Dyslexia Programs

Individualized Protocols By Age & Need

Our dyslexia programs help children five years and older, teens and adults. We use Fast ForWord software, a unique suite of computer programs for dyslexic children and adults that treats the underlying causes, the cognitive processing and memory deficits that are present in 90% of dyslexic students. Most students see positive, often stunning, results from our dyslexia interventions in 3-6 months of service.

Needs Of Dyslexic Children
Dyslexic children have three main reading problems:

• Difficulty with decoding -- slow, labored reading, word skipping.


• Reading comprehension gaps -- reading a page and taking nothing in, an inability to pick the main ideas out of a story.


• Resistance to reading and/or difficulty reading for long periods.

Our Fast ForWord software is a leading dyslexia reading program because it is designed to tackle these reading problems directly. It has intense exercises, with adaptive algorithms, that helps dyslexic children improve all aspects of reading:

• Decoding. Over 90% of early reading difficulties -- sounding out, fluency, spelling -- are due to processing, focus and/or memory delays. These skills are the primary target of the first programs in the Fast ForWord series, Fast ForWord Language v2 and Language to Reading or Literacy and Literacy Advanced for 4th graders and older.


• Comprehension. While labored decoding is a huge contributor to reading comprehension difficulties, there are other aspects to reading comprehension. Children with dyslexia do not typically absorb the language through listening, called natural learning. This impact language structure, syntax, spelling, vocabulary and grammar. And so, our software programs for dyslexia emphasize these skills in exercise themes that run throughout, working towards automatic reading comprehension.


• Interest in reading. Reading that requires extreme concentration and multi-tasking -- decoding and understanding -- and/or where the content is not understood is not in the least bit enjoyable or interesting. Our dyslexia programs create automaticity at every step -- decoding, linguistic dexterity, and comprehension, helping to make reading less exhausting and more rewarding.

Program Protocols By Need

Our programs emphasize fundamentals, mastery first of the cognitive skills -- phonological awareness, working memory, attention -- required for reading. All students start out with us, exercising cognitive skills in the base of the pyramid. Their path beyond that point varies greatly, depending on their age and their needs. Here are some examples of typical dyslexia programs by age.

Elementary Age Children

Problem: Difficulty Sound Out
Young children with dyslexia, struggling to get started in reading, almost always have auditory processing difficulties -- leading to weak phonological awareness -- that impacts not only how they hear words, and how they break them apart in their head, but also related focus and working memory skills that are typically under-exercised.

These students typically spend a lot of time in Fast ForWord Language v2, working on the crucial cognitive skills at the base of the reading pyramid. Children in the 5-7 age range, will then move to Language to Reading, and perhaps Reading 1. Children 7-9 years of age, will likely get to Reading 2.

Problem: Resists Reading
In many ways, this is the classic sign of dyslexia. No-one likes to do what is difficult, much less do it in front of parents or even worse, in class.

Our dyslexia exercises converge on the idea of making reading easier, to defang reading, so that it is not humiliating or difficult. This work all occurs in the base of the pyramid -- if we can improve the cognitive skills required for reading, we can make reading more natural, easier, doable. The road to reading comprehension is a long way from there, especially for a 5-7 year old, but if reading is easier, it is a road that will be willingly traveled.

Problem: Losing Ground As Books Get Harder
Many dyslexic children are able to memorize their way through the early stage of reading. While they are unable to sound out complicated words, they are able to gather enough sight words to stay with the class into 3rd grade and sometimes even further. But at some point, it all falls apart and they need to start again -- they need to learn to decode automatically.

These students start with Language v2 and Language to Reading to build the cognitive skills needed for decoding. They will typically progress quite quickly, leaving ample time to move into Reading Level 1 and 2 to learn the spelling, vocabulary, language syntax and grammar rules required for reading fluency, and to create a strong foundation for reading comprehension. Towards the end of Reading Level 2 and in Reading Level 3, program time is devoted more and more to reading comprehension.

For information on how treat other common reading difficulties experienced by dyslexic children, check out our page on understanding reading problems.

Middle & High School Children

Problem: Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension in middle school goes beyond literal comprehension of the text. It requires the ability to pick out the main ideas from text, to make inferences and pick up the nuances.

Our dyslexia programs from 4th grade and higher start with Fast ForWord Literacy -- this is the identical program to Fast ForWord Language v2, except with older graphics, vocabulary and story content. Most students get through Literacy and Literacy Advanced in a couple of months, and then move to Reading Level 3 to start work on higher level reading comprehension skills -- thinking while reading, vocabulary, sentence completion. Depending on your child's progress, middle schoolers may progress to Reading Level 4, while high schoolers may progress to Reading Level 5, where the goal is to develop reading with metacognition, the ability to think critically and self correct while reading.

Problem: Cannot Reading For Long Periods
An inability to read for more than 10-15 minutes in one sitting is a classic symptom in older dyslexic children. It indicates an inefficient reading style that is likely exhausting and lacking in sufficient reading comprehension to engage. Our dyslexia programs are focused directly on the underlying impediments to reading stamina -- automatic decoding and sound comprehension.

Dyslexia Program Steps

Dyslexia program protocols will vary by age. In general, older children with dyslexia need less time to close the cognitive skills gaps and so are able to spend more time higher in the pyramid, on reading comprehension. This is even more true of adults.
Dyslexia treatment steps in detail