If your child learns differently — whether that's autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, or another kind of learning difference — you've probably found that one-size-fits-all tutoring doesn't always fit. Merit Tutoring uses a gamified, engagement-first approach that tends to work better for children who've struggled in traditional formats. This page explains how, and why.
No lock-in contracts · From $29/week · Max 5 per class
The term "neurodivergent" covers a wide range of ways that brains can work differently from what schools and tutoring centres typically design for: autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, sensory processing differences, and others. What these have in common is that the standard format — sit still, listen, read, write, wait for feedback — often works against the child rather than with them.
Merit Tutoring isn't a specialist disability service. We're tutors who teach maths and English to children in Years 1–10. But our learning material is designed with children who learn differently in mind. The session format — game-based, visual, interactive, with small groups and a real tutor — is built to reduce the friction points that can make traditional tutoring hard for neurodivergent kids.
We don't use a one-size-fits-all script. Within the platform and session structure, tutors adjust their approach for each child. What that looks like in practice varies — which is exactly why we offer a free trial session, so you can see it with your own child rather than trusting a description on a webpage.
For many autistic children, the challenges with tutoring are more environmental than academic. Being in an unfamiliar space with an unfamiliar adult, navigating small-talk and eye contact, processing unexpected changes to the session structure — these can make the actual learning feel impossible before it's even started.
Merit sessions address several of these pressure points directly:
We want to be honest: Merit sessions involve interacting with a small group (up to 5 children) and a live tutor on screen. For some autistic children, even that level of social interaction is very hard early on. In those cases, 1-on-1 sessions are often a better starting point. Tell us about your child when you book and we'll make a recommendation.
Children with dyslexia often arrive at tutoring having already had years of negative reading experiences. They know they read slowly. They know they make mistakes. They know other kids find it easier. Sitting down to read more, in a tutoring session on top of everything school already asks, can feel deeply discouraging — even when the tutor is kind and patient.
What helps isn't removing the reading practice — it's changing how it feels.
Word Hunt is one of Merit's English activities that tends to work well for children with dyslexia. Students scan a grid to find words based on definitions — the visual search element takes the pressure off decoding letter-by-letter, while still building vocabulary and pattern recognition. Many children who resist reading worksheets will play Word Hunt happily because it feels like a puzzle rather than a test.
Reading Race uses short passages and structured comprehension questions with a time element. The short passage length is intentional — it's achievable for a struggling reader, which means they get to finish, feel success, and do it again rather than grinding through a long text and feeling defeated at the end.
For the writing side of dyslexia support — organising ideas, spelling, sentence structure — tutors work on these skills within the session alongside the gamified activities. The games handle engagement; the tutor handles the teaching.
Merit sessions are not a replacement for specialist dyslexia intervention by a speech pathologist or reading specialist, and we'd never claim otherwise. If your child has significant phonological processing difficulties, they may need specialist support alongside tutoring rather than instead of it. But for building vocabulary, reading comprehension, and writing confidence alongside specialist support, Merit sessions can complement that work.
Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty with numbers — not a lack of intelligence or effort. Children with dyscalculia often struggle to develop intuitive number sense, have difficulty understanding magnitude and place value, find arithmetic unreliable even after practice, and can find abstract maths symbols confusing and anxiety-inducing.
The way maths is typically taught — abstract symbols, memorised procedures, right-or-wrong marking — can make dyscalculia worse over time by layering negative experience onto an already difficult foundation. Merit's approach builds from concrete and visual to abstract:
Balloon Pop builds number sense through visual-spatial engagement — numbers appear in context, with immediate feedback, and the repetition is embedded in the game rather than feeling like drilling. Children encounter number facts many times across many sessions without the mechanical repetition that usually accompanies rote learning.
Math Race and Math Maze embed maths in structured, purposeful contexts. Instead of solving 20 addition problems in a row, a student navigates a maze by choosing the right answers to move through it. The maths is the same; the experience of doing it is completely different.
For children with dyscalculia, we also spend more time in the visual and concrete stages before expecting abstract performance. Tutors can work at a slower pace within the platform's structure, and the games don't penalise slower progress — they just adapt to where the child is.
As with dyslexia, Merit is not a substitute for specialist assessment or intervention for dyscalculia. If your child has not yet been assessed, a psychologist or educational specialist assessment is worth pursuing — a diagnosis helps tutors understand exactly what they're working with and how to adapt.
Children with auditory or visual processing difficulties, slow processing speed, or other learning differences often struggle in both classroom and tutoring settings not because they can't do the work, but because the format demands too much processing too fast.
Merit's platform allows for natural pacing within sessions. Each student works through activities at their own pace — the game doesn't race past them because another student finished first. The tutor moves around the group and can give a child who needs more time more time, without the social visibility of being "the slow one" in a classroom.
Repetition is built into the game format without feeling repetitive. If a child needs to encounter a concept many times before it sticks, the games provide a natural mechanism for that — you play the activity, the difficulty adjusts, and you encounter the same type of problem in a new context. That spaced, varied repetition is how most children actually build solid understanding.
Because the material is designed around engagement rather than extended quiet focus, we're careful not to overclaim. Some children take to the format immediately and make strong progress relatively quickly. Others need several sessions to settle in before the learning really starts. A few aren't the right fit, and when that happens, we'll say so honestly.
What's consistent is that children who've had difficult experiences with traditional tutoring often respond differently to Merit's format. The gamified approach removes some of the pressure that usually makes tutoring feel hard for neurodivergent kids. Whether that difference is enough to produce the progress you're looking for is something you can only really judge by trying.
Ivan, whose son has complex learning needs, wrote: "Since beginning tutoring, we have seen a significant improvement in his schoolwork, along with a noticeable increase in his concentration and engagement at school. What truly sets Merit Tutoring apart is the range of activities they offer and their ability to bring out the best in each child."
Samraat, a Year 1 student, described it simply: "I like going to Merit Tutoring because the lessons are fun and not boring." For a child who's found learning difficult, "not boring" is genuinely a meaningful starting point.
The free trial is a full 60-minute live session — the same format as a regular session, not a shortened demo. When you book, tell us about your child: what they find difficult, what's worked before (or what hasn't), any diagnoses or assessments they've had, and anything else you think is relevant. The tutor will prepare the session around that information rather than running a generic first class.
You can observe the session from the start. We encourage this — watching your child engage (or not engage) with the format will tell you more than anything we can describe. After the session, we're happy to talk through what you observed and give you an honest view of whether Merit is likely to help.
There's no lock-in. If you decide after the trial that it's not right, that's the end of it. No hard sell, no contract.
If your child has an NDIS plan, educational tutoring support may be fundable under Capacity Building supports for self-managed and plan-managed participants. Merit Tutoring is not an NDIS registered provider. See our NDIS tutoring page for a full explanation of what this means and how the funding categories work. We can provide invoices and documentation to support your NDIS claim.
Consistent structure, clear game rules, visual progress, online format removes sensory/social pressures of travelling to a centre. Same tutor each week builds trust.
Word Hunt and Reading Race make reading practice feel like a puzzle, not a test. Short passages mean achievable wins. Vocabulary and comprehension built through play.
Visual maths through Balloon Pop and Math Maze builds number sense concretely before abstract. Repetition embedded in games, not drilled mechanically.
Short activity cycles, immediate feedback, and novelty across game types. External motivation structure built in. See our ADHD tutoring page for full detail.
Each student works at their own pace within the session. Repetition through engaging replay. Tutor can adjust pace without social pressure on the child.
Max 5 in a group. For children who need more individual support or find even small groups difficult, 1-on-1 is available from $59/week.
Tell us about your child's learning differences when you book — we'll tailor the free trial session around them.
"What truly sets Merit Tutoring apart is the range of activities they offer and their ability to bring out the best in each child. Their tailored approach has been life-changing for our son. The patience they demonstrate, their attention to detail, and the thoughtful preparation that goes into each session are exceptional."— Ivan Njul, Google Review
"I like going to Merit Tutoring because the lessons are fun and not boring."— Samraat, Year 1
Neurodivergent tutoring refers to tutoring that adapts its approach to how neurodivergent children learn, rather than expecting them to adapt to a format designed for neurotypical learners. This might mean more visual learning, shorter activity cycles, immediate feedback, reduced sensory demands, or more structured and predictable session formats. Different conditions require different adaptations — there's no single approach that works for all neurodivergent children.
It depends on the format. Tutoring that simply repeats what school does — sit, listen, read, write — often doesn't help children who've already found that format difficult. Tutoring that adapts the approach, uses different modalities, and reduces the frustration points associated with the child's specific difficulties can make a significant difference. The key question is whether the tutoring format fits the child, not just whether tutoring in general is beneficial.
There's no single answer because neurodivergent children are not a single group — autism, dyslexia, ADHD, dyscalculia, and processing differences all require different approaches. Some principles that tend to help across conditions: visual and multi-sensory learning over purely auditory instruction, structured and predictable sessions, immediate feedback rather than delayed, shorter task durations with natural breaks, positive reinforcement for effort and progress, and reducing sources of environmental stress (such as an unfamiliar setting). Merit's gamified format addresses many of these by design.
A tutor can help build reading comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills alongside specialist dyslexia intervention — but tutoring is generally not a replacement for specialist phonological and decoding work from a speech pathologist or reading specialist. If your child has significant decoding difficulties, we'd recommend specialist assessment and intervention as a priority, with tutoring as a complement to that work. For reading comprehension and writing confidence, Merit's approach can be genuinely helpful even where underlying decoding difficulties remain.
Yes — there is a meaningful overlap. Research suggests that around 20–30% of children with ADHD also have dyscalculia, and vice versa. The conditions can occur together or separately. They're distinct: dyscalculia is specifically a difficulty with numbers and mathematical reasoning, while ADHD affects attention and impulse control. A child can have both, either, or neither. If you suspect dyscalculia, a psychologist or educational assessment is the right first step for a formal diagnosis.
The free trial is a full 60-minute session built around your child's specific needs — not a generic first class. Tell us what's been hard, and we'll prepare accordingly. No obligation, no lock-in.
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