ACADEMIC THERAPY CERTIFICATION
ASDEC's Academic Therapy Program trains educators in Sounds and Syllables, the most powerful Orton-Gillingham-based approach to teaching reading (decoding, fluency, and comprehension), spelling, and the foundations of syntax and grammar. Experienced ASDEC faculty deliver in-depth training courses that prepare Academic Therapists (referred to as "interns") to work one on one or in small groups with students.
Therapists must complete 200 class hours and 500 practicum teaching hours under the supervision of ASDEC faculty. This supervised teaching enables interns to apply the lessons learned in their classes to actual teaching sessions with students under the careful guidance of master teachers. This core element of ASDEC's training program explains why our therapeutic approach is so successful, especially for those students who may have failed to learn under other specialized programs.
Upon completion of the practicum, Certified Academic Therapists who complete an additional 200 hours of supervised teaching are eligible to sit for the Alliance National Exam, which qualifies them as a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT). The denotation of CALT identifies the individual as a member of the Academic Language Training Association (ALTA) and verifies that the individual has achieved the highest level of competency in the field of dyslexia education.
Practicum Teaching Requirements
After completing their Language 1 course, interns must enter a practicum of supervised teaching. Interns will be required to teach in the supervised summer program that takes place in July. Interns will work one-on-one with a student every morning from 9:00-12:00 for four weeks. They will earn 60 hours toward their 500-hour supervision requirement and 20 hours toward their required 200 hours of course work.