“The Words and Letters Move Faster and Faster Around the Page like a Racetrack!”

“The Words and Letters Move Faster and Faster

Around the Page like a Racetrack!” 

To my surprise, recently another one of my students shared how he sees words on a page of print.  

I shared with you how Ahva, a ninth grader, sees words stretched and compacted and how only 3 or 4 words are clear to her at any one time. When Ahva shared how she sees words, I completely understood her fluency struggles as she painstakingly, yet steadily improved her smoothness and reading rate while learning to read with Silent Elephant “e”. She is now reading and comprehending above her grade level. 

I shared with you how Josie, a seventh grader, saw words scrambled and jumbled.  Random letters from other words on the page would combine with the actual letters within a word she was trying to read. Through instruction with Silent Elephant “e”, Josie learned how to break down words by imagining the colors used for each rule. She doesn’t see scrambled or jumbled words anymore and is also reading and comprehending above her grade level now. 

I shared how surprised I was when one of my second-grade students said, “I would be able to read better if the letters would just stop jumping around the page.”  

I shared how I gently began to question her to understand what she meant.  

Our conversation opened my eyes, and from that moment on, I began to carefully question all of my students.  

I wanted to know what they saw. I was careful not to ask leading questions, so I questioned in a way they would feel safe and confident to express what was happening for them on a page of print.  

Most of my students gave me a look of, “Well, the words on papers are just words sitting there!” (Sigh of relief on my part!) 

But a few began to feel safe enough to share just how they saw the words and just what the words were doing.  

These students OPENED MY EYES. They have helped me become a better teacher!

To bring home again that we need to ask questions of our students who are not progressing as we feel they should, I want to tell you about Jacob.  

Old day during tutoring, 11-year-old Jacob expressed to me, “My brain is broken. I just have to deal with it.” My first response was to assure Jacob that he IS a bright, intelligent boy! I went on, “ Jacob, you are one of the most thoughtful, compassionate, caring young people I have ever known! Your brain isn’t ‘broken’ at all. You just learn to read differently than most people.“ 

But I heard his pain and confusion.  

He was adamant, “Yes, my brain is broken! I know other people don’t see words on paper like I do.” 

I gently began to ask questions to understand what he meant.  

Below is what he described. 

(I know it is a lot to ask of anyone to read my precisely detailed notes of exactly what Jacob sees on a page of print, but I wanted Jacob’s parents to take him to an ophthalmologist and show the doctor my notes and I wanted to share my notes with you, an educator.) 

“When I first look at a written page, I see clear typing. 

As I begin looking at the sentence I am supposed to read, the words begin to slowly blur from the margins inward until only about 2½ inches of space has clear typing in the middle of the line. 

That clarity lasts for about 1 to 1½ seconds. 

Then the whole sentence gets blurry. 

The rest of the typing on the entire page blanks out to just be the color of the paper, however, the blurred sentence I’m focusing on stays in the same place and stays blurry. 

Then that whole sentence shifts by moving up one inch on the paper, and then it becomes clear. 

Then the letters in the sentence form a “follow the leader” single file line moving straight out to the left edge of the paper. There is a tiny bit of space between each letter, but no additional space separating words. 

When they reach the left edge, they begin to move in the single file line directly to the top of the paper. (The letters do not flip over from top to bottom or appear backwards.) 

When they reach the top edge, they continue to move clockwise in the single file line directly to the right edge of the paper.  

When they reach the right edge, they continue moving clockwise in the single file line directly to the bottom edge of the paper.  

When they reach the bottom edge, they continue moving clockwise in the single file line directly to the left edge of the paper.  

When they reach the left edge, they continue moving clockwise in the single file line directly to the top edge of the paper, etc.  

This movement forms a line of letters moving clockwise around the edge of the paper.  

The spinning motion increases its speed with each “race track loop” as it passes its original starting position.

The speed the letters move around the loop is between about .8 to .5 sec./loop with the speed increasing with every cycle. 

Also, the space between letters decreases as the speed increases, so by the fourth time around I just see a blur of black racing letters in an oval shape. (No longer do the letters reach the corners of the paper.) 

If there are other people around me when I’m reading, people can help me stop the spinning by talking to me or touching me or I need to hear loud noises. 

If I am alone when I’m reading, I try to blink my eyes, shake my head, rub my face, adjust my clothing, and/or look somewhere else on the page. 

If those things don’t work, I try to drop the paper or book, but I’m unable to let go of either. I feel like I’m a statue. I’m frozen. I’m unable to move. 

When I began experimenting with the colored Irlen overlays with Mrs. Jones and my dad on June 19, 2019, I discovered that the dull side helps prevent the letter “racetrack”. The letters stopped racing around. 

However, with the Irlen overlay, the letters become a little bit shaky and the shakiness increases a little bit the longer I look at the words. It stays that way, until I look away. 

Also, with the Irlen overlay, instead of the blurred line of typing moving up an inch, the clear line of typing moves down about a half inch.

The letters land directly on top of the letters in the sentence that is about a half-inch below.” 

Isn’t that amazing! 

Understanding how Jacob is seeing the letters and what they are doing helps me to help him. 

After Jacob shared, I sat amazed that he was learning to read at all. I am struggling to comprehend what it must be like to watch the letters race around the page faster and faster.  

I am very pleased to share that all my students who have expressed that they see the words on the page differently are successfully learning to read using Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”.  

This affirms my research and the techniques I developed to ensure that ALL CHILDREN LEARN TO READ.  

It is their right.

It also affirms our need to ask questions and listen to our children.

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson

“This is the piece I’ve been missing! This is the piece I’ve been missing!”

“This is the piece I’ve been missing! This is the piece I’ve been missing!” 

“I wish the letters would stop racing off the page!” my ten-year-old student exclaimed in frustration. 

“What?” I questioned.  

He replied with a sigh, “I just wish the letters would stop racing off the page when I’m trying to read!” 

I took a quiet deep breath and trying to keep concern out of my voice said, “I’d love for you to tell me what you see when you are reading.”

 I listened with amazement as this kindhearted, hardworking boy began describing what it’s like when he looks at letters on a page and tries to read the words and sentences. 

“The letters are in a race,” he said. “They run to the left side and then disappear off the page. It’s as if they ran through a portal into another dimension.

“I have to try to read really fast to try to catch the second word. Sometimes I just catch the beginning of a word. Sometimes I can catch a few more letters. That’s why I guess a lot.” 

He paused and continued, “Suddenly the words in the sentence will grow or pop back on the page in the same spot. 

“Then I try to quickly read more of the sentence. I might be able to get to the third word, but then the fourth word might move up a line and then the fifth word might move down a line. 

“I have to try to read super-fast the first time I read a sentence. I usually have to read a sentence 3 to 5 times to be able to slow down enough that I can understand what I’m reading.” 

He thought for a moment and continued to share, “Black letters always used to race off the page, but since I’ve been tutoring with you and learning the colors, the colors stay hooked to the words like rubber bands. The rubber bands pull the words back onto the page.”*

I asked, still in a state of surprise, “You said black letters always used to race off the page, but now the colors help. How often do the black letters race off the page now?” 

He gave this question some thought and then answered, “Oh, I’d say about 30% of the time. It’s a lot better now!” 

He was beginning to feel safe and comfortable and wanting to share more about what reading is like for him. “But it’s not good to have the letters in bright colors like they are in books sometimes, because the letters will jump, explode and then come back. That makes reading take a long time, because I have to wait for the bright letters to come back. 

“I like to read comic books and graphic design novels. The speech balloons help keep the words in the white space, so they don’t race off the page.  

“And, I don’t like the words mixed in the picture, because the words will jump off the page for sure.” **

This sweet boy was on a roll. He continued to think of things he wanted to share. “Oh, Mrs. Jones, you know the yellow highlight handwriting paper*** that we use to practice my spelling words?” 

I nodded, “Yes.” 

“When we first started using it, the yellow part would stretch up taller and taller if I was writing a word that didn’t have any tall letters in it, such as “can”. I’d have to refocus several times. It’s better if a word has at least one tall letter in it, such as “cat”. The more I use it, the better it’s getting though.” 

I thought of his progress over the past several months. “Yes, I have seen a lot of improvement in your spelling and handwriting since we began using that paper,” I replied. 

The more he shared the more he thought of things he wanted me to know, such as how extremely frustrating it is for him to try to read highway signs, street signs and store front signs when he is riding in a car. “The letters race off the signs too quickly.”

 Let’s stop here for a moment and imagine the daunting task this young boy faces each time he tries to read anything. Imagine how frustrated he must feel. Imagine the effort he puts forth just to read a word. Imagine . . . 

This wonderful boy began tutoring with me and Silent Elephant “e” 14 months ago when he was in the 3rd grade and has preserved through biweekly tutoring sessions.  

At age nine, when he began tutoring with me, he had not mastered phonemic awareness and did not have a clue about how language works. 

After two weeks of instruction in phonemic awareness he exclaimed out loud, “This is the piece I’ve been missing! This is the piece I’ve been missing!” I smile when I think of that moment 14 months ago, I knew he was on his way to becoming a confident reader.  

It only took him 5 months to reach complete mastery in phonemic awareness with Silent Elephant “e”. He now hears the individual sounds within words giving him an understanding of how our language works. 

Since beginning tutoring with me with Silent Elephant “e”, his word recognition and comprehension skills have gone from a Primer Instructional reading level to an 8th grade instructional reading level! That’s a 7-year advancement in 14 months of instruction (just 2 hours/week) with Phonetic Reading with Silent Elephant “e”! He’s now a strong confident reader headed into 5th grade this fall! 

I know that every time this remarkable, hard-working boy reads, he confronts a huge mountain to climb, but thanks to Silent Elephant “e” the letters are staying attached to the page more often and reading is becoming easier and more fluent. He still gets frustrated, sometimes more than others, but he continues to press on. He has felt success and wants more of it.  

I’m so proud of him—I can’t begin to tell you how much! My heart fills with joy! 

*Silent Elephant “e” teaches phonics using colors for vowel diacritical markings, consonant digraphs, consonant blends, roots and base words, prefixes, suffixes and syllables. 

** This comment reminded me of my husband, who is also dyslexic. He worked hours with me after we received my illustrator’s rough draft for my picture book My Awesome Grandma. Many times, he could not see letters on a colored background and he definitely couldn’t see letters that flowed into the picture. This was a real eye opener for me. I had known for years that I could only write him a shopping list on white paper using blue or black ink, but I had not ever understood exactly why this was until we worked together on my book. 

***I use Abilitations Hi-Write paper. There are several brands available.

If you are questioning whether someone in your life is dyslexic and you’re not sure what to do, feel free to contact us.

Linda Katherine Smith-Jones                            Nina Henson