Newsgroups: alt.books.reviews
From: warlok@netcom.com (Pascal Wassam)
Subject: The Gift of Dyslexia - Review
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 22:21:25 GMT

An Impromptu Review of
"The GIFT of Dyslexia" by Ronald D. Davis
(Co-Authored by Eldon M. Braun)
Written by Robert Junod

Greetings to Parents, Children, Educators as well as Dyslexics across the
globe. My name is Robert Junod (catmaster@sfnet.com) and I would like to
tell you about a great book which I was introduced to a few months ago.

First, I should mention that I am a former dyslexic through the aid and
concern of both my parents as well as the assistance of New York University's
Optometric Center.  I really owe my being to everyone who helped me through a
rough part of my life.

One day a couple of months ago, I happened across Eldon Braun, co-author
of "The Gift of Dyslexia", while waiting for Cal-Train.  We started to
discuss the various aspects of dyslexia and the problems that a dyslexic
often encounters.  I told him my own personal story about the relationship
that I have with this "talent".

I explained to him that I too am dyslexic but I believe I have managed to get
the problem under control.  I mentioned to him that when I was about 13 years
old (1978) I had the opportunity to enter into an Eye Training Program
sponsored by NYU's Optometric Center, located in New York City.  There I went
through some interesting eye training exercises, mainly to help me gain
control over what my brain (eyesight) wanted to do. I had a number of problems
with my eyes which included stigmatisms, lazy eye as well as dyslexia.  My
instructors at NYU mentioned to my parents that I had failed the "Blackboard
Test" and this was part (or mostly part) of the reason that my reading levels
were way down, as well as my math scores.  The part that they didn't touch upon
was the fact that as a child I had problems sitting still, paying attention as
well as a number of other Learning Disability Symptoms.

The program itself, as I can recall, was interesting.  I had used a number of
various machines in order for me to heighten my photographic memory skills.
By my going through with this program, taking away from a short bit of my
childhood, I was able to start noticing the dramatic changes within myself.
After going through the 6-8 week program, my parents noticed my reading scores
had gone way up, I was writing clearer, and I was not such a fidgety youngster.
I was able to pay attention better in class and got the class work and note
taking done (for a change).

In my opinion, dyslexia is not a harmful disorder, but a syndrome that
should be kept in "check". The training itself I really don't recall, but
none the less it was interesting as well as entertaining (and for a dyslexic
it is very important that whatever the subject, the instructor needs to keep
the student's attention).

To this day, I still find myself switching letters and numbers, but I have
managed to train myself to simply close my eyes and use my photographic
memory to correct the problem.  By using my photographic memory I am able to
still think in pictorical form but with a great amount of control and ease.


The Gift of Dyslexia has given me new light into the subject of dyslexia.
Personally I wish I had this book many years ago.

This amazing little book published by Ability Workshop Press has a number of
fascinating facts giving insight about dyslexics and the "normal" abilities
which they alone are able to perform with astounding  speed and accuracy.

"The Gift of Dyslexia" is, in my eyes, a must read for parents of children of
any age, as well as a great read for those people who are dyslexic. After
reading this book, my eyes were opened up to a number of fascinating ideas
about how I actually have managed to process information. The way Mr. Davis
illustrates his ideas is amazingly fluid with a dash of color and amusement.

The book itself is an easy read.  It is printed in larger than normal typeface,
 yet on the other hand there is a great deal of information buried within each
few paragraphs you will encounter.

In the beginning of "The Gift", Ron Davis lists some of the basic abilities of
a dyslexic person. If you are able to agree with more than two (2) of these
abilities, then this book is for you.

1. Do you use the brain's ability to create perceptions?
2. Are you highly aware of the environment?
3. Are you generally more curious than average?
4. Do you think mainly in pictures instead of words?
5. Are you highly intuitive and insightful?
6. Do you think and perceive multi-dimensionally (with all your senses)?
7. Can you can experience thought as reality?
8. Do you have a vivid imagination?

Mr. Davis goes into the fact that dyslexia is not a learning disability as
much as it is a learning ability. He also goes into why dyslexics show
symptoms of a learning disability and the reason that it can not be classified
as such. This is possibly due to the fact that most dyslexics are unable to
completely comprehend a number of the "more simple" written words of our
language such as "A", "and", "come", "do" and even the word "you". Ron states
that most dyslexics think in terms of pictures rather than thinking in verbal,
written or other two-dimensional standards. As stressed in the book, these
words or phrases do not have any real pictorical definitions available for the
dyslexic to relate to, therefore, through frustration (caused by there being
no picture to relate to) these words are simply lost and discarded by the
dyslexic. Hence, the reader has managed (through his or her own thought
processes) to create a skewed version of the sentence and has created a very
distorted version on of the intended "picture" or "idea". The dyslexic person
will end up going through most of his or her life not fully realizing this.
Often this behavior leads to a difficult life in terms of dealing with paper
work.  Dyslexics find themselves asking others to assist in completing the
task at hand.

Ron has created a system for Dyslexics called "Davis Symbol Mastery: a
procedure for learning what a symbol means, what it looks like, and what it
sounds like." This process includes a unique way of learning through making
clay models of key words and phrases that have given us dyslexics such a
hard time for many years. This process has shown a number of "former"
dyslexics the errors of their embedded ways and has opened up a great number
of avenues that were before unclear and distorted.  I haven't done the
procedure, so you will have to read "The GIFT of Dyslexia" to truly understand
why it (dyslexia) is considered a true gift rather than a simple learning
disability.

In my own opinion, this book deserves to be read over and over again to
slowly absorb its full intended message not only by parents, but also by
older dyslexics. "The Gift of Dyslexia" is available at book stores across
the nation, but you may contact Ability Workshop Press at 1601 Old Bayshore
Hwy., #260B, Burlingame, CA 94010. The book itself sells on retail shelves
for $14.95, there are also Audio and Video cassettes available.  To receive
a free newsletter about The Gift of Dyslexia, you either call (800) 897-9001
or E-Mail the publisher (Ability Workshop Press) at: AbilityWP@AOL.com.

This is honestly one of the better investments that you could make for
yourself, friends and family.

(When calling your order in, please tell them where you heard about this
book as in "I heard about this great book from a posting on Internet
through a news group called _______".  Thank you, as this will help us
in the future as to where we shall be posting additional Ability Press
books. Thank you again.... Robert Junod)