Likely you have already tried many methods to work with dyslexia, perhaps with disappointing results.
Read what my students (and their parents) say about our course to give you the confidence that the Davis Method really does work.
These quotes are directly from emails and letters I have received.
We are happy to provide you with references so you can speak with students about their experience with the AZ Dyslexia Correction Center course.
“John, Thank you for sharing your giftedness with our son James. You are excellent at what you do and in so many ways. Thank you for sharing your own struggles and insights as well as your expertise as a Davis facilitator. We have felt welcomed and cared for and equipped to help James succeed in mastering his own gift. Thank you for modeling honesty, compassion, respect and excellence to our son. You are a part of our family now and we are grateful…..I found 2 facilitators an hour and a half away from us but when I spoke with them on the phone it just didn’t seem like the people James needed to go to. I then looked up places near my mother in Arizona and found you! I called the Davis office in California to ask their advice on going to a dyslexic facilitator versus a non-dyslexic facilitator and they confirmed my feelings of it being a great advantage to go to someone who was dyslexic as well. So I called and emailed you right away and I knew that we had found the person James needed to mentor him”
-L. J.
Hi John, Justin is doing great so great in his reading and comprehension. His MTA teacher couldn’t believe the marked improvement. Thank you so much for your help this past summer.
-B.B.
“Dear Mr. Mertz, …This course helped my daughter not only read, comprehend, and write better, it helped her to know God answers prayers, to be patient with herself, and it boosted her self esteem. Her spelling is improved by leaps and bounds. It was a godsend when we met you because you understood how Carrie sees things and her frustration with academics. This program really turned her world around and has impacted our lives positively. Thank you so much.”
- C. W.
“John Mertz, as a dyslexic himself, is an excellent tutor, able to understand what struggling students are going through. He truly cares about his students and their progress. He was very effective working with my son who had already developed the “dyslexic shuffle” – - a little bag of tricks to avoid difficult work. John helped both of my boys tremendously with their reading, and I highly recommend him and the Davis Dyslexia Method”
-M.A.
“I just needed to let you know – - Ilusha read a whole book without me giving him a single word!! This is the first time he has read something without me having to tell him words and having him get really mad at me……I talked to (another parent) and she was concerned that her son would “stonewall” and not want to push himself when he comes to see you, but I told her of Ilusha’s experience and the value of the fact that you have “been there”. You can be kind and compassionate, but also draw the line when it needs to be drawn, and also identify where the behaviors are coming from. I think if nothing else (although I know there will be a lot of value from our time in Tucson), watching you identify the behaviors and the “dyslexic shuffle”, and then deal with them was incredibly valuable. Knowing things have been hard for him in the past, makes it easy to be too easy on him now. “
- C.B.
“Thank you from all of us!!! You can truly take pride in what you are doing. It is not very often that people are able to find their place in life, you certainly have. Please keep up this important work. The world needs people like you.”
-W.A.
“Dear John, I would just like to take a moment to thank you for all that you have done for our daughter Aubrey and for our family. Aubrey loved every minute of her time with you and learning the Davis method. The first thing we noticed was the confidence she felt after working with you. That was our immediate reward. But it was only the beginning!
She started reading better and better. She still struggles, but at this point she can sit down and read a 150 page book (not including pictures) such as Jack London’s White Fang in two days. Today as she finished her book she said, “I love to read! I wish I could read all day for school”. She is still working on her symbol mastery, so she is still learning and getting better and better.
I think the best part for us is that she now has a future and dreams and hopes for her future. Before being able to read, she could not see a future for herself. I would ask her what she wanted to do when she grew up. No answer. What her goals were for 1 year, 5 year, 10 years etc. She would just cry. She had no vision of the future. No hopes. Without being able to read, she couldn’t imagine driving. Without being able to read – and being embarrassed about that, she couldn’t imagine being independent enough to go anywhere later in life without her mom and dad. Getting married and starting a family – unimaginable! Getting a job? No way!
She is now imagining herself actually growing up! She talks of driving cars and dating. She wants to dress like a 12 year old. She tries new hair styles all the time. This was stuff that she just didn’t do before you worked with her.
A whole new door has been opened to her. It opens wider for her all the time and her future looks brighter and more exciting to her all the time. We know she’s got a lot of catching up to do. But now she’s willing.
We are so grateful to you, John. Thanks is not enough for what you’ve given Aubrey.”
-S.C.
“Starting in my 7th grade year I started having trouble in school. Before then I was a 3.0-3.5(B-B+ average) GPA student. Then reading became difficult. I would read a chapter for an assignment. After I was done reading it, I would completely forget what I had just read in a matter of seconds. Then it evolved into math. I was writing numbers incorrect, putting negative numbers where they should be positive etc.. This was slowly dropping my GPA and by the time I got to my sophomore year in High School, I was having the hardest time keeping a 2.0 average (C Average). My report cards in my first two years in High School were usually all “C’s” and usually a D in English.
I tried everything, I got tested to see if I had ADD, my principle suggested I go see a psychologist to see if I was maybe depressed. I took multiple tests and classes hoping to help with my reading and math, not knowing I had dyslexia I thought I was just slow at English and reading. My mom was sure I had dyslexia to some degree but couldn’t prove it because none of the tests that I took pointed to it. She did a search on google for Dyslexia, and found DDA (Davis Dyslexia Assoc.). After reading on the site about Dyslexia she realized I was doing the same things that were described on the site. She picked up the book “The Gift of Dyslexia”, read it, and realized that that was me. She looked again on the site to look if there was some that working with the program in Arizona, and found John. Excited, she showed me and asked if I was interested in the program. I was hesitant because I tried everything else and nothing seemed to be working. I went to John’s house after school and watched the video. After seeing that I realized that I was exactly like the video. I was mainly interested in the seeing in 3D, I have been doing this since I was a little boy, and thought everyone could do that. After seeing that only people with dyslexia could I thought to myself, “wow, this is a gift”. So I signed up for the program. I did it the summer before my junior year in high school.
He (John Mertz) showed me how to get on point and to learn the trigger words. It was intense. He told me at the start you are going to be tired after we are done. I thought myself “yeah right, making clay objects is going to make me tired.” But after the 1st day was over I was sleeping on the ride home. I was the first and so far the only one to learn the alphabet backwards on my 1st try. After making the clay models to help gain a picture with the trigger words, I am reading and I come across “and, it, the, as” and the other, I now have a picture to see in order to help. John was very flexible with my schedule which was great. Going into the program I thought it was going to be a chore but quite the contrary. I would look forward to going to John’s house each weekend to do some trigger words and learn different tricks to do before taking tests, different study tactics as well as other things.
This year in my junior year I am now back up to a 3.3 average. Making honor roll this year, was the first time I have done that since the 6th grade. I go “on point” every night before I fall asleep, when I wake up, and before tests and exams. Now I am remembering what I read, I’m not making math mistakes. I couldn’t be happier!
I try to explain Dyslexia to my friends that don’t have it and they either think I am crazy or I am the biggest liar. I have even seen especially when I attempt to explain “the mind’s eye” and seeing in 3D them laughing out loud! But I would recommend DDA to anyone that has dyslexia. The program sounds easy (to easy to be true) but it works! John has really changed my life with the program and I thank him from the bottom of my heart. I wish that anyone with Dyslexia complete the program so that way they don’t have to experience what I had to go through for those long 3 years. Coming from someone that has dyslexia and that has done the program I can seriously say that it works with amazing success. Do take advantage of this program.
-G.P.
