One reason work, and worse, a treatment that turns them off to reading. When they for this is that students perform poorly on mandated arent doing the kind of exams, we respond by giving reading most adults do: them an intensified dose of of newspapers, magazines, the ineffective treatment blogs and websites. And many leave our schools they rarely have the hating reading, arguably opportunity to read an the single most important entire novel, or do light skill we want our students recreational reading. to value as they head into Studies have long shown adulthood. v that students who read for fun score the highest on standardized reading tests. (They also have the highest
Readicide - continued from page 4 Sara Kramer London +44 (0208) 251 7920 Marilyn Lane Redhill +44 (0173) 776-9049

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v United Kingdom (continued)

Stuart Parsons Lowton/Warrington, Cheshire +44 (07754) 534 740 Fionna Pilgrim Keighley, West Yorkshire +44 (1535) 661 801 Maxine Piper Carterton, Oxon +44 (01993) 840 291 Elenica Nina Pitoska London +44 (020) 8451 4025 Ian Richardson Longhope Gloucestershire +44 (01452) 830 056 Janice Scholes Liversedge, West Yorkshire +44 (0) 8000 272657 Caroline Smith Moggerhanger Bedfordshire +44 (01767) 640 430 Judith Shaw also Supervisor-Specialist St. Leonards on Sea/Hastings, East Sussex +44 (01424) 447 077 Elizabeth Shepherd Crowborough, East Sussex +44 (0189) 266-1052 Drs. Rene van der Vloodt also Supervisor-Specialist Reigate, Surrey +44 (01737) 240 116 Evelyn White Walton-on-Thames, Surrey +44 (01932) 243 083 The Blueberry Center Margarita Viktorovna Whitehead also DDA Director Richard Whitehead, MA MPhil (Oxon), Dip.RSA(SpLD), PGCE also DDA Director also Supervisor/Specialist also Advanced Workshop Presenter also DLS Mentor & Presenter +44 (0)1684 574072 Great Malvern, Worcestershire +44 (8000) 27 26 57 (Toll Free) Paul Francis Wright Ambleside Cumbria +44 (077) 9684 0762 v United States Alabama Lisa Spratt Huntsville +1 (256) 426-4066 Arizona Dr. Edith Fritz Phoenix +1 (602) 274-7738 Nancy Kress Gold Canyon +1 (480) 544-5031 John Mertz Tucson +1 (520) 797-0201 California Cyndi Cantillon-Coleman Ladera Ranch/Irvine +1 (949) 364-5606 Reading Research Council Dyslexia Correction Center Ray Davis also Autism Facilitator/Coach, Ronald D. Davis, Founder Burlingame/San Francisco +1 (800) 729-8990 (Toll-Free) +1 (650) 692-8990

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v California (continued) Anette Fuller Walnut Creek +1 (925) 639-7846 Angela Gonzales Norco +1 (951) 582-0262 Richard A. Harmel also Autism Facilitator/Coach Marina Del Rey/Los Angeles +1 (310) 823-8900 David Hirst also Autism Facilitator Coach Riverside +1 (909) 241-6079 Suzanne Kisly-Coburn Manhattan Beach +1 (310) 947-2662 Dorothy (Dottie) Pearson Vacaville + 1 (707) 334-7662 Cheryl Rodrigues San Jose +1 (408) 966-7813 David Carlos Rosen San Rafael +1 (415) 479-1700 Mika Seabrook Santa Monica +1 (310) 920-9517 Dee Weldon White Lexie White Strain Sunnyvale +1 (650) 388-6808 Colorado Janet Confer Littleton +1 (720) 425-7585 Annie Garcia Wheat Ridge/Denver +1 (303) 423-3397 Crystal Punch also DLSMentor Centennial/Denver +1 (303) 850-0581 Karen Johnson Wehrman Denver +1 (303) 243-3658 Florida Random (Randee) Garretson Lutz/Tampa/St. Petersburg +1 (813) 956-0502 Tina Kirby Navarre +1 (850) 218-5956 Rita Von Bon Navarre +1 (850) 934-1389 Georgia Dr. Yolanda Davis-Allen Ft. Gordon + 1 (706) 772-5567 Lesa Hall also Autism Facilitator/Coach Pooler/Savannah +1 (912) 330-8577 Martha Payne Suwanee +1 (404) 886-2720 Scott Timm Woodstock/Atlanta +1 (866) 255-9028 (Toll-Free) Hawaii Vickie Kozuki-Ah You also Autism Facilitator/Coach Ewa Beach/Honolulu +1 (808) 685-1122 Idaho Kelley Phipps Fruitland + 1 (208) 949-7569 Carma Sutherland Rexburg +1 (208) 356-3944

THE DYSLEXIC READER

Is your child a nonresponder?

By Abigail Marshall

What happens when a child cannot learn to read though phonics? Educational researchers have a word for those children: they call them nonresponders. Sometimes, instead, they call them treatment-resisters. Either way, its the same thing: Following the recommendation of Rose they have come up with a term that blames the child for not learning. Their reasoning: most other (2006), many primary schools in England implemented a systematic phonics approach to children learn with their methods, so the method the teaching of reading. A large body of evidence must be effective. If the child doesnt learn, and suggests that such an approach is very effective for the method works for others then the problem teaching children to read (National Reading Panel, must lie with the child. 2000; Brooks et al., 2006). It follows that children The researchers who use this term are who are finding reading difficult despite this quality generally proponents of traditional, phonicsapproach are likely to be at risk heavy approaches to teaching of dyslexia. struggling readers. They would Children who fail like to be able to assemble The local authority with which statistics to show that students to progress with we had worked for the EYFSP uniformly benefit from their traditional, phonicsresearch had implemented a favored intervention. However, based interventions systematic phonics curriculum the numbers dont come out the are highly likely to from 2006. Because we had way the researchers would like be dyslexic. collected data from whole because, no matter what the cohorts of children on a termly intervention, there is always a basis, we were able to use this significant segment of students to identify children who were failing to thrive in who simply make no progress at all, and in some cases seem to lose rather than gain skills over time. terms of their phonics progress Unfortunately, there are also too many Using school records, our criterion for dyslexia nonreponders to ignore. In fact, researchers risk status was taken to be not secure in phonic Stephanie Al Otaiba and Douglas Fuchs report phase 2 at the end of the fourth term in school. that anywhere from 30% to 50% of children Based on these criteria, 16.4% of the school with learning disabilities fit into the nonresponder population was assessed as behind expectation category. Think about that for a minute: the in phonic skills this is well above reported methods that are often labeled scientifically prevalence rates for dyslexia (typically 7 to 10%), based (as if they were proven), simply do [A] further question we wanted to address not work for at least a third, and maybe half, was whether these children could be described as of the students who are in need of support or dyslexic? We proceeded to ask whether the remediation. I personally have a hard time with the use of the group of children identified as at risk showed the core characteristics of dyslexia poor phonological word effective to describe an intervention that leaves 25% of the kids worse off than they were in awareness, poor verbal memory and slow verbal the first place. Perhaps experimental would be a processing speed. This was indeed the case better term? The other conclusion from the research is that In any case, we have to remember that the nonresponders dont seem to change. That is, the intervention is being given to primary level students who are nonresponders early on usually students who are already lagging behind their stay that way. peers. That means, that some of those kids are I havent found any researchers writing about bound to be dyslexic; others may be lagging due nonresponders who question the validity of to lack of exposure to books and reading prior trying to teach phonics to that group in the first to beginning school, and some may be second place. Rather than suggest reforms in the way that language learners, coming from homes where nonresponders are taught, the researchers are more English is not spoken. Unfortunately, no one likely to suggest that the students need a more seems to have spent much time trying to tease intensive version of the same thing as if putting out how many responders vs. non-responders greater pressure on the children will force them to are likely dyslexic at the outset. learn. Or they imply that the children will never In other words, it is quite possible that the learn: if they cant learn with the favored approach, students who do respond, do so precisely no use trying anything else. because they are not dyslexic, but simply need help to fill in gaps caused by life experiences.

We do know from research that after the unsuccessful intervention, the nonresponders tend to have characteristics that are commonly associated with dyslexia: they perform poorly on tests of phonological awareness and rapid automatic naming, and they exhibit problems with attention focus. A subsequent study confirms that the children who fail to progress with traditional, phonicsbased interventions are highly likely to be dyslexic:

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Illinois Kim Ainis also Autism Facilitator/Coach Chicago +1 (312) 360-0805 Susan Smarjesse Springfield +1 (217) 789-7323 Indiana Myrna Burkholder Goshen/South Bend +1 (574) 533-7455 Tina Kramer Greensburg +1 (812) 614-7614 Iowa Mary Kay Frasier Des Moines +1 (515) 270-0280 Kansas Kristi Thompson also DLS Presenter-Mentor Manter +1 (719) 529-5276

Welcome Newly Licensed Davis Facilitators!

Jeannet Uiterwijk-Booij When I found out that my son was dyslexic, I began looking for a positive approach to his reading problem. I was enthusiastic about the Davis website and began the course to become a Davis Dyslexia Correction Facilitator. Meanwhile my son is reading and has fewer problems with spelling. I started with Davis to help my son, but now I see how the Davis approach can help people make positive changes in their lives. So I am starting Lexis, my own Davis Dyslexia Correction Center. Lexis. Couperusweg 88, 1321 AX Almere, Netherlands +31 (61) 148 08 85 info@lexis-dyslexie.nl Ginette Donnet As a teacher of modern literature for 40 years and a training teacher at the Rouen IUFM for 10 years in the fight against illiteracy, I have vainly explored various ways to help children and students with reading and learning disorders. The Davis Method, which I discovered by chance, finally gives me the opportunity to provide an effective way to help these dyslexic individuals. Moreover, my experience as a teacher enables me to advise parents and children knowledgeably. Facilire. 21 Passage Franz Liszt, La Havre, France +33 (6) 99 38 82 05 facilire.gd@gmail.com Konstatinos Polychronis Hello from Greece! I am a new member of the family of licensed Davis Facilitators. I recently finished the Facilitator training in Paris and I am very glad that I belong to the Davis family. I am delighted to be able to begin providing Davis Dyslexia Correction Programs in Athens and throughout my country. Dyslexia Correction Center. Sitakis 10, Athens, Ano Patisia 111-42, Greece +30 (215) 550 8228 info@dyslexia-charisma.gr Maria Catherine (Maricar) Rivera Dizon As a mother of dyslexic children, I would like to share with others the amazing success we experienced with the Davis Dyslexia Correction Program. It is lifechanging when a child accepts and embraces dyslexia as a gift. G/F Gab Building, Rosario, Pasig City, Philippines, 1609 +63 (2) 475 6284 Maricar.riveradizon@yahoo.com Linda Alexander I attended The Gift of Dyslexia workshop in 2010, searching for an answer to my sons learning needs. I found it with the Davis Program! I would now like to help others realize their gift through the Davis Dyslexia Correction Program. 47 Westward Way, Coomera, Queensland 4209, Australia +61 459 171 270 gazandlinda@gmail.com Mika Seabrook As a tutor, I have specialized in working with picture thinkers and right brain dominant students. After seeing life-changing improvements in a student who had been through a Davis Dyslexia Correction Program, I was inspired to become a Davis Facilitator, myself. With the Davis Programs, I love being able to empower clients by helping them experience their dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADD, and/or ADHD as a strength, rather than an obstacle, and by giving them the tools to turn their daily struggles into successes. Empowered Education. 2315 28th St #207, Santa Monica, CA 90405 +1 (310)920-9517 rmseabrook@yahoo.com Theresa Craig St. George, Utah, United States +1 (435) 668-6937 4theresacraig@gmail.com

Is your child a nonresponder? - continued from the previous page

In my view, the true nonresponders are the researchers who refuse to consider that another path for reading may be better for dyslexics. Its hard enough for a dyslexic kid to learn to read, without also being blamed for the failures of a method. Citations: Stephanie Al Otaiba and Douglas Fuchs. Who Are the Young Children for Whom Best Practices in Reading Are Ineffective? An Experimental and Longitudinal Study. Journal of Learning Disabilities. Vol 30, No. 3, September/October 2006, pages 414-431 Stephanie Al Otaiba and Douglas Fuchs. Characteristics of Children Who Are Unresponsive to Early Literacy Intervention: A Review of the Literature. Remedial and Special Education. Vol. 23, No. 5, September/October 2002, pages 300-316

The North Yorks Reading Intervention Project Report Implications of Research cited in The Rose Report, from Unlocking-Learning.co.uk, available online at: www.unlocking-learning. co.uk/rose-report/ Snowling, M. J. (2012), Early Identification and Interventions for Dyslexia: A Contemporary View. Journal of Research in Special Education Needs. Abigail Marshall is the Webmaster & Internet Information Services Director for Davis Dyslexia Association International. She is also the author of two books about dyslexia, The Everything Parents Guide to Children with Dyslexia and When Your Child Has ... Dyslexia. This article was first published at Dyslexia the Gift Blog News and Views from Davis Dyslexia at: blog.dyslexia.com/?p=461 v

Massachusetts Karen LoGiudice also Fundamentals Workshop Presenter also Autism Facilitator/Coach Amesbury +1 (978) 337-7753 Carolyn Tyler Fairhaven +1 (508) 997-4642 Michigan Molly Scoby Greenville +1 (231) 250-7260 Sandra McPhall Grandville/Grand Rapids +1 (616) 534-1385 Cinda Osterman, M. Ed. Grand Ledge/Lansing +1 (517) 652-5156 Minnesota Cyndi Deneson also Supervisor-Specialist Edina/Minneapolis +1 (888) 890-5380 (Toll-Free) +1 (952) 820-4673 Missouri Clark Brown Roach +1 (573) 552-5772 Cathy Cook Columbia +1 (573) 819-6010 or 886-8917 Montana Elsie Johnson also Autism Facilitator/Coach Manhatten +1 (406) 282-7416 Nebraska Elaine Thoendel Chambers +1 (402) 482-5709 Nevada Robin Mangum Caliente +1 (775) 962-1104 New Hampshire Glenna Giveans also Autism Facilitator/Coach Lebanon + 1 (603) 863-7877 Michele Siegmann also Autism Facilitator/Coach Mason/Manchester/Boston +1 (603) 801-1247

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New Jersey Lynn Chigounis Montclair +1 (973) 746-5037 New York Lisa Anderson Seneca Falls +1 (315) 576-3812 Wendy Niedermeier Byron +1 (585) 233-4364 North Carolina Gerri W. Cox also DLS Presenter-Mentor Shallotte/Wilmington +1 (910) 754-9559 Ruth Mills Pineville/Charlotte +1 (704) 541-1733 Jean Moser Winston-Salem +1 (336) 830-2390 North Dakkota Angie Bricker-Jones Williston +1 (701) 660-8860 Ohio Lorraine Charbonneau Mason/Cincinnati/Dayton +1 (513) 850-1895 Oklahoma Ashley Grice also Autism Facilitator/Coach Tulsa +1 (918) 779-7351 Rhonda Lacy Clinton +1 (580) 323-7323 Oregon Nicki Cates Portland +1 (586) 801-0772 Rhonda Erstrom Vale +1 (541) 881-7817 Janell Warkentin Keno +1 (541) 647-0841 Pennsylvania Kelly Caramanno New Hope +1 (307) 221-3081 Marcia Maust also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Autism Training Supervisor Berlin/Pittsburgh +1 (814) 267-5765 South Carolina Angela Keifer Greenville +1 (864) 420-1627 South Dakota Kim Carson also DLS Presenter-Mentor Brookings/Sioux Falls +1 (605) 692-1785 Texas Kellie Antrim-Brown Ft. Worth +1 (817) 989-0783 Success Learning Center Rhonda Brown also DLS Presenter-Mentor Colleen Millslagle also DLS Presenter-Mentor Tyler/Dallas +1 (866) 531-2446 (Toll Free) +1 (903) 531-2446 Shari Chu Helotes/San Antonio +1 (210) 414-0116 Jodie Harber Cedar Park +1 (512) 918-9247 Karen Hautz Houston +1 (281) 501-9871 Lori Johnson Boerne/San Antonio +1 (210) 843-8161

THE DYSLEXIC READER

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING DAVIS FACILITATORS!

A big welcome to our newest Autism Approach Facilitator/Coaches:
Margot Young New Zealand Bets Gregory Australia Kim Ainis USA, Illinois Maureen OSullivan Ontario, Canada Richard A. Harmel, M.A. USA, California Lydia Wijnberg Netherlands Jamie Worley - USA, Virginia

DAVIS TRAINING PROGRAMS

The Davis Facilitator Training Program consists of eleven training steps, and requires 450 hours of workshop attendance, practice meetings, and supervised field work. The Davis Specialist Training Program requires extensive experience providing Davis programs and an additional 260 hours of training. Specialists and Facilitators are subject to annual re-licensing based upon case review and adherence to the DDAI Standards of Practice. The Davis Autism Approach Facilitator/Coach Training Program is available to experienced and licensed Davis Facilitators. It requires an additional 200-250 hours of specialized training and field work to become licensed to work with autistic individuals and their families. Davis Learning Strategies Mentors and Workshop Presenters are experienced teachers and trainers with 2-3 years of specialized training and experience mentoring classroom teachers of children 5-9 years of age.

For more information about training and a full directory of Davis providers, visit: www.dyslexia.com/licensing.htm or www.dyslexia.com/providers.htm or call +1 (650) 692-7141 or +1 (888) 805-7216 toll-free in the USA.

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Texas (continued)

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Young Learner Kit for Home-Use

Based on the Davis Dyslexia Correction methods, this Kit enables parents of children, ages 5-7, to home-teach and help young learners to:
focus attention control energy levels improve eye-hand coordination learn the alphabet learn basic punctuation develop and strengthen pre-reading and basic reading skills prevent the potential of a learning problem improve sight word recognition The Kit includes: and comprehension Instruction Manual establish life-long how-to-learn Sturdy nylon briefcase skills. Reusable modeling clay (2 pounds) Clay cutter The Davis Methods Websters Childrens Dictionary for Young Learners (hardcover) Davis Focusing Strategies provide Punctuation Marks & Styles Booklet children with the self-directed ability to be physically and mentally focused Two Koosh Balls Letter Recognition Cards on the learning task at hand. Laminated Alphabet Strip Davis Symbol Mastery enables Stop Signs for Reading Chart children to master the alphabet letters, punctuation marks and basic sight words with a simple, easy and fun alternative to pencil-paper activities and drill. Davis Reading Exercises improve accuracy with word recognition and comprehension.

Casey Linwick-Rouzer Sugar Land/Houston +1 (832) 724-0492 Frances Adaleen Makin Greenville/DFW +1 (903) 268-1394 Paula Marshburn Tyler +1 (903) 570-3427 Beverly Parrish League City +1 (281) 638-0297 Laura Warren Lubbock +1 (806) 790-7292 Utah Theresa Craig St. George +1 (435) 668-6937 Cynthia Gardner American Fork +1 (208) 409-9102 Virginia Donna Kouri Rockville +1 (804) 240-0470 Angela Odom also DLS Presenter-Mentor Midlothian/Richmond +1 (804) 833-8858 Jamie Worley alsoAutism Facilitator/Coach Blackburg +1 (540) 552-0603 Washington Elizabeth (Liz) Bertran Lake Stevens +1 (425) 231-9705 Aleta Clark Auburn/Tacoma +1 (253) 854-9377 Renie Royce Smith Spokane +1 (800) 371-6028 (Toll-Free) +1 (509) 443-1737 West Virginia Allison Boggess Culloden +1 (888) 517-7830 Gale Long also Autism Facilitator/Coach also Autism Training Supervisor Elkview/Charleston +1 (888) 517-7830 (Toll Free) +1 (304) 965-7400 Wisconsin Anne Mataczynski also Autism Facilitator/Coach Wausau +1 (715) 551-7144 Marla Verdone Janesville +1 (800) 753-8147 (Toll Free) Wyoming Kelly Attebery Laramie +1 (307) 221-3081 v Uruguay Marcela Piffaretti Montevideo +598 (2) 600-6326
This Directory is current as of October 1st, 2013. It is subject to change. Between newsletter issues, new Facilitators are added, and occasionally, some become inactive. However, the Davis Providers list at www.dyslexia.com is always up to date.

The Kit is priced at $129.95

(Shipping and Handling will be added) To purchase a kit, use our secure on-line ordering at: www.dyslexia.com/bookstore or call our toll-free number: 1 (888) 999-3324
Note: for older children (ages 8 and up) we recommend the Davis Orientation and Symbol Mastery Kit.

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THE DYSLEXIC READER

Teachers, would you like to

Improve the reading skills of all the children in your class regardless of their learning style? Manage your classroom more effectively? Prevent the onset of learning disabilities? Use research-based methods that are flexible and easily fit into and enhance any existing curriculum? This two-day workshop provides Primary Teachers (K-3) with unique and innovative strategies for improving reading instruction and classroom management, and equips young learners with proven life long skills in how to learn.

Basic Workshop for Primary Teachers

In the forefront of what I liked most was how easily the Davis strategies fit into many areas of Kindergarten curriculum. It relieved me of a paper-pencil approach and gave me a hands-on, kinesthetic approach. It helped develop the little finger muscles to move on to coordinate paper-pencil activities. Creating the alphabet over time also accomplished the development of ownership, responsibility, and a sense a pride in all the children. I believe all Kindergarten children would benefit from Davis Learning Strategies. LB, Kindergarten Teacher, Mission San Jose Elementary School, Fremont, California

Instruction includes:

Theory and Reasoning for each Strategy. Video demonstrations of each Strategy and classroom implementation suggestions. Supervised experiential practice on each Strategy. Q&A and discussion about each Strategy.

Materials include:

Detailed Manual with suggested year-long guides, black-line masters, and numerous tips for each implementing each Strategy in various curriculum activities. DVD demonstrating each classroom Strategy. Teacher Kit: alphabet strip, letter recognition cards, clay, cutter, dictionary and two Koosh balls. (Classroom materials sold separately)

2014 DATES & LOCATIONS

Date Location Telephone
1 (903) 531-2446 1 (903) 531-2446 1 (719) 529-5276 1 (804) 833-8858 1 (910) 754-9559 1 (605) 692-1785 January 16-17 Tyler, Texas April 3-4 June 17-18 June 18-19 June 19-20 July 29-30 Tyler, Texas Denver,Colorado Richmond, VA Shallotte, NC Brookings, SD

Workshop hours: 9am-4pm with one hour lunch break. Cost: $595 per person
Early registration discount available (US only)

Academic Units or CEUs (US and Canada only)

Two Quarter Units are available through California State University. Cost is $89 per unit, plus $35 administrative fee. A written assignment, which can be completed before and during the workshop, is required.

Would you like to bring a DLS workshop to your school/area?

Call 1 (888) 805-7216, and ask for Paula McCarthy.

For more details and additional workshop dates please visit www.davislearn.com

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Materials included with workshop

The Gift of Dyslexia Workshop

Read the book? Take the next step in helping others correct dyslexia. Attend this workshop! WORKSHOP OUTLINE DAY ONE
Background and Development of the Davis Dyslexia Correction Procedures Research and discovery. The gifts of dyslexia. Anatomy and developmental stages of a learning disability. Overview of the steps for dyslexia correction. Davis Perceptual Ability Assessment (a screening for dyslexic learning styles) Demonstration and Practice Session Symptoms Profile Interview (used to assess symptoms, strengths and weaknesses; set goals; establish motivation) Demonstration and Practice Session

DAY THREE
Orientation Review Procedure (a method for checking orientation skills) Demonstration & Practice Session Davis Symbol Mastery (the key to correcting dyslexia) What is Symbol Mastery? Why clay? Mastering Basic Language Symbols Demonstrations and Group Exercises Reading Improvement Exercises Spell-Reading. Sweep-Sweep-Spell. Picture-at-Punctuation

DAY TWO
Davis Orientation Counseling Procedures (methods to control, monitor and turn off perceptual distortions) What is Orientation? Demonstration & Practice Session Release Procedure (method to alleviate stress, headaches) Alignment (an alternative to Orientation Counseling) What is Alignment? How is it used? Group Demonstration Dial-Setting Procedure (a method for controlling energy levels)

DAY FOUR
Fine-Tuning Procedure (checking and adjusting orientation using balance) Symbol Mastery Exercises for Words Demonstrations Group Exercises Practice Sessions Implementing the Davis Procedures

To register for US workshops call toll free 1 (888) 805-7216, or visit www.dyslexia.com/event.htm

2013 2014 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

France
October 31 November 3 Paris Presenter: Ioannis Tzivanakis Language: English / French Telephone: +33 (1) 82 88 32 35 Email: email@davisfrance.eu

Italy

November 21 24 Bologna Presenter: Ioannis Tzivanakis Language: English / Italian Telephone: +49 (040) 25 17 86 22 Email: info@dyslexia.de

United States

November 13 16, 2013 Amesbury, MA Presenter: Karen LoGiudice Language: English Telephone: +1 (888) 805-7216 Email: training@dyslexia.com February 26 March 1, 2014 Burlingame, CA Presenter: Larry Smith, Jr. Language: English Telephone: +1 (888) 805-7216 Email: training@dyslexia.com March 19 22, 2014 Dallas/Irving, TX Presenter: Karen LoGiudice Language: English Telephone: +1 (888) 805-7216 Email: training@dyslexia.com June 24 27, 2014 Burlingame, CA Presenter: Larry Smith, Jr. Language: English Telephone: +1 (888) 805-7216 Email: training@dyslexia.com

Germany

October 24 27, 2013 Berlin Presenter: Ioannis Tzivanakis Language: German with English translation Telephone: +49 (040) 25 17 86 22 Email: info@dyslexia.de

United Kingdom

December 16 19 Malvern Worcestershire Presenter: Richard Whitehead Language: English, Russian, Italian Telephone: +44 (0) 330 001 0680 Email: richard@davislearningfoundation.org.uk

For updated workshop schedules visit: www.dyslexia.com/train.htm

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USA Workshop Information Questions?

Toll Free: 1 (888) 805-7216 1 (650) 692-7141 email: answers@davistraining.org

The Gift of Dyslexia Workshop

Come learn and experience the Davis Dyslexia Correction procedures first hand!

2013 2014 INTERNATIONAL SCHEDULE

2013 Oct 24 27 Oct 31 Nov 3 Nov 13-16 Nov 21-24 Dec 16 19 2014 Feb 26 Mar 1 March 19 22 June 24 27 July 29 Aug 1 Burlingame, CA Dallas, TX Burlingame, CA Burlingame USA USA USA USA Berlin Paris Amesbury, MA Bologna Malvern, Worcestershire Germany France USA Italy United KIngdom

This 4-day workshop is an introduction to the basic theories, principles and application of all the procedures described in The Gift of Dyslexia. Training is done with a combination of lectures, demonstrations, group practice, and question and answer sessions. Attendance is limited to ensure the highest quality of training.

Who should attend:

Reading Specialists & Tutors Parents & Homeschoolers Resource Specialists Educational Therapists Occupational Therapists Speech/Language Therapists

Participants will learn:

How the Davis procedures were developed How to assess for the gift of dyslexia. How to help dyslexics eliminate mistakes and focus attention. The Davis Symbol Mastery tools for mastering reading. How to incorporate and use proven methods for improving reading, spelling, and motor coordination into a teaching, home school, tutoring, or therapeutic setting.

USA Workshop Fees $1175 per person Academic units and CEUs available

See page 23 for more workshop details and discounts.

CALL 1 (888) 805-7216 for special discounts and early bird rates!

For a detailed brochure on enrollment, prices, group rates, discounts, location, and further information, contact the DDA in your country. DDAI-Intl, Canada & USA 1601 Bayshore Highway, Ste 260 Burlingame, CA 94010 Tel: 1 (888) 805-7216 Fax: 1 (650) 692-7075 E-mail: ddai@dyslexia.com DDA-DACH Deutschland-Austria-Switzerland Wandsbecker Chausee 132 D-22089 Hamburg GERMANY Tel: 49 (040) 25 17 86 22 Fax: 49 (040) 25 17 86 24 E-mail: germany@dyslexia.com SWITZERLAND Tel: 41 (061) 273 81 85 E-mail: ch@dyslexia.com DDA-Latin America Calzada del Valle #400 Local 8 Colonia del Valle Garza Garca, Monterrey Nuevo Len Mxico, CP 66220 Tel: 52 (81) 8335-9435 Email: spanish@dyslexia.com DDA-Nederland Jacques Schreursstraat 25 6074 CR Melick NEDERLAND Tel: 31 (475) 520 433 E-mail: info@davisdyslexie.nl DDA-UK Davis Learning Foundation 47-49 Church Street Great Malvern Worcestershire WR14 2AA Tel: +44 (0) 330 011 0680 E-mail: uk@dyslexia.com DDA-Pacific 295 Rattray Street Dunedin, New Zealand 9016 Tel: 64 (0274) 399 020 Fax: 0064 3 456 2028 Email: pacific@dyslexia.com

Enrollment limited v Classes fill Early v Call 1 (888) 805-7216 or 1 (650) 692-7141 For updated workshop schedules visit http://www.dyslexia.com/train.htm For a full description of the Davis Facilitator Certification Program, ask for our booklet.