FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Structured Literacy / dyslexia therapy is effective for people with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dysgraphia, and also for people who simply need extra support in learning how to read. It’s natural to have questions about how our program works. Below are some frequently asked questions about our practice. You may also find answers to your questions on the Lexercise website.

  • Structured Literacy is the updated term for what is more widely known as Orton-Gillingham therapy. Our structured literacy curriculum is based on the latest research findings in reading and language development. Our practice is clinical, science based, and designed to facilitate the development of cognitive networks necessary for reading, writing, and processing language.

    We use the word therapy to differentiate from tutoring, which is often focused on the achievement of short term academic goals.

    While the effects of tutoring are often more immediate, the therapy we provide is designed to create durable and long lasting results that will help the client in their academic and personal lives not only in the present, but also well into the future.

  • Our Professional Structured Literacy / Dyslexia Therapy is delivered via the Lexercise platform for structured literacy. All of our therapists are licensed by Lexercise to deliver therapy via their proprietary platform. Over the course of a four week professional therapy package, the therapist will meet with the child and their parent/guardian once per week to deliver a live therapy session. The live therapy session is 45 minutes long, with an additional 15 minutes available for discussion with the parent / guardian after the session is complete. The live session is collaborative and requires the participation of both the parent/guardian and child.

    Following the completion of the live session, the therapist assigns interactive games for the child to complete independently over the Lexercise platform. These games are selected based on the child’s personal learning needs. The child is expected to complete at least 15 minutes of independent practice on at least 4 days between live practice sessions.

    Additionally, the child’s parent / guardian is provided with additional, personalized practice activities to complete at home with their child between live sessions. These optional activities allow the parent / guardian to take an active role in their child’s learning.

  • Typically, we expect a client that completes 8 weeks of structured literacy therapy with us will see improvement in reading of at least one grade level. In fact, we offer a money back guarantee! Any client who does not improve a whole grade level in eight weeks, will receive the next four weeks of therapy free of charge.

    After the initial eight weeks, many clients continue to see us for a year or more. Our clients decide to continue therapy for extended periods because it is so effective. We love to see the joy in our clients as they learn reading skills that the previously felt were beyond their reach.

  • es! The 2020 pandemic resulted in worldwide lockdowns that forced many dyslexia treatments to move to online platforms. Using data from a clinical center for learning disabilities in the Netherlands, Verwimp, et al. (2024) compared the results of a structured literacy dyslexia treatment provided in traditional, face-to-face treatment sessions in a physical facility with results from online treatment sessions using web conferencing. In both models, sessions lasted 50 minutes and were provided once a week, with 15–20-minute home practice assigned 5 times a week. They found the two conditions did not differ in treatment compliance assessed by completed homework assignments or in the reading and spelling progress achieved for the equivalent number of sessions. Reading scores were significantly impacted by baseline scores and the number of treatment sessions but not whether a child received facility-based or online treatment.

  • Structured Literacy is an umbrella term for any researched backed, gold standard method for teaching English to any child. Orton Gillingham does not refer to one specific program. Rather, there are many programs that call themselves Orton Gillingham because they are based on the original work done by Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham. What we offer is one such program.

    The original research underpinning modern structured literacy interventions is rooted in the work of Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham.

    The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) was founded in order to preserve, proliferate, and advance the knowledge and methods discovered by Orton and Gillingham in their work. The program we use was created by Lexercise and is endorsed by the IDA. Programs endorsed by the IDA have gone through rigorous evaluation are are recognized as leaders in structured literacy.

  • Structured Literacy Associates is a therapy group of certified dyslexia / structured literacy specialists specially trained and authorized by Lexercise to deliver structured literacy therapy using the Lexercise online platform.

    The Lexercise platform offers many amazing features that allow us to deliver an incredible user experience for our clients, such as:

    1. A dedicated parent portal containing assessment data and reports, resources and activities for you to learn and work with your child at home, and convenient billing.

    2. Curated computer games. After each live session, your therapist will select games for your child to practice independently between sessions. Lexercise has designed these games to be completely customizable, so your therapist will be personalizing the content and difficulty according to your child’s learning needs.

    3. A comprehensive structured literacy curriculum. While many students benefit from the pre-recorded lessons offered through a basic therapy subscription from Lexercise, many children require an expert to guide them through the material. That’s where we come in. The Lexercise curriculum is not scripted. Lexercise therapists have been trained to use the curriculum as a tool for facilitating interactive dialogue that facilitates learning.

      Lexercise allows our therapists to deliver a better experience for you and your children. Our expertise, combined with the Lexercise platform, is a very powerful combination for growth in reading.

  • In a word, no. Our program can help children with our without a learning disability. It is based on more than 35 years of research into how we learn to read. We break down the concepts involved in reading and present them explicitly and simply, making learning enjoyable and memorable. We teach objects sequentially and cumulatively, allowing for sufficient repetition and practice so that students can advance in their learning at their own pace.