Book Review: The Gift of Dyslexia

After reading the first few pages, I had to take pause. I discovered I needed an open mind and shifted my mindset to fully appreciate Davis’s work. Why so? Well, Davis had an interesting perspective on Dyslexia. According to Davis, Disorientation is one of the main challenges faced by a dyslexic learner. Dyslexics use disorientation unconsciously to perceive multi-dimensionally.

Reading on, I got a feel of how it happens. Davis talks about how a potential dyslexic (P.D.) infant, a two-year-old, a A 3-5-year-old, a 6-year-old, and a 9-year-old are affected by the multidimensional perception of the world around them in their dyslexic state. I nodded in agreement with his findings that the dyslexic learner is primarily a non-verbal thinker who has little or no internal monologue. Dyslexic learners think with mental pictures and hear what they are reading while reading aloud. This picture-making process for dyslexics is stopped by trigger words and or unknown words.

I once watched a film with blank gaps in between; I felt confused and frustrated and finally just quit watching the movie. I couldn’t get the film’s plot, and as much as I tried to concentrate, the gaps made my efforts futile. I related this to Davis’ description of the Dyslexic learner’s process. I understood why they find it hard to comprehend what they are reading, why some are so frustrated with schoolwork, and why some eventually give up. I now get it.

Davis created the Davis Procedure, which enables the Dyslexic learner to control disorientation, thereby governing the dyslexic symptoms. This approach involves orientation counseling and symbol Mastery.