I’m often asked by parents what to do when they can’t afford dyslexia tutoring. Here are some ways to find a free or inexpensive dyslexia tutor.
While parents certainly can teach their dyslexic kids at home using a quality research-based reading curriculum, there are times when hiring a tutor can be a better solution:
- An older child who is not making sufficient progress. Having the help of an experienced Orton-Gillingham trained tutor can help your child get the exact kind of help he or she needs.
- There is a lot of tension between the parent tutor and child. It can be hard to be the parent and the tutor at times!
Read more about how and when to hire a dyslexia tutor here.
So what is a parent to do if they cannot afford to pay $50-75/hour for a professional tutor?
Sources for Free or Inexpensive Dyslexia Tutoring
The Children’s Dyslexia Centers were created by the Masons and Massachusetts General Hospital to serve dyslexic children who couldn’t afford the help they needed to succeed in school. The Children’s Dyslexia Centers currently have 50 Centers in 13 states. Centers provide tutoring by instructors trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach at no charge to children from early elementary through high school who have been diagnosed as dyslexic.
Reach out to local colleges. This is a common source of low-cost tutoring. College students studying to be teachers may charge less than certified teachers do. One way to find these students is by posting help-wanted ads in college newspapers or online. Local colleges are also a good place to find free or inexpensive dyslexia testing.
Look for group tutoring sessions. This is another way to keep costs down. Search online for local group tutoring sessions. Parents in our Homeschooling With Dyslexia Facebook Page might know of some in your area. The groups are usually small, consisting of three to five students.
Decoding Dyslexia is a network of parent-led, grassroots movements across the country whose purpose is to raise dyslexia awareness, empower families to support their children and inform policy-makers on best practices to identify, remediate and support students with dyslexia. Visit your state’s Decoding Dyslexia site for information on local services that may be available to you.
International Dyslexia Association (IDA) – visit the IDA website to find a chapter near you and ask for any referrals they may have to free or affordable dyslexia tutoring.
Learning Disabilities Association (LDA) of America for referrals for local providers.
LD OnLine’s Yellow Pages service and LD Resources section have a great deal of helpful information. Search by state for organizations, or find a parent advocacy group near you.
Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy has a useful nationwide search tool. Use it to locate tutors and other professionals in your area.
Eye to Eye is a national LD/ADHD movement that pairs students with LD with caring, knowledgeable mentors with similar experiences.
Your local homeschool support group. Although I never found free dyslexia tutoring near me, by talking with other parents in my local homeschool support group, I was able to find reputable and reasonably priced tutoring near me as well as some much needed emotional support for my journey!
Don’t have a local homeschool group? Visit Homeschool Legal Defense web site for a listing of organizations by state.
Thank you for this informative blog post. I see there is a link in the middle of it for Logic of English. Have you used that program? If so, how to you like it? Thanks!
Hi Tamara. I am using it right now in preparation for a review and I LOVE it! What age are teaching?
We have 9 yr old and 10 yr old boys. We liked “First Language Lessons” by Susan Wise Bauer, but that program only goes through 4th grade, which we completed last year. Looking for a grammar program to start with this fall. Thanks Marianne!
Thanks you so much for sharing all your wisdom with homeschooling dyslexic children! God answered our prayers on paying for tutoring costs by finding a virtual charter school in Michigan that pays for my son’s tutoring at an OG center called RLAC. We are on our second year and he is progressing beautifully. Thanks again for all you do!
Hi Jackie! Could you tell me which virtual school you are using?
We were lucky to find a lady that only charges families that can’t afford regular rates, $25 an hour.
Wonderful!!!
Hi, Samantha can you send me the info for the dyslexia tutor that charged 25$ per hour for your child? I need an affordable dyslexia teacher for my 2nd grade teacher. My name is Catherine and my call back no is 972 217 0881. Thank you.
Hello,
I would like her information as well. I have a 4th grader that’s struggling with her reading.
I have used Logic of English but it was in its infancy at that point. Had great ideas but not comprehensive or systematic enough for my severely dyslexic kids. Check out Barton reading and spelling and bright solutions for dyslexia. I have had great success with this program. Can teach it at home. You will not be disappointed.
I agree. Barton is awesome!
Please consider Lindamood Bell for dyslexia tutoring. It changed the life of my son who finally learned to read in seventh grade! He graduated from high school and eventually received a college degree. It is a powerful program that helps develop phonemic awareness—needed to learn phonics. I am now helping four of my grandchildren receive Lindamood Bell training—two of them from an online Lindamood-trained tutor.
My daughter is 8 years old and has difficulty completing her class work due to the fact that she has difficulty reading and spelling. When reading or writing she mixes up her b & d and also words like was & saw. This makes it difficult to read a full sentence as she makes up words and fidgets a lot which then distracts her. Please could you give me some advise on practices that i can do with her and ways to improve this. She is currently in grade 2 and has a retired teacher assisting her but the both of us are trying to find out ways to help her. I hope that you can offer some advice as i live in a remote area away from extra remedial classes etc.
I eagerly await any assistance or advice you can give me.
Angelique,
You can use http://www.readingbear.org/ for free phonics practice and skill building. I’ve heard wonderful things about the Toe by Toe reading program and Logic of English. If it is feasible, we use EasyRead (easyreadsystem.com). It seems pricey but we found it completely worth it. They also offer a 10 lesson trial up front. Hope this helps!
Where I leave it is $350 an hour! I have not found any resources to help in the DC area. The only people I know who live here and have received help have done so after a 5 year law suit against the school district. We use AAR, but daily I feel that I’m failing my son because we can’t afford any help.
Wow! That is ridiculous. If you’re using a good OG reading program, you’re doing enough. It can be helpful to hire a tutor but not necessary. Using the program faithfully will bring you results. It takes time!
I live in Dallas Texas and needing an affordable dyslexia tutor (25$/hr) for my 2nd grade grandson. Are there resources for me to find one?
Try contacting Decoding Dyslexia in Texas. 🙂
Hello, I have a niece that is going to be 13. She is failing considerably in school because her school doesn’t have the resources for dyslexia. I have decided I would help her since I am retired now. I’m in the Los Angeles County area of West Covina. I would like to get her going this summer with assistance in reading. What do you suggest and what I can do to bring her up. Sounds like the Lindamood Bell program Christy Corbette suggested might help. Anyone know anything else?
Lindamood Bell is super expensive and time-consuming. For a 13-year old, I would recommend a program like Reading Horizons Elevate to work through. Here is a link to my review of the program.
It is a complete Orton-Gillingham reading and spelling program and can be just the thing to help her. Other than that you could work on writing with her.
I really like Write Shop Level F. Here’s a link to my review for that.
http://www.iReadingTUTOR.com
We have certified Dyslexia Specialist available to assist families. Please reach out. We utilize the Lindamood Bell programs as well as Wilson Intensive, Barton Reading and Spelling and various phonemic awareness programs as well as morphology programs to name a few. A complete list of the evidence based interventions can be found on https://www.ireadingtutor.com/
Please connect to my calendar for a free online reading assessment. https://calendly.com/sld-dyslexia/ireading-tutor-meeting
Thank you,
Tricia Gerard, M.ED, NBCT, C-SL/DI
Looking for a reasonable person around $25.00 that can tutor my grandson. He is dyslexic and we need someone that has tutored dyslexic individuals.
Lexercise also has affordable online tutoring options by certified dyslexia specialists available!
https://www.lexercise.com/online-dyslexia-treatment/professional-therapy?group=397