Dyslexia Help: Out with the old, in with the new!

Written by Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC

Published on April 16, 2015

Blog Posts, Dyslexia, Dyslexia Advice, Dyslexia Treatment, Educational Therapists Advice

What are some methods to approach dyslexia therapy?

Research-based therapies for overcoming dyslexia have, for decades, had two main components:

Direct Instruction – New concepts are explained clearly and completely, using multisensory methods.
Mastery Practice – New concepts and previously taught concepts are combined and practiced until they are automatic.

But there is a difference between what I call “the old model” and the Lexercise model.

Practitioners who use “the old model” meet with the child across a tabletop 3 to 5 times each week, mixing both direct instruction and mastery practice. The parent is usually not included in these sessions, there is usually no structured practice provided for the home and there is no way for a parent to objectively monitor progress.

In contrast, the Lexercise model is based on the modern science of learning, with the direct instruction session scheduled so that the parent can participate, plus a choice of several convenient ways for the family to do brief, structured practice every day.

The child and the parent meet with the clinician 1 time each week for 45 minutes for direct instruction. (The parent learns the concept and terminology along with the child so they can support the child’s learning.) Coordinated mastery practice is provided DAILY in both online games and off-line table-top materials, depending on the child’s needs and the parent’s preferences.

Summarizing OLD versus NEW approach

Old model – practice 2 or 3 times a week and often far less than 100 response challenges a week.

New model – practice 5-7 times a week, with as many as 100 response challenges a day.

Old model – the parent is left in the waiting room and has a limited understanding of the structured literacy methods.

New model – the parent is part of the process and has a full understanding of the structured literacy methods being used with their child.

Old model – the word structure of English can take up to 3 years to cover.

New model – the word structure of English can often be covered in a semester.

Lexercise’s NEW model provides effective and efficient structured literacy intervention for families all over the globe. If you are concerned that your child is not making the progress you’d expect with their current reading tutoring/intervention, call us to get started in an online Orton-Gillingham therapy program.

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Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC

Sandie is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, a former university graduate school faculty member, and a co-founder of Lexercise. Sandie has been past president of the North Carolina Speech, Hearing & Language Association and has received two clinical awards, the Public Service Award and the Clinical Services Award. She served two terms on the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists.

As a faculty member at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, Sandie developed and taught structured literacy courses, supervised practicum for speech-language pathology graduate students, and coordinated a federally funded personnel preparation grant. In 2009, Sandie and her business partner, Chad Myers co-founded Mind InFormation, Inc./ Lexercise to provide accessible and scalable structured literacy services for students across the English-speaking world.