History of Davis Methods
In 1980, at age 38, Ronald Dell Davis overcame his own severe dyslexia when he found a way to quickly eliminate common perceptual distortions. For the first time in his life, he could read and enjoy a book without struggling. To his surprise and delight, he soon learned that the simple mental exercise he had discovered for himself seemed to work just as well for other dyslexic adults who tried it out.
He soon realized that correcting perception was not enough; it was also necessary to eliminate the sources of confusion that triggered disorientation. For dyslexia, that meant a system for building strong word recognition and comprehension skills, geared to the dyslexic learning style.
After independent clinical research and working with experts in many fields, Ron Davis perfected his program for correcting dyslexia in adults and children. In 1982, Ron Davis and Dr. Fatima Ali, Ph.D., opened the Reading Research Council Dyslexia Correction Center in California, achieving a 97% success rate in helping clients overcome their learning problems.
In 1994, the first edition of the book, The Gift of Dyslexia was published. Within a year the book had been translated into several other languages, and Davis Dyslexia Association International (DDAI) was established to formally train other professionals to provide the same program throughout the world.
Ron Davis has now retired; his work is carried on by hundreds of Davis Facilitators offering services in more than 30 languages and more than 40 countries worldwide. The basic ideas underlying the Davis Dyslexia Correction program have also been extended to develop specialized programs for Attention Mastery, Math Mastery, and Autism.
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My son had a speech problem when he was little (about 2-5 years of age). I worked for Mayo Clinic and we did all of the tests (hearing, sight, cognitive) to see what the problem was. They told me he had a low IQ (without even taking it). I got speech therapy for him and he did great. I help with school work.
One day his teacher called me to say he was constantly talking with girls (he is a cutie) and not doing his work. I asked, Do you sit with him and help one-on-one with his school work? She said, no… I hand him his folder and he knows what to do. I was shocked. This was the 6th grade and we had known he was struggling since kindergarten and signed him up for EAS classes. They were going to hold him back another year. I pulled him out of school faster than they could blink an eye.
I set him up with a homeschooling program and every night we did his school work. I read his assignments with him next to me and I asked him questions and he answered. He did great. I know he was behind and wanted him to catch up to his grade.
I took him and a physician tested him. He came out and said, There is nothing wrong with your son. He has a very good verbal understanding. I said, I understand that, but he has to know how to read and write to make it through school.
I bought this book and others and we started using books on tape from the school of the deaf and blind to help him with his school work. He is a listener. He learns better that way. He is a grown up now and he listens to everything on tape and he is the most humble and smart kid.
The thing that bothered me through all of this was the labels they put on him. He started to believe them. I knew they were wrong and I told him everyday “You just learn differently and school are set up to teach ONLY one way. That was the most work – his self-esteem. They tried to break him down and I refused to let them do that to him. I love who he turned out to be.
I am visiting this page after reading the book “The Gift of Dyslexia” found it very use full
Can a mother take the course? I am not a teacher but I want to learn desperately to help her. I have signed her up for the program and I know I am taught a little to continue her success but I want to know it ALL.
Parents are very welcome to attend a Gift of Dyslexia training workshop — and it is an excellent way to get a strong foundation for the followup work. Right now is a very good time to sign up, because for the first time this year, the workshops are being offered online. You can find listings of currently scheduled workshops here: https://www.davistraining.info/events/category/davis-dyslexia/gift-of-dyslexia-workshop/
I have 3 daughters, all of whom are amazing in their own way. The middle daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia at just 4 years old. We were told at the age of 5 that her dyslexia and auditory processing difficulty was so severe that she would not graduate high school. As her mom of this beautiful little girl, I was distraught. I wanted her to have the same possibilities in life as her other sisters and her friends.
She was attending a small private school at the time that used a great curriculum that I will not name but is phonics based. My daughter struggled and struggled. Finally, her teacher put her in the corner of the class with a coloring sheet and told her to do that until it was time to go outside or have lunch or something like that. I was a preschool teacher myself and I just wasn’t going to have this type of treatment. I was getting her up earlier than her sisters to work with her before school and we would work together more after dinner. I did a lot of research and decided on trying Mr. Davis’ method with her. I also pulled her out of school and homeschooled her before later putting her into the public school system with the assistance they too can provide. Even after going to public school, she and I still did our daily tutoring. I was trained by one of your tutors that came to our home from another state to work with my daughter.
Let me just say, I stand behind this method 100%. My daughter took acrylic painting classes, was an officer in the FFA, volunteered at our church 20+ hours a week, played varsity soccer as well as summer leagues, and she was on an audition only dance team to name a few things but still graduated high school as a member of the Beta Club, National Honor Society, and with Full Honors with all the sashes, ropes, cords, etc. around her neck at graduation. She went to the technical learning school associated with her high school for 2 years while attending high school as well where she studied Graphic Communications. She won Graphic Student of the Year for the entire county. Most of the “regular” kids at graduation didn’t accomplish the things in high school she did or participate in the things that she did, nor have dyslexia, but still didn’t have the awards that she had.
My daughter, after high school, decided to go to our 2 year technical college in the area. She was on the Deans List there all but 1 semester. She finished with 2 certificates and an Associate Degree in Graphic Communications. She then applied to a 4 year university. She is now a Junior there and is on the Chancellors List (which is an accomplishment above the Deans List).
Through her college career, she has won photography contests, art contests, and has received high praise from professors who are leaders in Graphic Communications. She has just been offered a job in the college’s art studio/gallery.
We don’t know what the future holds for her; but, we are so thankful that we found this way of learning for her. I don’t want to think of what she would be doing today if she had not been taught with this method.
I sit here on my bed with tears coming down how much I want this for my daughter . Just reading testimonies one after another . Brings me joy my husband is not that believing of it . But we both want the best for her and he doesn’t want to just waist money to have someone try with her and it won’t work . But I’m going to see if we can find someone to try this out . So happy for her I pray that one day I can have the same testimony.