New England’s First Fully Trained and Licensed Davis Dyslexia Correction® Provider

How a gift can cause a disability

                         At the root of dyslexia, ADD, and many other learning disabilities is a gift.  It is the ability to think and perceive multi-dimensionally in order to eliminate confusion.  This way of problem solving uses the human capacity to disorient.  It helps such individuals to solve problems creatively, create, invent, engineer, and sometimes escape from reality.  These individuals are often very intelligent, curious, intuitive, and imaginative.  This same gift, however, is also what makes dealing with two dimensional symbols (such as letters, words, punctuation marks, etc.) a tedious task.

 

           The following chart shows why this gift can be a disability until correction is given.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As dyslexics read, write and listen, they string together pictures in their minds in order to understand what is being read/said.

Usually they push on despite the blanks until the sentences are broken up so much that comprehension is lost.

Dyslexics have a perceptual talent, triggered by confusion (or any emotion), which works against them when it comes to reading symbols such as letters and numbers. Subconsciously, they flip symbols around in their mind and view them from every direction, trying to understand what is being read.  Those with ADD do the same thing with what they hear and see, giving them incorrect perceptions of what really occurred.

To dyslexics and ADD individuals, these distortions appear as reality.  Therefore, they make mistakes in what they are reading, writing, or how they react to situations.  Some common mistakes may be:

Dyslexics:

· Omitting a letter, number or word

· Altering a sequence of letters, numbers or words

· Skipping lines, stopping or hesitating

· Voice becomes monotone

· Writing is illegible or messy

· Reading, spelling or writing becomes slow and laborious

 

ADD/ADHD:

· Tired in school or while reading

· Impulsive

· Easily distracted

· Disorganized

· Inconsistent (one day they can do something, the next day they can’t)

· Problems following instructions

· Difficulty forming/keeping relationships with others

· Frequent inability to sit still

The mistakes cause emotional reactions, which leads to frustration with themselves and with those around them.

Frustration

Compulsive Solutions

Compulsive behaviors, patterns and mental tricks are adopted to reduce the mistakes and frustration caused by disorientation.  Many compulsive solutions were once appropriate learning tools, but are now simply slowing down or stopping the process.  Some of these are:

· Extreme concentration

· Memorizing rather than understanding

· Rereading over and over

· Sounding out each letter of every word

· Avoiding reading or writing tasks

· Getting others to read or write for them

· Becoming class clown

· Adopting the “I don’t care “ attitude

· Making up creative excuses for not doing the task

· Breaking down in tears

It is when one or more compulsive solutions are used routinely that the disability has been created.

Encounter a Word with No Picture

Picture Thinkers

Confusion

Disorientation

Mistakes

Creative Learning Solutions

966 Hurricane Hill Rd.                E mail: Michele@creative-learning-solutions.com

Mason, NH  03048

(603) 878-6006

 

 

When reading, writing, or listening, they come across words for which there is no picture (the, was, but, for example).