I love books. Reading is a big part of our homeschool and my desire is for my children to have a love for books too. One child of mine struggles with reading though. I’ve not pushed her and have tried to find ways to help her overcome her struggles. I began to suspect though, that this reading challenge was more than immaturity. I wondered if she might be dyslexic.
Testing for Dyslexia
Step 1: If you are wondering if your child shows symptoms of dyslexia, take the free, online screener from Lexercise.
This test takes less than 10 minutes to complete. I will admit that I was a wee bit skeptical of the screener. I figured it probably had every child who took it not pass and then need the full evaluation. Well I was wrong. There was a group of online bloggers who had their children take the screener. Out of the group, only two of us had children who did not pass the initial test and need the full evaluation. Kris, from Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers is also sharing her Lexercise experience on her blog today.
Step 2: If your child does not pass the screener, then the next step is to schedule an appointment for a full evaluation.
This in-depth evaluation is not free. You can check the current cost on the Lexercise website. [For some reason it took me longer than needed to schedule an appointment. I was assuming all dark grey areas were filled and the light grey areas were open. It is the reverse. Open times are dark.]
Step 3: Meet with your online evaluator.
Our evaluator was Scott. Using Skype and Adobe connect, we were able to have an evaluation done right in the comfort of our own home. Scott was very professional, personable, and encouraging. This evaluation took about 90 minutes to complete. He was fine if my daughter needed to get up and stretch her legs or get a drink. He shared a couple of jokes and tried to make my daughter feel at ease.
There were several portions to the Lexercise live evaluation. My daughter had to read aloud, name pictures, repeat sounds, and turn in a writing sample after the session.
Step 4: Meet with your evaluator to go over testing results, diagnosis, and treatment plan.
A week after my daughter completed her evaluation, I had a 30 min. online meeting with Scott, our evaluator. He had a report that showed my daughter’s test results, a diagnosis, and treatment plan options. He explained everything so that I could understand what the scores were revealing about my daughter’s language processing skills.
What I Liked About Lexercise
Honestly, I had a gut feeling that my daughter might have dyslexia for awhile. My problem was finding someone to test for it. Lexercise allows anyone to receive dyslexia evaluation services right in their own home. There’s no travel involved. This is a huge perk. I also liked:
– live, online testing with a real person
– very thorough evaluation report
– options for treatment (if needed)
Currently we are considering our options for my daughter. Lexercise offers online dyslexia treatment which allows students to meet with a teacher trained in the Orton-Gillingham (O-G) Approach. In addition there are online games, which are part of the instruction. It’s a little out of our budget, but having researched other OG treatment options, it is a fair price– plus you don’t have to travel. What I appreciated is that even though it was apparent from the testing that my daughter could use their services, they did not push them.
If you are wondering if you child has a reading problem, I would recommend trying out the free screener. If a full evaluation is needed, Lexercise is a great option. I was very pleased with the evaluation process and the final report. I felt that much care was given to see the real language processing needs of my daughter. For more information on Lexercise and dyslexia, check out their blog or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Stop by Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for her thoughts on Lexercise.
Disclosure: I was thrilled to do this review of Lexercise and was compensated for my time. All opinions are my own and I was not required to post a positive review. Thanks to iHomeschool Network for organizing this review opportunity.
How old was your kiddo who did it? I’ve started wondering about Batman, if he’s got some minor problems, but haven’t been sure about how to best test that.
My daughter is 10yrs. old. I know they can test younger children too.
Do you have any idea of the age cutoffs for the screening? How young is too young?
Melissa, I do not know for sure. You can always contact them through the site. I know that in order to do the screener, the child needs to be able to read.
Hi Melissa,
The Free Online Dyslexia Screening Test (http://www.lexercise.com/dyslexia-services/screen-your-child/) works from Pre-Kindergarten and up. I encourage you to watch the video on the link above to see how the screening test works, and if you have any questions, please do call us 1-888-603-1788.
Chad Myers
+1 888-603-1788
http://www.lexercise.com
I wish we had known about this three years ago…
What a great on-line resource. A couple other he places to check for tutoring and general info are the International Dyslexia Association, Slingerland Institute for literacy as well as LD on-line.
I was surprised that my 11-year old passed the screening. She still struggles, but it is good to know that dyslexia is probably not the problem.
This was a very thorough review, thank you Maureen!
Would this test work for adults as well?
I am not sure, but the screener is free, so that should give some indication of a possible problem. Lexercise offers services for children, but you could email them for information on adult treatment.
I found this post through Pinterest. I added a link to this post in a recent post I made on my blog about National Dyslexia Awareness Month. http://beginningreadinghelp.blogspot.com/2012/10/did-you-know-october-is-national.html
Thanks for linking it up!
My experience with Lexercise was mixed. I hired them to test my daughter whom I suspected might be dyslexic. The test was very difficult and frustrating for her and while the facilitator was kind and understanding the methods employed seemed odd for a child that is not yet reading. But my biggest beef was with the administrators of Lexercise. A day after we paid the fee (which is NOT inexpensive), we received an email offering a $50.00 discount to sign up for the testing. Naturally we assumed they would be decent and honor this since we hadn’t begun the testing, but they refused, making them look unkind, inflexible and very greedy in our eyes. Bad customer service – especially around the holidays when money is so tight!