Making Structured Literacy Therapy Affordable For Everyone
Robert Belden, May 24, 2024
My first introduction to Dyslexia and Structured Literacy was through the University of Florida’s Graduate Certificate Program. After thirteen years as an English teacher, I had enrolled in the program to learn more about how I could help students who were having difficulty reading in school.
One of the very first activities in the graduate certificate program was to watch a TedX video by Samantha Coppola called Dyslexia and Privilege. In her talk, Samantha breaks down all of the expenses her parents paid to address her dyslexia from elementary school, through the end of high school. In her talk, she explains how her parents spent $400,000 total to give her access to all of the services that she needed.
In her cost breakdown, $279,500 is attributed to paying the annual $55,900 tuition for a world renowned school for children with dyslexia, which she attended for six years. After leaving this school, she continued to attend dyslexia tutoring sessions three times per week, for $100 per session for six years, resulting in an additional cost of $93,600.
After breaking down the numbers, Samantha contrasts her story with that of her friend, Eva, whose parents could not afford to pay for the type of educational experiences that would address her dyslexia. Eva, in contrast to Samantha, is still unable to read at the age of 16.
Not every parent will need to spend $400,000 to help their child with dyslexia. For many children, one to three years of therapy will be sufficient to help them to establish a firm foundation for reading. If one were to pay for three sessions of traditional in person Orton Gillingham therapy per week, at the same rate as Samantha’s parents, which is fairly standard, the total cost in this scenario would be from $15,600 for one year to $46,800 for three years.
This is still a huge cost burden for many, many families. We know that being able to read is a defining factor in determining the trajectory of one’s life. We also know that people who struggle to read will very likely not learn how to read without intensive, explicit, systematic, research based interventions. What inspired me to become a dyslexia specialist is knowing how effective these interventions are. They can make a huge difference.
But intervention needs to be affordable. This is one of the primary reasons that I was drawn to the Lexercise teletherapy platform. A Lexercise professional therapy subscription costs $495 for four weeks. At this price, the cost of one year of Lexercise Professional Therapy is $6,435, and the cost of three years is $19,305. That’s approximately 60% cheaper than the traditional, in-person option.
Having access to a professional therapist who is able to establish a dialogue to help the child learn new concepts is very important. Through combining live sessions with independent, play based practice, and optional parent activities, Lexercise has been able to make professional therapy dramatically more accessible.
That said, if a family is struggling to afford the professional therapy option Lexercise has also created a basic therapy option that gives the parent access to scripted lessons and the Lexercise practice platform. This is an even more affordable option, at only $150 for four weeks. A family who is on a restricted budget can pay for a few months of professional therapy to get an idea of how it works and then save money by switching to the basic subscription.
I am very proud to be offering professional dyslexia therapy services through Lexercise because not only have they created a curriculum that has received the highest level of recognition from the International Dyslexia Association, they have also managed to make a giant leap in making these essential interventions more accessible to anyone who needs them.
