UNDERSTANDING DYSLEXIA SUPPORT

My approach to dyslexia therapy is grounded in Structured Literacy and Orton-Gillingham principles. Instruction is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and multisensory, with careful attention to each student's individual needs.

I use research-based curriculum and instructional resources as tools within therapy rather than following a one-size-fits-all sequence. Assessment results, student performance, and ongoing progress help determine where instruction begins, how quickly we move forward, and when additional practice or review is needed.

The goal is to provide instruction that is both structured and responsive to the individual learner.

Dyslexia therapy should be individualized and responsive to each student’s needs. Lessons are diagnostic and prescriptive, meaning that instruction is guided by what the student demonstrates during therapy and adjusted as skills develop.

Depending on the student’s needs, lessons may address phonological and phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationships, decoding, spelling, handwriting, reading fluency, vocabulary, morphology, and comprehension.

Instruction is explicit, systematic, cumulative, and incorporates multisensory techniques to help students build connections between spoken and written language. Skills are intentionally reviewed and integrated so that students can apply what they have learned with increasing accuracy, fluency, and independence.

Dyslexia therapy takes time, consistency, and repeated practice. Because dyslexia occurs on a continuum, therapy frequency and duration should be based on the individual student’s needs, skill gaps, and response to intervention.

Consistent, appropriately intensive instruction provides students with repeated opportunities to learn new skills, practice previously taught concepts, and develop greater accuracy and automaticity in reading and spelling.

For many students, I recommend dyslexia therapy two to three times per week. Recommendations are individualized based on assessment results, the student’s needs, and progress over time.

Effective intervention should include ongoing monitoring of a student’s progress. 

Ask how the provider measures growth, how often progress is reviewed, and how that information is shared with families.

Progress monitoring should do more than document improvement—it should guide instruction. When a student is not making expected progress, the provider should use the data and observations from therapy to adjust pacing, increase review, or modify instruction based on the student’s needs.

Specialized training matters when providing intervention for students with dyslexia. 

Families may want to ask about a provider’s education, dyslexia-specific training, supervised clinical experience, and professional credentials.

As a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) through the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA), I have completed extensive preparation in dyslexia and written-language intervention, including graduate-level coursework and more than 700 hours of supervised clinical teaching, followed by a national competency examination.

ALTA provides a directory where families can verify credentials and locate Certified Academic Language Therapists and Practitioners in their area.