Koosh

I learned in this class that people with dyslexia are disoriented most of the time.  It is this disorientation that allows them to see things others don’t, to explore things in their minds others can’t do easily.  It is full of ideas ready to come to life.  As I have come to understand this, I am truly amazed at this gift.  Yet I had to be taught that I had this gift.  I believe this was the moment of change in me.  I can see things quickly that most people never can see, or have to work very hard to see.  This comes naturally to dyslexia people.

We just have a hard time ‘focusing’ as the world calls it, or as Ron Davis in his book says, ‘orientation.’  I won’t try to explain it here, but it is explained in his book.  When I learned this simple procedure, I was amazed at how different the world became to me.  I have been told that this is the world most people are in, who can read and understand what they read.

This process is really quite simple, yet takes a lot of practice when one is discovering this. There is a point behind your head, slightly above the center part of your head that a dyslexia needs to concentrate on.  It is fragile, and when learning, can move ever so slightly, and needs to be adjusted from time to time.  When I can find this position, and keep my orientation, reading is so much easier.  I see words as they are written.  However, when a problem comes up that needs a solution, I can let go of my orientation, and use my gift, of visualizing it in my mind and finding solutions.

Indeed, a picture is worth a thousand words, and if a dyslexia sees several pictures in their minds in just a few seconds, they have ‘read’ volumes of books, and see things instantly others haven’t seen.  How can someone who can do that be stupid?  However, as was the case with me, (and I believe with most people with dyslexia) if I was to say what I saw in my mind, more often than not, unable to put it into words, nor being able to explain why, or how I came up with it, others laughed at my reply, often saying it was not possible.  They wouldn’t even discuss the possibility of it being correct or doable. Thus little by little, I started to not answer questions in class, not voicing my solutions or opinions. I learned to be shy and bashful, and easily being embarrassed in front of my own peers

Early in my dyslexia class, I was introduced to the game ‘Koosh’.  Cindy said I was the first person to not like this game.  Granted, most of her students are probably a lot younger than I am, and enjoy sports activities.  I didn’t enjoy sports, but I don’t mind tossing koosh balls back and forth.  But we couldn’t start tossing them back and forth, until we were balanced on one foot.  Now being one of large stature, I had the hardest time balancing on one foot.  She told me to find a spot on the floor, and concentrate on that. After I was able to balance on one foot, she started throwing the koosh balls at me and I was to catch them!  Wait a minute!  You want me to balance, and catch balls at the same time? 

And this wasn’t all of it!  She was expecting me to carry on a conversation with her!  Talk, while tossing balls, and standing on one foot all at the same time?  I am sure there are many out there who could just pick that up and start doing it without a problem.  I had a huge challenge with that.  Such a challenge that I disliked ‘koosh’ from the start!  I moaned when it was time to do that in the future.  But there is a reason for it, and she was good at catching when I needed to play ‘koosh’.

You see, a dyslexia person mind is always going.  Hundreds, if not thousand ideas a day. One’s mind can start at the beginning of a class on the teacher, then go home, visit the next state, then a neighboring country, then a few places around the world and back to the teacher, before the teacher can finish a paragraph to them, because they heard a word and saw a picture in their mind which took them somewhere else. I would get very disoriented.  Koosh will bring them back to you with full attention.  As I said, it was very difficult for me, and so unenjoyable to me, trying to stand on one foot.  However, when I was doing this, I could not focus on or think of anything else.  I could not have multi thoughts going on in my head.  I had to keep my balance on one foot, catch balls, and talk to my mentor at the same time.  I was focused.  Totally focused, oriented.  I learned quickly that when it was time to play ‘koosh’, she caught me out of my orientation state. I was learning how to keep it so I wouldn’t have to do ‘koosh’.

This is a simple game to help stay oriented.  Those few, who like me may hate it, will quickly learn to stay oriented so they don’t have to play that game.  Those who do enjoy it, it is a positive reinforcement of where their orientation point is, and how to get it there when needed.  If you know someone whose mind wonders a lot, I would suggest you do this activity with them while you talk.  There is only one catch to it though.  You have to be standing on one foot also!  That is the way my mentor did it with me!

Next post:  The class coming to an end.