Programs and Services to Austin and Central Texas

Students accepted at the Center must have been diagnosed as dyslexic through their school district or an outside agency. Students between the first and fifth grades who are accepted for tutoring attend the Center five days a week for one hour each day in the afternoon, for two years. Tutoring runs concurrently with the Austin Independent School District's school calendar. This service is provided at no cost to the student or the student's family; the cost is covered through the generous support of Austin area Scottish Rite Masons and other contributors.

Tutoring
Students receive instruction in the Basic Language Skills curriculum, which is an outgrowth of Alphabetic Phonics, an Orton-Gillingham based methodology. Tutors are completing their course work to become Certified Academic Language Therapists through the Academic Language Therapy Association. This is a national certification.

Applications are accepted beginning in January for the following school year. Classes begin only in the Fall, not mid-year. Space is limited. Parents are strongly encouraged to contact the Learning Center's Director by April 30 for consideration the following school year.

Benefits of the Scottish Rite Dyslexia Program

• The program helps to retain students in regular educational programs and often allows
• them to avoid being qualified as learning disabled and placed in special education.
• The curriculum enables students with dyslexia to pass the TAKS test and other high stakes testing, often for the first time.
• The program helps lower the dropout rate and prevents students from failing a grade.
• Students who complete this course of instruction are more likely to maximize their potential in higher education.
• Comprehensive teacher education courses prepare classroom teachers and other educators to accurately identify and effectively work with dyslexic students to reduce failure and lower the dropout rate.
• The National Institutes of Health have found that 35% of identified learning disabled individuals will encounter problems with the criminal justice system within 5 years of leaving high school either as a dropout or a "push out"

Evaluations For Dyslexia
The SRLC of Austin offers low-cost educational evaluations for dyslexia for individuals of all ages. The evaluation, conducted by a state licensed diagnostician, investigates the presence or absence of dyslexia, but does not specifically diagnose other types of learning disabilities or academic concerns. The evaluations are done at the Center, and take approximately five to six hours to complete. After a report has been written, an appointment is scheduled with the parents to review the evaluation with the Center's Director. Before leaving the consultation, the family is provided with copies of the report to share with their child's school or other professionals.

Teacher Education
The Learning Center is in formation to be accredited as a national training site by the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA) and the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC). This recognition is bestowed on teacher training centers that adhere to stringent training requirements. These training centers are qualified to prepare educators to become Certified Academic Language Therapists through the Academic Language Therapy Association. The following educational opportunities are usually held each summer:

The Introductory Course of Basic Language Skills entails 15 days of training. It is based on Alphabetic Phonics developed at the Neuhaus Education Center in Houston, a therapeutic curriculum for use by teachers, specialists, and educational therapists working with students identified with special needs in learning to read and spell. The curriculum is particularly effective with students identified as having dyslexia or other types of reading disabilities. The Introductory course provides a research-based approach to teaching literacy skills, such as phonological awareness, letter recognition, decoding, comprehension, spelling, grammar, and written composition. Completion of this course is the prerequisite to entering the Dyslexia Specialist Preparation program. Sponsorship for six hours of graduate credit is being sought from an area university.

The Advanced Course of Basic Language Skills is offered for those who have successfully completed the Basic Class and taught through Concept 50 in Basic Language Skills, Book One and have been observed a minimum of two times. This ten-day class is designed to refine diagnostic and prescriptive teaching skills and introduce higher levels of the Basic Language Skills curriculum. Successful completion of this course partially fulfills requirements to become a Certified Academic Language Therapist.