Dyslexia Assessment & Intervention in Medicine Hat
Understand Why Your Child Is Struggling and What to Do Next
When a bright, capable child continues to struggle with reading or spelling despite extra help, parents often know something isn't right.
They may read slowly or inaccurately. They may guess at unfamiliar words, struggle to remember words they have seen many times, avoid reading aloud, spell the same word differently within one assignment, or understand far more when information is read to them than when they have to read it themselves.
For some students, the underlying difficulty is dyslexia.
Accelerated Potential Academy provides dyslexia assessment, dyslexia diagnosis, and individualized dyslexia intervention in Medicine Hat and Calgary, Alberta for children, and adolescents experiencing persistent difficulties with reading, spelling, written language, fluency, or related literacy skills.
Our goal is to investigate the observations the family and school have made, understand the learner, identify the specific breakdowns affecting reading, and use that information to build a clear, structured pathway forward through assessment and intervention.
What is Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is a learning disability that primarily affects the development of accurate and fluent word reading and spelling.
It is not a reflection of intelligence and in fact, many students with dyslexia are bright, articulate, creative, curious, and capable thinkers. Their difficulty may become particularly frustrating because there can be a significant difference between what they understand when read to and what they are able to demonstrate through their own reading, writing and spelling.
Dyslexia can show up in various ways and affect students differently. One child may have significant difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words while another may eventually read with reasonable accuracy, but slowly and with great effort. Some students struggle considerably with comprehension, spelling and written language. Others compensate so effectively that their difficulties remain hidden until the volume and complexity of reading increase in later grades.
We always begin with assessment to understand the individual pattern of each individuals strengths and difficulties.
Signs Your Child May Have Dyxlexia
Not every child who struggles with reading has dyslexia. However, persistent difficulties in several areas may indicate that further assessment would be helpful.
Depending on age, signs can include:
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Difficulty with letter-sound relationships
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Trouble identifying or manipulating sounds in words
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Difficulty blending sounds together
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Persistent problems decoding unfamiliar words
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Guessing words rather than accurately decoding them
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Slow, effortful, or inaccurate reading
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Difficulty developing automatic word recognition
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Poor spelling despite repeated practice
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Omitting, adding, or confusing sounds or letters
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Avoiding reading aloud
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Difficulty remembering what has been read (so much effort is going into decoding)
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Stronger oral understanding than independent reading performance
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Difficulty organizing written language
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Frustration, anxiety, or loss of confidence around reading and writing
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A family history of reading or spelling difficulties
Note: Flipping or reversing letters is a normal part of early childhood development and not necessarily a definitive sign of dyslexia.
Older students may look different. Some have sophisticated ways of compensating or masking their reading difficulties. They may rely heavily on context, memory, audiobooks, technology, or other people to access meaning.
As academic demands increase, those compensatory strategies may no longer be enough.
A student does not have to be failing school for dyslexia to affect their learning.
Dyslexia Assessment & Diagnosis in Medicine Hat
Answers Should Lead to Action
At Accelerated Potential Academy, comprehensive assessment helps us understand not only whether a student's learning profile is consistent with dyslexia, but how dyslexia is affecting that individual.
Accelerated Potential Academy's assessment process examines patterns across the skills involved in successful reading and written language.
Formal dyslexia assessment includes but is not limited to:
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Phonological awareness
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Phonemic awareness
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Sound-symbol knowledge
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Decoding
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Word recognition
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Reading accuracy
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Reading fluency
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Vocabulary
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Reading comprehension
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Spelling and encoding
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Written expression
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Related academic skills
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Learning behaviours and executive-function demands
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Automaticity
We consider the pattern across many subtests rather than relying on one isolated score.
When appropriate, APA provides diagnosis of dyslexia and clearly explains the findings to families, including the student's areas of strength, areas requiring intervention, and recommended next steps.
Most importantly, assessment is connected directly to instruction.
Assessment → Diagnosis → Targeted Intervention → Progress Monitoring → Mastery → Transfer
A diagnosis can provide important clarity, however it is only the beginning of the plan forward.
What happens After a Dyslexia Diagnosis?
For many parents, receiving a diagnosis answers one question and creates several more:
What does my child need now?
Can they become a strong reader?
What type of intervention is appropriate and how much intervention is needed?
How will this affect them at school?
How do we rebuild their confidence?
At APA, the assessment findings help us determine where intervention should begin and which skills require the greatest instructional intensity.
Students don't automatically receive the same lessons because they share the same diagnosis. Two students with dyslexia may have very different strengths, difficulties, ages, histories, and instructional needs. We provide the assessment and then continue looking at the individual learner.
Structured Dyslexia Intervention
Effective dyslexia intervention requires far more than additional reading practice.
A student who is struggling to read does not need to read more. They need skilled instruction that identifies where the reading process is breaking down and systematically develops the underlying skills required for accurate, fluent, and meaningful reading.
At Accelerated Potential Academy, dyslexia intervention is explicit, structured, systematic, cumulative, assessment-informed, and responsive to the individual learner.
Specialized Training in the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy
APA's approach is grounded in extensive professional training and decades of experience in literacy instruction.
Mary Printz, M.Ed., has advanced professional training in Structured Literacy and the Science of Reading through the Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI), as well as training in Orton-Gillingham, Phono-Graphix, and multiple additional approaches to reading instruction and intervention.
But Mary's literacy experience extends well beyond training in individual programs.
Over more than 35 years in education, she has worked as a teacher, school principal, literacy specialist, educational consultant, and learning strategist. As an educational consultant for Alberta Education, she has been involved in assessing reading programs for their suitability for Alberta classroom instruction. As a consultant, Mary worked with Scholastic Corporation, assigning reading levels to children's books.
Mary created Early Readers Academy, a foundational online literacy program that expanded beyond its original use, was adopted internationally, and was acquired by a larger company as part of its own literacy product line.
The breadth of experience at APA matters because effective dyslexia intervention requires more than knowing how to deliver a particular program. It requires understanding how reading develops, how to recognize where that development has broken down, and how to determine what a particular student needs next.
What Dyslexia Intervention May Target
Assessment findings determine the baseline, where intervention begins and which areas require the greatest instructional intensity.
Depending on the learner, intervention may target:
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Phonological and phonemic awareness
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Sound-symbol relationships
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Blending and segmenting
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Decoding
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Encoding and spelling
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Word recognition and automaticity
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Syllable patterns and word analysis
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Morphology
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Reading accuracy and fluency
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Vocabulary and oral language
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Reading comprehension
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Written language
Systematic Does Not Mean Rigid
Skills are introduced intentionally and in a logical progression. Previously learned concepts are continually reviewed and connected to new learning so that knowledge becomes increasingly secure, automatic, and durable.
Structured intervention doesn't mean blindly following a program from Lesson 1 to 100 regardless of what the student is demonstrating. Student performance informs instruction.
If a foundational skill is mastered we move forward and if not, we identify the difficulty and provide additional explicit instruction and practice. Progress can occasionally stall for various reasons, we examine why and adjust the instruction rather than repeating the same lessons.
APA's continuous process:
Assess → Teach → Practise → Monitor → Adjust → Master → Transfer
We Teach the Student, Not Just the Program
Orton-Gillingham, Phono-Graphix, Structured Literacy, and the Science of Reading provide important knowledge and instructional principles. Mary's extensive experience evaluating, developing, and delivering literacy instruction individually, in classrooms for over 30 years and training teachers allows APA to draw upon that knowledge for all of our lessons.
A child with significant phonemic-awareness and decoding difficulties does not need the same intervention as a student who decodes accurately but lacks fluency. A fluent reader who struggles to understand, retain, or analyze what they read requires something different.
As we work with all ages including adults with dyslexia, we recognize older students with years of compensatory strategies needs intervention that respects their age and the complexity of the academic demands they now face. As you can see there are numerous factors that go into each individualized intervention plan.
Our goal is to develop skills that students can remember, and confidently apply independently, and that it will transfer successfully to their classroom work.
There is a significant difference between simply practising reading each night and providing purposeful, structured dyslexia intervention.
Structured Does Not Mean One-Size-Fits-All
This distinction is central to the APA approach.
Our intervention is structured. Our pathway is individualized.
We do not choose between systematic instruction and personalized instruction. Students need both.
A student with significant phonemic-awareness and decoding difficulties requires a different instructional emphasis from a student who has developed accurate decoding but continues to struggle with fluency.
A student who reads words accurately but cannot understand, retain, infer, or analyze what they have read needs another level of intervention.
Assessment and ongoing performance determine:
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Where instruction begins
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Which skills receive the greatest emphasis
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How concepts are presented
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How much repetition is required
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When a concept has reached mastery
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When the student is ready to progress
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What needs to be revisited
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How learning is transferred to classroom reading and writing
We don't move students through lessons simply because a program says it is time to move forward.
We move forward when learning is secure.
Dyslexia Intervention Beyond the Early Grades
Dyslexia is not only an early-reading issue. We have seen students at every grade level.
Some students reach Grade 6, junior high, or even high school without their reading difficulties being fully understood. It can be masked in many different ways that makes detection difficult in school settings. We always tell parents to trust their intuition to investigate any challenges they are observing with their child.
Bright students can become remarkably good at compensating and masking dyslexic behaviors. It's a survival strategy as everyone wants to fit in.
As they get older, the signs may shift from obvious decoding difficulties to:
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Slow reading
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Poor spelling
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Difficulty retaining written information
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Weak reading comprehension
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Difficulty learning subject-specific vocabulary
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Avoidance of reading
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Written work that does not reflect verbal ability
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Difficulty taking notes while listening
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Increased homework time
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Difficulty studying
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Academic fatigue
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Declining confidence
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Constant headaches
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Persistent eye rubbing or covering one eye
As students transition from learning to read, to reading to learn, dyslexia can begin affecting science, mathematics, social studies, written assignments, tests, and virtually every other area of school.
Older students deserve intervention that is age-respectful, academically relevant, and connected to the work they are expected to do in the classroom.
APA provides dyslexia intervention for children, teens and adults, not only beginning readers.
Reading Comprehension Matters Too
Decoding is essential however, reading fluently is not the final goal.
The purpose of reading is understanding what we read. That's where the joy is!
Most students with dyslexia devote most of their mental effort to reading that few cognitive resources remain available for comprehension. Other students eventually develop reasonably accurate reading skills but continue to struggle with vocabulary, background knowledge, inference, memory, or higher-order comprehension.
APA intervention extends beyond foundational decoding to help students:
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Build vocabulary and background knowledge
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Identify important information
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Make connections
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Visualize meaning
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Make inferences
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Summarize
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Monitor their own understanding
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Analyze increasingly complex text
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Remember and use what they have read
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Communicate their understanding verbally and in writing
We don't want students to just read the words, we want them to understand, think about, remember, and apply what they've read.
Dyslexia, Dysgraphia & Dyscalculia Can Overlap
Learning disabilities do not always occur in isolation.
A student with dyslexia may also experience significant difficulty with
handwriting, spelling, written expression, mathematics, attention,
working memory, or executive functioning.
APA provides assessment and diagnosis of dyslexia, dysgraphia, and
dyscalculia, allowing us to look beyond a single area of difficulty when
a student's learning profile suggests broader concerns.
We also work with neurodiverse students with ADHD, autism, executive-
function challenges, giftedness, and twice-exceptionality (2e) and we
are also FSCD approved behavior intervention providers.
Understanding the whole learning profile helps families make better educational decisions and allows intervention to address the skills that are actually limiting progress.
Rebuilding Confidence After Years of Struggling
Dyslexia affects more than reading.
For many children, years of struggling with reading that
looks easy for their classmates can affect the
way they see themselves.
They may begin saying:
“I'm bad at reading.”
“I'm stupid.”
“I can't do this.”
Or they may stop trying because avoiding the task feels
safer than repeatedly experiencing failure.
At APA, we take those experiences seriously.
Emotional intelligence, social-emotional skills, self-regulation, executive functioning, persistence, and confidence are integrated into our approach because students need strategies for managing the frustration and cognitive demands that accompany difficult learning.
But we also recognize something important: Confidence isn't built through encouragement alone. It grows through competence and it spills over into many areas of their life.
When students begin understanding the code of written language, successfully reading words that once overwhelmed them, recognizing patterns, comprehending increasingly difficult text, and independently using strategies that work, their perception of themselves begins to change. That is confidence built on evidence built from strategic reading intervention.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dyslexia
Can Accelerated Potential Academy assess and diagnose dyslexia?
Yes. APA provides comprehensive academic and learning assessment, including assessment and diagnosis of dyslexia. Assessment examines the pattern of literacy development and skills involved in reading and written language and helps determine appropriate intervention and next steps.
Does my child need a diagnosis before beginning dyslexia intervention?
No, if your child is experiencing persistent reading or spelling difficulties, assessment can help us identify the baseline skills requiring intervention and determine whether the overall pattern is consistent with dyslexia.
What is the difference between dyslexia tutoring and dyslexia intervention?
General dyslexia tutoring often focuses on helping a student improve their reading skills based on the instructors knowledge of reading. They may have taught reading to a class or children previously, this is not intervention. Intervention always begins with assessment. Dyslexia intervention directly and systematically develops the underlying missing literacy skills contributing to the student's reading and spelling difficulties.
Do you use Orton-Gillingham?
Mary's advanced professional training in literacy and dyslexia includes Structured Literacy and Orton-Gillingham, with extensive training and certification in the science and practice of effective reading instruction with the Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI). She has also completed professional training in multiple reading intervention approaches and worked with Scholastic Corporation assigning reading levels to children's books.
Mary is also the creator of Early Readers Academy, a digital literacy program developed to help young children build strong foundational reading skills. As a consultant with Alberta Education Mary, was assigned to evaluate hundreds of reading programs for suitability for classroom use in Alberta schools.
Accelerated Potential Academy uses structured, explicit and systematic literacy instruction while individualizing intervention according to assessment findings and student performance rather than placing every learner into a boxed program.
Do you work with older students with dyslexia?
Yes, APA works with children, adults and teens, including junior high and high school students whose dyslexia may have been misdiagnosed, missed entirely or whose difficulties become more significant as reading and writing demands increased.
Can dyslexia affect reading comprehension?
Yes, when decoding is slow or effortful, students may have fewer cognitive resources available to focus on meaning. Reading comprehension can also be affected by limited vocabulary and language structures, background knowledge, weak or undeveloped working memory, and many other factors, which is why APA always begins with assessment.
Can a bright or gifted child have dyslexia?
Yes, dyslexia isn't an indication of low intelligence. Gifted students can also have dyslexia, ADHD, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, or other neurodivergent learning differences. These students are sometimes described as twice-exceptional, or 2e.
Understanding the Diagnosis. Building the Path Forward.
Dyslexia can help explain why learning to read has been difficult.
It does not define a student's intelligence, creativity, potential, or future.
The human brain has a remarkable capacity for neuro-plasticity, the ability to change, adapt, and strengthen neural pathways through learning and experience. With effective, targeted intervention and sufficient practice, students can develop stronger and more efficient reading skills.
For families, that offers something important: hope grounded in understanding and purposeful intervention.
The value of assessment is not simply receiving a diagnosis.
It is finally beginning to understand why your child has been struggling, which underlying skills are creating difficulty, where intervention needs to begin, and what should happen next.
For many families, that clarity can be transformative. What may once have looked like carelessness, lack of effort, or an inability to learn can finally be understood as a specific learning difficulty that can be addressed with appropriate instruction.
At Accelerated Potential Academy, we bring together assessment,
diagnosis, structured dyslexia intervention, ongoing progress
monitoring, executive-function development, and confidence
building to create an individualized pathway forward.
And we do not wait for a child to fail before taking their struggles
seriously. If you are concerned about your child's reading, spelling,
written language, or academic progress, seeking answers early
can help identify delays and areas they are struggling with before
frustration and learning gaps become more established and a bigger problem.
Ready for Greater Clarity?
Contact Accelerated Potential Academy in Medicine Hat, Alberta to discuss your concerns, schedule a dyslexia assessment, or learn more about our individualized dyslexia intervention and reading support.
We understand the difficulty, we identify the skills, we intervene systematically and we build students who can think thoughtfully and work independently.
Meet Mary Printz, M.Ed.
Expertise in Dyslexia, Structured Literacy & Learning Intervention
Mary Printz has more than 35 years of experience in education as a teacher, school principal, educational consultant, literacy specialist, learning strategist, and co-founder of Accelerated Potential Academy.
Mary's advanced professional training in literacy and dyslexia includes Structured Literacy and Orton-Gillingham, with extensive training and certification in the science and practice of effective reading instruction with the Center for Effective Reading Instruction (CERI). She has also completed professional training in multiple reading intervention approaches and previously worked with Scholastic Corporation assigning reading levels to children's books.
Mary is also the creator of Early Readers Academy, a literacy program developed to help young children build strong foundational reading skills. The program grew beyond its original use and was adopted internationally before being acquired by a larger company as part of its literacy product line.
Her experience extends beyond direct instruction and program development. As an educational consultant for Alberta Education, Mary was involved in assessing hundreds of reading programs for classroom instruction, giving her experience evaluating literacy instruction for the individual learner and broader educational perspectives.
Mary has also completed advanced professional learning in the neuroscience and development of dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia and learning disabilities through the Boston Children's Hospital Neurology Department, along with training in executive-function development, emotional intelligence, adaptive development, and academic learning intervention.
Throughout her career, Mary has worked extensively with complex learning profiles, including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), apraxia, speech and language delays, executive-function difficulties, behavior intervention and other learning and developmental delays and diagnoses.
Looking Beneath the Reading Difficulty
Mary's approach integrates assessment, structured literacy intervention, ongoing progress monitoring, executive-function support, and social-emotional development.
She looks beyond reading as a task to be completed and seeks to understand what is underneath the difficulty.
Why is this difficult?
Which foundational skill is missing or not yet secure?
What does this learner need next?
Those questions guide assessment and intervention so instruction can be explicit, systematic, appropriately sequenced, and responsive to the individual student.
Ultimately, the most important question is:
How do we help this student become an increasingly capable, confident, and independent learner?
That is the purpose behind every assessment, every intervention plan, and every step forward.
Mary has spent decades teaching, evaluating, designing, and refining literacy instruction and can change the trajectory of your child's learning and educational outcomes.