Three different kinds of help
Most families searching for a tutor are actually looking for one of three different things, and paying for the wrong one is the most common expensive mistake in this whole process.
- Therapy. Intensive structured literacy delivered by a therapist with formal certification, aimed at rebuilding decoding and spelling. Measured in years.
- Reading tutoring. Structured practice from a provider trained in a specific literacy program, often supporting or reinforcing what a school is already doing.
- Subject tutoring. Help with the actual content of a class, whether that is chemistry, algebra or an essay that is due.
All three are legitimate. The mistake is buying the third when your child needs the first, which is what happens when the only question asked is whether the tutor works with dyslexic students.
Academic Language Therapy
- Certified provider with supervised clinical hours
- Structured, cumulative curriculum
- Targets the underlying skill
- Multiple sessions a week, across years
- Progress tracked with formal measures
General tutoring
- Training varies widely by provider
- Often follows the class or the homework
- Targets content and completion
- Usually once or twice a week
- Progress judged by grades
Academic Language Therapy and the CALT credential explains what the certifications actually require.
Questions to ask before you book
What is your training, specifically?
You want a program name and a credential. CALT, LDT, LDP or certified training in a named structured literacy program are all real answers. Experience with dyslexic students is not a credential.
What curriculum will you use with my child?
A good provider names it without hesitating. If the answer is that they build a custom plan for every student, ask what that plan is built from.
How will you know whether it is working?
Look for named measures and a stated interval, such as a fluency probe every few weeks. Reports that a student seems more confident are welcome but are not data.
How often would you recommend meeting, and why?
A provider who recommends less frequency than they would like, and says so honestly, is telling you something useful about how this works.
Will you coordinate with the school?
A tutor working against the school program can undo progress. Ask whether they will talk to the teacher or the dyslexia specialist.
What happens if we do not see progress?
The right answer involves changing the approach and looking at the data, not increasing the number of sessions.
Red flags
- A guaranteed jump of a specific number of grade levels in a specific number of weeks.
- Inability to name the curriculum, or a name that turns out to be the company rather than a program.
- No assessment of any kind before instruction starts.
- Long prepaid packages required up front, with no review point.
- A pitch built on a brain training, eye tracking or movement program rather than on language instruction.
- Discomfort with you observing a session or speaking to other families.
Cost and frequency
Rates vary widely by region, credential and setting, and any number quoted online is likely to be out of date. What is more useful is how to think about the trade.
Two sessions a week with a highly trained provider will usually do more than four with an untrained one. If your budget forces a choice between frequency and expertise, expertise is generally the better purchase, and a good provider will tell you the same thing.
Sliding scales, scholarships and reduced rate slots exist at many practices and are usually not listed anywhere. Ask directly. The worst outcome is that the answer is no.
Matching help to need
| If the situation is | What you probably need |
|---|---|
| Cannot decode unfamiliar words | Structured literacy therapy, not subject tutoring |
| Decodes but reads slowly | Fluency focused instruction with repeated reading |
| Reads adequately, spells poorly | Explicit spelling and morphology instruction |
| Failing a specific class | Subject tutoring, alongside any ongoing therapy |
| Cannot start or finish assignments | Executive function coaching, which is a different specialty |
| Reading is fine, comprehension is not | A language evaluation before buying any tutoring at all |
Find a dyslexia specialist covers how to search and how to verify a credential.
Where this information comes from
This page draws on the organizations below alongside the clinical experience of the therapists who teach at Key School. Where the sources disagree, or where a policy is still changing, we say so in the text instead of picking an answer for you.
- Certification requirements for Certified Academic Language Therapists Academic Language Therapy Association
- Licensed Dyslexia Practitioner and Licensed Dyslexia Therapist requirements Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation
- Certification standards for structured literacy teaching Center for Effective Reading Instruction
- Structured Literacy: An Introductory Guide International Dyslexia Association
