If you have been reading my blog using the key word dyslexia, chances are you have read about my adult friend who supplied me with her unresolved symptoms. She came in many names, in fact she is most paranoid about being my subject in this blog. After a few years, she came to trust me enough to tell me more.
That day she told me confidentially that when she could no longer cope with any verbal abuse, she could dissociate her consciousness and step away from her body. In a way she was still standing or sitting there, but she also becomes an onlooker, thus the verbal tirade would not hurt as much.
When I told her about the Davies' Method of therapy for dyslexic children, she was visibly distressed. As I revealed more about my observation as a Home Tutor, what the mother of the target child said, and what the child himself testified about, my friend started coughing quite badly. On the one hand, it is to her advantage to know more about her condition, as knowledge would set her free. But on the other hand, she could not handle too much information at any one installment. Thus, though she is drawn to me, she could not handle listening to me for too long or too frequently. As you must have concluded by now, my pet topic is learning difficulties as a broad subject.
When I told her in detail about how my ex-student found it difficult to read, the reason was words danced around him; I saw anguish in her eyes. I realized she was getting to tread back into her landmine years. It must have been difficult! She conquered her own demons with no help whatsoever. Her salvation came in the form of English children's books. She would fail every subject except English. Some how by working triple hard, she passed major examinations. The few short term jobs she has had before she married did not work out. For one she was too disorganized to file or find documents. But as a language tutor now she is perfect. She takes students in all shapes, sizes, with all kinds of baggage and turned them into A students. In the process, she loves them, mothers those who are neglected for whatever reason. She worms her way into her students' hearts, she spoils them with attention and snacks. After a while they would work hard for her sake alone, so that she would be able to continue to earn a good living charging those well-to-do parents her rates.
After the therapy, my ex-student was able to center his attention about eight inches on top and slightly behind his head. Then with that anchored, he could read normally. For him, his point was yellow in colour. As a tutor who worked with him for at least a year before he underwent therapy, I could see him greatly improved. What I marveled at was he was installed with an activity level meter on top of his navel. The level of activity runs from 1 to 10. In order to study and absorb new things, he should tune it to 5. Most often, he bounced around at 8. It sounded like a huge imagination, yet it really worked. With reminding him about attaching his attention to his yellow point, tuning down his buoyant personality to 5, he could actually go through an exercise in English with no sweat. After a while, he no longer needed to have a special tutor and I moved onto other interesting students.
I know all these knowledge came too late for my friend the language tutor. But I am sure it helps to know that she belongs to a big group of sufferers worldwide. She was not a retard as others teased her years ago. She is not stupid as her siblings claimed. She is not crazy as her ex-husband presumed. She is just a dyslexic who made good. No mean feat! It is quite an achievement that she should be proud of!
No comments:
Post a Comment