SUPPORTING ARTICLES

(4) More Than They Ever Expected

Used with permission. © 2008 The Dyslexic Reader
Excerpts from article by Kim Ainis, Davis Facilitator, Chicago, IL

One of the most exciting and moving aspects of being a Davis Facilitator is seeing the powerful changes the program causes in people’s lives, extending far beyond reading, writing, and math. Here is a selection of mini-stories of client successes and firsts in all areas of life. They’ve been gathered from Facilitators all around the world, and are just a small sample of the kinds of changes clients experience.

Feel free to send your own story to The Dyslexic Reader!

Overcoming Sensory Overload

• Prior to his Davis program, a boy had difficulty going out to eat in noisy places. He could barely eat, became very anxious, and afterwards he’d vomit. One day, during the program week, for the first time in his life, he ate at a very noisy restaurant, gobbled up all his food, had fun, and didn’t throw up!
• A man, age 48, discovered he was able to go on fast, exciting rides with his children at Disney World — something he had never before been able to do.

Overcoming Perceptual Distortion

• A girl, age 11, tended to see the shone on polished linoleum floors in her school as holes filled with water. So she always hesitated before entering the rooms fearing she would sink into the floor. Through orientation, she was able to see these floors as they really are, and this problem disappeared.
• After 15 hours of his Davis Program, an 8-year-old boy went on a day trip with his family. As they crossed a bridge he began to feel really dizzy. His mom reminded him to check his orientation. Once he did that, everything was OK!
• A boy, age 8, could not stand to be in buildings with tall ceilings. He perceived that the ceiling was about to fall in on him. He would drop to his hands and knees, crawling to avoid being crushed. Despite being a talented gymnast, he could not take classes in a large gymnasium. Orientation resolved this issue. By the end of his week-long program he toured a performing arts center, an indoor athletic complex, and climbed the stairs of South Dakota State University Campanile Bell Tower, the tallest landmark. And then, he joined the large local gymnastic club.

Memory

• Before the program, a successful businessman, age 54, was unable to retain information from any conversations. What he heard and what his memory registered were very different. On day two of his Davis Program, he went to a restaurant. For the first time in his life, he was able to recall, from memory, the specials that the waiter mentioned.

Balance & Coordination

• On the last day of his Davis Program, a boy surprised everyone by getting on his scooter. He had never been able to keep his balance on it before, but this time he glided across the room with his mind’s eye on his orientation point.
• After two days of her Davis Program, a girl, age 15, said that she never missed a step any more going up or down the stairs.

Real World Print

• As a result of their Davis Programs, ages 11 and 18, both began to read the road signs on highways, they never saw before. The 18-year-old now understood how people got from one place to another on the highway!
• Instead of always ordering last, choosing what someone else ordered because it sounded good, or always ordering the same thing every time at every restaurant, children and adult Davis clients begin to read menus. In one instance, the mother of a 14 year-old boy suddenly realized she was not sitting next to him and couldn’t help him with the menu. But it wasn’t a problem, because he had already made his choice by reading it himself. Mum cried…
• A client, age 42, never went on holiday by himself because he was terrified that he would not be able to read the signs at the airport and miss his plane. It was a proud moment when he told his Facilitator that he was flying to Germany for a long weekend all by himself!

Relationships

• An actor in his 30’s said that he could now begin dating.
• One boy started looking at his parents — in the face. He told the Facilitator that he could now see when his mom was cross.
• A father called his daughter’s Davis Facilitator to say that his daughter now came and kissed him good night.

Feeling Good

• After orientation an autistic client chose to walk five miles home. He said it was because for the first time in his life it “felt good.”

Changes in Education

• Before the program, a high school graduate was afraid she would fail in college. She would only study arts (which she liked and was good at) and would avoid math and science (which she failed repeatedly). After completing Davis Programs in reading and math, she enrolled in college and majored in biology. Her grades in this major are all As and Bs.
• Three days after her Davis Program ended, she raised her failing score from 43 to 67 in art history. The next semester she made the leap from art to psychology and scored 76 on her first test.

Sports

• During his Davis Program, age 9, he was able to catch a ball for the first time. That was his favorite outcome of the program because he was never picked for teams at school and felt embarrassed and isolated.
• On the third day of her program, age 13, she went to basketball practice and played better. At support training, her dad commented, “The coach came over to me and asked me what happened to my daughter. She is playing more aggressively and making more shots than ever before.”
• A rugby player, age 25, at practice, the coach explained new moves he was able to learn and remember by getting oriented. On the field, he let his mind’s eye go. He played his best game, scoring a try, without ever being off side or in the wrong place.
• A 15-year-old swam a good distance from the shore to a raft he hadn’t dared to aim for earlier. “With the point I just felt confident.”

Driving, Biking, Using Public Transportation

• A college student frequently got lost when driving, biking, or using public transportation and needed to give herself an extra hour or so in case she got lost! After her program, she is able to find her way to her destination without allowing any extra time.
• A man in his 50’s was such an erratic driver, his wife never dared to “nod off” when he was driving. Now that he can get oriented, his driving has radically improved and she often sleeps while he drives.
• As a result of a series of inconsequential but scary driving accidents or snowy/icy hills, a Facilitator’s daughter gradually developed a fear of all driving. During her Davis Program, she used her alignment to understand that the mental images she was creating while driving had nothing to do with reality. Now she drives everywhere, fearlessly.
• A man, age 54, enjoyed riding his motorcycle but often had problems with balance. He fell over at traffic lights or when parking. After his Davis Program, he was happy to report that he no longer experienced this problem. His wife was happy about it too!

Video Games

• Several teenagers have reported higher scores on video games when oriented.

Time

• A client, age 13, walked into the lobby on the third day of her Davis Program. She looked at a clock and said, “Oh, it’s 12:30.” Then, in the next breath she said, “Hey, that clock has Roman numerals! I never read Roman numerals!”

Sensory Enhancement

• A client, age 26, discovered a whole new world. While his neighbor was trimming his hedge, the client was overwhelmed to discover that the world was filled with smells he never noticed before!
• A 7 year-old needed over 1.0 correction in both eyes prior to his Davis Program. After the program one eye no longer needed any correction and the other only needed .4. This change was discovered just two months after his program.
• On the way home from her Davis Program, an adult client called her Facilitator to thank her. She had pulled over to the side of the road and was sobbing into the phone. She told her Facilitator that she loves opera and had begun to listen to one of her favorite CD’s. For the first time in her life she could actually hear all the nuances in the music. Until she did a program, she never knew that she wasn’t hearing all the sounds.