Reading with dyslexia: from phonics to meaning

When people think of dyslexia, it often conjures up images of people who spell words backwards; or perhaps children who get their b’s and d’s confused. Mostly it is viewed as a learning disability.

Dyslexia is not a learning disability.

People with dyslexia generally learn easily – when taught in a way that works for them. They are typically smart and creative individuals, who are often highly intelligent.

Their challenges generally lie in difficulty with the written word. There is no correlation at all between reading challenges and lack of intelligence. According to Jeffrey Gruen, associate professor at the Yale University School of Medicine, “the reading disability is not a global effect on the entire brain function.”

Ronald D. Davis, author of “The Gift of Dyslexia” and “The Gift of Learning”, states that dyslexic people think in images, not the sounds of words. This is the reason why a common characteristic of dyslexia is difficulty with phonics. Their brains just don’t work with sounds. “We now know that dyslexic learn to read differently – most do not learn phonetically,” states Dr Gruen.
So if phonics isn’t the answer, what is? A visual-spatial, meaning based approach, that works in harmony with the visual-spatial learning dominance of a dyslexic learner. According to Ron Davis, every word has three parts: what it looks like (how it is spelled); what it sounds like (how it is said); and what a word means.

Traditional reading instruction links the first two parts of words through phonics instruction, with the third part – the meaning - often not touched on. For a dyslexic learner, it is the missing meaning that causes such challenges. As a picture thinker, the dyslexic individual creates meaning by forming mental images as s/he reads. This is ease-ful when reading words such as “horse” and “tree”. However, it is very difficult to form a mental image of ‘abstract’ words such as ‘where’ and ‘were’. These words create blank pictures - comprehension becomes interrupted. These abstract words make up approximately 75% of print. Can you imagine how many times meaning may be lost when just reading one sentence?

Ron Davis developed a beautiful, simple, highly effective solution, which is taught to students who complete the Davis Dyslexia Correction programmes. Add meaning to the abstract words. Get the students to create what the word looks like, what the word sounds like and what the word means – using the visual, kinaesthetic medium of clay.

Take the word ‘too’. It means ‘also’. The model below is of one person sitting reading, and another person sitting and reading also – too.

The student who created this model now has understanding of that abstract word. It will no longer be a blank picture that causes confusion.

Dr Gruen states, “Some kids just learn differently. Not all children learn to read with the current one-size fits all methods.” Dyslexic students have many areas of strength. Helping them to minimise the challenges associated with the written word removes a significant barrier within a predominantly word-based education system, and helps to keep their self esteem intact – empowering them towards reaching their potential.

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Melanie Curry, 
B.Ed, Dip.Teach, Licensed Davis Dyslexia Facilitator, Licensed Davis Autism Facilitator/Coach

Sources:
Website: www.dyslexia.com
Book:  “The Gift of Dyslexia” by Ronald D. Davis
Article: The DCDC2 gene and dyslexia, by Michelle D. Jones-London, Ph.D.