ONLINE COURSES

WHO

Lexercise offers two online professional education courses designed to prepare language intervention professionals to do language-literacy evaluations and treatment with clients who are on the dyslexia spectrum. The are advanced courses, designed for those who already have a basic background in language structure, and especially the English speech sound system.  (see below).

INSTRUCTOR, Sandie Barrie Blackley, MA/CCC, is a speech-language pathologist, Visiting Assistant Professor of Communication Sciences & Disorders at University of North Carolina Greensboro, and founder/owner of the Language & Learning Clinic, PLLC, a private practice in Elkin, NC.  Sandie has training and experience with The Association Method, The Orton-Gillingham Method, The Lindamood-Bell Learning Systems Individual Phoneme Sequencing Program (LiPS) and Visualizing and Verbalizing Program, The Phono-Graphix Method and The Language! curriculum. In 1998 Sandie was awarded the Clinical Services Award by the North Carolina Speech, Hearing & Language Association (NCSHLA), the award for the state’s most outstanding clinician, and recently was elected a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award.

WHAT

Both courses are online and asynchronous. This allows you to work at your own pace, with 3 months to complete each course (most participants will finish in considerably less than the full time allotment). Registration is rolling, so you can start the courses whenever convenient.

Learning methods include assigned readings, online resources and objective, online self-assessment exercises, as well as an optional, online Q&A Forum and monthly, real-time "office hours" with the instructor and any participants who choose to take part. The topics for the monthly web-conference discussions will be driven by participants' questions. These will be recorded for those who cannot attend.

Each course requires 20 to 30 hours to complete, depending on your prior knowledge and experience and your completion pace. The content of these courses assumes a strong background in phonetics and morphology.  (If you have not had a course covering the English speech sounds (i.e., phonetics) you may want to investigate these course recommendations.) Course 1 is a prerequisite for Course 2.

• Course 1: The Structure of Written English (pre-requisite for Course 2)
• Course 2: Orton-Gillingham (O-G) for SLPs

There is a required text for each course, the cost of which is in addition to the registration fee. Participants are responsible for ordering their own books. Information about vendor options for ordering the text will be available upon registration.

• Course 1: Speech to Print, Ed. 2 by Louisa Moats (~$22.00)
• Course 2: Multisensory Teaching of Basic Language Skills, Ed. 3 by J. Birsh (~$51.00)

A final mastery test for each course will include items drawn from the course’s online self-assessment exercises. For each course a certificate of completion will be awarded to participants who earn at least 80% on the final mastery test. Participants must pass the mastery test for Course 1 in order to register for Course 2.

WHERE

Upon registration, you will have password-protected, online access to Lexercise’s course management system, where you will find course information and additional online learning resources. 

WHY

Dyslexia affects 1 in 5 people, making it by far the most prevalent communication disorder. Research shows that clients make faster progress when their clinician has a thorough understanding of the structure of written English. Course 1 will substantially increase your understanding of the structure of written English, with a focus on word structure (phonology, morphology and orthography). Course 2 will enable you to provide evaluation and treatment using the “best practice” principles of the Orton-Gillingham Approach  and to use the Lexercise eLearning platform to facilitate your O-G treatment. 

HOW

Register for Course 1 by clicking this link and creating an account. After you've created your account and logged in, click on Course 1 and make payment with either PayPal or credit card. Registration is $350 per course. In addition, see above under “Materials” for the cost of textbooks.

For speech-language pathologists, ASHA CEUs can be claimed for these courses. To minimize costs, these courses are not registered with the ASHA CEU Registry, but participants can use the Lexercise Course Completion Certificate(s) to claim 30 hours (3 CEUs) per course for ASHA CEUs. Here is how: “Keeping your CEUs current: Can I keep track of my CEUs on my own?"

Once payment is completed, you will be registered and can begin the course. (Note: Course 1 is open and running; you can register and get going at any time.)

To read the course objectives, click on Course 1 or Course 2. To register now, click here. If you have questions about Lexercise professional education, please contact us at courses@lexercise.com.