Daniela Boneva, MSci

About Daniela

Daniela Boneva is a licensed Davis® Facilitator, and founder of Dyslexia Association - Bulgaria. She holds a Master degree in engineering, and a Master degree in English Philology. Daniela has long experience working with children and young people, at first as a Youth programs coordinator in the Youth Department of the Municipality, later as an English language teacher in secondary and high schools. She has worked for many years for regional media as a proof-reader and an editor.
"In 2004, I faced a serious challenge with my 9-year-old daughter. At 3 years old, she knew her letters, at 5 she tried to read short words, at 6 she spelled and read books with interest. I could not have imagined that school would be difficult. She was an extremely curious, active, intelligent child, very communicative and cheerful. She went to school with great desire and at first everything seemed fine, but... And at the beginning of the third grade, she continued to spell as she had when she was 6. She could solve even the most complex word problem if... someone else did the calculations for her (because even if she knew that 5x7=35, she would most likely write down 53). The child began to sleep poorly, to "close up", to express reluctance to go to school, to try to avoid or postpone any educational activity related to reading.
At that time, there were no specialists in Bulgaria who worked specifically with children with dyslexia. Thanks to the Internet, I contacted parent groups in the USA, from which I learned about the Davis method. One of the mothers sent me the book "The Gift of Dyslexia" by Ron Davis. I read it in one sitting, then - several more times. All the time I had the feeling that my daughter was being described and I was convinced that this methodology could help her. But... my daughter spoke only Bulgarian, the nearest facilitator was thousands of kilometres away from us... I decided to try it myself, following the instructions in the book step by step. I acted slowly, "by feel", because I was worried about making a mistake... Instead of the "usual" five days, the entire program took us 3 months. After 3 months, my daughter was reading no worse than her classmates, no longer swapping the digits in the numbers and writing dictations almost without error. The smile returned to her face...
Impressed by the result, I wrote to Ron Davis to share my experience and thank him. In response, I received an offer to undergo training in the method and become a facilitator myself and be able to help other children.
Fortunately, I found people who helped me financially to realize this bold undertaking. And so in early 2006 I became a licensed Davis® Program Facilitator. Meanwhile, in September 2005, together with several like-minded people, I founded the Dyslexia Association - Bulgaria.
Since 2006, I have worked with hundreds of children, young people, adults helping them to overcome their difficulties, discover the charm of books, believe in themselves, and realize their dreams, which until recently seemed unattainable to them. Even today, 20 years later, I still feel the same excitement and an immense sense of satisfaction and gratitude for the opportunity to open the door to success for dyslexic people.”