Detailed Description of Reading Instruction Approach for Helping K-5 Students and Adult Beginners
Outline of Article
1. Overview of Course One and Course Two
2. Table of Contents of Course One
3. Course One (All Three Sections)
......Introduction
......Specific Advise for the User
......Directions for Each Approach (DVD Scene)
4. Quick Overview of Course Two
5. Table of Contents of Course Two
6. Course Two
Overview of Course One and Course Two
Proportional Reading, called PR for short, is a comprehensive, one-on-one and technology intensive approach for helping people of all ages quickly improve their reading. The main goal is to teach transferable skills for regular book reading. The same program also enables any student or adult, as desired or needed, to process any text with assistive technology. The program has three essential components:
1. Initial one-on-one evaluation and training of the student or adult that matches interactive presentation of text (literature) to each student's specific learning style.
2. Independent daily practice of learned techniques, working independently on DVD or computer, with tailored presentation for each student.
3. Periodic consultation as needed, either in person or over the phone.
The PR Reading Program is designed for students or adults at any age to do independently at home or on the road, or at school.
Classroom teachers (in grades 3-5) can use PR for the entire class at one time, separate groups at one time, or just one or more individuals at a time. Remedial reading teachers and all Special Ed teachers (in K-12 and college) have students do PR either in small groups or independently.
Proportional Reading is divided into two parts, called Course One and Course Two. The two courses cover different aspects of learning to read. Students and adults learn how to read text correctly at each level of advancement. They learn about the 18 bad reading habits and how to correct them. Each course has a separate purpose and a separate introduction. Course Two normally follows Course One. The same PR software program covers all needs and levels of both courses.
Course One teaches decoding, automaticity and fluency and teaches you how to overcome guessing, how to use your auditory and visual memories, and how to think about what you are reading. Course One uses voice and text accompaniment at normal speed. The student reads a word, a phrase, a punctuation interval, or a sentence at a time, interactively with voice. Presentation is individually tweaked for each student's specific and changing needs. Course One enables students to immediately overcome reading anxiety and to improve their self-esteem.
Course Two teaches you how to overcome sub-vocalization, lip reading and whispering. Course Two shows you how to hear an inner voice as you read at high speed, and how to turn words into pictures and movies. Many high school and college students and adults are ready to begin with Course Two. So are many fourth graders. Course Two helps students greatly increase their reading speed and comprehension and enjoyment.
Each course also addresses very specific aspects of special needs groups, including: general remediation, dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, ESL, low vision, brain trauma, delayed audio processing, severe anxiety and control issues, severe arthritis, spastic motion and spine injury.
Students talk initially with a PR Trainer, in person or over the phone, before they start, and then periodically as they go along through the program. Initially, a student almost always needs some help identifying his or her exact bad reading habit(s) and how to correctly use the appropriate remediation tool to correct them. The trainer shows these things to the student and makes sure the student experiences immediate improvement, with no anxiety. The trainer helps tweak the presentation further for specific preferences of the student, to exactly match the student's learning style.
Then the student and trainer develop a practice program for the student to do daily using technology. Students use custom made DVD's created for their specific needs, or they can use adjustable computer software. Each student practices independently for 20 minutes each day.
The PR trainer provides ongoing, periodic phone consultation as needed, in person or over the phone, going from twice a week to once a week, to once every two weeks, to once a month, and then ends. The trainer answers questions and overcomes roadblocks. The trainer also helps the student advance as soon as the student is ready. Throughout this process, the trainer provides affirmation that the student is on the right path.
Our Program combines initial evaluation and training with independent daily practice, using tailor made DVD's or adjustable software, and adds periodic consultation as needed. This is the fastest and most economical way to improve reading skills.
More specific information about each course follows below. For additional information about our reading program pick a subject from our "Article Selector" link at the top of most pages, or go to our Home Page for our introduction to better reading.
Course One
Table of Contents
Welcome………………………………………………………………..…
I. Introduction
Overcoming Reading Anxiety..……………………………………………..
How Old Do You Need to Be To Do Course One? ..………………..…….
Which Issues Will Course One Address? …………………………….……
How is Course One Different from Course Two?………………….....….…
Where Do You Do Course One? ………………………………..……...…
This is a Complementary Program………………………………….………
We Teach Transferable Skills……………………………………...…….…
We Read Literature, No Drill and Kill……………………………...………
Getting Started Quickly Each Day…………………………………….……
Progressive Series of Steps (or Levels) …………………………….....……
The Overall Approach in This Course………………………………..…..…
Three-Part Program………………………………………………….….…
Purpose and Value of This DVD…………………………………...………
Diagnosis and Evaluation …………………………………………..………
Need to Practice………………………………………………………...…
Talk to Us After You Watch This DVD…………………………….………
What Can You Read With Our Computer Program? ……………….…....…
Watching Your Mind Work………………………………………….…..…
Evaluating Each Approach and Comparing Approaches…………….........…
This Program is Easy to Use……………………………………………..…
Follow the Directions for Each Level or Approach………………….........…
For Parents and School Teachers…………………………………….….…
Our Approach for Basic Training and Initial Evaluation……………...........…
Training Teachers and Staff……………………………………….……..…
Reducing Travel and Tutoring Costs…………………………………..……
II. Specific Advice for the User
Twisting Up Words………………………………………………………...…
Voice and Text Correlation………………………………………………...…
Echo Words Correctly……………………………………………………..…
Don't Worry About Pictures……………………………………………......…
You Will Not Get Overwhelmed ………………………………………..……
Short Term Memory Problem….………………………………………......…
Cognitive Processing Interval……………………………………….......….…
Tweaking Your Level…………………………………………………...……
Give Your Input……………………………………………………….…..…
Choose The Right Book Level…………………………………………......…
Advancing From Word to Phrase to Punctuation Interval...........................……
Overcoming Reading One Word at a Time………………………..........…..…
Simultaneous Multi-Tasking……………………………………….....…….…
Increasing Speed by Careful Reading……………………………........………
Improving Your Comprehension…………………………………......…….…
Stop Guessing……………………………………………………….…….…
Structured Phonetic Instruction……………………………………….........…
Dysfunctional Decoders………………………………………………....……
Avoid Getting Bored…………………………………………………….....…
ADD/ADHD…………………………………………………………..…..…
Poor Lighting and Glasses……………………………………………….....…
Severe Dyslexia and Eye Tracking Problems……………………….…............
Reading Recovery from Stroke or Brain Trauma……………………...........…
ESL……………………………………………………………………….…
Stuttering………………………………………………………………….…
Other Speech and Language Issues…………………………………..........…
Deafness…………………………………………………………………..…
Muteness……………………………………………………………...….….
Delayed Audio Processing…………………………………………………...
ALS and Other Neurological Diseases (Spastic Motion)………............…...…
Low Vision…………………………………………………………..…...….
Severe Arthritis and Spine Injury…………………………………….........….
Why You Need a PR Trainer/Teacher/Consultant…………………............…
III. Directions for Each Approach (Scene)
Scene 1 …
Scene 2 …
Scene 3 …
Scene 4 …
Scene 5 …
Scene 6 …
Scene 7 …
Scene 8 …
Scene 9 …
Scene 10 …
Scene 11 …
PR Course One
For Reading Improvement
Welcome
Course One is designed to help you instantly overcome reading anxiety and to quickly improve your decoding, automaticity and fluency. PR Course One is further designed to help you reduce guessing and to help you start to think about what you are reading.
You will begin to improve your reading speed and reading comprehension within the first hour of instruction. You will see almost immediately that you can read, and that there is nothing wrong with your mind. Your self-esteem will improve very quickly and you will let go of your reading anxiety.
In order to get the most out of Course One in our program, please read this paper. It starts with the overall introduction, then presents some specific advice, and finally concludes with the directions for doing each part of the Course One DVD.
I. Introduction
Overcoming Reading Anxiety
This course will help you immediately overcome reading anxiety. This is because it is a combination of voice and text. To begin with, you cannot go past even one word without hearing that word read correctly. If you did not say the word correctly before hearing the sound, you should echo the sound of that word correctly. By doing this you will read each word correctly as you go along. Then you will hear the sentence repeated fluently.
This course is always voice and text. You never have to wonder what a word sounds like. You will automatically get and develop voice and text correlation as you go along in the program. Only after you have mastered the basic vocabulary of one, two and three letter words do you go on to reading a phrase at a time, etc.
How Old Do You Need to Be To Do Course One?
This course is for people of all ages. This course is for you if you are in elementary school, middle school, high school, or college, or if you are an adult beginner or an adult who has struggled with basic reading issues for many years.
Which Issues Will Course One Address?
Course One is for people of all ages who are beginning to read, or who are having a great deal of trouble with decoding, automaticity and fluency, and/or minimal comprehension.
Thus, Course One is for anyone beginning to read or wanting basic remediation for any early reading difficulty. We address the 18 bad reading habits in Course One (The actual list of these 18 bad reading habits is included later on). Major focus is placed on reading by punctuation intervals and on ending improper guessing.
In addition, this course is for a number of special issues. These include Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, ESL, Low Vision, overwhelming presentation, short-term memory deficit, reading anxiety, low self-esteem, stuttering and other speech and language issues, deafness, muteness, stroke recovery, spastic motion, or incapacitating arthritis, head, neck and/or spinal injury.
How is Course One Different from Course Two?
If you already read pretty well and can decode most words and read with automaticity and fluency, but want to improve your reading speed and comprehension still further, than you want Course Two. Course Two focuses on overcoming sub vocalization, hearing an inner voice and turning words into pictures and movies as you read. This is a separate Course. However, you do both Course One and Course Two with the same computer program.
Where Do You Do Course One?
You can do Curse One in different settings. Students and adults of any age can work independently at home. They do the program on a computer, DVD or VHS video. This independent daily work at home is combined with initial training and evaluation and periodic consultation over the phone as needed. Both the student and remote trainer watch what the student is reading, as the student reads using technology.
Students can also do this program at school. At school, this course can be done by the whole class looking at one computer, or by small groups working one group at time on a single computer, or simultaneously on several computers, each group with a different computer.
If a classroom only has one computer, one student at a time can work independently on the computer, with custom tailored reading.
Alternatively, a cart of computers can be rolled into the classroom, one classroom after another. Every student in each classroom works independently on his or her own computer for 20 minutes with just the type of approach that student needs. Then the computer cart is rolled to the next classroom. One dedicated set of computers is shared between classrooms and used all day long just for literacy. This approach is ideal for all the students in elementary grades 3 and 4. It is also ideal for a literacy clinic, evening program or workplace literacy.
Complementary Program
Course One complements other reading initiatives. It does not compete with or replace anything.
We Teach Transferable Skills
As far as possible, we teach transferable skills for regular reading. When this is not possible, or to whatever extent a student wishes, our same computer program provides assistive technology to instantly enable a student to process print.
We Read Literature, No Drill and Kill
In this course you will read literature. There are no separate drill and kill exercises. Growth proceeds out of reading stories.
Getting Started Quickly Each Day
If you practice each day using our computer program, you simply log in, if there are a number of users, and open up the PR program on your own desktop. You go right to the last page you were on, and all your settings are the same as you left them. With this approach, an individual or an entire class can get to work immediately, with no wasted time.
Progressive Series of Steps (or Levels)
Course One presents text in a progressive series of formats. The same text can be presented in each of these different approaches or formats. There are seven basic levels, but a few of them can be combined together to create new tools.
The basic approach is to select and copy any text you want to read into a Word document and then save it as a ascii (text) file. Then you open up this text file in the PR program. At the top of the screen you have your choice of which level (or approach) you want to read the text at. You make your choice and the text is instantly formatted to match your choice. You can change your level (or formatting) anytime you want. Once you have opened up a book or article, the current page number is kept in place even after you close the program. This saves a tremendous amount of time when you come back to the book.
The Overall Approach in this Course
With consultation, each student determines what level (or approach) he or she is currently at, and begins to read at that level. Each level is further tweaked for the exact reading style of that individual reader.
As the student develops skills, he or she moves up to a higher level.
Three-Part Program
Initial training and evaluation are provided along with periodic consultation. Thus, the PR Program has three parts: initial training and evaluation, independent daily practice using technology, and periodic consultation. This three-part program guarantees a successful experience.
Make no mistake; technology may be essential for quick reading improvement, but it will not work by itself. You must have some initial training and evaluation, and combine your daily independent computer practice with periodic consultation as needed. Technology can be miraculous, but only if done as part of this three-part program. Do not get sucked into some quick-fix scheme. It won't work.
Purpose and Value of the DVD
The purpose of this DVD is to show you exactly how matched, interactive, voice and text instruction would look for a student's exacts needs.
Initially, we try to work individually with a new student to show them how to improve their reading and let them experience reading much better. We often do this first step using specially prepared text that we e-mail to a person anywhere in the world. The student and the trainer both look at the same text as they talk on the phone, even if they are thousands of miles apart. This way it is just like both people are sitting next to each other, but there are no travel costs.
After the student experiences reading better, the trainer shows him how the presentation would look on a specially prepared DVD or if using the PR software on a computer. This is the main purpose of the DVD for Course One.
Sometimes we send just a special sample tailored presentation, so there is no chance that the student will look at the wrong section.
We have found that just sending out the DVD to prospective clients, without first working with them, is guaranteed to fail. Students do not know what to do on their own, until after they are first shown. Furthermore, they simply do not follow critical directions correctly, unless they are first shown.
Technology does not work on it's own. To be successful, there must first be an introduction and necessary training. Using technology to learn to read is no different from learning to drive. Initial instruction is very helpful in both endeavors.
There is another way this DVD can be useful.
Diagnosis and Evaluation
As you go through the different steps of this DVD, you should hit a level that is right for you. That is, you will feel that both the level above and the level below are less comfortable than the level you are on.
To this extent, you can get an initial idea of where you might be at in your reading development.
You should discuss this finding with us or with your school reading teacher. We can help you use this DVD to get a very precise fix on your current reading skill set.
You can also use this DVD to measure your progress as you go along.
Neither of these two uses should be done without initial consultation with the trainer/teacher.
Need To Practice
Each person has unique needs for reading improvement. Some will need months of practice at each level of Course One. Others will zip through one level and then need to work a long time on the next level.
This DVD presentation can in no way provide more than an outline and beginning model of how to proceed with other practice material.
Talk To Us After You Watch This DVD
After you watch this DVD, you should call us at 978-927-9234 and discuss your experience. We will answer questions and give some guidance, and help you further develop a practice plan that works for you.
What Can You Read With Our Computer Program?
Any e-text can be read with this program. This includes any of the 16,000 works of great literature already in e-text and available for free on the Internet. This set of books contains essentially all the world's great literature up to 1914.
Furthermore, any daily news article, or web page or e-mail on the Internet can be read with this program.
You can also read any text you have typed onto a computer, or any book you have scanned into e-text.
Learning disabled individuals also have almost totally free access to all the standard K-12 school literature copyrighted from 1914 to the present. These books are already scanned into e-text.
Watching Your Mind Work
As you read with the PR program, you watch your mind work 30" in front of you. You hear yourself speak as you read what is on the screen right in front of you.
This ability provides two main advantages. First, it is usually impossible to deny that you have made a mistake. Second, it is clear to see if you are improving by using a different strategy.
Evaluating Each Approach and Comparing Approaches
The ability to watch yourself read, as you read, means that you can evaluate each approach for how well it works for you and you can compare one approach to another.
Another way to say this is that you can determine the usefulness, or pragmatic value of each of several approaches and compare the usefulness or pragmatic value different approaches with one another, choosing the best one (most useful) for you.
This technique enables you to immediately compare and judge the usefulness of the old way you were reading with your new approach. It also enables you try out several possible new approaches and choose the best one of the lot.
We call this approach Pragmatic Realization, and we call our underlying therapeutic approach Pragmatic Realization Therapy or PRT.
If you would like to read a longer description of Pragmatic Realization Therapy, Google this term.
This Program is Easy to Use
The PR reading software is so easy to use to read that you don't even need a keyboard. You can operate the entire basic program with just a mouse or touch screen. However, pressing "enter" on the keyboard is often very convenient. Only very sophisticated programs that are well thought out are this easy to use.
Furthermore, if you do not have a computer, you can do our program on DVD, using your clicker to pause or repeat, as you watch DVD's made to your exact current needs.
Follow the Directions for Each Level or Approach
The different approaches are called "Scenes" on this DVD. There are eleven scenes. Each scene is a slightly different approach from the others and has its own set of directions.
Go through the DVD from beginning to end, at least once.
Use the "pause" button on your clicker to stop as often as you wish. You can also move quickly between scenes, or repeat a scene, by pressing the "prev" and "next" buttons. Use the "step back" button while playing to step back (repeat) a few words. Press this button repeatedly to repeat more text.
For Parents, School Teachers and Administrators
Read this introduction, specific advice section and scene directions fully, and look at the course completely from beginning to end. You will get a very good idea of the flow of PR Course One and how it works. It should give you a number of good ideas about how to help others.
You may find that you are ready for Course Two.
Our Approach for Basic Training and Initial Evaluation
There are eight steps to our individual one-on-one initial evaluation and training. These eight steps are always done in the same order and do not vary from one client to the next. This process usually takes 1.5 hours. However, it can take as little as fifteen minutes, or as much as two hours. Each person's trip through the eight steps will be unique. Our eight-step approach is called PRT for Pragmatic Realization Therapy. Teachers and parents can read a full description of this technique at
http://www.proportionalreading.com/prt.html
Training Teachers and Staff
We offer to train teachers and staff. This can be done on-site or over the phone. Either way the preferred way to train staff is to work with one student in the class after another, until all the students are up and running, each with a reading program tailored to that student's exact needs. We can remotely control a computer anywhere in North America, as we talk to the teacher and student on the phone. A number of teachers can watch at the same time. With this approach the actual cost of teacher and staff training is almost nothing.
A great deal of teacher and staff training takes place by going through these course material a couple of times and then practicing. Read the text and watch the DVD. Learn how to use your clicker to quickly maneuver through the different scenes on the DVD as you work with students.
Reducing Travel and Tutoring Costs
The ability to consult over the phone, as the consultant watches the student read on his computer or DVD, totally eliminates travel costs, related baby sitters and scheduling problems, while freeing up time for parents. The daily voice assisted software practice and periodic phone consultations greatly reduce the need for and cost of one-on-one tutoring.
II. Specific Advice To The User
Twisting Up Words
Many times students have trouble reading because they twist up the word they are reading with the word above, below, or at either side. Perhaps this happens to you.
We eliminate this problem by only showing one word on the screen at a time in the first few levels. Because there is only one word on the screen at a time, it is mathematically impossible to reverse it with another word.
This kind of presentation will help you focus on learning the word without getting it confused, before you can learn it.
Voice and Text Correlation
A great deal of research has shown that an average reader needs to have voice and text correlation fourteen times on a new word in order to get it. The same research has shown that students with learning disabilities need this voice and text correlation forty-three times in order to make it their own.
This reading program automatically provides this kind of help as you read. The more important a word is, as judged by its frequency of use, the more often you see and hear it read. For example, the top most frequently used words are learned almost immediately.
Don't worry; you will fix up words quickly with this program.
Echo Words Correctly
When each word is presented on the screen you will have time to say it before it is read out loud. If you do not get a word at all, or if you say it incorrectly, be sure to say it correctly (echo it) after you hear it pronounced. Be sure to use your speaking voice when you are first learning a word. Hear, see and say the word. Use your muscles and develop a muscle memory for the pronunciation.
This way you will learn the words quickly and effortlessly. There will be no anxiety. You will be amazed at how fast you will fix up words on your own, once you know the right sound.
Don't Worry About Pictures
Almost all elementary students forget about pictures as soon as they can hear the words pronounced.
Almost certainly, you will find that it is much more fun to make your own pictures with your own mind as you read and understand what you are reading, than to rely on somebody else's pictures.
You Will Not Get Overwhelmed
Many students feel overwhelmed by the time they get to the end of a sentence. There is just too much information they have been asked to remember to recall it all correctly at the end of the sentence.
Well cheer up. We have a new way to present text so that this problem will not exist for you.
Normally, text is presented a sentence at a time and you go through the sentence in some fashion. In our program you can go through the sentence a word at a time, a phrase at a time or a punctuation interval at a time, (a punctuation interval being all the text to the first comma or other punctuation mark, and then all the text from there to the next punctuation mark).
In addition to presenting text a sentence at a time, the PR Program can present text just a phrase at a time or a punctuation interval at a time. Now you can go through just a phase at a time, word-by-word, or a punctuation interval at a time, word-by-word. Afterwards, the phrase or punctuation interval is repeated once or twice as you choose. This means that you will not get overwhelmed by having to remember or deal with too much information.
Short Term Memory Problem
Some of you will also have difficulty remembering what you have just experienced if it has any length. Reviewing what you have just sounded out by completed phrase or completed punctuation interval will usually solve this problem.
Take heart, this is the only program in the world that allows you this flexibility to exactly match your cognitive needs in this way. You will be amazed at how much fun reading can be with this program.
Later in the program you will see that you can also proceed by reading a phrase at a time by itself, or a phrase at a time within a punctuation interval, as well as a phrase at a time within a sentence.
Cognitive Processing Interval
Others of you will want to stop to process what you have read at the end of each prepositional phrase. This is normal when you are just learning to read. For this reason too, it is good to be able to review text by phrase or punctuation interval, rather than only by completed sentence.
Tweaking Your Level
Once you have determined which level you are reading at, you can tweak or adjust that level for your exact learning style. These choices can be changed instantly as you progress, or as the reading material changes. Here are five ways you can usually tweak your level.
1. You can adjust the voice to be male or female. You can choose any one of 14 voice choices.
2. You can adjust the speed at which the voice proceeds through the sentence one word at a time. There are usually three choices starting very slowly.
3. You can adjust the speed at which the sentence repeats. This is especially important if it is going too fast.
4. You can choose whether to go through the text with the pausing done automatically, or to pause on each word until you press enter. This latter selection is called interactive pausing. Some students will quit reading if they are not in total control. Other students will quit if the program does not proceed automatically. There is no right or wrong answer. But there is a right and wrong setting. A wrong setting is one that does not match your needs.
5. You can choose how often you want the basic interval repeated when you get to the end of it. You can choose, for example, to have a sentence repeated once or twice or not at all.
Give Your Input
As we go though the course you will be able to see what works for you, right now. Ask yourself, which way to read works better for me? This is how you should start practicing.
You have a big say in this program about how you read. If something does not work for you, we can change it until it does work. Speak up and take charge of your own destiny.
This is one place where you can do this with great results.
You and your coach/trainer/reading teacher should have a two-way communication. Your input is vital to your success.
You may be very surprised to see that the more input you give, and the more you take charge of your own destiny, making informed decisions based on comparison of different approaches and changes in your feelings, the more successful you will become.
Choose The Right Book Level
You have a wide choice of what to read with this program. Therefore, it is helpful and important to read books at your current vocabulary level, or just above. If you feel a book is too hard or too easy, say so and start to read another book better suited to your level. Also, choose books that interest you.
Please also realize that if you read by punctuation interval, you can read most of the great 19th century literature very easily.
Advancing From Word to Phrase to Punctuation Interval
The overall approach of this course is to help you first with your decoding and automaticity. To this extent we use levels one and two.
As soon as you are ready, that is as soon as you have mastered a number of frequent words, we start you reading a phrase at a time.
Then we move to reading a punctuation interval at a time. This is our key goal. Getting you to read fluently by punctuation intervals is the key to good reading. We want you to see how words are built up into subject-verb statements and short phrases, and how these elements are combined into punctuation intervals.
Our goal is to get you to read punctuation intervals smoothly and fluently, and then pause before you read the next punctuation interval. Think how each punctuation interval relates to the previous punctuation interval or to the rest of the sentence.
Finally you practice reading a sentence at a time.
Overcoming Reading One Word at a Time
The ability to read a phrase or a punctuation interval a word at a time and then have the student read the whole entity fluently, before hearing it read once or twice, provides a very seamless and powerful tool for migrating from reading a word at a time to a phrase at a time. This tool is especially important for first graders and all adult beginners.
Simultaneous Multi-Tasking
After the sentence is sounded out a word, or a phrase at a time, or a punctuation interval at a time, the sentence is read fluently. Usually, the student is asked to read the sentence fluently before hearing it read fluently once or twice. This means that the student works on fluency at the same time he or she works on decoding and automaticity. This approach greatly increases progress and cuts down total learning time. The same approach is used for just phrases, or just punctuation intervals.
Increasing Speed by Careful Reading
Students must be taught that the fastest way to read is to read correctly the first time through so meaning is understood and sentences and assignments do not have to be re-done.
Improving Your Comprehension
You cannot understand what you read if you do not read with fluency, that is pausing briefly at the punctuation marks. In order to read fluently, you must develop your decoding, automaticity and fluency. So, this is what we try to help you do first.
To this end we teach that after you have sounded out a phrase, or a punctuation interval, word by word, or haltingly, you should re-read that phase or punctuation interval smoothly. Students doing this simple procedure are amazed at how much more they can immediately understand about what they just read.
In addition, there are six additional main techniques you need to use to help improve your comprehension. The first five additional techniques are addressed in Course One:
You need to stop guessing. We will discuss this in the next section.
You need to use your auditory memory to remember what you said or heard.
You need to use your visual memory to turn descriptive words into pictures and movies.
You need to think about what you read, realizing what questions are asked and answered in the actual text, as you read each sentence. You need to realize that the answer to a question is often right in the text you just read.
You need to build your vocabulary.
You need to overcome sub vocalization and hear an inner voice, as you read faster than the speed of human speech. This advanced technique is the subject matter of Course 2.
Stop Guessing
Guessing at words is the easiest reading problem to stop, and the quickest way to quickly and dramatically improve your reading. Instead of guessing at a word, students should try to first sound it out.
There are three main types of guessing that need to be stopped.
Guessing at a single word without even bothering to sound it out.
Changing the little words around the word you have guessed at, in order to have everything make sense. This is called cognitive dissonance.
Projecting what you think the rest of the phrase or sentence is going to say, without reading any of what is actually there. This is called cognitive projection.
Students need to be aware that when they hesitate as they read it is often because they have just made a mistake. They need to learn to back up and re-read what is actually there, rather than to continue to move forward.
Students also need to be taught that when their reading stops making sense, they need to back up and reread what is there.
The worst way to learn to read is by guessing at words and saying the wrong thing. Then you start to associate garbage with letter combinations.
With the availability of proper pronunciation for each word or phrase, students are much more likely to try to sound out words and develop good decoding skills. This improvement in reading may be observed almost immediately. It is a major advantage of our program.
In addition to the points about guessing just made, there are several specific types of guessing that can be further identified and easily corrected.
Student looks at a word and if he sees any part of it that he can pronounce, this is what he says. For example, a student will look at the word "this" and read "his". Stop this by insisting that the student pronounce at least the first two letters of each word as he comes to it. The ultimate pronunciation should be consistent with the sound of the first two letters.
Occasionally, a student will see all the letters in a word or phrase, but has gotten into the habit of starting to pronounce words part way through the word or phrase. This can easily be stopped by pointing out to the student what he or she is doing, and demanding that the student starts pronouncing from the beginning of the word or phrase.
The student will say a word out loud that has one or two more syllables than the word being looked at. Stop this by demanding that the student think about the syllable correlation between what is being looked at and what is being said.
The student will read "house" for "home". The student has read the base word correctly, but not bothered to read what was actually there. This is a mild form of projection, which should not be tolerated as it leads to much worse offenses.
The student will read the wrong tense of a verb. Solution is same as just above.
Student adds a word that is not even there, even though all other words are read correctly. This is an unacceptable form of projection. Point it out and insist that the student reads just what is there.
Student makes a very basic and elementary mistake in structured phonetics, like misreading to identical vowels side by side as a short vowel sound (except for "oo"), or missing the silent e rule, or missing that two consonants together make the preceding vowel short. The solution for these types of errors is the need for structured phonetic instruction. This is discussed in the next main section.
Suffix separation & re-combination. Student does not recognize the common suffix at the end of the word and what it means. Consequently, the reader does not pronounce the word at all, or incorrectly. The solution is the following. A) Practice the sound and look of each of the basic suffixes and what they mean, so that these suffixes can be recognized, understood and read easily. B) Separate off the suffix from the problem word and then look for and read out loud the base word. C) Recombine the base word with the suffix and read the combination, making sure the sound of the suffix is heard. Here are the basic suffixes: able, ible, ing, ed, y, ey, ly, s, es, er, or, ous, tion, sion, ance, ence.
False Dyslexia. Many times students appear to make a dyslexic mistake that is not dyslexia at all. When students don't know a word they may grasp for anything around the word that makes sense. This enables them to combine parts of words above below or to either side of what they are supposed to be reading. The result is a twisted up word. This type of mistake can be corrected immediately by insisting that when the student hesitates or falters, he or she backs up and carefully reads what is there.
Sometimes this happens within a word when the student does not know a basic sound. For example if a student does not know the sound of "wh" they can read "what" as "that". If they do not know the sound of "th" they may read "that" as "hat". The solution here is to learn the necessary phonetic sounds of "wh", "th", "sh" and "ch", etc., with some structured phonetic instruction.
The trainer points out all these mistakes to the student in the periodic consultation sessions, as the student makes the mistakes. The trainer shows the student how to identify and correct these mistakes as they are being made. The student sees how to improve, and that he or she can easily read with this better approach. The student now knows what to do in the future.
Structured Phonetic Instruction
Some students have severe gaps in their basic phonetic skills. This can easily be corrected with a week or two of tutoring. We also provide and include a single page printed on both sides with the basics of structured phonetics. This single page can be used to sound out troublesome words as the student reads. The sounds on this page should be reviewed daily until mastered.
Dysfunctional Decoders
Occasionally, a student is just incapable of decoding words. These students can still process text by using our voice and text tools. One excellent tool is to have text presented and read immediately a phrase at a time, with time then given for the student to repeat the sound of the phrase, as he or she looks at the text. Many dysfunctional decoders can immediately process print with this approach and participate in grade level discussions with the rest of their peers.
Furthermore, many disfunctional decoders can learn to recognize words by their associated sound, rather than by decoding them. Sometimes structured phonetics just won't work, but structured voice and text correlation will work. Often progress appears miraculous in such situations. Elimination of reading anxiety and major improvement in self-esteem frequently occurs within minutes of beginning PR. This is because we match the student's needs with the right presentation of text for those needs.
Avoid Getting Bored
Sometimes getting bored is an indication that you are ready to move up to the next level. Your reading approach needs to advance with your skill level or you will get bored. Technology and periodic counseling can help insure that you will move up when ready.
Your input is very important. Advocate for yourself about how you feel, or when you think you are ready to move up.
Sometimes boredom is caused because of frustration at not being able to get anything out of your reading, or having to work so hard at decoding that you have forgotten what the sentence is about by the time you are through with it. Voice and text correlation and reading at the proper level with proper tweaking of that level will keep this problem from occurring.
For example, sometimes a very dyslexic student will be unable to read by a phrase or more at a time on the screen. However, that same student can easily grow in skills by reading one highlighted word at a time within a phrase or punctuation interval, with the phrase or punctuation interval read fluently after the first pass.
Boredom can also be caused by ADD/ADHD. This will be discussed next.
ADD/ADHD
Young students with ADD/ADHD need to process text at a much higher rate than that of normal speech. Otherwise, they get bored and easily distracted. The answer here is not more discipline or medication, but to increase the speed of presentation. Level 6 is used for this purpose with excellent results with this special group of readers. Level 6 is high-speed voice and text. This is presented in Course 2.
Reading text in Level 4, by punctuation interval, (Scene 10) will also work for many of these young readers. They simply cannot stand to decode words interactively at slow speech. As a result their working vocabulary is usually way behind grade level. For this reason these students need voice assistance.
As a result they are not able to use the silent reading techniques of Level 5, because their working vocabulary is just too poor. The silent reading techniques of Level 5 (shown in Course 2) help many older students and adults with ADD/ADHD who do possess adequate vocabulary.
Students who use high-speed voice and text, should read silently and quickly across the highlighted text, pausing just briefly on the longer words and then pause at the punctuation points for the sound to catch up. Essentially, you are seeing all the one, two and three letter words with peripheral vision. The voice acts as immediate check and correction of what you are reading. It actually functions as your inner voice.
Students see this approach as a game in which they both try to keep ahead of the sound, but also pause at the right spots for the sound to catch up. This "game" results in immediate focus and concentration with page after page getting read and understood.
Using this approach, students develop voice and text recognition, pacing and fluency. Furthermore, it is the only way many young readers with ADD/ADHD can process print.
Unfortunately, most reading teachers are unaware of this tool. Many ADD/ADHD students needlessly misbehave in class, when they could be enjoying reading with this approach.
We also show readers how to instantly increase their concentration by sitting comfortably and by not being distracted by holding a book and the pages open. Students can even type notes while they read, hands-free. Proper hardware can easily and instantly remove these two major forms of distraction. To learn more, click on our "E-Tool" link at the top of most pages.
Poor Lighting and Glasses
You cannot read well if you need to wear glasses and are not wearing them, or wearing the wrong prescription.
Furthermore, you cannot read well if there is too little or too much light on or around the print. Brightness on computer screens often needs to be turned down. Too much brightness on a computer screen will put one to sleep almost immediately.
Severe Dyslexia and Eye Tracking Problems
Many of you with severe dyslexia or poor eye tracking can learn to differentiate words if you see them one word on the screen at a time, or one word at a time highlighted within a short phrase or punctuation interval. Seeing a number of lines of text on the screen immediately causes confusion.
Often, no matter how hard you try, words get twisted up within themselves as you read a paragraph of text. Level 5 and Level 6 reading, as discussed just above for ADD/ADHD students will be of tremendous help to you as well. Again, these subjects are presented fully in Course 2.
In addition, reading text silently by punctuation interval as it is heard at normal speed (Scene 10), as discussed above for ADD/ADHD students, will enable most severe dyslexics to instantly process print at grade level.
While our first goal is to develop transferable skills for you to use with regular book reading, we also want to show you how to process any text with technology on an ongoing basis, should you need or wish to do this.
Reading Recovery from Stroke or Brain Trauma
Some of you will be recovering form stroke or brain injury. Often the reading trouble you have is wrongly diagnosed as short-term memory deficit.
The correct diagnosis is that a full page of text overwhelms you. This problem can be easily corrected by starting to read with Levels One and Two and then Level Three as you progress. By reading this way, you never encounter a full page of print.
ESL
Speakers of English as a second language can progress rapidly by using Level 3 (Scene 9). In this approach the student tries to read out a phrase, then hears the phrase read correctly. If the student did not pronounce the phrase correctly, he or she echoes the correct pronunciation.
Then time is given for the student to take everything that he or she has just learned and read the sentence correctly and fluently. The sentence can be repeated once or twice as needed.
Stuttering
Stuttering can often be corrected in as little as an hour using the PR Program. Students need to learn how to speak just a few words at a time, and then a punctuation interval at a time, without stuttering. This is easy to do with Levels 1-4.
Very often the problem is that students feel overwhelmed by the task of getting out the whole sentence. They can quickly experience a successful alternative with the PR Program.
Other Speech and Language Problems
Because you can read text with sound a word, or phrase or punctuation interval at a time and then hear and repeat it fluently, proper modeling of voice and text can be assured both on a word level and with respect to fluency.
Furthermore, the speech and language therapist can make practice material using our program and her own real human voice, instead of a synthesized voice.
Deafness
Deaf students can hear an inner voice as they read. They do this using Level 5 reading. This subject is discussed in detail in Course Two where Level 5 is introduced.
Muteness
Students who are mute cannot develop muscle memory for speech sounds. However, using our voice and text program and progressing from word-by-word to phrase reading with voice, and then reading by punctuation interval with voice, students can learn to associate heard sounds with phonemes, words and phrases. Mute students can quickly advance their reading skills using our program.
Delayed Audio Processing
Students with this challenge can often immediately overcome this difficulty by learning to hear an inner voice as they read. Because this inner voice has no actual sound, these students immediately bypass the problems of actual audio. Students learn to hear an inner voice using Level 5 reading. This subject is discussed in detail in Course Two where Level 5 is introduced.
ALS and Other Neurological Diseases (spastic motion)
Some of you will make involuntary motions with your body that makes holding books or reading difficult. Reading just one word on the screen at a time will eliminate this problem.
Low Vision
Some of you will need large type or have macular degeneration or other low vision issues. Reading with Level One or Level Five will provide immediate help.
Individuals with Macular Degeneration can focus their blind spot just below where the word will appear each time, center justified on the screen. The eye never has to move.
Severe Arthritis and Spine Injury
Readers with severe Arthritis or neck, back and/or spine injury often cannot hold pages open, or hold a book up, or bend over a book to read. Reading on the computer with Proportional Reading makes holding a book and turning pages unnecessary.
Furthermore, we manufacture a number of specialized book holders to enable the reader to sit back and read with neck and back support, or lie down and read on one's back.
Why You Need a Trainer/Coach/Consultant?
Your PR Teacher/Consultant will help you identify issues you need to work on and show you how to improve your reading. He or she will make sure that you see yourself improving using new techniques. Your trainer will help you determine exactly how text should be presented to match your needs and, with your help, determine exactly how to tweak your current level for your exact learning style. Your trainer will also make sure that you are using each tool the way you should be using it.
Furthermore, your coach/trainer will make sure your do not wander off the right path. When you are ready, your coach will make sure you advance to the next level. He or she will help you overcome any difficulties you encounter on your trip. He or she will also reaffirm and support that you are on the right path and help you release old and worn out habits with much more productive modern tools and approaches.
Consultation is provided as needed from twice a week, to once a week, to once every other week, to once a month, and then stops. We bill our consulting time at $37.50 per half hour ($75.00 per hour). Each person is unique and different in their rate of progress and need for consultation.
III. Directions For Each Approach (Scene)
Scene 1
Try to read each word out loud before it is pronounced. If you get a word wrong, echo the pronunciation correctly after you hear the word pronounced by the computer.
At the end of each sentence, the sentence is repeated twice without being shown. Hear how the sentence is read fluently and develop your auditory memory. Try to answer in your head how the sentence is going to end before you hear it finish the second time through.
Scene 2
This is the same as Scene 1, except that there is less time between presentation of the word on the screen and its pronunciation. In other words, the words go faster, even though the pronunciation of each word takes just as long.
Scene 3
This is the same presentation as Scene 2, but at the fastest speed.
Scene 4
This presentation is word by word within a phrase, with each phrase repeated once or twice.
Try to read each word out loud before it is pronounced. If you get a word wrong, echo the pronunciation correctly after you hear the word pronounced by the computer.
At the end of each phrase the whole phrase is presented on the screen with pause time given for you to use everything you just learned to read the phrase fluently. The phrase can be repeated once or twice. If you did not pronounce the phrase correctly the first time through, do so on the second time.
Scene 5
This is word by word in the punctuation interval.
Try to read each word out loud before it is pronounced. If you get a word wrong, echo the pronunciation correctly after you hear the word pronounced by the computer.
At the end of each punctuation interval, the whole punctuation interval is presented on the screen with pause time given for you to use everything you just learned to read the punctuation interval fluently. The punctuation interval can be repeated once or twice. If you did not pronounce the punctuation interval correctly the first time through, do so on the second time.
Scene 6
Text is presented one phrase at a time on the screen with no repeat.
Try to read each phrase out loud before it is pronounced. If you get a phrase wrong, echo the pronunciation correctly after you hear the phrase pronounced by the computer.
Scene 7
The text is presented phrase by phrase within a punctuation interval. Try to read each phrase out loud before it is pronounced. If you get a phrase wrong, echo the pronunciation correctly after you hear the phrase pronounced by the computer.
Scene 8
This is the same as Scene 7, except the punctuation interval is repeated. If you did not sound the punctuation interval out correctly the first time, do so the second time.
Also, use your auditory memory, visual memory and thinking about what the punctuation interval is asking and answering to say in your mind how this punctuation interval is going to end the second time through, before you hear it end.
Scene 9
Text is presented by phrase by phrase within the sentence, with the sentence repeated once or twice.
Take everything you have learned the first time through and read the sentence correctly and fluently before hearing the whole sentence read. If you do not get it right the first time through, do so on the second time.
Also, use your auditory memory, visual memory and thinking about what the sentence is asking and answering to say in your mind how this sentence is going to end the second time through, before you hear it end.
Scene 10
Text is presented a punctuation interval at a time within the sentence. This is like Scene 9 except that you are reading by punctuation intervals instead of phrases.
Take everything you have learned the first time through and read the sentence correctly and fluently before hearing the whole sentence read. If you do not get it right the first time through, do so on the second time.
Also, use your auditory memory, visual memory and thinking about what the sentence is asking and answering to say in your mind how this sentence is going to end the second time through, before you hear it end.
Scene 11
Text is read a sentence at a time and repeated if desired. Try to read the sentence correctly and fluently before hearing the whole sentence read. If you do not get it right the first time through, do so on the second attempt.
Also, use your auditory memory, visual memory and thinking about what the sentence is asking and answering to say in your mind how this sentence is going to end the second time through, before you hear it end.
QUICK OVERVIEW TO PR COURSE 2
FOR READING IMPROVEMENT
Welcome to PR Course 2 for Reading Improvement.
This course takes less time to watch than a regular movie, and you will be able to use what you learn for the rest of your life. You will learn how to overcome subvocalization and how to quickly improve reading speed and comprehension. You will learn how to hear an inner voice and how to turn words into pictures and movies. You will see how to overcome many severe reading obstacles. This course will show you how to relax and make reading more enjoyable than watching TV.
Any student or adult reader can watch this course on their own with a DVD player and TV. No computer of any kind is necessary to watch this course. You can do this course when and where you want and review it as often as you wish.
Course 2 is ideal for average readers of all ages who want to improve their reading speed, comprehension and enjoyment. It is essential for all middle school, high school, college and university students and adults who suffer from Dyslexia and or ADD/ADHD, low vision, deafness or just low reading motivation. Many advanced readers in 3rd and 4th grade will also benefit greatly from this course, as well as elementary students with ADD/ADHD.
(Course 1 is separate. It is for all beginning readers. Course 1 teaches decoding, automaticity, overcoming guessing, and reading out loud with fluency. Course 1 will especially help those beginners dealing with reading anxiety, dyslexia, short-term memory issues, muteness, or speech and language issues, and those students or adults of any age dealing with ESL, brain trauma, aphasia, or stroke recovery.)
We teach transferable skills that you can use to read regular books. Where necessary or desired, our software also provides assistive technology that enables you to instantly read any text on the Internet, or any other e-text (scanned book) exactly as you need to have text presented. You can immediately adjust the presentation for the complexity of the content.
We suggest you watch Course 2 in several sessions, working your way from beginning to end the first time through. Each session can be just as long as you want. Then you can jump around and review certain scenes according to your interests. This approach will give you the best chance for identifying your particular set of issues and understanding how to overcome them. This approach is also the best way for you to learn how to help others.
This course is divided into a number of subjects, each of which is a separate scene that you can access immediately with your clicker. A course outline of these scenes is included. To quickly move between scenes, hold down the "previous" or "next" button on your clicker after you have begun the DVD.
We know that you have to experience reading improvement before you can begin to believe how much better you can read using our approach. You will be able to learn essential concepts and improve your reading immediately with this course.
Afterwards, you should practice your new skills with our software or practice DVD's. Once you learn the basic principles and how to use these principles to read better, you need to practice your skills to deepen them and make them strong habits. You do this by reading text presented exactly the way you need it presented. You can either use our adjustable software on a computer to read any e-text, or watch our DVD's, made with our software to your specific needs. The need to practice is discussed in detail in scenes 47, 53 and 58 in the course.
If you are a student, we suggest you discuss this course with your teachers.
Any reading teacher, special education teacher, English teacher or disabilities trainer in elementary, middle school, high school, college, university or a learning center can loan students this DVD to watch at home (and then return). Alternatively, these teachers can play this DVD to small groups or the whole class. No teacher training is required to present this DVD course. Just insert this DVD into a DVD player and TV (or any computer that will play -R DVD).
What you hold in your hands can change your life. After you finish watching this course, contact your local teacher or call us for a short consultation. Happy reading.
Please view our course outline.
(Read This Before Watching the DVD)
Introduction to Proportional Reading (PR)
Course Two
WELCOME
The first ten sections of this Course, Course Two, are introductory and are printed out here. The rest of Course Two is on the DVD. Section 11 begins the actual training and begins the DVD. Students should read this introduction now, before they start the DVD. Parents, teachers, administrators and therapists will also find this introductory material essential to understanding the DVD.
This Course contains many new techniques designed for average and good readers to improve their reading speed and comprehension and their enjoyment from reading. These are transferrable skills, designed to improve regular reading with books.
Some of these same techniques that benefit average and good readers are a lifeline, or prerequisite, for many learning disabilities and other severe reading problems like low vision, ADD/ADHD, brain trauma, stroke recovery, spinal injury and severe arthritis.
If you are an average or good reader, the more you understand each section of this DVD, the better off you will be. If you want to get the most out of this DVD, you must think outside the box. You must realize that all of us share many things in common, although often to different degrees. Many times the same technique will help two very different readers for the same reason or for different reasons, and to varying degrees. What helps one person can help all. Benefit from each idea to the fullest extent that is right for you. Benefit from one another. Often the best way to understand something in yourself is to see it clearly in another.
If you watch this DVD with an open mind, you will probably find that your blockages are lifted without your even being aware of what is happening. Ultimately you will discover that you had within you all along the ability to be a better reader. This alone is a transferrable insight. You will also realize that this same program can help a wide variety of readers with many different issues, concerns and goals.
1) WHO SHOULD DO COURSE TWO
This course of instruction is for average readers of all ages who want to improve their reading speed and reading comprehension as well as reading enjoyment and retention. This course is also for middle school, high school and college students and adults who have Dyslexia and/or ADD, or just low motivation to read. The same approach taught in this course addresses all four of these needs.
This course will also immediately benefit students with eye tracking and wandering eye conditions as well as low vision. It will also help students and adults who are deaf, or challenged with delayed auditory processing. Furthermore, it will help many people with severe arthritis or spastic motion; these people often cannot hold regular books, turn pages or sit still.
For the same reason, our software will help people loose weight by reading as they work out on a treadmill, elliptical machine or stationary bicycle. Students with ADD/ADHD can often focus better reading on a treadmill with this program.
As we go through this course you will see how this program addresses all these issues.
Our program is a three-part combination of initial evaluation and training, independent practice using our software or DVD’s, and periodic consultation as necessary. We hope that this DVD course can replace the need for some of the initial one-on-one individual evaluation and training for most people.
We offer live assistance as needed, but this is often hard for clients to schedule. To the extent that this course provides some of the same instruction as initial private consulting, dissemination of knowledge is much easier and more affordable. You can view this DVD course almost anywhere and repeatedly, and you can easily share it with others. Please do so.
2) DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COURSE ONE AND COURSE TWO
Course One is for teaching decoding, automaticity and fluency to beginning readers, or to readers of any age having trouble mastering these skills. Course One will overcome reading anxiety immediately. It will easily handle situations where young students are overwhelmed by cumulative tasks or short-term memory issues. Course One also helps students move from reading a word at a time to reading a phrase at a time. It develops auditory memory, visual memory and alternatives to guessing. It is ideal for ESL students and for those dealing with brain trauma or stroke recovery. It is extremely effective for eliminating stuttering and other speech and language issues. The last part of Course One focuses on fluency and thinking about what the sentence is saying. Course One is essential for elementary students with Dyslexia.
3) IS COURSE TWO FOR YOU?
Most people in high school, college or university can read with average decoding and automaticity, but reading is still slow and laborious and unpleasant for many of them. These are the people who can benefit from Course 2. If the following additional description sounds like you, than Course 2, is for you.
Frustration is high as you read, and you are easily distracted. You do not read fluently. You make frequent regressions. At best, you read only as fast as you speak. You do not hear an inner voice as you read. Instead you move your lips or tongue, whisper, speak out loud, or subvocalize. Words of descriptive text do not turn into pictures and movies as you read. You do not experience, or benefit from, the music of prose. You do not experience print by complete thoughts, made up of punctuation intervals. You are not relaxed and able to think about what you are reading as you read. Your comprehension and retention are not good. Reading enjoyment is non-existent or very rare. Creative insights as you read are nil, and you have low self-esteem about your reading ability. You want to read better, but you have ended up avoiding books and articles. If you are an older adult, you have experienced this set of conditions for much of your lifetime.
4) ASSUMPTION
This course assumes that you can decode individual words and read them with automaticity.
If you have trouble doing this, you need to watch Course One in our series.
5) WHAT WE WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
If the description in section 3 above is you, take heart. During this course you are going to experience a transformation in your understanding and reading ability. You are going to learn new concepts that are not intuitive. You will see how easy it is to overcome many blockages, once you are armed with the right understanding and tools. You will experience yourself reading much better with an altered state of focus, consciousness and concentration.
Afterwards, you will be able to practice what you have learned either on custom DVD’s made to your specific needs, or by using our computer software either in a computer lab, or on your own computer, or on a friend’s computer. You set this up by working with us in a consultation session over the phone.
In this DVD we are going to show you how to overcome one problem after another, and you will experience yourself being successful at reading better.
Once you see that you can read a new and better way, and that you have experienced yourself doing just this, you will be free to let go of old and outworn habits in favor of new approaches which you have experienced working much better for you.
No matter what else, you are going to feel better about yourself at the end of this course. You will realize that you have a good mind and that you can process print just as well as others.
6) OUR GOALS FOR TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS AND ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
As far as possible we teach transferrable skills for reading regular books. Where necessary, or desired, PR can also be used as a lifelong, ongoing tool for reading any e-text. This includes any text on the Internet, or any book turned into e-text. As we go through this course, you will simultaneously learn how to use our software for a lifetime of empowerment.
Our software is so simple that you don’t need to type anything. You don’t even need a keyboard. Everything you need to do can be done with just the mouse.
7) SEVEN WAYS TEXT CAN BE PRESENTED: LEVELS 1-7
Our software enables the reader to read any e-text in seven different ways, each of which can be further tweaked for the student’s exact learning style and needs. Several of the seven approaches can even be combined, producing unparalleled assistance when needed. In this course, Course 2, we are going to focus on reading by Levels 5 and 6. Earlier Levels, Levels 1-4, are discussed in Course 1.
8) SIMPLE BLOCKAGES AND THEIR SOLUTION
Extensive research and work with over 20,000 students and adults has shown that many reading problems can be addressed very quickly. This is because many difficulties in reading result from simple blockages, which we can easily remove and/or bypass with our reading technology and training.
Many thousands of clients have confirmed that these blockages will persist until removed, regardless of how much one does structured phonetics, or has a teacher who provides tender, loving care. The simple truth is that simple blockages must be removed, and can be removed by simple techniques.
Once you understand the underlying concepts and how to use the right technique for your issues, you will be amazed at how quickly you can remove or bypass these blockages.
9) THE TWELVE MAIN TYPES OF BLOCKAGE AND HOW TO OVERCOME EACH BLOCKAGE
There are twelve main types of blockages to good reading, listed as follows: conceptual, physical/biological/neurological, evaluation, explanation, verification, placement, training, fine-tuning, empirical confirmation, practice, problem-consultation, and advancement. We will briefly describe each of these blockages and our solution to each one.
9A) LEARNING THE CONCEPTS
By far the biggest obstacle to reading improvement is that important concepts are not intuitive. This means that most people will never discover these concepts on their own.
As we go through this course, we are going to present the relevant concepts for overcoming each obstacle. This way, the solutions won’t seem like magic. You will understand why what you have started to do works. This will greatly increase your “ownership” of your new skills.
9B) PHYSICAL ISSUES
The second type of blockage relates to physical, biological and neurological issues. We will handle these blockages by showing exactly what the blockage is and exactly how to deal with it. You will see the solution working for you.
It will make much more sense for you to hear each concept after you see the solution in action and actually experience the solution working, rather than to just hear the concepts now.
9C) EVLUATION, EXPLANATION, VERIFICATION, PLACEMENT, TRAINING, FINE-TUNING AND CONFIRMATION
Most people do not know what level of reading they are at. They do not know what their exact problems are, or how to address them. In our initial live evaluation-training session (which we schedule and do with you after you watch the DVD) we diagnosis your exact problem, explain it to you, let you verify it, teach you new concepts and demonstrate them to you, show you exactly which tool of our technology to use to improve your reading, and work with you to tweak that tool for your exact learning needs. You actually experience major improvement in your reading during this consultation session.
Almost everybody needs a consultation session after watching the DVD in order to maximize and cement their progress and fine-tune their practice.
Phone consultation is available at any time, to the extent it is needed. Simply call us at 978-927-9234 or come visit us on our web site at HYPERLINK "http://www.proportionalreading.com" www.proportionalreading.com or e-mail us at proread@tiac.net.
9D) PRACTICE, PERIODIC CONSULTATION AND ADVANCEMENT
Students and adults need to practice what they learn in this course. This can be done on our DVD’s or with our software on computers. If you don’t want to buy software, we can make custom DVD’s to your exact needs for you to practice on almost any DVD player and TV, or on many computers.
Our periodic consultation is available to reinforce concepts, answer questions, help you overcome problems, tell you when you are ready to move up to the next level, and help you do so. We offer this consultation on a live, one-on-one basis by phone.
This DVD is designed to get you started and prove to you that you can improve your reading and show you how. You follow up this beginning with daily practice and periodic consultation as needed.
10) SUGGESTIONS FOR VIEWING
We strongly suggest you watch this course from beginning to end the two times through. Then you can jump around and review certain scenes according to your interests. This will give you the best chance for identifying your particular set of issues and understanding how to overcome them. This initial approach is also the best way for you to learn how to help others.
Many people do not know what their issues are. Furthermore, many people combine different issues without realizing this. For example, approximately half of all people with Dyslexia have ADD. Watching this course will help you identify your issues and solutions for them. We systematically discuss each major problem area.