Davis® Solutions to Underlying Reading Challenges:  

 

Perceptual distortions :  

• Perceiving information accurately is the essential first step for reading, listening, learning any new concept.  

• When text or speech is not perceived accurately confusion sets in and mistakes begin.  

• Davis Orientation Counseling teaches focusing tools that allow the individual to control his perceptual state of mind.  

• In an oriented state your brain accurately perceives what your senses take in.  

• In a disoriented state distortions are perceived as reality.

 

Solutions to slow, labored reading:   

• Reading in a state of disorientation can slow down the reading process and make reading a tiring experience.

• Once a learner is oriented and perceiving text correctly, the next step is to minimize the “triggers” that push the reader into disorientation.    

 

There are 2 main forms of disorientation triggers:

 

Letters:  

• During the program week the individual constructs upper and lower case alphabets out of clay. 

• Through a series of exercises and tests, the client detriggers all 26 letters, upper and lower case.

• This process, known as Davis Symbol Mastery, can take anywhere from 4 to 14 hours.  

 

Trigger Words (Sight Words):  

• Once the letters of the alphabet have been mastered, the client moves on to master the identified trigger words.

• These are words without mental images attached to them such as:  the, and, if, as.  

• One by one,  using clay, the client creates a visual definition for each word.  

• Under each clay model, the word is spelled in clay. 

• Once created, the client follows a sequence to master that word.

• Once mastered, the word is no longer a trigger for disorientation.   

• This process begins during the program week. 

• Mastering all trigger words takes anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to complete, depending on the client’s rate of progress in the Post-Program phase.

       For picture thinking individuals, once these words have mental images attached, reading and listening become smoother and more meaningful.

 

Solutions to skipping lines and words:  

• Many picture thinking individuals skip around when reading text.  This can lead to confusion.

• Reading exercises are introduced for eye training, training the eyes to look from left to right. (Davis Spell Reading and Sweep-Sweep Spell)

 

Solutions to comprehension struggles:  

• Orientation and eliminating triggers combine to improve reading comprehension.

• The next step to maximize comprehension involves a skill called Picture at Punctuation.

• The reader is taught to monitor her understanding.  

• The support person participates in this process of “checking for meaning” as the reader describes the mental pictures she is developing, phrase by phrase.

• Some text is not readily imagined in pictures. In these cases, the reader tells what emotions are elicited, or gives the meaning in her own words to confirm comprehension.