Why I love what I do:

In my job I assess people for learning difficulties and help them overcome the negative effects. Each person is unique, even if they are identified as having the same difficulty.
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For example, I have seen people with dyslexia who have real difficulty putting their thoughts into words when speaking: sometimes they can’t think of the right word, and sometimes they use a word that is nearly the same. Then there are others who are very articulate and can speak fluently and at length about their ideas, but can’t write them down.

I have also seen dyslexics who are great at maths; although words are a problem, they just love the patterns and problem-solving that are such a big part of maths. Then there are others who have the same problems with numbers as they have with words. They may have a deep maths anxiety that is just as limiting as their anxiety about reading or writing.
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In my job I help people to understand their difficulties, but also point out their strengths. There are lots of little “lightbulb moments” when people realise why some things have been so hard for them, and other things have been easy. This is often a time when parents gain insights into their child’s way of thinking. So often there are struggles and tensions between parent and child, particularly over things like homework, forgotten instructions and lack of concentration.

​If a person is identified as having a learning difficulty such as dyslexia they have several options for getting help: New Zealand school teachers are gradually learning better teaching techniques to help dyslexic students - you can ask your child’s teacher about this. Schools also have access to specialist teachers who can help in the area of literacy and learning and behaviour (RT:Lit, RTLB). Out of school tuition is an option for those who live close to a provider. Check that the programme offered is making a difference for your child after a few weeks – it may be doing more of what already hasn’t worked.

​“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got!”
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If you think your child is frustrated by their inability to learn and the school or tutor doesn’t seem to understand their particular needs, it’s time to consider a completely different approach. The Davis programmes cover a range of learning difficulties, including dyslexia, AD(H)D, dyspraxia, Maths difficulty etc. The methods used suit visual and kinaesthetic (hands-on) learners.


Most of the people who come to me for a Davis Dyslexia Correction programme have ‘improved spelling’ as one of their goals. It is delightful to watch as they master the spelling of a long word, not only knowing which letters go together to spell the word, but also knowing the meaning of the word. This fits beautifully with what is written about spelling here.


Then the person with dyslexia comes to grips with some of those nasty little words like ‘a’, ‘from’, ‘in’ and ‘of’ that have tripped them up for years. Have you noticed this in your/your child’s reading? They may be able to read the word ‘escalator’ just fine, but stumble over ‘on’. This is because word meanings are so important, as the article above explained. You can picture an escalator in your mind, but you may not be able to clearly picture the meaning for the word ‘on’.

If you prefer to think with pictures, and those little words don’t bring a picture to your mind, it’s like being at the movies and the operator turns off the projector every few seconds – you try to piece the story together, but there are lots of missing bits. That’s just how dyslexia affects many people. No wonder their reading comprehension is usually poor!


Mastering reading and spelling in a visual and hands-on way is not only fun, it gets around the short-term memory issues that make learning difficult for many people. Even those who may not be dyslexic, but have trouble learning in a traditional way, benefit from these methods.
It is so empowering for the person to learn that they can spell any word they want to, when they go about it the right way.
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It’s not all about academic progress, though. The thing that gives me the biggest buzz in my work is when I have the opportunity to show someone how to focus their perceptions using the Davis ® techniques. If someone who has always struggled with messy handwriting, or misunderstanding instructions, or remembering their phone number suddenly finds they can do those things easily when they are focused, it’s like witnessing a miracle.