(I have posted this thread on the General Info board as well)
I am the mother of a 7yr old dyslexic boy living in the UK. I have recently been told about the Davis Method (Ron Davis, The Gift of Dyslexia), a 30 hour, multi-sensory dyslexia therapy programme. It is not well-known over here, has anyone heard anything about it? I would appreciate as much information as possible. Thank you.
Re: There are better methods for decoding and comprhension.
Dear UK,
I have children who have struggled with learning to read. I hate the word dyslexia because it is so vague and general. In order to help a child read you must first help them understand the nature of the English code and that it is a sound to symbol correspondence. The Ron Davis method caught my attention a few years ago too, but in checking it out I could not find any credible studies that showed the success and efficacy of the program. My suggestion would be to go with Phono-Graphix or Lindamood-Bell. I tutor students using Phono-Graphix and know other parents who have been quite pleased with Lindamood-Bell. Have you checked into these? Good luck in your search for help for your son. It is very difficult to watch our children struggle so.
Best to you,
Gwen
Thank you for your help
Thanks for your feedback. Much appreciated. I will look into the Phono-Graphix system. It sounds good news.
I have seen a large number of posts about this method over the last three years, from parents who have put a child through the program.
As far as I can figure out, it does help a small subset of dyslexics who experience confusion as the result of high visual-spatial IQ’s (ability to mentally manipulate 3-D objects, but no fixed point of reference). Parents of these children rave about the program, say it was *the* major turning point in their child’s life, etc. The Davis Program does not have an auditory processing component and does not teach decoding skills.
The majority of parents say that the program temporarily boosted self-esteem and provided a slight boost to reading skills, but provided no long-lasting improvement in reading. These parents were disappointed.
Are you familiar with Phono-Graphix? This is a program that teaches the decoding skills necessary for reading, and it has a very high success rate for dyslexics. It is available in the UK as well as the US (Geoffrey McGuiness, one of the developers, is British). That is what I would recommend trying first. Website is http://www.readamerica.net
Mary