Dyslexia Services Foundation and Walmart Partnership

The Dyslexia Services Foundation partnered with Walmart and the Yadkin Valley Rotary club to host a free Dyslexia Screening event in Elkin, NC on February 16, 2013.

The event screened local children between ages 6 and 14 to determine if they may be “at risk: for a reading disability. Of the 38 children screened, 22 children were determined “at risk” for dyslexia.

“Of the 38 screened, about 20% scored in the ‘at-risk’ level, about 40% at the ‘partial-risk’ level, and about 40% passed. One kindergarten-age child was unable to complete the screening,” said Sandie Blackley, Vice-Chair of the Dyslexia Services Foundation.

Using Lexercise, a free online program utilizing single words on a screen to test for dyslexia, the Dyslexia Services Foundation and Yadkin Valley Rotary Club volunteers worked with each student on an individual basis to help identify what reading level the children read at and if they were at risk for dyslexia.

With funding from Walmart’s “Local Giving Program,” the Dyslexia Services Foundation was able to offer three “at risk” children a scholarship for a full evaluation. The children who received these scholarships were chosen based on financial need.