When I was planning to go to study to become a dyslexia correction specialist, I had only one doubt: I didn’t want to repeat the same thing endlessly. The program has a clear algorithm and you must adhere to it. Explanations of the main exercises of the program are also done according to a specific script. In my mind, it’s like a conveyor belt in a factory, where you are tied to one single function of manufacturing a specific part... And the prospect of spending years doing a monotonous task overshadowed my love for the method and the joy of the prospect of helping people. My beloved husband saved me, saying that since I was so drawn to it, I definitely needed to try it.
And I was not mistaken. Because, firstly, there is not so much routine. For the simplest reason: no two dyslexics are alike. Problems and symptoms are completely different and you always need to get to the bottom and find the “key”. Secondly: people with dyslexia are all different, with different characters, habits, temperament and humor! So everyone brings their own charisma. And charisma is definitely included, because in our programs dyslexics not only work through their learning problems, but also suddenly begin to realize that they have a superpower: creative imagination! And they learn to use it for learning, which inspires and greatly raises self-esteem!.. And here you should find the key to the dyslexic person himself, to comfortable communication with him. Thirdly, this is the age of the clients. By adolescence, these philosophers are already thinking about many things and unobtrusively invite you to delve into the topic...
For example: “I hate this grammar, who came up with it! Why the hell is it even needed! I can’t remember anything! All these stupid cases and declensions... Is there anything we can do about this?” Of course we can, my friend. Let's explore together first, and then you will learn to figure it out on your own. To get started you need:
- find the root cause of the problem
- and understand why people came up with all this on the heads of innocent schoolchildren.
Grammar (ancient Greek γραμματική from γράμμα - “letter”) as a science is a branch of linguistics, that studies the structure of language, the patterns of constructing correct, meaningful speech segments in this language. Grammar formulates these patterns in the form of general grammatical rules.
It's quite simple. Biology studies the living world. Mathematics - quantitative and spatial. Physics - relationships between various phenomena. Psychology is the inner world of a person. And grammar is the structure and patterns of language.
We need grammar so that we can talk. Of course, when you speak a certain language since childhood, you have already learned all the grammatical structures, but you don’t think about it. And you don’t even know what these structures are called. But when you studying other languages, it is very useful to know how to formulate your thoughts so that you are understood correctly. And knowledge of grammar helps a lot with this!
Interesting idea, isn't it? In this case, the teenager from my last dyslexia correction program liked this idea. The MEANING of studying grammar appeared, the negative emotional energy left.
And, like any science, grammar has its own terms. Declension is one of them. Declension (from Latin declinatio, “deviation” from the basic form of a word) is the inflection of parts of speech according to the grammatical categories of number, gender and case. I ask: “Is the definition clear?” - “Not really, I don’t remember what case is.” "Okay, let's put that definition aside and look at what case means."
Case (lat. cāsus, - calque of the Greek πτῶσις from πίπτω “I fall”) is an inflection that expresses the dependence of a word in relation to other words or to the statement as a whole. Simply put, changing a word depending on the context. For example, how should the word shovel be changed if the sentence begins “I dig (shovel) - with a shovel.” Depending on what question the word being changed answers, you can determine the case, and therefore choose the correct ending of the word. In the word shovel, the ending has changed, and became a shovel. The boy knew the table of cases, determined that the instrumental case (the question: by whom, with what), my help was not needed here. Next, we fashioned a model of the definition of the word from plasticine: the words “dig, shovel, I” changed into “I dig shovel" - a sentence from the book. And an arrow from the word case to the part with changes.
Then we returned again to declination. And declension in simple words is a change in a word depending on number, gender and case (context). Now this definition has become crystal clear! Therefore, it is very easy to remember it! And three-dimensional modeling from plasticine helps to create a visual image to remember for a long time. In the photo there is a change in the word soft (cotton flower) by number: 2 soft flowers, by gender: soft ball, soft kitty and soft towel, and by case: I am holding a soft pillow.
Over the next few days we conducted an experiment: I asked the guy the meaning of the words “case and declension.” And imagine, he never made a mistake and answered with a smile! Understanding the meaning of what we are studying and a detailed analysis of the term leads not only to long-term memorization, but also to curiosity for further research into the object of study “what will happen next?”!
So you won’t be bored during the programs, life throws up some very interesting problems for research, and we, Davis specialists, can only dream of peace!
I express my gratitude to Wikipedia for defining the concepts of “grammar, declension and case”.
© Copyright 2023
Elena Nikulina, licensed specialist DDAI (Davis Dyslexia Association International) for the correction of dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, Attention Deficit Syndrome with or without Hypo/Hyperactivity, and other problems in training according to the author's method of Ronald Davis, methodologist RDAF (Ronald Davis Autism Foundation ) to help people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Director of Dyslexia Correction and Support Centre, London, UK. www.fixdyslexia.com
For more information on how to treat dyslexia, ADD(D) and other learning difficulties, see Ronald Davis' books The Gift of Dyslexia, The Gift of Learning, and Autism and the Seeds of Change: Achieving Full Participation in Life Using the Davis Approach to autism." — Abigail Marshall (author), Ronald Dell Davis (author).
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