The History of Proportional Reading and Background of John F. Adams

While at Harvard, Adams discovered that structured phonetics did not fully address the challenges of reading efficiently. Over his college years, he conducted numerous reading experiments on himself, with mixed results. Despite this, he graduated in 1968 with a B.A. in American History and a desire to improve reading methodologies.

After Harvard, Adams initially attempted to build a mechanical device using prisms and mirrors to eliminate eye movement in reading. Recognizing the need for further technological advancements, he continued researching reading difficulties for a decade. Over the years, he developed numerous devices to assist reading and daily living, securing twelve U.S. patents. His theory of creativity was widely discussed on national television, with features by Walt Disney, Ted Turner, and Evening Magazine.

Adams has worked with over 21,000 students and adults, creating new tools to address challenges as they arose. His software underwent thousands of refinements, significantly improving reading outcomes. National and regional conferences featured his work, and he was honored in Washington, D.C., for his contributions to helping individuals with dyslexia. He also served as a reading consultant in Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Czechoslovakia.

The State of Massachusetts funded Adams as a demonstration site for schools, where he worked closely with nine Cape Cod schools, thousands of students, and over 200 teachers. His students ranked third in state-wide improvement on the MCAS test. Additionally, Shelley Quezada of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners helped integrate his work into library programs.

During the Great Recession of 2008-2010, many students could not afford new software or computers. Adams adapted his reading instruction methods for iPhones, iPads, iPods, and Mac computers, ensuring accessibility without additional financial burdens.

He also collaborated with the University of Massachusetts (Boston) and a major textbook publisher to enhance nursing students' reading comprehension through his software.

With the onset of the Covid pandemic, large numbers of students started coming to me from all over the United States for one -on-one, online help with their reading. Many days during the epidemic I would have 10 classes a day, each class lasting an hour. My ability to help students got quickly noticed and page after page of testimonials resulted, leading to many challenging cases. I realized at least five major principles.

First, many students cannot perceive the text they are attempting to read. The six formatting solutions I developed enable most of these students to start to progress in the first session. They are  usually amazed to see what their actual problem is/was, and they want to continue to improve.

Secondly, there is an easy way to eliminate having to make numerous fixations on a line of print, and to eliminate the return eye movement that's required at the end of most long lines of text. Essentially eliminating horizontal eye movement solves the reading problem for many students.

Third, many times diagnosis are made incorrectly, because the underlying issue is completely different from what is assumed, although symptoms may be similar.

Fourth, one of the greatest gifts to ones reading is the ability to combine music with decoding and automaticity. The ability to create a resonance of modality, between music, logic, and visual pattern greatly increases comprehension, reading speed, and reading enjoyment.

Fifth, seeing a narrow block of text is completely different from reading a line of text with a number of sequential fixations, as one can move around between fixed points, deepening detail, as all the major elements stay fixed.