American Dyslexia Association "We can help!"

The AFS-Method is the result of qualitative and quantitative, empirical, educational research. This multisensory method, which development has been made possible by interdisciplinary co-operation, is based on the scientific knowledge that improvement of the writing, reading and calculating skills of dyslexic/ dyscalculic individuals solely by working on the symptoms is not possible.

Therefore, in order to counteract intermittent attention deficits in writing, reading and/ or calculating, the areas of attention, and further, function or sensory perception, must be honed with regard to symptomatology in order to counteract cognitive errors and enable directed assistance.

The method should be viewed as integrated, because the combination of prescribed structure and elective portions allow for this assistance to concentrate completely on the individual child’s problems. It is open to outside suggestions and improvements, all of the components are complementary and cooperative, so that the child receives the best possible help.

As a result of differentiated attention, the dyslexic child cannot achieve according to expectation regarding symbols and characters. Many mistakes occur because the thought and action processes are not working together in cooperation. As a result, so-called perception errors occur, which are viewed by laymen as spelling errors. Coordination of thought and simultaneous action is a primary goal. The affected individual must be made aware that he can work at this problem, and therefore an intensive discussion is necessary. The affected individual must rely strongly on willpower in order to bring his thought process under better control.

Attention training is designed to utilize several positive exercises, such as autogenous training, flights of fantasy, relaxation music, skill exercises, etc.

It is only important that a respective child is receptive to one of these exercises. It is also important to frequently talk with the child about any problems regarding his attention capability involving symbols or characters.

Functions, sensory perceptions, also known as partial performances, are different in dyslexic children. They have different perceptions, very fast thought processes, which hinder them at accurate writing, reading or calculating. These children require more time to deal with symbols without difficulty, and essentially they are learning more complicated word pictures or calculation processes.

It is important to know which sensory perceptions are differentiated, because in no way should this be construed to mean that all subareas are affected. Further, it is important to be aware that not all sensory perceptions can be trained and improved simultaneously but, rather, one subarea after another.

In that regard, functional exercises with and without symbols are provided. The level of difficulty of the exercises must be selected on an individual basis according to the child’s condition. These should not be either too demanding or too simple, and should provide enough of a sense of achievement, so that the child does not lose his sense of enjoyment in the training. Every meaningful exercise can be applied within the framework of the functional training!

Symptomatic training consists of working on the mistakes. Dyslexic/dyscalculic children also learn writing, reading and calculating through practice. It is important, however, that the learning and absorption occur slowly and steadily, and coordinate with increasing attention capability and sharpening sensory perceptions. This learning must involve all of the senses. The dyslexic/dyscalculic child comprehends most easily by handling things. One should therefore make it possible for him to see letters and word pictures as three-dimensional. Many words, in fact, can be memorized in a conventional manner in which children write them on a board or in an exercise notebook. But it is usually the simple, so-called easy words which they are absolutely unable to retain. Here, lasting retention can be guaranteed only by precise word development. An individual list of problem words should be created for the child, and then this list is worked on continuously.

These words should be worked on in three stages:

Symptomatic training also includes special methods for reading and learning to calculate. It is especially important that the child be given enough time for learning writing, reading and calculating. In particular, high praise, even for small strides forward, is the best motivation.