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Information About Therapist Training

Information About Therapist Training

by | Sep 23, 2020 | Dyslexia & Learning Disorders

At Scottish Rite for Children, the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders offers the Dyslexia Therapist Training Program for certified Texas public school teachers. This two-year comprehensive training is designed for teachers of students with dyslexia using proven intervention techniques and is accredited by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council.  

This training is master’s level work to the therapy level. National standards require a minimum of:  

  • 200 clock hours of instruction from Master Level Qualified Instructors
  • 700 clock hours of individual or small group therapy which can be achieved by 3 classes a day for 2 consecutive years of students
  • 10 demonstration lessons observed by the trainers

The program offers training in:

  • Educational identification of dyslexia
  • Characteristics of dyslexia
  • Take Flight: A Comprehensive Intervention for Students with Dyslexia, a multisensory, structured approach to teaching developed at Scottish Rite for Children
  • Classroom strategies and techniques used for students with dyslexia
  • How to conduct parent and teacher information seminars

Candidates for the training must be employed by a Texas public school, hold a valid Texas teaching certificate and have written support of their school district.

Graduates of the Dyslexia Therapist Training Program are eligible to sit for a national therapy certification exam at the therapy level. Fifteen hours of graduate-level credit are offered through Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Scottish Rite for Children has trained hundreds of therapists since 1988.  In order to maintain therapist training, instructors must also be taught. The completion of the instructor level requires true commitment.  

Requirements include:

  • An additional 1,400 teaching hours of students.
  • A master’s degree.
  • Two to three years of additional classroom training.
  • A minimum of three supervised lectures at the introductory and advanced level of therapist training.
  • A minimum of 20 demonstration reviews.

Scottish Rite for Children has trained a number of instructors over the years, including a number of school districts in North Texas like Frisco, Plano, Garland, Lovejoy and Richardson.  Now, these districts have the expertise to train any additional therapists their district may need in-house. Likewise, the education service centers in Regions 7 and 8 are offering therapist training.

Through our commitment to therapist training, we are able to continue our mission of helping more children diagnosed with dyslexia or other learning disorders. 

Learn more about therapist training. 

Dyslexia – The Evaluation Process

Dyslexia – The Evaluation Process

by | Sep 16, 2020 | Dyslexia & Learning Disorders

At our Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders, our team is committed to helping parents and children understand the entire evaluation process. From arriving at our Dallas campus to your child going through testing and what happens once that is complete, we want to share with you what you can expect every step of the way. Learn more below.
 
The process

  • Parents/guardians apply for our services. Click here for the online application or call 214-559-7815 to have a copy mailed or emailed to you.
  • As part of the application, parents will send in educational information (report cards, benchmark measures, previous testing). We want to ensure we can integrate all previous pieces to get a good idea of what your child needs.
  • A few weeks after your application is approved, you will receive a packet of parent and teacher questionnaires in the mail. Once you complete all of these pieces, return them to us. We will schedule your child for evaluation soon after you return everything requested.

 
Day of evaluation – what can my child expect?

  • Upon arrival, you and your child will have your temperatures taken. Please make sure you are both are wearing a mask. Our Security team will direct you to the A bank elevators and to the fourth floor. Once upstairs, you will follow the signs to the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders.
    • Just outside our doors, you will see the airplane mural. We firmly believe that each child has the potential to soar once we find the right path for them.
  • Each child will work with a team member who already knows a lot about them from the paperwork submitted beforehand.
  • Once in the testing setting, we have large safety glass partitions in place. At this time, we are able to remove our masks.
  • Testing will take two to four hours depending on your child’s age and academic needs. They will get a 10-15-minute break about halfway through.
  • While visiting with us for the first appointment, your child will also interact with our nurse. Nurse Marilyn will check their height, weight, vision and hearing – just like a school nurse.
  • During the second visit with us, which is currently online, we will visit with parents about all of your child’s hard work! We will discuss how to best support your child at home and at school. As a team, we will help determine what your child needs to make learning as friendly as possible.

 
What can parents expect?

  • Once we take your child back for their assessment, you will have between two and four hours in the waiting room.
  • The second appointment, which is currently provided online, is when you will do the work. We will ask you many questions to ensure we completely understand your child’s background and your current questions/concerns.
  • In the context of the second appointment (“Clinic Visit”), we will walk you through your child’s testing performance, as well as providing diagnoses and recommendations for next steps.
  • While visiting, we encourage you to ask questions. There can never be too many questions when it comes to your child and their needs.
  • You will receive a packet of information with helpful guides and a formal report to share with your child’s educators and whomever else might need to know more about how to support your child.
  • We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions along the way.

 
Learn more about the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders.
 

Understanding the Basics of Dyslexia

Understanding the Basics of Dyslexia

by | Sep 10, 2020 | Dyslexia & Learning Disorders

In 1965, the Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders was established to help identify and treat children with various learning disorders. As pioneers in the field, the center has developed curriculum that is used across the country – helping children everywhere. As a condition that impacts 10-15% of individuals, it is important to understand the basics of dyslexia. Learn more below. Dyslexia Defined Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. The condition can best be described as an unexpected difficulty learning to read. Children with dyslexia struggle with phonology, or the recognition and manipulation of sounds in language. Dyslexia affects a child’s ability to decode words — to break them down into constituent sounds, or phonemes, and then to sound out novel words. That makes it hard to recognize words, to retrieve words, to read, to write and to spell. Some children with dyslexia just have problems quickly retrieving words. The result is a discrepancy between ability and achievement: a child who is struggling with reading despite having the intelligence to be a much better reader. Children identified with dyslexia do not necessarily have failing grades in school. However, because of their learning disability, they often struggle with reading, despite exerting a great deal of time and effort. Students with dyslexia often find it difficult to keep up with academic expectations around third grade when reading fluency (reading quickly, easily and automatically) is an expectation and can impact other areas of learning. While they may learn to read and compensate for reading weakness in other ways, children do not outgrow dyslexia. Dyslexia is Not: 
  • reading and writing letters backwards.
  • a vision problem.
  • due to lack of intelligence.
  • because the child doesn’t work hard or lazy.
  • caused by a lack of reading at home.
  • extremely rare.
What Happens in Dyslexia?
  • Most kids begin learning to read by learning how speech sounds make up words (phonemic awareness) and then connecting those sounds to alphabet letters (phonics).
    • They then learn how to blend those sounds into words and, eventually, they can recognize words they’ve seen many times before.
  • Kids with dyslexia have trouble with phonemic awareness and phonics. Reading doesn’t become automatic and stays slow and labored.
  • When a child struggles with these beginning steps in reading, comprehension may suffer and the child may experience frustration.
  • A common assumption about dyslexia is that letters or words appear reversed — that “was” appears like “saw.”
    • This type of problem can be a part of dyslexia, but reversals are very common among children through first or second grade, not just children with dyslexia.
  • The major problem for kids with dyslexia is in phonemic awareness, phonics and rapid word recognition.
Tips for Parents Can a parent or guardian request an evaluation? Yes. A parent/guardian may request to have his/her child evaluated for dyslexia and related disorders by staff at the school district or open-enrollment charter school. The identification and intervention process for dyslexia involve both state and federal requirements that must be followed. The evaluation, identification and provision of services for students with dyslexia are guided by either the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 depending on the data and the student’s individual needs. These two federal laws established the assessment and evaluation standards and procedures for students. A team of persons knowledgeable about the student, instructional practices and possible service options meets to discuss data collected and the instructional implications of that data. These individuals include, but are not limited to, the classroom teacher, administrator, dyslexia specialist and/or interventionist. This team may also include the parents and/or a diagnostician familiar with testing and interpreting evaluation results. If the school district has data to support refusal of the parent/guardian request, the procedural protections of IDEA and/or Section 504 must be followed. Parents or guardians must be given notice of their rights under Section 504 or IDEA with prior written notice of the decision. Also, the school district may provide the student with additional support in the classroom or through the Response to Intervention (RTI) process. Must a student fail a class or subject before being recommended for evaluation for dyslexia?  No. A student does not need to fail a class or subject, or fail the state-required assessment, in order to be referred for a dyslexia evaluation. According to TEC §38.003, which requires students to be screened or tested, as appropriate, for dyslexia and related disorders at appropriate times. Screening must occur at the end of the school year of each student in kindergarten and each student in the first grade. The appropriate time to possibly evaluate a child depends upon multiple factors, including the student’s reading performance, reading difficulties, poor response to supplemental, scientifically based reading instruction, teacher’s input and input from the parents/guardians. To the extent these factors give rise to the suspicion of a disability and possibly a corresponding need for special education services and/or accommodations, the student must be referred in accord with the relevant body of federal law (Section 504 or IDEA). Learn more about our Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders.