Lindamood-Bell Sydney - Double Bay Learning Centre - Double Bay, New South Wales

Vincent Howard

Your learning center is exemplary. We appreciate how you worked with our family to help our son transition from a center in the U.S. to your center. From the beginning, your communication was clear and you were flexible with scheduling, which we appreciated, especially because our summer schedule was unusually hectic and unpredictable due to medical issues we were dealing with. Your instructors were very effective with their instruction and very helpful in communicating our child's progress to us. We always felt like we were putting our child in very competent hands with your teachers. Thank you for all the time and energy you poured into helping our son make big gains in learning to read!

Anna Dabrowski

I can honestly say this program was life changing for my daughter. My daughter was diagnosed with autism at age 3, and has had participated in almost every literacy intervention out there, with very little success. After doing research into intensive interventions that demonstrate improvements for autistic, ADHD, and dyslexic children, I came across the LMB program, “seeing stars”, and am so glad I did.

From the moment I reached out to the team at LMB, I felt I was in good hands. I am trained in education and psychology, and my own knowledge was treated with respect, but I also learnt new things about alternative literacy approaches, and also more about the ways in which neurodivergent children can learn. The process was easy and efficient, with friendly and warm staff. My daughter attended an intensive program for just over 6 weeks, split between the Melbourne and Sydney centres. A huge shout out to educator and Melbourne centre manager Samira, who worked with my daughter intensively, and somehow made the hours fly by for her.

A few caveats…. The program IS expensive. It was also very intensive, and my daughter was bordering on burnt out by the end, and I’m not sure all children could do the hours she did (2x half day sessions a day for 6 weeks). The program can be administered in shorter bursts, but we chose the more intensive mode of instruction based on the discussions we had with the staff, as well as what studies into the LMB program suggest is optimal.
I am also grateful we had Samira, as there were some other a couple of staff at the Melbourne centre who were definitely not as experienced, and not as warm or understanding of the different needs neurodivergent children have. I am sure that a variety of children go to LMB, so this is just our experience, and our daughter is also particularly stubborn!

The centre also did their best to make sure my daughter worked with a variety of educators with different types of accents and language backgrounds, and not just her “favourites”. This was good for her and well managed overall. The Sydney centre is more well established, which makes sense when the Melbourne clinic is pop up. I also thought teaching quality was overall higher and more consistent at the Sydney centre.

So is it value for money? In my opinion, a resounding yes. Even though it is expensive, after 6 weeks, my 10 year old daughter had gone from struggling to read the word “cat” to reading full sentences, and then making her way onto paragraphs. One year later, with continued reinforcement and daily practice, she is now reading slowly but fluently, and independent assessment places her at around 6 months behind the literacy level of her peers. She’s participating in writing clubs, and picking up books on her own, instead of telling me she hates reading. She’s more confident, and she proudly tells people about the facts she’s read in her books on nature. I never thought such a short program would make such a huge difference.

Thank you to all the staff who supported Zotia during her time at LMB. I’ll forever be grateful. ?

PS - I’ve been meaning to write this review for a while, but waiting has also given me a chance to watch my daughter’s literacy skills be sustained, and continue to develop.

Dana Hennessy

Every step of the way was easy. Louise in the office was prompt, efficient and helpful.

Sinead, the Centre Director was knowledgeable, very easy to understand and precise about where my daughter had potential for improvement.

The tester was obviously really wonderful with my daughter and at the end of the testing (which was long and involved), my daughter really wanted to stay on.

A great experience and a valuable tool for gaining an understanding of a child’s strengths and weaknesses and being able to address them.

Holly Harlow

My 12-year-old daughter ended the Double Bay location from October to December 2015. She is not dyslexic but has reading difficulties. She was evaluated at the start of the program and at the end of the program, like all students. Her second evaluation was significantly better than her initial evaluation. She attended four hours a day, 5 days a week. The work is intense. The structure and progression of the program makes sense. The theory behind the program makes sense. The centre is very well run. The staff care about the kids in the program. They are warm and nurturing. There are peer-reviewed studies done by leading universities that show the program can benefit students with certain learning issues. I highly recommend the program and this particular centre.

selly bong