Our Philosophy - One student, with one teacher, taking one step at a time, leads to success through lifelong language skills. 

The Educational Therapy Center will provide specialized, one to one instruction that is research based, multisensory, phonetic, structured and cumulative.  The reading and spellinginstruction will be provided by tutors trained extensively in the Orton-Gillingham approach which has been used effectively with students with problems with reading and spelling or with learning disabilities for over 50 years.

Research indicates that 10%-20% of all people are born with a specific learning disability.  Even with the provision of effective classroom instruction and high levels of intelligence, these individuals still experience difficulty in reading, writing, spelling, and sometimes in oral expression. 

Specific learning difficulties can lead to problems in reading comprehension, vocabulary, and the general knowledge gained by reading.  The Educational Therapy Center's goal is to enable students of all ages to experience success through the development of language skills.  The center will provide specialized one-to-one instruction that is research-based, multisensory, phonetic, structured, and cumulative.  We will teach the way the student needs to learn.

74% of the children who are poor readers in 3rd grade remain poor readers in the 9th grade without proper interventions.  It is never too late for individuals with dyslexia to learn to read, or process and express information more efficiently.  The intervention will have to be more intense to be effective for older students. 

The National Reading Panel issued a report in 2000 that described their findings after reviewing more than 100,000 studies.  These findings defined five key areas of reading instruction:  Phomemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Text Comprehension.  We teach these methods.

Our center offers interventions to people of all ages and abilities.  Our services include the intervention needed to re-teach skills to those students who have not succeeded in learning to read and write to their full potential.  People with specific language disabilities will continue to have reading, writing, and other language difficulties until they have successfully participated in a scientifically based, proven intervention.  Until then, they may only get by at a barely adequate level or spend too much energy compensating/hiding their difficulties.

We teach the Orton-Gillingham method and believe it is effective for a variety of reasons listed below:

• Multisensory - Students use visual-auditory-tactile-kinesthetic experiences to learn letter sounds, enabling them to rely on their strengths, while more importantly, strengthening their weaknesses. 
• Phonetic-Based - Students learn consonants and the variety of vowel sounds individually as opposed to within word families or as whole words.
• Structured - Lessons are organized with specific patterns and activities.
• Sequential - Concepts are taught in the specific order needed.
• Systematic - Systems developed over years of research lead the student to be successful without frustration.  Reading improves as the ability to sound out unfamiliar words grows.
• Cumulative - Constant review within the context of a new lesson enables students to practice and perfect previously learned material; repeated practice helps them retain the skills long-term.
• Persistent - Sessions are held two or three times per week to assure the skills are mastered.
• Age Appropriate - The age and interests of each student are taken into consideration as the Basic and Advanced Orton-Gillingham lessons are planned.

Symptoms of Dyslexia - Click Here!