Speaking to Your Pediatrician About Dyslexia

Many parents turn to their pediatrician for guidance when they are worried that their child’s difficulties with reading, writing, or spelling may suggest a problem like dyslexia or dysgraphia. We find that the Lexercise approach to dyslexia intervention tends to resonate strongly with doctors, as we use more of a medical model than a “school model” for our evaluations. The school model for evaluation is not designed to diagnose dyslexia or the root causes of child difficulty; rather, it is designed only to qualify the child for the limited, tax-supported public school special education services. In contrast, at Lexercise we use the National Institutes of Health’s model and make a formal diagnosis when indicated.

Tips to Start the Conversation with Your Doctor

Because few pediatricians are experts in dyslexia or language processing, we recommend that parents print and bring several resources to the doctor’s office if or when they wish to speak to their pediatrician about evaluating their child for a possible language processing problem:

• Reintroducing Dyslexia: Early Identification and Implications for Pediatric Practice - published in Pediatrics, Volume 146 (1), 2020
• This Lexercise blog article compares a language processing evaluation to the school’s psycho-educational evaluation
• Here is another Lexercise blog article on Selecting a Treatment Approach
• Your child's Lexercise Dyslexia Screener Report. (At this link you can screen your child, ages 6 and older, and print a report to take to your child's doctor.)

Additionally, most doctors are familiar with telepractice services in medicine and the American Telemedicine Association's guidelines. At Lexercise, we use those same guidelines. Lastly, for doctors with questions about Lexercise or our approach, we have two pediatricians on our Advisory Board (Dr. William Young, pediatric ophthalmologist, and Dr. Adrienne Classen, pediatrician). They often speak with pediatricians eager to learn more about Lexercise. For parents or pediatricians with questions, feel free to call us at 1-919-747-4557 or email us at Info@Lexercise.com.