What treatments are recommended for dyslexia?

Many children with dyslexia benefit from one-on-one or small group instruction in reading. Educators who regularly work with kids with dyslexia should be familiar with evidence-based approaches to phonological learning such as Orton-Gillingham, Barton, Lindamood-Bell, Slingerland, Sonday, and Wilson. While Orton-Gillingham was long considered the gold standard, recent research has called into question whether all dyslexia students need a multi-sensory approach, or whether it’s the intensity/frequency and the systematic approach of the reading intervention that matters most.

“Evidence-based, structured literacy programs are key to effective reading intervention programs for students with dyslexia.” — Elizabeth Bloom

Bloom suggests that families find out what specialized literacy instruction their school offers by asking these questions:

• Are the reading interventionists and special education teachers using a structured literacy curriculum? If so, which program are they trained in? How long was the training? (Some districts provide brief trainings while others invest in longer trainings.)
• How long has the school or teacher(s) been implementing these structured literacy programs?
• Will structured literacy instruction be offered to this student individually, and how will the progress be charted?
• If a student isn’t showing progress, can another curriculum be considered? Are staff members trained in more than one structured literacy curriculum?