The last year

2012 has been quite the year for me. One of a kind challenges have met me head-on. I am not the same person I was a year ago.  I know, I know, everyone says that, but this year changed me in more ways then I can count.

For me, a fine-line separates who I am professionally and privately.  Maybe that's because I have many of the same learning differences that my own clients face.

Maybe if you read a little about me over this past year you'll have a better understanding of where I'm coming from. 

As 2011 was coming to a close I was notified that my younger brother, Ted, was in the hospital in the intensive care ward.  Those words are never something we want to hear about anyone; but, my brother Ted has been handicapped his entire life.  Over his lifetime he's progressed from having severe physical challenges to being wheelchair or bed bound as an adult.  Intensive care nurses did not give him much hope for survival a year ago. He went into a coma that for someone in his condition seemed insurmountable.  Miraculously, it was not. 

The miracle is that Ted was not expected to survive even as a young child, and here he is years later overcoming life threatening challenges that I cannot imagine having to endure.  The smile on his face as we gathered around him when he awoke will cause tears to stream down my face, for the rest of my life. 

Perhaps it has been that as I've witnessed and looked on through the suffering and perseverance of the challenges of my younger brother's life that I've been given an opportunity to have my heart opened.  Perhaps. 

The next challenge came when my father suffered a heart attack.  My dad has been my cheerleader my entire life and the thought that he wouldn't be there was more than I could imagine.  But we were fortunate to have another miracle bless our family when the heart attack proved to be minor.  

In July my father celebrated his 80th birthday as friends and family gathered. Early in dad's career he was a high school basketball coach---and on July 27th, when former students sent letters, made phone calls and more it reminded me just how much one person can impact someone else's life.  In daily life when we're driven with passion to help others the impact can be far reaching. We heard story after story that day of how young men's lives had been changed, and how that influence has carried on throughout their lives.  For me, it means I have my own personal coach who cheers me on with his sagely advice and love still to this day! 

More challenges took place over 2012 but I'm going to stop here for today.  

Remember I said that because of the trials and difficulties of my own life I have a unique perspective toward others with learning challenges, so stay tuned for the next installment of my review of 2012 as I cover just how learning differences have impacted me.  

Just try harder?

Is it about trying hard enough?

You may recognize these five items I've listed as areas you or your child experiences difficult with from time to time.  It's a list I recently received from a business trainer.  You can see her response to these difficulties:

1) Is Listening a problem? Try harder.
2) Do you struggle remembering names? Try harder.
3) Staying focused too hard? Try harder.
4) Communicating difficult? Try harder.
5) Conversations are tough? Try harder. 

While "do your best" is her point let's take a little deeper look at what's happening here. Why are these things really so hard?

It's easy to let your feelings take over sometimes. But feeling like someone isn't trying hard enough has it's own downfalls. Truthfully, as dyslexics we are often trying harder than you could ever imagine. 

Listening
Let's look at the first item on the list. Listening.  

I recently read a blog about Auditory Reversal written by Matthew Turton.  He describes auditory reversal to mean the process of the long term auditory retrieval system being stronger than our auditory storage system.  Turton compares the hearing process to how magnets might work together. 

The amount of information it pulls out of auditory storage is determined by how strong the retrieval magnet is.  While storage is weak, retrieval is fairly strong... when remembering auditory information such as instructions or a conversation, (a child may) pull out additional pieces of information that were not part of the original conversation. 

These additional pieces of information are usually loosely related in some way and relevant to the conversation.

What this means in real life is that what we should hear (the sound or voice waves are coming towards us) and what we remember hearing or what we accurately hear (our auditory process and our brain is working in harmony) can be two different things. 

If you've ever tried to redirect a child who's engaged in his or her favorite activity, such as watching an entertaining television show, you know how difficult it can be to get your message across. Their focus is directed elsewhere. 

Real Life
I'll use an example with my five year old grandson. The two of us were doing the Davis Koosh ball activity the other day.  I made the mistake of beginning the activity when the television was on. When I tossed him a Koosh ball the first few times he haphazardly reached at it, missing every time.  Realizing my mistake I turned off the T.V., we both re-focused and he easily caught the Koosh balls the rest of the time. (And he was able to throw them back to me without causing them to whiz in all directions past my head or landing yards away from me!)

Here's one way Davis Dyslexia would explain the difficulty with listening and not being focused:   

The dyslexic or A.D.D. child uses disorientation for entertainment; he may be disoriented for hours on end creating the imaginary world he plays in. 

Difficulty with listening can be a dyslexic symptom that we may easily brush aside adamantly claiming the other person isn't paying attention; in truth, they may be trying harder then we can imagine. Remember to take into consideration factors such as the environment [T.V. on], the other person's emotional state [had a hard day at school], even how they're feeling that day [do they have a cold, allergies ..] before claiming someone isn't listening to you.

Remember!
Give everyone a little kindness because we're really trying harder than you might imagine!

Read more about Davis Dyslexia: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/add.htm#ixzz2EsZrI8rx

Matthew Turton://www.getyourbreakthrough.com/blog/bid/240423/You-Never-Said-That-Auditory-Memory-Dysfunction

The cost of Entrepreneurial-ship

Business launch
There's a whirl of thoughts going through my mind as I type this post. When I recently attended a Columbia Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting I thought it was just that...a ribbon cutting.  Ribbon cuttings are just normal events, right?   But it was more than I expected.

This ribbon cutting featured the lovely Caroline Leemis and her new business Caroline Leemis Design.  Make sure you check out her work! On top of this business launch, it was also the first ribbon cutting in the League of Innovators downtown space.

In the space of that new business incubator entrepreneurial-ism had a grand opening, too.

At the ribbon cutting, as I talked with my friends Karen Mickey of The Sensible Group and Heidi Fuhrman with The League of Innovators, another friend, Jan (someone I follow on Twitter) happened to be posting a link about the cost of not recognizing entrepreneurial-ism in our world.

Cost of our ignorance
By the term cost I'm not using a play on words, I'm talking about financial cost here. Furthermore, these costs depend on where you are in this world; numbers differ between Europe and the United States. But over all, we're talking about a loss of millions and millions of dollars for our economy when we fail to recognize and cultivate our talents.

There are estimates that one in three business entrepreneurs are dyslexic. Generally it's recognized that anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the population is dyslexic, so why the increase when it comes to business?

Two things are happening
First-- a large number of people fail to recognize their own dyslexia. They discount their strengths and weaknesses, and do not recognize the actual reasons they have differences in the way they do things in life.

Secondly -- overall in the business world a large number of people are dyslexic.

So what does this mean? It means we have to be more aware.

In the UK it's estimated that 1 in 5 people in the business world are dyslexic. But the lack of recognition for dyslexia in the UK costs them over $1 billion a year.

Here in the United States the estimate for the number of dyslexic people in the business population is even greater: it's 1 in 3.  So what does that translate to in financial terms for the United States?

Let me know what do you think!

"You'll never amount to anything!" that's what he told me!

Things aren't always what they seem

By the time I was five years old I was planting a small garden behind our house, drawing simple landscape plans and making trips to the local nursery with my dad. No one had any idea that I was a dyslexic learner because of the things that came easily for me. Reading included. 

When it came time to move on to higher education I was confused at why anyone would pursue a degree in something that wasn't hands-on.  Things have changed; I've wised up a bit over the years, but back then a degree in horticulture just made sense to me. 

To get that diploma from Western Illinois University, an agriculture degree with an emphasis in horticulture, I had to complete some work in the Botany school. 

For horticulture exams our professor, Dr. Harold Schmalfeld, would line tables with small pieces of bark, leaves, berries, or written descriptions of tree characteristics and it was our job to identify the genus and species of the plant. 

Botany exams were no different. We were expected to identify a variety of plants but for that final exam we were expected to provide one of our own test questions. 

No problem, I thought! Identification tests are the easiest and we supply one question ourselves. What could be easier!?"

Back in the day

Back in those days the plant Euonymus alatus had not become the pest that it is today so when I found some growing in the wild I thought I had this bring-your-own-test-question thing down pat. I marched in for that final test like a proud peacock strutting my feathers, only to find out that the real excitement was soon to happen. 

I guess it was a few days later when our grades were posted for that final class in our final botany series when I marched in to discover the horrible truth.  I'd missed one question.  

The misdeed occurred, of all places, with my own sample. 

"Impossible! Has to be a huge mistake" I thought as I ventured down to the professor's office. "Should have this cleared up in a matter of minutes!"

Winged Wahoo

Minutes did go by as we discussed everything besides Euonymus alatus.  Why not take a little time to talk to the professor, I rationalized, thinking this was all but a done deal. But when the topic of identifying the plant finally arose all niceties slammed to a halt. 

"That plant is not a burning bush", the professor dug in, his demeanor changing.  "My wife is Hawaiian, in Hawaii that plant is called a winged wahoo."

"But, sir", I interjected, "Here in the mainland we call it a burning bush, wouldn't you agree?"

"No, it's a Winged Wahoo." 

In my mind 'who's the dean of this department' quickly popped up and 'maybe I can get a clear answer out of the dean.'  I said that out loud at one point...seems there was a minute detail I'd neglected to learn. Mr. Professor Winged Wahoo was the class instructor and the dean. 

How lucky for me!  Okay, maybe reading isn't so easy because how in the world did I miss that little detail? 

You'll never amount to anything

Without missing a beat the professor jumped on the chance to map out my life for me--

"You are never going to amount to anything in life," he threw out at me. 

"You'll never own a nice home, have children or amount to anything!" he concluded.  

And there it was, he was labeling me a loser! 

Winged Wahoos of life!

For some reason that experience came to mind this fall weekend when the temperatures outside were summer-like and it was a perfect for a little final yard work of the year.  

I have a new house and with this house I have inherited a few winged wahoos.  It's funny now---I've owned a few houses since then, managed to raise four children and have done a few other things along the way.  There are plenty of things I'd still like to accomplish in this lifetime but I think I can say I've been able to amount to at least something!

But this isn't really about me. What about the kid who hears over and over 'you'll never amount to anything'?  I think there's more for this old dyslexic horticulturalist to do out there in this world!  

"He was mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams."

A Moment to be Thankful
Thankfulness and gratitude is the theme for Thanksgiving.  Besides being a worthy topic, that topic is also along the same line of thinking that I began my year with -- positive thinking.

A great reminder came to me one evening while I was reading. The idea of how our faith supplies us with the simplest of needs struck me as a microscopic idea, simple and extremely meaningful.

Glimmer of Brilliance 
In the middle of my reading a glimmer of the western sky caught my eye.  Through the upper window in my study the crimson color of the sunset pulled my focus to the performance on the horizon right outside my window.  Brilliant gifts continued to spill forward as the earth rotated and maneuvered toward Missouri nighttime. There were more combinations of majestic beauty in those moments than I could have hoped to see in a week of time ... all glittering freely right before me.

The awe inspiring moments reminded me of Albert Einstein's work.  Einstein explained the color of the sky like this:

In the evening the sky turns orange and red.  This happens because the visible light rays are hitting the particles in the air at different angles and at different speeds [than during the day] so the sky color changes from blue, that we see in the daytime hours, to a nice red-orange color. 

Foolish Dreams 

Of course Einstein had some very deep thinking to go along with those simple thoughts written above but, did you know this was said about him, by a teacher, when he was young: 

"He was mentally slow, unsociable and adrift forever in his foolish dreams."

'Adrift forever in foolish dreams' may not sound like a great physicist but his creative ability to imagine was all a part of Einstein's genius. 

As a young boy, Albert began to wonder what a light beam would look like if you could run alongside it, at the speed of light. [These thoughts were inspired by a book someone gave him.]  And from there his theories, such as the Theory of Relativity, sprung. 

I'm thankful for each evening that I have an opportunity to witness the majestic beauty of the sunset, that carries me into the next day with positive thoughts about all I've been blessed with in my life.  

This is really OUT OF THIS WORLD work!

My clients create amazing things right before my eyes. Daily.  But it struck me the other day just what a true gift my clients are; their creations, their ideas, and their absolutely ingenious skills.  So just to be clear, I'm not talking about the 'Gift of Dyslexia' as in Ron Davis' book, I'm talking about the unique potential of my clients themselves.

When the idea came to me how these gifts unfold before my eyes I have to admit that a few tears welled up in my eyes. For you see I have been privileged to be front and center stage to witness talented and out of this world creative people performing!

Out of this world. Yes, that leads me to what I found sitting before me the other day.

See this? May I explain this model a little :)










We were working on the uppercase letters of the alphabet and here's what they looked like:

My client, Jeremiah, is a 5 year old kindergartner who has known the letters of the alphabet for quite sometime; he created these clay letters independently, and now we're going to touch and say these letters that are right before us. We call that Alphabet Mastery

As he went from Z back to A, touching each letter, he called letter V a U [you].  Without hesitating or explaining his next move he picked up some extra clay and began earnestly creating clay balls...from there our Solar System came to life! [See photo on the top, left]

From the left side of the picture you see the planet Mercury (first clay ball). Next, though its a bit hard to see, is the planet Venus with a letter V around it, a  /_ of sorts.  So he'd taken that 'trigger' of letter V and connected it to something important and of interest to him.  Venus.

He went on to create the planets, adding a ring around the planet Jupiter. At the end of the Solar System (between the A and M in the right side of the top picture) you see a star. That's because I was explaining to Jeremiah how we used to call the smallest 'planet' Pluto, though it's no longer considered a planet.  He said then it was a star, and a star is what he added to the end of the Solar System.

So back to the alphabet.... The letters of his alphabet were still in the correct sequence from A to Z and we'd worked on them a bit. My young client touched each letter A-Z, then Z-A.  Then he processed the letters without touching them going from A-Z; then from Z-A. He named them as he visually tracked them... but as he tracked them from Z back to A, as he came to the letter J he called the letter U [you].

I allowed him to finish the alphabet mastery, to name all the letters back to A and asked, "Did you notice anything?"

"No," he replied.

I motioned over the right end of the upper row of letters and asked if he noticed anything there.  He said no, at first, but then, looked at L, then K and finally the J.  And here's what happened next:

It took all his energy to process through those letters and to hit upon the trigger in the letter J...J for Jeremiah.  Somehow there's a  connection between the letter U and letter V and J. It really doesn't matter where or what that trigger is because we're simply going to erase it.

He slept for over an hour, right there in the chair.  He's not a napper or a big sleeper, either!

Processing. So much energy.

One more tidbit. We were not alone in the room; there were two others with us because the Columbia Missourian newspaper had a reporter and a photographer following the work that Jeremiah was doing that day. So he slept before an audience!

How tough are you?

This summer, while a severe drought and record breaking high temperatures prevailed, I noted the kinds of trees that were surviving.  Almost everything that had once been green and growing in the great outdoors was on a burnt-out continuum; we didn't need thermometers we needed scorch-o-meters!

Not all 'wounds' from the summer drought can be healed by the cooler temperatures and rain storms that we've received over the past few weeks. But the plants that did survive, they've moved on.  Just like the calendar has, because here in North America it's autumn.

So what happened to all of those plants that were seemingly on their last leg? Some are no more - as in gone for good [dead]; others took a time-out [dormant] and some are thriving [beautiful].

So you're probably wondering what the survival rate for trees has to do with dyslexia? Give my dad a call.  He's wondered about my odd mixture of horticulture degree and dyslexia expertise for a long time, he'd love to talk to you!

But seriously, here's the scoop: We're like the trees. We survive the trials of living dyslexic [living through droughts that seem endless, that threaten to leave us wounded for life] in this world where some say: "There's no such thing as dyslexia!"

We can let them take us out with their endless drought of *we must do it the way things have always been done*.  Or we can continue on, surviving and ---> blooming!

Now, if you can find a beautiful tree outside your window, a tree that's showing some lovely fall foliage tell it: "There's no such thing as drought!"

I know, that doesn't really make sense! But it makes about as much sense as denying the fact that dyslexia exists.

Yes, the trees are turning lovely versions of bronze, yellow and red colors. Obviously, there wasn't a drought this summer. Right?

Drought or no drought sometimes we just continue on. Now, go forth and SHINE!

A Study of Reading and Writing Improvements

On September 27, 2012 the Columbia Daily Tribune ran a front page article that said:

SCHOOLS LOOK AT BENEFITS OF KIDS WALKING

I found some of the numbers from a 2008-2009 study to be interesting. The study found that kids who walked to school daily increased their average reading level by 26.5 percent.  Kids who did not walk to school daily only averaged a 4.8 percent gain. That means there was about a twenty-two percent increase in student's reading level when some morning exercise took place.  Impressive! When we can improve a child's reading ability AND give them the benefits of being in the great outdoors, it's a win-win situation!

What about Writing?
The study went on to note that there was not a direct correlation between the morning walk and student writing. That's where the Davis Dyslexia Correction program comes in to play.

Right up front I have to confess that perhaps it's unfair for me to compare an entire study from a whole elementary school to only one (1) of my clients.  But here goes----

Recently a client's mother (her son, my nine year old client, is in the middle of a Dyslexia Correction program) told me how her son's school is totally amazed at the increase in her son's writing ability.  What kind of improvement you may be asking? Here's what she said---

"The teachers say his writing has gone from very illegible to very legible! They are astonished!

And we're in the middle of a correction program.
The Davis Dyslexia Correction Program is a 30 hour program that can take place over a matter of days, not a matter of years as others might.  

My young client does not walk to school daily, and he's yet to reach the point in the correction program where he's continuing our work at home with the Davis follow-up work.

He has learned how to get focused, which we call getting "On Point".  Being on point means he has the ability to independently maintain his focus in his classroom.

Davis Alphabet Mastery with lowercase letters

The picture to the left is my client's lowercase alphabet, the alphabet we're still working on. You'll notice a few things still out of order, that means we're still working on the triggers. A trigger can be compared to a glitch, a hook of sorts in the mind where an idea, a picture, an emotion...is causing us to make some kind of a mistake.

What does all of this mean? It means school districts are noticing changes to the way kids are reading when physical activity is involved.
It also means we're noticing improvements in a wide variety of ways when the Davis Program is involved! 

The Secret Super Powers of Dyslexia Continued

Chase and Dyslexic Super-Hero

Today I have more of the ongoing adventures of Dyslexic Super-Hero and his creator, and my friend, Chase.

Our story today goes like this:

Dyslexic Super-Hero has a team of super heroes who continue to guard our world using their armor of Dyslexia!

Who must they defend us from? Well, of course, evil Dr. File!
Our Super-Hero is joined today by his friend in armor, Alien-dyslexic-friend John! John can run faster and jump higher while thinking of great ideas better than others can.

Dr. File is out to destroy the heroes dyslexic abilities so they must be off now to fight evil and to defend our freedom in thinking! 

Super Hero Chase has some final words:

I plan on continuing to be a dyslexic super hero and in the end there will be others who have dyslexia who will also defend our world.  

And even more, he wants you to know that even though others don't have the same super powers he has, they too, have their own great powers.

Dr. File trying to defeat our Dyslexic Super-Hero

Super Powers of Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a super power,” my young friend and client Chase told me the other day.

Dyslexia is a good thing because I have fun with it.  I invent games and entertain my little brother with my dyslexia”

“I made up a game called ‘Junk Yard’. We pretend we’re in a fancy car that we restored from a junk yard and pretend we’re racing.”

He never ceases to amaze me with his creations.  By ‘creations’ I mean the inventions that appear after he grabs a chunk of clay; original characters and one-of-a-kind ideas take shape right before my eyes! I don’t know how many times I’ve looked away for a moment to find a pen or to jot down a thought only to look back and find he’s generated something new.

“My awesome dyslexic Super-Hero thinks fast, changes size and does things other people can’t,” he told me as he worked on a detail of his dyslexic machine.

In some ways, Chase is referring to the imagined super-powers of his clay figures. Here’s his collection of dyslexic characters with his dyslexic Super-Hero standing on top of it all!

In other ways he is referring to himself.

He is one of the most creative and talented people I’ve ever met. His ability to think creatively drives his world with ideas for playing, thoughts on life and new things to explore.

No, Chase can’t shrink from a nine year-old boy into an action figure like his fabricated super-hero can but he can do things that other people can’t. Like his dyslexic clay Super-Hero, Chase is a one-of-a kind!

aisle, ISLE, * I'll * explain dyslexia!

Do you always believe what your eyes are telling you? Here in the Midwest our fields and lawns are sporting that burnt-look.  Some of the scorch is a grass-fire burnt look (because it probably was a grass fire; they've been rampant.) Other scorch is a drought-burnt look (because we're in the middle of a serious drought!).

This Labor Day weekend while my husband and I were tooling around Boone and Audrain Counties here in Mid-Missouri, we passed Amish farms with rows of corn shocks already in place out in the fields.  And they've been there for some time. Reminded me of fall. (For non-farmer types, shocks are the remains of the harvested corn plant placed in the fields for livestock consumption.)

If I didn't know better (and if it wasn't going to be about 100 degrees F. today) I'd think it was late fall or early winter, if I was going to judge things on this drought-burnt look!

Yet other places, without rhyme or reason, have a lush-greenness that vividly declares 'Hey, it's still summer time here!'

Columnist Jan Wiese-Fales writes for the Columbia Tribune's  Lifestyle section with her weekly article called Fertile Mind.  Recently her column was about a heat-tolerant beauty of a plant called crape myrtle. Here's a description she wrote:

"clusters of frothy, raspberry sherbet-colored blooms...beyond gorgeous, especially in comparison to wilted browning and bloomless perennial flowers and shrubs...in other parts of the yard." 

Even this horrible drought cannot take the will to live away from the hardiest plants, like the crape myrtle. They thrive no matter what! At the same time other plants, ones that might even be in the same location, and have the same amount of fertilize and water, are fading away.

So, is it summer or fall?  Here in the United States it's the end of summer-time with the official start to autumn just around the corner. Look at a calendar and you'll have all the information you'll need.

Right?

Here's my point--it's not that easy!  I'm simply trying to draw a parallel to how words and symbols might look to a dyslexic learner. What one person sees unquestioningly, to how someone else, dyslexic of non-dyslexic, may see it in an opposite way. Some see fall when looking at a word, others see summer when looking at the same word...so to speak!

Recently someone Tweeted:

"Seriously, how can you not tell the difference between isle and aisle?!"  <----- that hurts!

Alright, I do understand. Spelling errors can be annoying.  But believe me, as a dyslexic I don't make spelling errors intentionally. We don't commit all kinds of mistakes because we're stupid or because we don't care. Aisle isle I'll let you no now know more when I detrmin figure ti it out! Thnks.

May I suggest you give the idea of dyslexia a try? Check out the 37 common traits of dyslexia and let us know what you discover.

HIGH IN IQ...can't complete kindergarten

"There's no such thing as dyslexia," someone abruptly told me recently and it didn't go over very well with me! Statements like that tend to bring out my stubbornness! (Ask my Dad, he still reminds me I'm a fighter!)

But, when I meet someone who has been living at the blunt end of those kinds of statements--that sends me over the edge! I've heard the 'no such thing as dyslexia' proclamation more times than I care to remember, and that's exactly what they said about my young friend 'J'. 

Here's part of the story I learned when I first met J: Earlier, when he was about to start kindergarten and needed to complete a pre-school screening with his local school district, he had been asked to count from one to ten.  

"Yee, uhr, sahn, suh...," he said. 

What? The screeners were mystified.  Instantly they decided J obviously couldn't count! How could he possibly be ready for Kindergarten...he couldn't count!

To top it off, the new to him testing-room had brought on quite a bit of anxiety causing him to feel fearful. In the end, receiving negative responses from the adults in charge, after he'd tried to impress them with his counting skills, brought the event to an end.

You see he wasn't trying to count to ten, he had counted to ten... in Chinese! Unfortunately, he was the only one in that room who knew Chinese! And after the adults reacted in the way they had---

He shut down. 

"High in IQ, yet may not test well academically; tests well orally, but not written,"  is one of the general traits of dyslexia on Ron Davis' list of the 37 Common Characteristics of Dyslexia. 

For J the high in IQ part is correct.  Even though the test was given orally, he was not able to overcome his anxiety and successfully give the adults the information they considered necessary for him to be a good candidate for their school program.  When the idea of dyslexia was brought up, they had the 'no such thing as dyslexia' statement ready to go. 

When he came to OnPoint Learning Center it was a different story.  He quickly showed me his talents and Gift of dyslexia and I knew how to help him.  

In the course of the 30-hour week of his Davis Dyslexia Correction Program this young man taught me more than almost any other client has every taught me.  

Sometimes he used words and at other times he used clay. 

Wait, I just realized what I typed: 'he taught me more than almost any other client'.  Not bad for someone who couldn't complete a Kindergarten screening! 

For more on the 37 Common Traits: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm#ixzz25VjZOdXh

*Think and Grow Positive*

Goal Setting
Bright and early one morning, toward the beginning of the year, my Master Mind group met to discuss goal setting.  Almost everyone I know thinks bigger, better and brighter at the beginning of a brand spank-in new year. My Master Mind friends are no different. It was 'Master Minder' Tom who stole the show that morning when he mentioned something simple.  Positive thinking. (I'm sure he really said much more, but that's all I really remember! Sorry, Tom.  Next time I'll bring the clay!)

"What a great way to think about life," I thought aloud at a stoplight at Broadway and Fairview Road after I left our group that morning. (Not a whole lot of options for entertainment at a stoplight but still, I remembered!)

For months, the thought of positive thinking clung to me. I diligently took moments like during stoplight-waiting and grocery-line-enduring to offer a prayer for a friend, to be thankful for something, to thank God for the blessings in my life or to notice something beautiful nearby.

A Little Discipline with those goals
 But here's an exert from the book  Easy to Love, Difficult to Discipline by Becky A. Bailey, Ph,D that will help make my point:

A mother walked several days on a pilgrimage to see Gandhi.  She arrived and told Gandhi she was concerned about her son: 

"He eats only sugar---no other food.  I have tried everything to get him to eat healthfully, yet he refuses.  Please help me."  

Gandhi told her to go home, return in one week, and to bring her son back. 

One week later, again she walked three days to return to Gandhi.  

When the mother again found Gandhi, he took one look at the boy and said him, 

"Stop eating sugar."  

The mother was shocked. 

"I walked nine days and that is all you have to say? Could you not have said this last week?" 

Gandhi responded, 

"I could not tell the boy to stop doing something that I was still doing.  It took me one week to stop eating sugar." 

Every week I receive phone calls, emails, Tweets, Facebook messages and have one-on-one conversations with parents, teachers and grandparents who are asking how I can help their child or how they themselves can overcome something. They are struggling to read/write/focus/speak...and I say *stop eating sugar*.

Okay, I don't say that. I'm making a joke of the academic, language, and behavioral disorders that can make positive thinking excruciatingly hard, but remember Gandhi's words: we must start with ourselves.

Are there any New Year's resolutions that you've long since forgotten?  I raised my hand to that one!  You see, I'm at fault for not always remembering to use my tools of release, focusing and dial setting, the one-in-the-same tools I expect my client's to master.

Thinking positive everyday
One last thing I must tell you. It's about my friend Tom. You see a while back Tom was diagnosed with cancer.  Cancer is not a word that brings along much of a positive thought. And we would understand if Tom wasn't feeling too positive.

But that's not happening here! Tom, the one who set the think positive idea in my head back in January has remained true to his spirit: Thinking positive everyday.  In fact, we all think--we all know!-- hands-down he will beat this cancer thing!

Positive thinking, has a lot to do with it.  But, please, if could honor just one request for me, when you come upon those little moments like stoplight-waiting, and grocery-line-enduring, to lift up a prayer or send a positive thought for my friend Tom. It would be greatly appreciated.

And then *stop eating sugar*! Now don't you feel a little better?

Did you ever feel like this?

The other day one of the grandsons and I were in the car. Whizzing along we sang, "HI HO, HI HO, it's off to work we go", you know, the song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.



It's the same song his mom and I sang years ago as we marched out to the clothesline, to hang up fleshly laundered clothes on sunny, summer, Monday mornings. (We had lots of clothes to hang up!)

When my kids were little (and since they've grown-up and when they were in-between!) they commonly said, "Mom, can you please not sing!" So when the grandsons are willing to tolerate my singing, I take it for all it's worth.

This day though, we weren't off to the back-forty to hang up clothes in the summer breeze, we were in town heading for my office, preparing to work on the tools of a Young Learner's Reading Program.

As we drove along, passed through an intersection, and then began to move down-hill, (going to pick up a little speed here, I thought to myself!) a truck pulls in front of our line of cars.  A large... slow ...truck.

So we sang a little more!

The car windows are rolled down because instead of a roasting 110ish-degree day, as we've had for the past 40 some days, it was a wonderful 90 degree morning. (Hum, just right for clothesline hanging-out.)

Instead of whizzing now we're creeping, but no matter, because everything was pretty perfect in that moment. Beautiful sky, lovely temperatures, cool breeze and great company.  What more could I ask for!

A nice Columbia, Missouri police officer monitoring my speed? Rather, non-speed!

As we hit the bottom of the hill and cruised past the black-and-white car casually pulled to the side of the road, I looked right at him, and laughed. My eyes could barely stay open I laughed so hard. I was close to crying.  "I'm, a grown woman singing "HI HO, HI HO it's off to work we go" at the top of my lungs, with the windows open, whizzing down the hill...um, wanting to whiz down the hill, creeping along like a turtle because of a huge, boxy very convenient truck.

The quote from the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare's work "all's well that ends well" sums it up. All was well.  I wasn't trying to mock the police officer, no way, I was so relieved that I wasn't speeding that I was overcome with joy and well-ness!

The feeling that I had in that moment was perfect. Just right.  I was relieved, happy and joyful all rolled into one knowing that if not for the truck I could have rolled along into a speeding ticket!

That, my friends, is how it feels to be "focused", to be"on-point"; that's how I would explain the feeling the tool of focusing gives to me when correctly using the Davis Dyslexia tool technically called 'Orientation Counseling'.

Children and adults who work with the Davis Dyslexia Correction Program and Davis Autism Approach experience this feeling, as soon as possible, at the beginning of a program. After all, it's a very important tool.

Don't all teachers expect their students to have the ability to listen and participate in the classroom; to be able to take in information they can later apply in other settings, in other ways?

Don't all employers expect their employees to know how to pay attention so they can be productive; to be on top of what they're making, creating, explaining, selling, moving, promoting....?

Don't all parents appreciate a child who hears what they're saying, not a child who seems to selectively misinterpret everything they say?

And, when I truly learned how to get "focused" that's exactly how it felt for me...like everything had just fallen exactly into place and it was "just right!" 

"HI HO, HI HO, it's off to school/work/ home we go!"





For more information on the program offered at OnPoint Learning Center, LLC contact Cathy Cook at
http://www.onpointlearning.org/, or call her directly at 573-819-6010 or email her at cathy@onpointlearning.org.











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WHAT WAS I THINKING?

Ron Davis has a list called the 37 Common Characteristics of Dyslexia. These 37 common traits are like a strong bridge that begin a safe journey across a mighty, rushing river. Sounds a bit dramatic, I know, but in truth, that's what they really are.  

Many people don't even know this 'bridge' exists; they only know about the dangerous waters that fill their life. They feel lost, and maybe even feel like they're drowning.  Still sound too dramatic? 

Okay, think back to a time when you had to do something, but had no idea how to even get started. Think about learning a new skill, stopping an old habit, or making a change in your life and you have no idea where to even begin.  You may not even know a problem exists but you have a feeling something has to change.

Ron's 37 Common Characteristic begins with: 

Appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level.

"I get it", you might be thinking, "it's about someone who's struggling to read...something along those lines."

You might think that, of course, "it's rather easy to spot a reading problem because, well, they can't read!"  Yes, it is about someone who may appear to be struggling but let me tell you a little story. 

Over 30 years ago, long before I was an educator, I was a young mother.  It was in the fall and our church was recruiting for new teachers. The Sunday School Superintendent, Cindy McKee, asked me to consider being a teacher for a 1st Grade Sunday School class.  

"I'm a horticulture major," I replied, "I can't teach Sunday School!"  
Was she crazy? Asking me to teach a class! 

What Cindy knew was she needed a teacher, for one hour on Sunday, for first graders.  But it felt like she was asking me "Can you swim across the mighty Mississippi without a boat, or a life-jacket, in the middle of a driving storm, in a matter of minutes?"
Utterly impossible, I thought! 

What I eventually agreed to do was to be the 'helper' each and every Sunday while a team of women took turns teaching the class. I would be there to give support each Sunday. Easy, all I had to do was show up! I can do that. 

And show up I did.  In fact I was there every single Sunday, sitting at the little table helping the students and the teachers.  At first I sat back and watched.  Soon I realized that with a series of people coming in to lead the class each week, I was the only one who really knew the kids, at least as well as one could get to know them over one hour a week. What I began to noticed was that one little girl was different from the rest.  

Did she dress differently? No. 

Did she speak a different language? No. 

She was different because she never wanted to read. Every time the teachers asked the class to take turns reading the lesson she would not read.  At first I tried to help her and she seemed to be trying.  Quickly, though, I realized that she simply couldn't read and the more the teachers asked her to read, the harder it became.  

One morning as I sat with the students, and I knew the little girl's turn would soon come up to read, I had a fleeting thought:  there really shouldn't be a problem here. She's too cute to have a problem, I told myself.   

Hard to believe that thought floated through my brain, but I did.  I remember my thoughts, about that little, cute, adorable child, because now I realize I'm not alone.  In my ignorance, I had equated not being able to read to not being cute, to not being smart.

I began to feel that it was best to let her choose whether or not she wanted to read.  She always declined.  I decided to advocate for her, asking the teachers to give her the choice to read or not to read.  I could only ask them because, after all, I had thought this teaching thing was entirely in uncharted waters, too difficult to dive into, therefore I really couldn't ask too much of them! 

Well, 30 years later I've crossed many bridges in my life and teaching has been one of them. 

Now I know that appears bright, highly intelligent, and articulate but unable to read, write, or spell at grade level, happens all the time in public schools, private schools, in the home-church-work place-campus-office-store-community....and now I do know what to do for those who appear smart but struggle in reading...

Thank you, Cindy McKee, for asking me to be a teacher.  Even though I did a whale of a job protesting that I was not a "teacher" it gave me the start of a lifetime to swim where I could never have expected to go! 

Read more: http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm#ixzz23cs9r0Bb

HEARD THIS BEFORE?

Don't sweat the small stuff.

In 100 years will this matter?

Wait until next year!
Oh, wait, I'm a Chicago Cub baseball fan so that's a saying we hear a lot!

Even if you're not a Chicago Cub fan here's a saying you may have heard and may even believe to be true:

"Dyslexia is only about flipping letters around.  Reading backwards. That's it!"

The other day my husband heard a women announcing to her co-workers that dyslexia is only about "flipping letters around".  The subject came up because another woman in the group was concerned about her grandson's struggles in academics and other areas of life. The first woman went on to say that the grandson could not be dyslexic because dyslexia is "only about reversing letters".

Before my husband even had a chance to chime in one of the moms I've worked with came into the room. Her son is a graduate of the Davis Dyslexia Correction Program.  Upon hearing the conversation that was taking place my client's mom quickly took charge of the conversation.

My husband? He just sat back and listened because not only does this mom know what she's talking about, she can tell you first hand about the many successes, in many areas of life, that her son has had since he completed the Davis program that I offer at OnPoint Learning Center.


To start off your next conversation about the true facts on dyslexia check out these basic 37 common traits of dyslexia:
http://www.dyslexia.com/library/symptoms.htm

Read over these traits of dyslexia and see if there's not something you can't wait to start telling others about!

And don't wait 100 years!

Going for the Gold

As I'm writing this the XXX Olympic Games is taking place in London.

"Golden moment tonight for Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic," says the NBC broadcaster as I'm watching the 400 meters hurdles. "Sanchez wins the Olympic 400 meters hurdles!" 

Felix Sanchez is a two-time Olympic gold medalist; he's the oldest man to win the Olympic 400m hurdles title, and the second consecutive 400m hurdles champion to win his second title eight years after the first.  He's been nicknamed "Super Felix", the Invincible", Superman" and "the Dictator". 

He'd vowed to win the gold medal in honor of his grandmother who died four years ago, but he failed.  Now, eight years after winning Olympic gold in Athens and becoming the first gold medalist for the Dominican Republic, he's back. This time, not only is he a winner, but he's managed to run the race in the same time as he did eight years ago — 47.63 seconds. 

46.43 seconds. Remarkable!

But, let's look past the tough exterior of the man known as "the Dictator", and past someone who's talented enough to run incredibly fast, but at someone who has accomplished this feat twice in almost a decade.  Just what kind of person is this Felix Sanchez? 

What I know about Felix Sanchez is that after the race ended, he strutted around the track [now I know where he gets those nicknames from!]---and celebrated,  he reached inside his racing bib, and pulled out a picture.  Tucked inside his uniform, placed close to his heart was his abuela's picture. As the scene played out and the rain began to fall, I watched the strong, self-confident "Super Felix" transform.  

The broadcaster continued: "as raindrops begin to kiss his face he's sure his grandmother is sending them, " he said.  

"The Invincible" felt his grandmother looking down on him.  "Superman"  transformed as he moved along the outer edge of the track and took the picture from out of the inside of his racing bib. He gently placed the photo on the track and knelt beside it.  Almost like watching a butterfly emerging from its long held cocoon a change took place.  Sanchez could no longer hold the tears back.  The jubilant fearless runner released the tears that uncontrollably fell down his face.  Superman transformed into Clark Kent and "the Dictator" to a faithful grandson. 

Felix Sanchez had worked so had to win that gold metal to honor his grandmother he needed no reminders to tell him that his mission was accomplished.  

The gift of dyslexia is like this.  The gift of dyslexia is the gift of mastery.  It is the gift of learning through experience, of learning to the point where recall becomes effortless.  The gift of dyslexia is so completely grasping something that no memorization, explanation or trick is needed for the feeling, emotion, memory.... to come flooding out right here and now.  It becomes a part of you.  

Happy Olympic memories!

What's your day starter?

At the start of a recent meeting we took turns going around the table to introduce ourselves.   Of course we shared our name, but for fun, we also shared what device we each use first thing in the morning. 


There were a variety of answers like cell phone, iPad, computer...but a single answer stood out for me. One woman's answer was different from the rest: it was radio.


She listens to morning radio. 


Funny how that works, I'd been thinking along those lines myself; thinking about what morning talk radio has to offer. The mention of radio that morning however, tossed the floodgate of ideas, feels and memories open for me.   


Every weekday morning, for years--okay, for decades!---my mom listened to the radio.  One of the earliest memories I have is of Don McNeil and The Breakfast Club.  The Breakfast Club was a variety show that originated in Chicago.  One of the show's highlights was the morning march.  My brother, sister and I would be calmly sitting at the breakfast table when a hint of marching music would sound out.  We'd shoot out of our chairs to get into our best marching stance.  First, we'd march around the table, around the table again, then we'd start circling around the kitchen itself.  


I hadn't thought of the Breakfast March in ages but I'm sure you're wondering what morning radio and the Breakfast March have to do with dyslexia and autism correction? 


Sequence.


A common example I often use to describe sequence is brushing teeth. I think it's a good example because everyone's familiar with it:  pick up toothbrush, get out toothpaste, squeeze some toothpaste out.... Simple but you might be surprised at how many people struggle with some part of that 'simple' sequence of brushing their teeth. 


As Davis Facilitators our work is often about filling in missing concepts. Supplying the links for the ideas and daily functions of life that may not have been installed in our brain as we were growing up.  Making these concepts in clay, in a three-dimensional form, creates a model that sticks in the brain, filling in the missing pieces. 


Below is one version of the concept of sequence that we master. This is Chase's model of sequence: as in the way things follow each other in size. It looks like a simple model but as I watched Chase construct it I knew it was powerful in its own way. 

Chase worked hard to cut, form, shape, design and create this sequence. If you look into his eyes you might notice the deep thought they seem to hold. 


Simple, yes, but the following week when I was visiting with Chase he told how things are falling into place with his life.  He feels that the 'sequence' of how he acts transfers down the line. What I mean is he's noticing that when he acts calmly his brothers respond calmly back to him. It's a sequence of behaviors that's affecting the whole family in a positive way. You see there's a sequence of size in his family.  He's taller than his brother, who is taller than the next brother. Sequence. 


Maybe I can teach him the Breakfast March so his family can share the sequence of marching around the table as they prepare to start the morning just as my family did!


If you'd like to know more about how sequence can be affecting your life contact me at cathy@onpointlearning.org or call me at 573-819-6010.