IMAGINE THERE’S NO LEARNING DISABILITIES...IT’S EASY IF YOU TRY

USING VISUAL & AUDITORY PERCEPTION TO ENGENDER SYMBOL IMAGERY
AND TO ESTABLISH OBJECTIVE SOUND-TO-SYMBOL CORRESPONDENCE

C 2012, CAP IT, Inc By Eyal and Tzippy Rav-Noy

Image there’s no learning disabilities ... It’s easy if you try. That’s right. If we want to do away with learning disabilities (especially in Hebrew), all we need to do is simply “Imagine” it away. To be more precise: If we can get students to “Imagine” the symbols (consonants and vowels) in their mind’s eye — then we can get them to read! Here is why.

Reading is a cognitive process that involves symbol identification, i.e., one must “recognize” (identify) a symbol, and associate that symbol with its corresponding sound. For example, when one sees a B, one associates it with the first sound in the word Ball. The reverse is also true. When one hears the first sound in Ball, one should be able to “image” the letter B. This ability to imagine symbols, otherwise known as “Symbol Imagery,” is the ability to image sounds and letters within words — a necessary sensory-cognitive function that is needed for accurate reading and self-correction. Without this ability to image symbols, how would we ever remember how words like “Enough,” or “Knee” are spelled?

Our CAP IT!® reading programs (Level 1: Get Read to Read Hebrew & Level 2: Learn to Read Hebrew) are the first reading programs that give students the tools that help them deal with learning disabilities. We do this through the use of what we call Tactile Visual Mnemonics™. These objects/toys all look and sound like the symbols they represent. Students literally hold the “sound” in their hand. See the Imagery Triangle™ on the right. This triangle represents our main educational method, and has enabled us to create a two year, comprehensive Hebrew reading solution for schools that is so effective that we are able to get every 5 year-old to read Hebrew in just two months (roughly between Labor Day and Thanksgiving); adults learn to read in only 3 hours; and it is the main reason we are so effective in working with those with learning disabilities and special needs.

Before we explain how it works, let’s go over a few terms:

SYMBOL IMAGERY Symbol Imagery is the ability to image sounds and letters within words.

CONCEPTION An abstract idea or a mental symbol.

PERCEPTION The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the sense.

SOUND TO SYMBOL CORRESPONDENCE The association of a symbol with a particular sound. Or: The association of a Concept (symbol) with a Percept (a particular sound).

Letters are Symbols that correspond to sounds. This means that the image of Letters-Symbols are Concepts: An abstracted version of the sounds they represent.

One of the biggest culprits in poor literacy skill is a lack of Symbol Imagery (SI). Without SI, students cannot visualize (–image) sounds and symbols, hindering their Sound to Symbol Correspondence.

But there is a cure...

There is an ability that almost all posses (with varying degrees, of course). And that is Perception. Or to put it more simply: (Almost) everyone has the ability to perceive objects, and remember their names. From a very early age, children learn to associate words with object, such as table, chair, ball, etc.

What makes CAP IT!® unique, is that we have enlisted this accessible ability of perception, and used it to establish SI. By giving the symbol — the concept — a physical and common association, what we refer to as a Tactile Visual Mnemonic™, we have offered another link, another life-line, with which the student can conceptualize the sound. For example, when seeing a Bet symbol, if the student cannot remember the corresponding auditory association (the B sound), he still has the corresponding visual association (Ball in a Box), which in turn, will remind the student of the sound as well: B (Ball in a Box).

This is is all mapped out in the Imagery Triangle™ on the right. The use of our Tactile Visual Mnemonics™ not only make the learning process easy, fun, and accessible to all learners, but also give them the most important sensory-cognitive skill they will need to read: Symbol Imagery.

Hence our motto:

IF YOU CAN SEE IT...YOU CAN READ IT!

CAP IT!® offers a complete solution to Hebrew reading. We train, mentor, and support educators in their effort to teach Hebrew reading properly and painlessly. Please contact us with any questions regarding our products and services.