Symbol Mastery

Symbol Mastery is based on the discovery by Ron Davis that students with learning disabilities are picture thinkers. They actually process information in three-dimensional visual images, and therefore think easily with words they can picture, such as piano, elephant, pencil, or bicycle. They often have difficulty thinking with words that do not have visual images, such as of, if, although, or how. They also have the ability to rotate visual images mentally so that they can "see" the image from multiple vantage points. When doing this, visual perception of the "real world" may be distorted so we say that the individual has visual perceptual problems. The Davis term is disoriented.  Symbol Mastery involves working out concepts and symbols in clay. Davis suggests doing this with what he calls the "trigger" words which cause a dyslexic to have confusion. The technique can also be used with letters, math symbols, numbers and speech sounds.

Kindergarten students who struggle with the concepts of sounds, letters and words receive Symbol Mastery 30 minutes/ 3 times per week.