Dyslexia the Gift: Picture at Punctuation and Reading Comprehension

An extract from the Davis Dyslexia site:


"Picture at Punctuation" is a multi-faceted tool that builds many dyslexic weaknesses into strengths if it
becomes a habit by being practiced every day for the first 30 days after a Davis program. It is the third and final tool introduced as part of Davis' "Three Steps to Easier Reading." — but it offers much more to students than merely improving reading skills.

The tool begins with a mental picture, that is formed by the reader whenever encountering punctuation in print. The key is to take the words, stopping at the end of each thought, segment, or sentence, and translate them into the pictures the dyslexic mind processes and retains. It can be used effectively with spoken as well as written words.

The picture can be very simple. It needs to depict every important thing in the sentence or clause, and it should not have anything that doesn't belong. Just as with the clay models formed in Davis Symbol Mastery, it should be "as simple as possible, as complex as necessary".

This process teaches the dyslexic and builds in the reader the ability to harness the imagination and limit it to what the writer intended. If the author didn't mention a dog, but that dog is "necessary" to the reader in order to picture the "comfy home" the author did mention, the reader may picture it until it becomes confusing and a detriment to comprehension/retention — but recognize the author didn't place the dog there, the reader did.

The purpose of writing is to pass the thoughts of the writer across time and space — it is the responsibility of the picture thinking reader to get the writer's intention/inflection by limiting his picture to what is written and properly using the punctuation to gain intention/voice inflection.

When a reader/listener adds too much to the picture, the intention of the written/spoken word is lost as the reader "writes" his or her own story or instructions. Likewise, when a dyslexic reader/listener cannot picture something, it doesn't exist for him or her and is not included in the retained picture.

Forming pictures helps with oral expression and the ability to listen and follow instructions.

For more information click here Dyslexia the Gift: Picture at Punctuation and Reading Comprehension