Frequently Asked Questions

Why choose the Davis Program?
You may ask why, after twenty-odd years of motivated searching for training and then participating in all sorts of methods and strategies to help children with reading difficulties, I choose to work with the Davis Program. Throughout my teaching positions, I was passionate about helping children with their reading development so my professional development over the years has included the following: the Learning Connections School Program, Smart Moves, Vision Therapy, Brain Gym, THRASS, Lindamood Auditory Discrimination in Depth, Fernald Spelling strategy and variations such as CHIMP and “On Track for Literacy”, the “Beat Dyslexia” training Levels 1 and 2 provided by SPELD – to name a few. While all these are good programs and helped some children some of the time, in my experience, nothing has showed more satisfying results than the Davis Program.

We acknowledge that all children are exposed to training in phonics as part of their reading instruction, but many parents tell me that phonics is not the only answer; that is just doesn’t work well for all children. This is where the Davis Program fills the gap with simple but effective alternative strategies. My experience confirms that the Davis Program has something special to offer. It is the missing piece of the puzzle for dyslexic students.

The Davis Program is based on initial research done in the USA and subsequently elsewhere in the world and you can go to www.dyslexia.com to read this research for yourself. Look up the testimonials also while you are on the site.

The Davis Program is not a quick fix. After the 5-day intervention in a one-on-one situation, there is follow-up work to do to keep the student moving forward in literacy development. So be prepared to continue to support your child at home for about half an hour per day to see continued success.

Who is Ron Davis?
Ronald Dell Davis is co-founder and director of the Reading Research Council, a counselling centre in Burlingame, California. He has had successful careers as an engineer, businessman and artist. Severely learning disabled as a child, he was first thought to be mentally retarded, but was later diagnosed as dyslexic. After struggling with his problem until age 38, he came to realise his own creative thought processes were the cause of his reading problems. This was followed by the discovery of how he could turn off the symptoms. From that discovery and subsequent research has come a new understanding of the nature and cause of dyslexia, and the Davis Orientation Counselling™ and Davis Symbol Mastery™ procedures.

What is Ron Davis’s theory about dyslexia?
Ron has explained in his book, “The Gift of Learning” (2003:9) that human beings use two different types of thought – verbal and non-verbal. Some people thus primarily think with the sounds of symbols and words while others think primarily with visual images. He explains that most adults use both types of thinking to some degree. They have learned to associate the sound of a word or its printed form to a mental image. It is not until a child has learned the language that the verbal thinking method is learned; and some children learn the language later than others. A dyslexic child will not develop verbal conceptualization skills until at least age nine. This suggests then that non-verbal conceptualization, or “picture thinking”, is more basic to human nature. All humans can do it from birth.

Who Can Correct Dyslexia?
Only people with dyslexia correction qualifications. It is preferable that they also have postgraduate education in special needs education and extensive experience in correction and control of dyslexic symptoms. Find out about My qualifications.

Be cautious of people trying to earn a bit of extra money on the side who have no qualifications in dyslexia correction.

Be cautious of people trying to earn a bit of extra money, reinforcing the symptoms of dyslexia, thus offering no long-term benefit.

One doesn’t have to be a teacher to gain qualifications in dyslexia corrections though. Many parents have done training in the Davis Dyslexia Correction Program in order to effectively help their own children. Don’t hesitate to trust such a person – a Licensed Davis Facilitator – to work with your child effectively too.

How do I get my child pyscometric testing or language assessments?
The Queensland State Schools system website says:

"The department endorses a whole-school approach to improving student learning and provides an array of support services to meet the educational needs of all students. Schools identify and respond to learning needs regardless of cause, through ongoing monitoring and assessment of student progress. Schools support students by using differentiated teaching practices, assistive technology and where necessary focused and intensive teaching. The allocation of staffing resources to each school is determined by the identified needs of students. Principals are responsible for the resources provided to their school to support the educational programs of all students. If you have a concern that your child may have difficulties learning your first approach should be to discuss your concerns with your child’s teacher."

You may be able to request a psychometric assessment by the school-based Guidance Officer or a language assessment by the school-based Speech Language Therapist. Such assessment would determine that your child is not intellectually impaired and/or not language impaired.

Where can I get more information?
www.dyslexia.com