If your child struggles to read, performs poorly on tests, or has even repeated one or more grades in school, you may be losing faith in the Florida public school system’s ESE resources and their ability to help. So what can you do to help your child? With work, you can’t homeschool and would not know how to effectively help your child if you did. You may be considering one of Florida’s private schools for learning disabilities.
Learning disabilities schools have smaller class sizes than your local public school but they can be very expensive. What is worse, these schools tend to be isolating. Their small size limits your child’s social opportunities. And due to their nature, learning disabilities schools typically remove the child from mainstream education for many years. Why is that? Because these schools merely accommodate the student’s learning differences, rather than addressing the root causes of their dyslexia or other difficulties. Most students who leave a regular public school to attend even the best dyslexia schools are not able to go back to a mainstream classroom. Most will stay at a learning disability school until college, if they are able to go to college at all.
For more than 30 years, The Morris Center has tutored thousands of children with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and ADHD, helping them rapidly gain and strengthen the foundational and more advanced skills needed to become strong readers, writers, and spellers. The Morris Center Academy (TMCA) offers a short-term, intensive and highly individualized alternative to private learning disabilities schools and schools for dyslexia in florida.
Offering an incredible student-teacher ratio of 5:1, TMCA serves children from ages 6-12 (grades K-6) who need focused, concentrated instruction on reading, writing, spelling, comprehension, and memory.
Using the clinically tested, evidence- and research-based NOW!® Program methodologies, The Morris Center Academy establishes foundational learning skills and also develops more complex skills needed to be successful in school and in life. Unlike those at other schools for dyslexia and ADHD, TMCA students often see substantial improvements in their learning difficulties in just a few months! Depending on his or her individual learning profile, your child may be able to return to their regular school within the year.
Contact us to learn more about The Morris Center Academy and to check availability.
The Florida state constitution says that all K-12 public school students are entitled to a uniform, safe, secure, efficient, and high quality system . . . that allows students the opportunity to obtain a high quality education. Children with learning disabilities like dyslexia may be eligible for Florida’s Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Program. Each student must go through the testing process to determine their eligibility for the ESE program. If eligible, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) will then be developed by district and school personnel for that child.
Eligible students receive various accommodations to help “maintain or improve their academic performance.” Accommodations are provided in: the learning environment, how students receive information, how they show what they know, and via timing and scheduling changes. To do this, the children with learning difficulties are usually separated from their peers and taught in a different room or building. This separation creates a sense of isolation that often stigmatizes students who are already struggling with low self-esteem due to their learning difficulties.
The Morris Center Academy is designed to help the student improve their learning skills as quickly as possible, so they can return to the regular classroom. This can be achieved due to our small group learning environment and our use of the revolutionary NOW!® Program methodologies.
Some children who have learning differences also have other accompanying concerns such as language, sensory, or emotional difficulties. Because we offer a unique, transdisciplinary approach in our treatment of learning disabilities, The Morris Center has certified speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, and clinical psychologists on staff. If these services are needed, they are available during the school day or afterwards for an additional charge.
Contact us to learn more about The Morris Center Academy and to check availability.
Yes, Florida recognizes dyslexia as a disability. The state categorizes dyslexia under the umbrella of Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD). So, while dyslexia isn’t a separate legal category, it’s recognized as a specific learning disability and qualifies students for support within the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program.
In Florida, SLD stands for Specific Learning Disability. It’s a term used to categorize a group of disorders that affect the way a child understands or uses language, spoken or written. While dyslexia isn’t a separate designation, it’s recognized as a specific type of SLD in Florida.
Florida schools generally don’t conduct specific tests solely for diagnosing dyslexia. The state offers an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program for children with disabilities. The ESE program covers Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) which includes dyslexia. To be eligible for ESE, students go through an assessment process. The evaluation might involve a combination of methods like standardized tests, teacher observations, and analyzing past academic performance.
Unfortunately, standardized tests often don’t comprehensively identify dyslexia, particularly in younger students. Some parents choose to explore additional resources outside the school system, such as private evaluations or specialists trained in dyslexia.
Some parents of children with learning disabilities like ADHD or dyslexia try homeschooling rather than go through the Florida ESE program. Though well-intentioned, homeschooling a child with learning disabilities is no substitute for the education and support they receive from The Morris Center Academy’s licensed professionals. Here’s why:
TMCA is a one-of-a-kind alternative to traditional public and private dyslexia schools in Jacksonville, Fl and the surrounding areas. Here, students learn in a mixed-age, small group setting and study subjects taught at traditional schools with a strong focus on language arts, reading, spelling, and comprehension. Students will receive the following services:
Students use skills learned in the NOW!® Program throughout their day. Additional TMC services are available (including occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, psychotherapy) to address sensory processing disorder, ADHD, and other concerns, for an additional charge.
If you are searching for a learning disabilities solution that is less isolating than special education, more affordable than private schools, and more effective than homeschooling, contact us today to learn more about The Morris Center Academy!
