Nikki Palamountain Interviews Margot Young – How the Book the Gift of Dyslexia changed the lives of a mother and son

Davis Facilitator and Radio Hawkes Bay – Dyslexia Unpuzzled Podcast host, Nikki Palamountain interviews Margot Young, recently retired Davis Pacific Hub Director, about her journey with Davis.

When Margot Young’s son was struggling at school, the system told her he just wasn’t motivated. No teacher flagged dyslexia. No support was offered. By Year 5, he’d given up entirely, on reading, writing, spelling, and even maths, which he was good at.

Margot went looking for dyslexia help herself. What she found was the book The Gift of Dyslexia by Ron Davis, which led to the a Davis Mastery for Dyslexia program. That program turned her son’s learning around completely.

That experience didn’t just change her son’s life. It changed her career. Margot went on to become a licensed Davis facilitator, then a facilitator trainer, spending 18 years supporting neurodivergent learners and mentoring the next generation of Davis practitioners across New Zealand and the Pacific.

In this conversation with Hawke’s Bay facilitator Nikki, Margot talks about:

• Why so many families feel exhausted and dismissed by the school system
• How the Davis Method works — and why clay-based, multi-sensory learning sticks
• What it means to train others, and the ripple effect that creates

If you’ve been searching for dyslexia help and wondering whether anything can really make a difference, this conversation is worth your time.