Welcome to the

Orton-Gillingham (OG) Approach

The authentic Orton-Gillingham Approach solves the reading and spelling problems of Dyslexic learners by teaching each letter of the alphabet and its sound using at least 3 senses (visual, auditory, tactile) accompanied by muscle motor action SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Simultaneous multi-sensory inputs with repeated drill and practice solidify the neuronal connections and transmissions needed to assure memory for the letter/sound association. This is what produces reading and spelling fluency.

The OG curriculum moves from the simplest language parts – letters and sounds -- to more complex language such as vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and writing compositions. These are all taught by using multi-sensory activities.

OG is clinical teaching which means that it is diagnostically and prescriptively designed to match each learner’s needs. Learners may need more or less time to fluently integrate different aspects of language, such as handwriting difficulties or auditory processing of long sentences.

WHO’S DYS?

Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948)

Dr. Samuel Orton was an intellectual, a scientist, and a humanitarian. He was a giant in the field of Dyslexia, having recognized its cause in neurology, recognizing its symptomology in language, and its treatment in education. Rather than seeing dyslexia as brain damage or defective intellect, Dr. Orton recognized, in the late 1920s that this was a language learning variation in an otherwise normal brain.

“Dr.Samuel Orton: "With brilliant tenacity, he sought solutions to the perplexities and dilemmas posed by children who should but could not read. Seeking specific determinants and causes, he never lost sight of the total child…His voice uncertainly and hesitantly heard in his day,
rings clear and vibrant in ours.”

Margaret B. Rawson,1988. The Many Faces of Dyslexia.

Anna Gillingham (1878-1963)

Anna Gillingham was an educator and psychologist.
Working with Dr. Samuel Orton, she trained teachers and published instructional materials regarding reading instruction, producing the
Orton-Gillingham Approach to reading instruction. With Bessie Stillman,
she wrote what has become the Orton–Gillingham manual.
First published in 1935, this work is updated and republished regularly.

Along with the help of Stillman, Gillingham developed a “sequential, alphabetic-phonetic multi-sensory program” as a tool with which students could easily create meaningful syllables. This approach eliminated the need for a child to memorize almost all words in language, limiting it to those that were non-phonetic. This teaching manual for the “alphabetic method” of

Orton’s theories combined multi-sensory techniques with teaching
the structure of written English,.

User Friendly Symtoms of Dyslexia

…THE CHILD MAY SAY –

Reading makes me tired
Reading makes my head hurt
I get dizzy when I read a lot
I can’t remember what I read in the story
Sometimes I read the wrong word because the letters got mixed up
Spelling is hard because I can’t remember the letters
I know what I want to write, but I can’t spell the words
I remember learning it in class, but I can’t do the homework
I hate reading! Don’t make me!
What’s wrong with me – I guess I’m stupid

…THE TEENAGER OR ADULT MAY SAY –

It takes me so long to read a chapter
I don’t have enough time to study and do homework
I can’t take notes in class because I can’t spell the words
I memorize vocabulary lists but I don’t really know the words
I feel stupid using only easy words in an essay, but they are the only ones I can spell
When I read a story to my child, sometimes I get it wrong
I’m embarrassed when I read or say something wrong at work
I always felt stupid at school
I know I’m smart for some things, what’s wrong with me, anyway

The most important symptom of dyslexia is that it is UNEXPECTED.

Smart people have dyslexia. It has no relationship to intelligence.

Dyslexia affects reading, spelling, handwriting and composition writing. It can affect comprehension (understanding) and memory
for what you study. It can affect speaking and listening skills – usually in the course of learning to read and write.

IT'S A BIG BAD MYTH
DYSLEXIA IS NOT, READING OR SEEING LETTERS,
WORDS OR NUMBERS BACKWARDS!!!

Here's A Quick Look At
The Orton-Gillingham Approach And How It Works...

We start with 3-4 letters and their sounds, such as /a/, /m/, /c/, /t/ -- then immediately use them for reading and spelling. Example: am, at, ca, mat, act.
If the pupil can read any pronounceable combination of the sounds that were taught to him, he is decoding – which is the reading process.
If they can remember the sound order of a word that he hears, and pick the right letters to show those sounds, he is encoding – which is the spelling process.
Each new sound or rule is taught directly with no guessing or any assumption that the child will “just pick it up”.
All new material is integrated into previously-learned material by practice through reading and spelling drills which include words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs – and later whole chapters.
All letters, sounds, rules, etc. are constantly reviewed to strengthen memory and retrieval, so they will be fluently available whenever and wherever they are needed.) Strengthen neuronal connections???? The Visual and Auditory drills are repeated every lesson, and all written work includes everything taught earlier.
Non-phonetic words (which cannot be sounded out) are taught using the same simultaneous multi-sensory techniques for the whole word, such as “does” and “the”, and is included in all practice.

Remember, 85% of the English language is REGULAR- rule based, not exceptions, if someone teaches you ALL the rules.

And can you spell cat?

C-A-T

Dyslexia is the most common learning disorder. It is marked by impairment of the ability to recognize andcomprehend written words. Dyslexia is a type of reading disability usually manifested as a difficulty withwritten language, particularly with reading and spelling. Evidence suggests that it is a result of a differencein how the brain processes written and/or verbal language.

It is separate and distinct from reading difficulties resulting from other causes, such as deficiencies in intelligence,
non-neurological deficiency with vision or hearing, or from poor or inadequate reading instruction.

The National Institute of Health’s Definition:

These individuals typically read at levels significantly lower than expected despite having average intelligence. Although the disorder varies from person to person, common characteristics among people with dyslexia are difficulty with phonological processing (the manipulation of sounds) and/orrapid visual-verbal responding

No matter how you define dyslexia, if it is left untreated it can and will ruin the life of a child
and their chances of academic success.

Medical Definitions