Take Flight! Dyslexia Program

[JourneyAlong]

Hello, I'm curious if any of you have used, "Take Flight," as your dyslexia program.  It seems to be somewhat similar to Barton's.  Thanks!

 

[Lecka]

I have looked at this before.  I know someone whose daughter did this program with a tutor.

I think it is a good program.

Here is the thing.  Would this be you or a tutor doing it?  If it’s you, do you have access to tutor training?  
 

I can’t say if you “need” tutor training.  But Barton does include a tutor-training component with the DVDs.  It’s part of the program. 

So it’s something to consider if you are going to tutor yourself.  If it’s an option through a tutoring program or used by a tutor, and the tutor or program seems good — yes I think it’s a good program.  It’s my impression but it is what I think.  

[Lecka]

Also in your local area it might be possible for you to sign up for a training, if this is a program used in your area. 
 

Or there might be nothing like that whatsoever available in your area!  
 

There also might be online training available, some programs or centers offer online training for parents.

The person I knew paid for her daughter to have tutoring and the tutor used Take Flight.  The mom had zero desire whatsoever to tutor her daughter herself.  She wanted to spend her time with her daughter doing artsy things they both enjoyed and that were really good for her daughter.  She also worked outside the home.  So — a different situation.  But her daughter did well with the tutoring and I thought it looked like a reputable program.  

[Lecka]

https://scottishriteforchildren.org/research-and-education/education/dyslexia-educator-center
 

This makes it look like training is needed to use the materials effectively.  At least preferred.

 

Dyslexia programs are often not “open and go.”  

[PeterPan]

https://www.thewrittenwordtww.com/dyslexia-faqs/what-is-take-flight/  They want you to be a CALT, which is a special certification. If you want this particular program, you're going to need to look for CALT's in your area. The CALT site should have a searchable directory. Getting CALT certification would take a while, so that might be better as a long term goal, not an immediate solution.

Barton is open and go, aimed at parents, and fully scripted. 

[Lecka]

At the same time — there is a program that says all over it “must be used by a speech therapist” that parents on this board have used and most of them have had it work well. 

I looked at that program and could not have used it.  My son was able to go to speech therapy, thank goodness.  

There is another dyslexia program too that says “must have training” that some people have used without having the training, and most of them have had it work well.

But they are not open and go.  
 

And then you are either trying to research how to actually use it, or trying to figure out if something not going well is caused by..... it not being a good fit, or some problem with implementation, or your child is just needing a lot of extra time/practice, etc.  Or both.  
 

It’s just something to keep in mind and not expect it to be comparable to things that are designed for a parent to use and to include everything a parent would need.  You can expect it to be the opposite.

But I don’t think that rules it out automatically, especially if you can find videos on the Internet or something.  Or attend a training or something.  Or hire a tutor.  It is definitely a major consideration.  

 

[Lecka]

The selling point for Barton is definitely that it includes the DVDs for parent training.  
 

So — two things that are hard to explain and be “described in a way so the program could be open and go” are cueing techniques and multisensory techniques.

Those are two I know mattered for my son.  
 

Multisensory is like — how do you do the multisensory things.

Cueing is like — how do you point instead of giving verbal instructions.  My son would get overloaded and he would concentrate so hard and if I talked it would make him lose his train of thought and be very frustrating.  
 

For both of those I think it’s like — you have to see a video, or have seen somebody do it.  It’s not something most people just know how to do or have just been exposed to before.

I’m sure there are other things that matter for other kids, too, that I am not aware of.  
 

And then I think there are parents who are naturally very intuitive, and kids who don’t require everything to come together “just so” for things to work for them. 
 

But I don’t think it’s something where you can go “oh well I’ll just use it as if it’s open and go and designed for parent use.”  You would possibly be missing needed things.  
 

Especially if a quality “open and go” program has already been tried.  Like — if you’ve already tried something like LOE or AAS and having major problems, don’t get a program and then use it without every component possible.  

[kirstenhill]

On 10/16/2020 at 1:40 PM, JourneyAlong said:

Hello, I'm curious if any of you have used, "Take Flight," as your dyslexia program.  It seems to be somewhat similar to Barton's.  Thanks!

 

I haven't, but I'm in a couple of OG groups on Facebook where I know people have talked about being trained in that program specifically -- 

OG Teachers

OG Continued Learning

You might be able join those groups and get a few more answers specific to that program.