Does anyone know anything about the Davis dyslexia method?

[Icimoi]

So far as I can see it's a load of hooey, but what I can find online is quite dated. Has anyone come across it?

Not come across this one. It looks expensive. I googled it and came up with the UK "facilitator" website

Tbh the only things that have helped my dc's severe dyslexia are proper teachers with proper post-grad qualifications in dyslexia. And with teaching over a sustained period of time (months and years). I can't see how are quick blast over 5 or 8 days would help my dc - particularly my DS.

It's all fully documented in the gift of dyslexia

Why don't you read the book and decide for yourself if it's what you want to do?

There are also instructions in the book as to how to do it by yourself. You don't need to go to a therapist if you don't want to.

I don't think a book written by the inventor of this system amounts to full documentation. What I would like to see is some fully randomised, documented and peer-reviewed research and, ideally, endorsement by the Dyslexia Association, and I can't see any of that. And just for clarity, I'm not asking on my own behalf, someone asked me about it having had quite a hard sell from a therapist who was proposing to charge rather a lot. I asked here because it's not something I've come across myself despite having a dyslexic child, and despite having had quite a lot of involvement with the subject over several years.

Well the DA most certainly aren't impartial. They're not interested in endorsing treatments.

All they do is sell EP reports and tutoring.

I don't understand why your friend can't read a book and make up her own mind. It's not rocket science. It's really simple. Once you've read the book you'll know whether or not his theory applies to your child. It's all totally laid out.

One part of his theory is that dyslexics think in pictures. That's very easy to find out if your child does it doesn't do that. If they don't then the therapy won't be for them.

If they do and they do some other things he lists then you can do the DIY therapy listed in the book and see if it helps or not.

All you're investing is the price of a book some clay and a bit of time.

I certainly don't need to read peer reviewed academic articles to invest £10 and a bit of time.

Without getting into a bun-fight, I find any thoughts on dyslexia interesting.

I'm a dyslexic and I think in patterns (but not pictures). When I'm writing (and I write thousands of words every day) I can only tell if a word is wrong by the pattern it makes on the page/screen. I also find it difficult to process and spell (and say) multi-syllable words and need spell-check a great deal. Many times, if an unfamiliar word starts with a vowel, then I won't be able to spell it all - even with spell check. I have no concept of spelling "rules" (such as the magic "e" and even "i before e except after c" is a meaningless rhyme unless I can see the pattern the word is making along with the red squiggly line when I've got it wrong ).

My DD (grownup) doesn't think about whether words are correctly spelt at all. What she writes first time is what you get given - spelt totally phonetically.

My pre-teen DS is totally different to both of us - he has to sound out every single letter and then will instantly a split second later forget how something simple is spelt. He is the one that (now) has consistent daily help from a teacher with a post-grad qualification in dyslexia. It is the only thing that as helped him, all other methods I tried failed him.

Soon - is your dyslexia always equally bad? Or is it sometimes better and sometimes worse?

It's never been a case of "bad", it's a case of levels of "severity".

It's only a case of "bad" when you are unsupported at school or in a school who does not know strategies for dyslexia. (Another example of my dyslexia are the words "who" and "how", never know which one it is until I see the pattern.)

Mine is always "severe" whether I'm, eg Tired or not. Happy or sad. Hungry or well-fed. Same result every-time.

Forgot to say - on the reading side of dyslexia - I read thousands of pages everyday at great speed. I am writing a history book. So I have to read several lengthy documents/books/articles (some scholarly some not) simultaneously, pick out the key info I need. Then process it all in a few seconds by analysing what I've read, comparing it with other information and then decide what to do with the information I've gained and then if I'm happy, condense it down into a small number of paragraphs. If I'm not happy then carry out further research, reading and analysing. I am very very good at doing this - reading and processing words causes me no problems whatsoever.

I was always a very strong prolific reader even as a child.

However reading causes my DS massive problems. He finds reading very very difficult and processing the information almost impossible. For books, the only way he can really process what he's read whilst reading is by using a talking book.

The DA does rather more than you suggest, MsShellShocked. I don't understand why you seem to object to the question being asked: that is what forums like this are for, isn't it?

The problem with Davis' ideas is that it seems to be founded on the basic premise that dyslexics think in pictures, and as you acknowledge that is certainly not universally the case. A further problem is that, from what I have seen online, Davis proponents mostly tell you that just using the book definitely isn't good enough, you need to go to a therapist and spend rather a lot of money.

DA does not evaluate therapies, or fund studies to find out if therapies help. Which is what you were suggesting they might do.

There isn't a 'problem with Davis's ideas'. There's a premiss that makes it either something you will consider for your child, or something you won't.

If you read his book, and feel like he is describing your child exactly, then you can decide if you want to take it further or not.

The fact that some people after buying the book are happy to spend a lot of money on the therapy is not a weakness in the therapy either. It's something those people are happy to do.

All I can say, again, is all the information is in the book. Read the book, then decide if you want to do the therapy or not.

Or don't read the book, and feel happy that you haven't spent a couple of hours of your life looking at dyslexia from a different point of view.

MsShellShocked, sorry, my previous post was badly worded. I didn't intend to suggest that the DA either evaluated therapies or funded studies - the reference to endorsement by them was intended to be separate to research. What they do have is a large network of people with a lot of experience and expertise in dyslexia, and if the information obtained from those sources indicated that there was some sort of therapy which was particularly effective I'm quite sure they would have publicised that fact.

I really don't know why you seem to object to people asking on a forum for children with special educational needs for opinions and/or experience of one particular type of SEN support.

I guess because you started your post with 'seems like a load of hooey' I felt you had already made your made up.

If your OP had been more neutral I would have answered you differently.

And you are still wrong about DA. If the network of experts liked the Davis method DA would not publicise the fact. They are a business. They make their money from selling expensive EP reports and very expensive tutoring. They do not have your best interests at heart.

Also experts will find out about the Davis method well after parents. Parents can decide to do it on nothing but gut instinct but 'experts' can't recommend it on that.

And if it does work than the expert tutor will loose their source of income. So there's certainly no incentive for them to recommend it.

I am having the same issue. It would be interesting to hear from parents who may have tried the Davis method for their children. And I agree, very dated online info