The following includes some of the currently available approaches to helping individuals who exhibit one or more signs of dyslexia. Each approach has its own theoretical background and supportive evidence, with many success stories and followers. Many of the institutes behind each approach provide diagnosis, individual as well as teacher and specialist instruction, plus materials for self training and assistance. A number of the programs have facilities or trained specialists worldwide. Descriptions are selected quotes from online text but are not meant to be a replacement for the material on the sites. Be sure to read the testimonials on the sites. We invite you to visit each site before deciding what is best for you or your child. It is worth an hour of your time. 

The Listening Program - Auditory Processing Therapy Program 

Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators 

Alpha-Phonics 

Davis Dyslexia Correction 

Dyslexia Institute Literacy Programme&Walter Bramley Units of Sound 

Levinson Medical Center for Learning Disabilities 

Audiblox2000 

Lindamood® Phoneme Sequencing Program 

Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity 

Rest of Page Index to top 
Symptoms of Dyslexia 
Definitions of Dyslexia 
Listings of sources on Dyslexia 
Information for Parents 
Hints for Teachers 
Sites by Dyslexic Kids 
American Optometry & Optometric Groups Policy 
Miscellaneous Good Stuff 
Archives and Forums 
Other Approaches of Interest 
Computer Software for Reading Enhancement Plus 
Helpful Links 
Research 

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The Listening Program - Auditory Processing Therapy Program 
Developers of the program: Advanced Brain Technologies. Provides seminars for training facilitators and authorized providers of the methods throughout U.S. and over 14 countries. CDs for home use may be purchased online. 

"About 40 years ago, Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis, a French Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, made some astonishing discoveries which led to the development of the Tomatis Method. This method goes by different names: "auditory training," "auditory stimulation," and "listening therapy." Its purpose is to reeducate the way we listen, to improve learning and language abilities, communication, creativity, and social behavior."  "The Listening Program® is a Music-Based Auditory Stimulation method that is used to train the auditory skills needed to effectively listen, learn, and communicate.

It consists of an extensive series of high-quality audio CDs that integrate specially produced acoustic music, primarily classical, with innovative sound processing techniques.

The Listening Program benefits people of all ages starting as young as age two. And, is the only Auditory Stimulation method that has a patent pending process of music production and sound engineering.

Advanced Brain Technologies, LLC (ABT) developed The Listening Program building upon key concepts originated by the late Alfred Tomatis, M.D...."

Who Can Benefit?
Anyone can benefit from improved listening function.
The Listening Program is used by people of all ages, starting as young as age two.

Empirical evidence has demonstrated benefits for;

The typically developing child

Individuals experiencing listening, sensory, learning, language, reading, attention, memory, social, communication, and auditory processing difficulties

Those interested in improved communication and speaking skills, musical ability, learning potential, and creativity "

It is best described by an article written by a TLP provider Sound Therapy through the listening Program describes the basis and uses of The Listening Program.
 

Also see: 
Tomatis.com For a description of the principles behind the program. 
Auditory Processing Therapy Program and materials Another presentation of The Listening Program and materials. 
Listening Training for Children: Method, Application, and Outcomes Discussion, background and research on the Tomatis method. 

Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators 

The method is multisensory "Orton-Gillingham teaching sessions are action oriented with auditory, visual, and kinesthetic elements reinforcing each other for optimal learning. 

The method is Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative "The Orton-Gillingham teacher introduces the elements of the language systematically. Students begin by reading and writing sounds in isolation. Then they blend the sounds into syllables and words. Students learn the elements of language, e.g., consonants, vowels, digraphs, blends, and diphthongs, in an orderly fashion. They then proceed to advanced structural elements such as syllable types, roots, and affixes. As students learn new material, they continue to review old material to the level of automaticity. The teacher addresses vocabulary, sentence structure, composition, and reading comprehension in a similar structured, sequential, and cumulative manner..." 

There have been many adaptations of Orton-Gillingham. See a further description of the methods by Bright Solutions for Dyslexia, LLC and Adaptations Highlights the Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Method giving the basics of the method, supportive research, tools and adaptations. 
"* Phonemic Awareness - learn to listen to word or syllable and break it down sound wise and learn which letters or groups of letters correspond to sounds, and when blended together create words, 
* The Six Types of Syllables that compose English words are taught next. If students know what type of syllable they're looking at, they'll know what sound the vowel will make. Conversely, when they hear a vowel sound, they'll know how the syllable must be spelled to make that sound. 
* Probabilities and Rules are then taught. The English language provides several ways to spell the same sounds. For example, the sound SHUN can be spelled either TION, SION, or CION. The sound of J at the end of a word can be spelled GE or DGE. Dyslexic students need to be taught these rules and probabilities. 
* Roots and Affixes, as well as Morphology are taught next to expand a student's vocabulary and ability to comprehend (and spell) unfamiliar words. For instance, once a student has been taught that the Latin root TRACT means pull, and a student knows the various Latin affixes, the student can figure out that re-tract means pull again, con-tract means pull together, sub-tract means pull away (or pull under), while tract-or means a machine that pulls. 

How it is taught 
* Simultaneous Multisensory Instruction: research has shown that dyslexic people who use all of their senses when they learn (visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic) are better able to store and retrieve the information. So a beginning dyslexic student might see the letter A, say its name and sound, and write it in the air -- all at the same time. 
* Intense Instruction with Ample Practice: instruction for dyslexic students must be much more intense, and offer much more practice, than for regular readers. 
* Direct, Explicit Instruction: dyslexic students do not intuit anything about written language. So, you must teach them, directly and explicitly, each and every rule that governs our written words. And you must teach one rule at a time, and practice it until it is stable in both reading and spelling, before introducing a new rule. 
* Systematic and Cumulative: by the time most dyslexic students are identified, they are usually quite confused about our written language. So you must go back to the very beginning and create a solid foundation with no holes. You must teach the logic behind our language by presenting one rule at a time and practicing it until the student can automatically and fluently apply that rule both when reading and spelling. You must continue to weave previously learned rules into current lessons to keep them fresh and solid. The system must make logical sense to our students, from the first lesson through the last one. 
* Synthetic and Analytic: dyslexic students must be taught both how to take the individual letters or sounds and put them together to form a word (synthetic), as well as how to look at a long word and break it into smaller pieces (analytic). Both synthetic and analytic phonics must be taught all the time. 
* Diagnostic Teaching: the teacher must continuously assess their student's understanding of, and ability to apply, the rules. The teacher must ensure the student isn't simply recognizing a pattern and blindly applying it. And when confusion of a previously-taught rule is discovered, it must be retaught." 

For Home and Facilitator Training, see Barton Reading and Spelling System A one-on-one tutoring program for children and adults who struggle with reading, spelling or written expression due to dyslexia or a learning disability. A simplified Orton-Gillingham system designed for homeschool parents, volunteer tutors, resource specialists or their aides, and professional tutors. All of the training a tutor needs is provided on videotape, along with fully scripted lesson plans. Takes a struggling reader to the 9th grade level. 

Other institutes which have adapted the Orton-Gillingham methodology: 
Besides the institutes below, for Information for Adults, see Learning Disabilities Association of America  or homepage LDA

Also see A listing and description of major Orton-Gillingham adaptations. 

Slingerland Institute for Literacy "Its function is to provide teacher training..." "The Slingerland Approach is an adaptation for classroom use of the Orton-Gillingham method. Since 1960, thousands of teachers throughout the United States, and in Canada and Australia, have received Slingerland training. This structured, sequential, simultaneous, multisensory teaching approach is designed to help dyslexic students with speaking, reading, writing and spelling. The flexibility of the approach has made it effective in general education classrooms as well." 

Alphabetic Phonics Besides tutoring, The Austin Scottish Rite Learning Center of Austin offers training courses: One such course, "The Basic Course of Basic Language Skills entails 15 days of training. It is based on Alphabetic Phonics, a therapeutic curriculum for use by teachers, specialists, and educational therapists working with students identified with special needs in learning to read and spell." The Austin Scottish Rite Learning Center of Austin is to become a "recognized national training site by the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) and the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC)." Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) According to the [ALTA] by-laws anyone with substantial and comprehensive Orton-Gillingham based training (meaning a minimum of 150 class-hours and 700 practicum/intern hours based on the multisensory, structured, sequential remediation research and practices of Dr. Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham) is eligible for membership in ALTA. However, the association membership is narrow in that it is restricted to individuals with highly specialized, extensive training in multisensory, structured, sequential language-based therapy practices and procedures rather than broad-based, generic special education training. 

Wilson Language Training "...experience shows that many people, regardless of their age, have not been able to acquire reading and writing skills because their learning needs have never been properly assessed. The majority of these people are subject to a core deficit at the most basic level of language skill: That of phonological coding. " ". .. brings to the task more than a decade of experience and a proven method for helping people of all ages to become fluent, accurate readers." Provides certified training.

The Spaulding Method "Spalding Education International is accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) for its literacy instructional programs for teachers and Spalding teacher trainers." "The Spalding Method is effective for all students ( Regular Education and Special Education)." 

The Herman Method Students with a reading disability CAN become proficient readers when taught with The Herman Method: a complete, multisensory, remedial reading program that evolved from the Orton-Gillingham philosophy. The Herman Method meets the diverse needs of intellectually capable students in elementary, junior and senior high school who are diagnosed as learning disabled, dyslexic, or at-risk.   

Alpha-Phonics 

Samuel L. Blumenfeld has written eight books on education and has been in the forefront of the struggle to get intensive, systematic phonics back into the schools. His popular reading program, Alpha-Phonics, has been used by thousands of homeschoolers with great success. 

Due to holistic reading methodology, our children have become "...sight readers with a holistic reflex rather than phonetic readers with a phonetic reflex. A holistic reader looks at each word as a little picture, a configuration, much like a Chinese ideograph, and tries to think of the word it represents. A phonetic reader associates letters with sounds and sounds out the syllabic units which blend into an articulated word..." 

"In other words, failure to teach a child to read phonetically, but requiring the child to memorize hundreds of sight words produces educational dyslexia. Incidentally, a sight word, by definition, is a word learned without reference to the sounds the letters stand for. Nowadays, publishers are selling books for preschoolers with audio tapes so that the child can learn to read by the sight method without the help of his or her parents. Thus, the child will develop a reading handicap without the slightest idea that what he or she is doing is harmful." 

"...What we do know is that when you impose an inaccurate, subjective ideographic teaching technique on a phonetic-alphabetic writing system which demands accurate decoding, you create symbolic confusion, cognitive conflict, frustration and a learning breakdown..." See The MWIA TEST below. 

"...Fortunately, homeschoolers are in the best position to guard their children against the kind of pedagogical poisoning that is turning millions of normal children into LDs. They can begin teaching their children to read phonetically as early as the child wishes. Above all, they must avoid having their preschoolers memorize words holistically without any knowledge of the letter sounds. If you tell children that letters stand for sounds, they will begin to understand what our alphabetic system is all about." Dyslexia: Man-Made Disease 
Additional articles
Can Dyslexia Be Artifically Induced in Shcool? pdf)
How To Cure Dyslexia (pdf)
Miscue Analysis (pdf)

The MWIA TEST 
" The MWIA is a simple test (see below) which measures the degree to which a person is a "subjective" reader. It was developed in North Carolina by former teacher and school administrator, Edward Miller, in the early 1990s. Reading experts including Charles M. Richardson and Samuel Blumenfeld, and licensed school psychologist Steven Kossor say it can help parents and teachers identify children schooled in Whole Language. 

The MWIA consists of two lists of words, the first of which is drawn from the 220 most popular "sight words" that children are given in early basal readers and books such as Dr. Seuss's The Cat In The Hat. These 220 high-frequency words were alleged by researchers in the 1920s to comprise half of all English words appearing in print. 

The second list is drawn from Why Johnny Can't Read by Rudolph Flesch, and consists of phonetically-regular words at first-grade level. The difference is that the words in the first list, although including more than two dozen irregular or multi-syllable words, will be familiar to Whole Language readers but words in the second list may not. A whole-word reader not only slows down when reading the second list, but also makes more errors. 

A phonetic (objective) reader can read both lists equally well, and may even read the second list faster because the words are easier. As Steve Kossor noted in his Education Newsletter (Vol. 3, No. 8), "a child who 'reads' list number one well but struggles with list number two may be demonstrating how well he has learned to create the illusion of reading by memorizing a few familiar words, while actually remaining functionally illiterate." Kossor Education Newsletter no longer available on line. However, the Miller Word-Identification Assessment (MWIA) which is partially reproduced below, is available through Don Potter Education Page  

List Number 1 (LOOK-SAY) 

car	tree	green	me
you	with	say	could
they	fox	house	would
mouse	anywhere	rain	there
eat	here	let	boat
and	or	them	eggs
ham	thank	like	be
am	on	that	dark
good	if	not	box
will	do	goat	try
are	train	may	see
[][][][][][][][][]	[][][][][][][][][]	[][][][][][][][][]	[][][][][][][][][]

Time: ____ min ___sec Total seconds:_______ Errors: ______ 

List Number 2 (PHONETIC) 

tar	glee	preen	he
yen	pith	hay	should
this	lox	louse	mound
grouse	somewhere	pain	where
feat	peer	wet	goat
end	up	thin	dregs
tam	plank	hike	we
an	in	they	lark
wood	of	got	bog
sill	to	moat	fry
ore	grain	way	bee
[][][][][][][][][]	[][][][][][][][][]	[][][][][][][][][]	[][][][][][][][][]

Time: ____ min ___sec Total seconds:_______ Errors: ______ 
from The Kossor Education Newsletter, Volume 3, Number 8, Page 4 

The following materials may be purchased online: Phonics Reading, Reading Testing and Phonics CD-ROM's, Cursive Handwriting, Arithmetic, Grammar, Practice Workbooks and Readers, Punctuation, and other material. 

Dyslexia - The Gift 

Also Davis Dyslexia Correction Center 

A method for all children geared to different learning styles (see Davis Learning Strategies below), and for individuals with dyslexia. 

A brief overview on the basis of the program for individuals with dyslexia by webmaster Abigail Marshall - the Gift' to see original "Because dyslexics think in pictures or imagery, they tend to use global logic and reasoning strategies, looking at the 'big picture' to understand the world around them...." 

"Dyslexics tend to have difficulty with unreal and symbolic objects, such as letters and numerals. In their effort to comprehend symbols ... they can become disoriented. This leads to the familiar symptoms of substitutions, omissions, reversals or transpositions in reading or writing letters and words. Disorientation is not limited to visual input; many dyslexics commonly mishear or garble words or the sequence of words in sentences. Their sense of time can seem distorted and their motor coordination can appear delayed or clumsy. " 

The method teaches "...the student how to recognize when they are disoriented, and then how to use their own mind and awareness to turn off their disorientation..." 

The next step is to solve the problems which cause the disorientation by mastering the alphabet, basic symbols, and the words for which the dyslexic has no picture or meaning through individual imaginative creation of an object which represents the symbol or word. This is followed by skill development of sequencing and comprehension. The process followed by a number of other methods to increase reading speed and comprehension produces "...long term retention of the spelling and meaning of a word without the need for phonetic decoding or memorization." 

International Information Has online self assessment test. There are 273 Davis Dyslexia Correction® providers including individual treatment and workshops throughout the world in 22 countries with services available in 16 languages. Materials available The Gift of Dyslexia, Instructional Videotapes, and Davis Symbol Mastery kit. 

Davis Learning Strategies An adaptation of the Davis Method for children under age 8 which was found to be beneficial to all children to enhance and improve their reading and language arts skills and also found to prevent special education placement and increase the number of students qualifying for Gifted Education placement. Available are two Teacher Kits to help teachers begin using Davis Learning Strategies techniques in grades K-3. One kit is geared toward students in Kindergarten and First Grade (ages 5-7). The other is geared to students in Grades 2-3 (ages 7-9). Kits for home use also available. 

Dyslexia Institute Literacy Programme & Walter Bramley Units of Sound 

The Institute provides assessment testing, teaching for people with dyslexia, training of specialists, and holds short courses for mainstream teachers. 
The Institute "...uses a phonic approach that helps the student to understand the logical structure of written language. Beginning with basic sound-symbol links for reading, writing and spelling, the pupil moves on to word-building, at first using a very small range of letters, and gradually increasing the repertoire. Soon he can read sentences and larger pieces of writing containing the letters covered, and work on reading comprehension. 

The student "...will learn to work out how to spell words from the sounds and from the spelling rules. Computers will usually form an integral part of the lesson and, gradually, study skills, or aids to effective learning, will be introduced. A mathematics program is also available. 

The approach "...has a strong phonic/sound element and each 'page' focuses on a particular 'unit of sound', which is combined with a visual whole word approach. Each sound is seen, heard, spoken and practised within blocks of words, making it very multisensory. The word blocks lead into sentences and structured, continuous reading passages." "...pupils have access to the latest materials which are trialled in-house before being releasedfor wider use. The program has been developed over 25 years. It draws on the work of Orton and Gillingham in the USA; Kathleen Hickey, who developed her programme whilst she was our first Director of Studies; and the most recent research. Maintains 23 institutes and fifty outposts and works in some 75 schools throughout the U.S., and 25 centers in the U.K. and more than 125 outposts and in-school units provide specialist teaching for children and adults. 
The Units of Sound on tape and CD, assessment and literacy kits, and other materials are available online. 

U.S. Levinson Medical Center for Learning Disabilities 
The Pathway to Achieving Potential by a psychiatrist and neurologist working with dyslexia or learning disabilities (LD) as well as related Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Phobias. 

"...dyslexia is not just a severe reading disorder but a syndrome made up of reading and writing symptoms, memory instability related to spelling, math, memory and grammar, speech disorders, directionality, behavior disturbances, balance and coordination, psychosomatic difficulties, and phobias creating an overall problem for self esteem. 

Instead of concentrating on the results characterized by the syndrome, this approach treats the cause - "dyslexia most probably is of inner-ear origin, especially since only balance/coordination/rhythmic inner-ear neurological signs and symptoms characterize more than 96% of examined dyslexics." 

treatment includes antimotion-sickness antihistamines, stimulant medications, and specific nutrients for inner-ear (CVS) and/or neurotransmitter enhancers. 

When medical treatment of Dyslexia and related disorders is "...properly administered by physicians, this approach will help 75-85% of treated dyslexics." 

Audiblox2000 

Based on the principle that it is the way in which the message is delivered and the preparation of the learner that are in many instances the problem and not a physical disability, this program works on the basic tasks of the learning process itself which is stratified "This means that there is a sequence that is to be observed in teaching. Certain things have to be taught first, before it becomes possible to teach other things. The main objective of the Audiblox program is to practice and automatize the skills that underlie reading, spelling, writing, mathematics and the learning of subject matter." 

"Simply put, Audiblox is a system of cognitive exercises, aimed at the development of foundational learning skills..." "Audiblox develops and automatizes the foundational skills of reading, spelling, writing, mathematics and the skills required in the learning of subject matter: 

Concentration 

Perception - visual, auditory and haptic 

The ability to discriminate, synthesize and analyze in terms of foreground-background, form, size, position in space/time and color. 

Memory - short and long term, visual and auditory. 

The ability to decode and integrate information. 

Concept of numbers. 

Fine and gross motor coordination 

It is flexible - suitable for home tutoring or in the classroom, all age groups, adaptable to the intellectual levels of learners, challenging, and capable of smooth integration into any curriculum. 

The program "sharpens attention and concentration, develops accurate perception, improves memory, promotes logical thought, improves reading, spelling and handwriting, and is effective for dyslexia, dysgraphia and other learning difficulties". 

The idea is outlined in the book "The Right to Read". "Some teaching materials are also required. You can collect and/or make these yourself. Information on how to do this is given in The Right to Read. You can also purchase the required equipment, which includes the following: The Audiblox Learner set contains 72 colored blocks, equally divided into six different colors - black, white, red, green, blue and yellow. It also contains a screen, used to shield blocks from the learner, and a set of color cards with preprinted patterns, which are needed for one of the Audiblox exercises" plus a reading book, and word cards. A video is also available. 

Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing™ (LiPS™) Program 
"A primary cause of decoding and spelling problems is difficulty in judging the identity, number, and sequence of sounds within words. This is called weak phoneme awareness. This weakness in phonological processing causes both children and adults to add, omit, substitute, and reverse sounds and letters within words. They cannot accurately get words off the page, because although they see the letters correctly, they cannot judge whether what they say matches what they see. This prevents them from detecting and correcting their errors in reading and spelling, and also in speech. This can also cause difficulty in learning a second language." 

"The LiPS™ Program successfully develops phoneme awareness and its application to reading, spelling, and speech both preventively and remedially. Individuals are helped to discover the mouth actions that produce speech sounds. This sensory information is used to verify sounds and their order in words, and enables individuals to become self-correcting in reading, spelling, and speech." 

'"It is common for individuals to gain several grade levels in decoding ability in four to six weeks of intensive treatment, four hours daily. Further gains in speech-language have also occurred through this sensory-cognitive approach after individuals have hit a plateau under traditional speech therapy." 

There are Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes Centers in over 15 U.S. States and the U.K. Materials available to the public include a manual with detailed presentations of steps, and outlines and sample dialogues for implementing the LiPS™ Program. Support products include: LiPS™ Program Clinical Kit, Classroom Kit, a Practice CD-ROM , Training Videos, and LAC Test Kit. 

Lindamood-Bell Centers also deal with hyperlexia, a problem in which individuals read accurately but do not comprehend what they read. 

Irlen Syndrome, formerly known as Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome  
A variety of problems can result from seeing a distorted page of words, numbers or musical notes or perceiving [the]... environment in a distorted fashion. It can affect reading, writing, spelling, math, copying, reading music, working on a computer, night driving, driving, sports performance, comfort under fluorescent lights, and other areas of a person's life. 

"Individuals with Irlen Syndrome see the printed page differently from those with normal vision and must constantly adapt to distortions appearing on the printed page. They may be slow or inefficient readers, exhibit poor comprehension, suffer from strain, fatigue or headaches. It can affect their attention-span, energy-level, motivation, handwriting, depth-perception and, ultimately, self-esteem. Irlen syndrome sufferers may be labeled as underachievers with behavioural, attitudinal, or motivational problems. It is a complex and variable condition sometimes found to co-exist with other learning-disabilities." 

Irlen Syndrome was first identified by Educational Psychologist, Helen Irlen, while she was working with adult-learners in California in the early 1980s. She observed that some of her students read with greater ease when they covered a page of print with a Coloured overlay. The patented treatment-method uses specially formulated, coloured overlays or coloured lenses worn as glasses or contact lenses to reduce or eliminate perception-difficulties. "The program is designed to serve the needs of individuals with learning difficulties, attention deficit, autism, and other problems which interfere with adequate functioning in the classroom, workplace, and socially." 

What to look for 
Signs in Reading: Poor comprehension, Misreads words, Reads in dim light, Skips words or lines, Reads slowly or hesitantly, Takes breaks, Loses place, Avoids reading 
Complaints while Reading: Strain and fatigue, Tired or sleepy, Headaches or nausea, Fidgety or restless 
Writing Characteristics: Trouble copying, Unequal spacing, Writing up or downhill, Inconsistent spelling 
Other Characteristics: Strain or fatigue from computer use, Difficulty reading music, Sloppy, careless math errors, Misaligned numbers in columns, Ineffective use of study time, Lack of motivation, Grades do not reflect the amount of effort 
Depth Perception: Clumsiness, Difficulty catching balls, Difficulty judging distances, Additional caution necessary while driving . 

"Colored lenses provided by optometrists and vision specialists to treat dyslexia and reading problems are NOT the same as the Irlen Method. Others do not have the right colors, or diagnostic process for color selection. Inaccurate colour selection can result in headaches, eye strain, and fragmented brain processing resulting in more distortions and reading problems." 

Certified specialists worldwide.