Researcher’s visual alphabet cracks ‘reading code’ for visual learners

Einstein developed the math for relativity after imagining himself riding a beam of light. Feynman created his diagrams from the point of view of a subatomic particle. Speech-Language Pathology Professor Janet Norris invented a new way to teach reading by picturing herself as a kindergartener struggling to connect letters with their sounds.

At the time, her grandson, who has dyslexia, was struggling in kindergarten. He was both gifted at art – he could draw anything – and learning-disabled because he had trouble with the standard alphabet.

“I thought, ‘How can a kid who is this visual not be able to figure out these visual letters?” Norris said. “We’ve got to solve this problem in a different way because he’s never going to learn to read like this.”

She puzzled over the disconnect. Norris soon realized the letters in the standard alphabet don’t represent speech sounds in any kind of visual sense. She began playing around with the letters, modifying them so they made more sense to visual learners, like her grandson.

The result is Phonic Faces, a unique visual alphabet and multi-sensory teaching method to make sounds tangible for visual learners.

“Telling them ‘D is for dog’ doesn’t do anything. The letter doesn’t represent the sound in any way they can see,” Norris said. "But by showing them a picture with a D that looks like a drumstick inside a person’s mouth and modeling how your tongue makes a drum sound, the connection can be seen. The letter shape shows you what sound to make."

Norris created 52 Phonic Faces that mirror the mouth shape, facial expression, or movement used to produce a sound. Her research shows visual learners vastly improved their reading ability by associating visual cues with sounds and phonics.

The turnaround occurs rapidly. After Norris drew letters to look like what her grandson’s tongue was supposed to do, he went from failing kindergarten to learning letter sounds and how to sound out simple words in a couple of weeks.

“So, it’s not that he couldn’t learn the alphabet. It’s that he couldn’t learn it without picturing it,” Norris said.

One day after a high school student’s first lesson with Norris, his mom called. Her son could not stop talking about reading. He could finally see what his teachers had been talking about for years. He got it.

“His reading levels jumped four grade levels in six weeks. Once it made sense to him, all those connections just went together and he just took off,” Norris said.

Although originally designed for children with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, autism, hearing impairments, and auditory processing disorders, Phonic Faces also works for adults. An estimated 10-20% of Americans have dyslexia. Many are never diagnosed.

In 2023, 43% of American 4th graders scored at or below proficient in reading. Meanwhile, 65% of adults and students learn best visually.

Those numbers highlight why new teaching tools are needed now more than ever, Norris said.

“Transforming Dr. Norris’s insight into a global literacy tool is one more way we build teams that win in Louisiana, for the world,” said Robert Twilley, LSU vice chancellor of research and economic development.

Phonic Faces has been taught and implemented all over the country by Norris’s former students. She has created flashcards, books, and teaching aids parents can use, too. She is working with the LSU Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization (ITC) to find partners that will result in wider adoption of Phonic Faces.

“We are excited about helping Dr. Norris find the partner or partners who can turn her breakthrough moment into a market solution,” said Grace Myers, ITC senior commercialization officer.