Ashton Tapson of East London is your average sports-mad 12 year old. He’s happiest when outdoors, loves the sports field and is an enthusiastic cricketer, swimmer and skateboarder. But the extremely sociable, robust lad has always hated reading, and would avoid it at all costs due to his severe learning difficulties. Today, after being on the Dore programme, he can be seen picking up the newspaper and reading his way through short articles, thanks to a strict, exercise-based programme which has him juggling bean bags, balancing on wobble boards and bouncing on an air-filled ball to address the physiological cause of his learning problems.
Ashton’s initial assessment at Dore established that he had both Dyslexia (difficulty with reading and writing) and Dyspraxia (difficulty with co-ordination, also known as motor planning disorder).
After just seven months on the Dore Programme, his reading ability soared to 74% and, with it, so have his confidence and self-esteem.
Recalls his mum Chantille: “Ashton was a good baby. He reached all his milestones when they were expected. I only really noticed problems with him academically in Grade 1. He was obviously not coping and was therefore very unhappy at school.”
Ashton had major trouble with reading: he read slowly, lost his place and had to finger track along the words, could not comprehend what he was reading or would instantly forget a passage he had just read. He was reading at a level approximately 2 ½ years below the average for his age.
His handwriting was no better. He had trouble writing within lines, wrote slowly and messily, had difficulty copying from the board and both his mum and teachers often struggled to make head or tail of what he had written.
While he was normally a polite and well-mannered child, his unhappiness at school led to behavioural problems, which his mother tried hard to understand at the time. She recalls that her son often became frantic at the thought of being separated from her, to the extent that she could not leave him alone for a minute. He searched for other negative outlets, which specialists explained was all in a bid to make him feel in control of himself and his problems.
His mum was willing to try anything to help him. He was taken to see specialists, went for occupational therapy and eventually saw an educational psychologist who plainly told his mother that she had a “duh” child. “I was infuriated!” says Chantille.
Ashton went on to attend a special school for just over a year, which was willing to accommodate him
despite the fact that it did not cater specifically for his problems. He eventually went back into a mainstream school system at Stirling Primary School in East London. Despite the caring efforts of teachers who understood his problems, his difficulties with reading, writing and concentration continued.
The turning point came in September 2006 when Chantille Tapson saw an insert on the Dore programme on a popular South African news and actuality television programme. The insert related how founder Wynford Dore had begun the dedicated search for a cure for learning difficulties, as experienced by his own eldest daughter Susie. Spurred on by his daughter’s severe depression and eventual suicide attempt, the then wealthy businessman had set up a medical research team to investigate the causes and symptoms of learning difficulties such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADD, ADHD, Aspergers Syndrome and others.
Months of reading, research and testing followed, but eventually Susie was the first to be treated successfully through the unique programme. It involves no drugs, just a simple course of repetitive exercises carried out for five to ten minutes twice a day over 12 to 18 months. The exercises involve tools no more complicated than bean bags, balls and wobble boards and include juggling, balancing, and eye-tracking activities in an effort to stimulate the cerebellum.
Although Ashton has not yet completed the Dore programme, his mother reports that his progress has already been remarkable. He wants to read these days, his school percentages have increased, his concentration has improved and he is generally more outspoken and confident. His sports performance has also improved, including a movement in place from the C team to the B team in cricket.
While he sometimes moans about doing the daily exercises prescribed by Dore, even he is aware of how much they have helped him. Chantille is simply overjoyed at her son’s progress on the Dore programme, saying: “I challenge all those psychologists and people who say that my child is a ‘duh’ child, that there is nothing that can be done for him and that I just have to accept the way he is,” she says firmly. “The Dore programme has proved otherwise.”