Individuals of all ages are welcome at CARRD. We have assisted young children through older adults become competent readers. All individuals receive one-on-one instruction. CARRD provides highly effective evaluation and interventions services.
The first component includes a comprehensive evaluation to determine the individual’s current abilities and any present difficulties. The assessment battery includes a clinical interview and measures of the individual’s reading abilities, attention, hearing thresholds within the range of speech, and behavioral and emotional functioning. Upon completion of the evaluation, a full report is provided detailing the individual’s performance on the various measures. A feedback session is provided explaining the results of the report, to answer questions, and to help determine intervention strategies, is included, if deemed necessary.
As part of the assessment battery, individuals are evaluated for attention deficits. Our evaluation process includes parent and teacher questionnaires, examiner observations, a clinical interview, and a continuous performance task, which is an objective measure of attentional abilities. If attention difficulties are present, the report can be taken to the individual’s physician for further evaluation and diagnosis. If medication is necessary, titration monitoring can be done through the CARRD office, which would include periodic evaluations and score comparisons to determine whether the medication is effective. Pediatricians and physicians frequently refer their patients to us as a first step in determining the nature of their attentional difficulties.
Once the evaluation has been completed, the next step is intervention. Intervention services are provided in a one-to-one setting for 60 minutes, 2-3 times per week. The goal is to provide instruction on the skills necessary for successful reading acquisition. Hours of operation are flexible and based on the family’s schedule.
CARRD provides school districts with science-based procedures to identify if students are at risk of developing or currently are experiencing reading difficulties. Once identified, these students are provided with one-on-one or small group intervention within the school to help them become competent readers.
CARRD offers the Brief Assessment of Reading for Kindergarten-Second Edition (BARK-2) for schools to evaluate their students who are entering kindergarten. The BARK-2 can be used as early as spring before kindergarten or during the fall of kindergarten. The BARK-2 consists of 11 subtests and provides standardscores and at-risk scores for each along with an overall Global At-Risk Score.
Children experiencing reading difficulties are identified using the CARRD’s Reading Evaluation Tool (RET). The RET assesses 14 tasks essential for successful reading, spelling, and comprehension. The results of the RET are provided in a detailed report that includes standard scores, at-risk scores, and a Global At-Risk Score along with explanations of the tasks.
CARRD offers an online version of the RET for schools, which is administered by school staff.
CARRD provides reading acquisition and development curricula designed to prevent reading failure. The Secret Codes Reading Curricular series begins at the kindergarten level. Students who have received the Secret Codes leave kindergarten with very strong reading skills. They understand the mechanics of reading, have read and spelled 550 different words, understand capitalization, punctuation, have read 82 sentences, and paragraphs. The Secret Codes is highly effective with very large effect sizes (word reading = .97 for regular education students and 2.23 for at risk students). The Secret Codes series includes advanced curricula for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade
Students identified as having reading difficulties are provided with an intervention program conducted within their respective school throughout the school year. The training program is based on extensive research reading acquisition. The student attends one-on-one training for at least 30 to 45 minutes, 2-3 times per week. Progress is monitored throughout the academic years.
