Are you dyslexic?

No, but I am very visual which is true of most dyslexics too. I was not really aware of this before the Davis training, but now, not only am I aware of this “gift”, but my visual memory has definitely improved. Visual memory can be encouraged and developed in most people and it is what we do with dyslexic clients in our programs. Many clients, particularly adults, are not even aware of this “gift”.

When did you get interested in dyslexia?

Several years ago, I did volunteer work for the Geneva Red Cross, helping about 10 children from refugee families with their homework. Two of these children never seemed capable of remembering their lessons from one day to the next. I couldn’t understand how I could be so successful with most of my students and yet so unsuccessful with these two. I wondered whether I was doing something wrong, whether I was asking too much ( they were only 6 and 8), whether they weren’t very bright, or whether they were doing it on purpose so that I would pay more attention to them. In other words, I went through the same reasoning that many parents and teachers go through when confronted dyslexics. When the older child was finally diagnosed as dyslexic, I started researching the problem and came across the Davis method. The method seemed so plausible that I decided to become a facilitator. During the formation and thanks to my own personal experience as a French and Math teacher (see A personal Introduction), I was able to see how valid and well-founded the Davis method is.

How does a Davis program differ from standard programs of speech/reading therapy?

It seems to me that it is very much like “not seeing the forest for the trees”. In standard programs, much emphasis is put on teaching very specific points of reading or writing related to the specific language; with the Davis method, we are dealing with the problem as a whole which is not related to any specific language. We show the client how to use his or her way of seeing things in order to access the written language autonomously. This is simply because Ron Davis is very dyslexic himself. It was by breaking down how he had taught himself to read that he developed the method.

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