Jennie Sjursen 0:00
I've gone through all the steps, my child has been evaluated, identified and now has an IEP, but they don't seem to be making any progress. I need to start looking into a private dyslexia instructor. Yet another place, I don't even know where to begin.
Jennie Sjursen 0:18
I'm Jenny Sjursen, ex special educator turned dyslexia interventionist. It wasn't so long ago, that I too, was overwhelmed by balanced literacy versus structured literacy, education speak, and everything in between. Fast forward after many, many hours of self driven education. And you'll see I've built a thriving dyslexia practice helping students from ages six to 18. My specialties, working with a quote unquote difficult almost always to the student, and breaking down the complexities of dyslexic to everyday language strategies and action steps.
Jennie Sjursen 0:57
If you find yourself here, you've reached a point where you're not happy or frustrated with the services, or lack of your child is receiving at school. Your unhappiness with the school services can come from your child seemingly making little to no progress. Or maybe your child is getting services, but only a few short sessions a week and not to fidelity. Or perhaps your child's school is a balanced literacy school. And the services they're providing are really not appropriate. So where does that leave you? In search of an outside service provider is where beginning the search for an appropriate outside service provider can seem overwhelming at best. But you've already done some of the hard heavy work. You've gotten your child evaluated, diagnosed identified. You can do this too. First, you need to know who you're looking for. The person you were looking for can go by many different names tutor, speech language pathologist, called therapist, dyslexia therapist, I myself go by dyslexia interventionist. What's important here is not the person's job title, but their credentials.
Jennie Sjursen 2:11
When it comes to credentials, here is what you want to look for certification by an accredited multi sensory course or Orton Gillingham language training, you can check out the International Dyslexia Association website for accredited programs. Some of the most well known are the Orton Gillingham Academy aim Institute is me, Keys to Literacy and Wilson language training. Certification is different than being trained. For instance, to obtain associate level certification with the Orton Gillingham Academy, you must have 60 hours of training and complete a supervised 100 hour practicum which includes 10 observations conducted by an association fellow I kid you not, the association level certification was more work than my master's in teaching. Ideally, you want the service provider you choose to have completed their practicum but someone who is near the end of their practicum is a good second choice, they are still under the supervision of a fellow. Along with certification.
Jennie Sjursen 3:23
You want to know that your service provider is still actively involved in developing their skills, attending workshops and conferences, active members of dyslexia associations keeping updated on their current research and a whole lot of other things. To use myself as an example, I have a master's in special education and two certifications A C E R i dyslexia interventionist certification and an associate level certification with the Orton Gillingham Academy. I attend one to two conferences and two to three workshops per year. Currently, my crazy self is finishing up my certified level training with the academy and starting the connective practicum. Now, I didn't share my credentials as an absolute pathway. But as a guideline for things to look for. There are many accredited paths to getting here. One is not necessarily better than another. In many ways. The next criteria you want to evaluate is as important as the service providers credentials. Are they a good match for working with your child? All the degrees and titles mean nothing if your child absolutely hates them? Most, if not all service providers offer free consultations, sign up for one and use this time to fill them out. What type of personality do they have? What is their philosophy with working with kids, especially quote unquote, difficult kids?
Jennie Sjursen 4:50
Ask them the key principles behind their sessions. What do they do if your child gets stuck? I am a huge proponent of building relationships first Once the relationship and trust are built, a child is more willing to go out on a limb and try things outside of their comfort zone. Do you know your child and the type of people they're willing to work with? If you have two equally credentialed service providers, go with your gut, who is your child most likely to work with. Lastly, you want to cover Assessments and Evaluations. At the beginning of the working relationship, before provider can even begin to start sessions, you're going to need to establish a baseline, which is another way of saying your child's current skill level. The service provider is going to ask for all and any evaluations and scores you can provide. Depending on what you send and how current the scores are. A service provider may say we only need to do a few criterion referenced assessments. For example, if a parent sends me Cognitive Academic, and see top two standardized scores, I'll probably spend our first few sessions conducting a few criterion referenced assessments.
Jennie Sjursen 6:01
But the style LS which II test, a quick phonemic awareness, screening, spelling, assessment, and writing sample prompt. The combination of standardized and criterion referenced assessments provide a well rounded view of your child's abilities and skills. Personally, I like to bang these out and move on to the relationship building phase as quickly as possible. By the time a student starts with me, they've been through multiple tests and they are tested out. Now, I need you to be prepared. A truly qualified service provider is going to be costly. Depending on where you live sessions can range from $50 a session to well over $200 A session. The current US average appears to be about 100 to $150 a session. Okay, now you know what you're looking for. But where do you even find these unicorns? For starters, Ida and the Orton Gillingham Academy have provider directories on their website. Emily Gibbons is the literacy nest also has a tutor finder portal on their website. I highly recommend joining your local Decoding Dyslexia, and the reading league groups. Each of them have individual Hi state Facebook groups. Also ask around your local parenting groups. I guarantee once you get talking at least two to three parents have been through this or are going through it. They will have a lead on good local resources.
Jennie Sjursen 7:34
Finally, don't be afraid to go online and in different time zones. One on One services are vastly different than online classes. Trust me, there is someone out there who can help your child and leave you here to start your service provider unicorn search. Please feel free to sneak into my inbox if you have any further questions about how to find an appropriate outside service provider.
Jennie Sjursen 7:59
In our next episode, we'll take a closer look at the remediation process red flags to look out for and how long it takes till next time. I hope you enjoyed this episode of literacy untangled if you love this episode as much as I did, head on over and rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode. If you want to continue the conversation or share your takeaways, head on over to our Instagram at literacy untangled and comment on your favorite part. I can't wait to hang out with you again soon. Bye
