Understanding Dyslexia Differently

My Davis Dyslexia Experience as an Adult

Hey there, I’m Stephen Martin, host of The Truth About Dyslexia podcast. If you’ve found this page while looking for real answers about dyslexia in adults or searching for an adult dyslexia podcast that actually speaks your language, you’re in the right place.

Today, I want to talk about something that changed the way I see myself and how my brain actually works — the Davis Mastery for Dyslexia Program. But before we get into the nuts and bolts of the course, I want to share how I even got to the point of needing it.

Diagnosed Young… Then Forgot About It

I was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 10. I was in a private school at the time, and to be honest, I was lucky. Dyslexia wasn’t officially recognised in New Zealand’s school system until around 2007. So to be picked up in the mid-90s was rare.

My mum was my absolute hero. Like many mums of dyslexic kids, she fought tooth and nail for me. She helped me get a Reader/Writer for high school exams, which, around 2000, was pretty rare, and that gave me a real leg-up.

But once I left school, I did what so many of us do. I put dyslexia in a box and shoved it under the bed. I figured if I just worked harder, pushed myself enough, and stayed positive, I’d be fine. Turns out, that’s not quite how it works.

A Pub Chat That Changed Everything

I was about 32 when my dad brought it up again. We were at the pub, having a beer, and he asked, “Do you think your dyslexia might be behind some of the stuff you’re struggling with in life?”

I did what any proud adult (and smart arse son) would do – I ignored him. Multiple times.

But he didn’t let up. Eventually, he found a Davis Dyslexia practitioner who lived walking distance from my house. That kind of luck doesn’t happen often. He kept at me until I messaged her.

It took five text follow-ups from her before I responded. Like many dyslexics, I was stuck in the fog. But eventually, I got myself to her house for an initial consultation.

That’s when everything shifted.

The Builder That Didn’t Exist

During our session, she noticed my eyes drift off and asked what I was thinking about. I told her I was picturing the builder hammering on her deck outside.

She asked, “Have you ever seen my deck? Or met my builder?”

I said no.

She smiled and explained that I had just created an entire scene in my head, a detailed, vivid, and completely made-up experience and believed it was real.

That moment hit hard. It made me realise just how often I’d trusted mental stories that weren’t rooted in anything real. Stories about myself. About others. About the world.

That was the hook. I was in.

The Davis Concepts for Life

When I first heard about the Life Concepts course, I was more than happy to invest in myself. And honestly, it was worth every cent.

The amount of one-on-one time you get with a facilitator is incredible. And once you get over the fact that you’re learning using clay-yes, actual clay, the depth of what you uncover is profound. It feels childlike at first, but it unlocks things that traditional education never came close to.

I worked with a fantastic facilitator named Vanessa Victor, and I honestly can’t thank her enough. She made me feel seen, respected, and supported throughout the whole process. And I know there are other amazing Davis facilitators out there who care deeply about every client they work with, whether child or adult.

The course itself uses real-life examples and practical application to teach you how to internalise core concepts that so many of us missed growing up. Things like time. Sequence. Cause and effect. Responsibility.

It sounds obvious, but it’s not. Just because you can say the word “consequence” or nod when someone talks about “cause and effect” doesn’t mean you’ve actually embodied what it means. And that’s the magic of this course.

It was like filling in invisible gaps in my foundations, the kind of knowledge you didn’t even know you were missing until someone pointed a light at it.

I can’t do justice to what happens in that room with clay and a brilliant facilitator. But I can tell you it felt like rewiring parts of my brain that had been running on guesswork for years.

What Changed for Me

After going through Davis, I began to:

• Understand how I process information (and why that matters).
• Spot the stories I was creating in my mind that weren’t actually true.
• Feel more grounded, like my internal compass finally had a north.
• Let go of the shame of not “getting” things others seemed to know automatically.

But most of all, I stopped trying to fix myself and started learning how to work with my brain instead of against it.

If You’re An Adult With Dyslexia…

Let me be straight with you: you’re not broken. You’re not lazy. And you’re definitely not alone. Whether you were diagnosed at school or only recently started wondering about it, the Davis approach is one of the most empowering things I’ve ever done, especially for adults who are ready to make sense of the messy, often overwhelming parts of life that never quite clicked.

If you’re looking for a safe place to keep exploring this stuff, come check out my podcast, The Truth About Dyslexia. It’s raw. It’s honest. And it’s made for people who think in pictures and feel like school never really taught them the tools they needed