Dyslexia and Lexercise

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.