Fish Don’t Climb Trees – A different take on dyslexia
Davis Facilitator Sue Hall has updated her book: Fish Don’t Climb Trees: A Whole New Look at Dyslexia (2nd edition). The book is also now available as an audiobook, as well as in print and e-book formats.
Sue understands dyslexia from the inside out – as a dyslexic person with vivid recollections of frustrations experienced in elementary school, as a parent who searched for and found a solution to enable a once-struggling child to learn become a reader, as a talented Davis facilitator with more than twenty years of hands-on experience working with children and adults, and as the founder of a Canadian charity aimed at building understanding and raising funds to help dyslexic students.
Sue’s insightful and informative book strikes a perfect balance among autobiographical tidbits, illustrative stories, and direct practical advice and suggestions for recognizing and overcoming problems at school and in life.
The book’s title comes from a quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
Sue’s charm and whimsical sense of humor make her book an enjoyable read throughout, with a heartfelt depth borne of her own life experiences and boundless compassion for others. Sue’s keen insight is a boon for parents and teachers alike, whether they are new to learning about dyslexia or in search of a deeper understanding of the dyslexic way of thinking.
This article was originally published on October 18, 2014 and has since been updated with new information.
Want to learn more? Check out Sue Hall’s podcast:
An interesting book, it comes from real world experiences by the author, who tells the story from their perspective a good blog aswell
Sounds like a well-versed insight on dyslexia that benefits highly from a personalized perspective. Will have to check it out.
I have taught more than 70 so-called dyslexic kids who all turned out to be kids who had shut down from learning to read due to confusion.
Read the unsolicited book reviews on the book ‘Shut down kids’ on Amazon.
The Davis methods are designed around finding and addressing the confusion. Davis uses the term “disorientation” – but disorientation is always tied to confusion and I personally do not believe that the two feelings can be separated. See: https://www.dyslexia.com/davis-difference/davis-theory/the-cause-of-dyslexia/ — You’ll note how the diagram on that page cycles from confusion –> disorientation –> anxiety over and over again.
Can we have more teachers or principals read things like this to better understand our children? This is a trying time right now having to learn virtually for the rest of the year and my son is struggling a LOT.