Why Johnny Can't Read and Spell
To read and spell, we must be able to encode and decode the sounds of speech into or from written symbols. A child (or adult) who can't read, is unable to hear and discriminate the fast transitions between speech sounds in connected speech. Typically, he is unable to "pull the vowel sound out" of a word, or identify all the parts of a group of consonants. That's why he may change or leave letters out of a word he is trying to spell. On the other hand, when the sounds are separated into units (either orally, or as letter symbols on a page,) he may have difficulty "imagining" how they will sound when they are joined together. That's why he cannot "sound out" a word he sees and blend the sounds together to make it whole.

Conventional reading tutoring does not deal with the underlying problem. Most poor readers have learned to rely on memorized sight-words, a method which permits reading fluency only up to fourth or fifth grade level. Tutoring may provide some improvement, but generally the individual does not continue to improve reading skills on his own when the tutoring stops. A phonics program or a rule-based program will also help, but for those who have a serious reading disability, reading will remain quite laborious.

A Different Approach
The Annandale Reading Clinic program is not just a completely different way of teaching word attack. It is based on a neurodevelopmental approach to encoding and decoding the sounds of language. It begins with direct treatment of auditory processing skills through a multi-sensory method known as auditory segmentation training.

We learn through our five senses. Learning is easiest when the brain is able to associate new information with several senses simultaneously. A learning program which makes use of several senses at once is called a multi-sensory learning system. A learning disability implies a weakness in one of the channels. The child who has a weakness in auditory processing will find it much easier to learn using a system which adds visual and kinesthetic (movement) support.

The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing™ Program is just such a program. It is a highly structured program which permits the student to build slowly, at his or her own pace. Unlike any form of reading tutoring, this program actually changes the way the student perceives auditory input.

Results
While each participant begins at a different level and has individual needs, the results achieved with this program have been substantiated in clinics throughout the United States. Annandale Fluency Clinic has used this program for more than 20 years and demonstrated results with both children and adults. Every student will progress, with many students gaining as much as five grade levels in the four week program.

Since dyslexia is in its essence a language disorder, the treatment impacts not only reading and spelling, but basic language functioning as well. We see improvement in auditory memory and higher level sequencing, with a positive impact on every other aspect of the individual's language functions.

A Total Immersion Summer Program
We offer morning and afternoon sessions of two hours each day, Monday through Friday, for a six-week period. During that time, the participants will be seen for 60 hours of individual treatment.

The Lindamood® program seeks to change the way the child hears and perceives the sounds of language to enable full phonemic awareness. This does not lend itself to casual tutoring. We therefore immerse the student in the program to make it truly effective.

Today, schoolwork places heavy demands upon children. The burden is magnified for the learning disabled youngster. Extracurricular activities too are often vitally important for the self-esteem of a youngster who must struggle with academics. That's why we offer intensive summer programs, so that the child can concentrate fully on this demanding program, and return to school with an entirely new skill level in reading.

The Follow-Up

Individual follow-up sessions ensure carry-over of skill to the classroom

Annandale Reading Clinic believes that no intensive program should be offered without a plan for follow- up. The skills that are established in a six week intensive program must be practiced and carried into the classroom reading and writing environment. At the end of the SIRT program, we provide individualized carry-over workbooks for each child, instructions and materials for parents and school-based reading teachers, and a full report on the child's progress and instructional planning for the child's further growth in written language. Individual and group continuation sessions are available in our clinics throughout the school year with the same highly skilled therapists who lead the summer intensive programs.

No follow-up plan is complete without taking into account issues of receptive and expressive language development, reading comprehension, and writing. Some students may need development of higher order thinking skills as well as classroom skills like note-taking, outlining, and written expression.

Our clinicians will help parents identify these needs and provide consultation and treatment when appropriate.

Dates and Times:

Summer sessions are scheduled for the first and second halves of the summer, usually two morning slots and one afternoon slot are available. Please call the AFC office to arrange for an individual schedule. We also offer the intensive program during the school year but do not offer after-school hours.

We offer sessions at both the Centreville, VA and College Park, MD locations.

Cost:
The cost of our full 60-hour program is based on our current per-hour fee schedule. For a current fee schedule please call the AFC office at (703) 266-5741. The fee includes:

• all materials for use in treatment and for home practice
• 6 parental information conferences
• follow-up planning with complete report to school

For further inquiries or to obtain an application form, please call our office. Applications for therapy programs are not available via the web. To enroll in this particular program, you must contact our clinic and speak with a therapist.

E-mail Information: All e-mail addresses on our website are written in a manner so as to block programs on the web looking for e-mail addresses to spam. When e-mailing, "someone (at) somewhere (.) com" should be understood as "someone@somewhere.com". We apologize for any confusion.

PLEASE NOTE: LiPS®, Visualizing & Verbalizing™, and V/V™ are registered trade/service marks of the Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes™. LBLP in no way guarantees the quality of the services suplied by AFC. AFC is not affiliated with, certified, licensed, monitored or sponsored by LBLP, Nanci Bell, Phyllis Lindamood or Pat Lindamood.