Matt and I took Elizabeth up North this past Friday in order for her to continue her "brain training." Elizabeth fretted the whole week prior to the appointment. The girl really really hates long car rides, but once we arrived and she saw her teacher, her whole countenance changed. Elizabeth's teacher has a heart for helping children and she and Elizabeth have forged quite a bond.
Matt and I have learned (and continue to learn) more and more about dyslexia all the time. While Elizabeth worked with her teacher, Matt and I were given a DVD to watch which illustrated the exercises the Davis Method uses. Although we have been doing the exercises with Elizabeth for months, we gained new insights into how to build upon and perfect what we've been doing. This was very encouraging to both Matt and me.
Something called disorientation happens to every one, but dyslexics have a difficult time recognizing when its happening to them. An example of disorientation would be the following: You're driving in your car and come up to a stop light and stop. Then someone pulls their car to a stop in the lane next to yours and you feel like your car is moving, even though it's not. Your brain is disorienting. However, you quickly recognize that your brain has perceived something that didn't really happen. Dyslexics do not have the ability to recognize and correct these disorientations. The Davis Method of treating dyslexia shows the person how to do this.
When a dyslexic reads (or attempts to read), his or her brain experiences many of these "disorientations." Since dyslexics see in 3D, the "d" on the page might be perceived as a "q" or a "p" or as it actually is--a "d." Ron Davis, who himself is a dyslexic, discovered that there are 219 "trigger" words that cause disorientation in a dyslexic person. His method calls for the person to make clay figures and letters to show the meaning of each of the words on this list, so that those words no longer "trigger" a disorientation when they appear in reading material.
As Elizabeth's teacher explained to us on Friday, the worst thing you can do with a dyslexic kid is force them to "sound out" words. This causes the child's brain to disorient and only serves to confuse him. When the child stumbles on a word, the facilitator must simply "give" the child the word and not force the child to sound it out.
Elizabeth's teacher encouraged us to keep pressing on through the list of trigger words. Once Elizabeth has made clay figures for each word, "she will be out of limbo land with her reading." So we'll do just that.
Matt and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord led us to this woman and this method. This woman is humble and doesn't show off her qualifications, but as we've gotten to know her better, we've found out that she's top notch. She's used the Davis Method on 500 children around the world, has developed early foundational curriculum that is currently being used in some Arizona schools (with great success) and most of all, she desires to see Elizabeth succeed. From the outset, it has been our desire that Elizabeth would be able to read God's Word, for this is where true wisdom is found. Our family is blessed to have this opportunity to give Elizabeth the tools she needs to be able to read proficiently.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Proverbs 1:7
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