Dyslexia and the Orton-Gillingham Approach

Why Does the Orton-Gillingham Approach Work?

For decades, the Orton-Gillingham approach has been used to help students with dyslexia learn to read. This multisensory phonics technique is widely agreed to be an effective method, but what does the approach entail and how does it work? Find out the history and basics of the approach before enrolling in our Dyslexia and the Orton-Gillingham Approach Course to get started on your introduction to the Orton-Gillingham training online.

How It Began

The Orton-Gillingham approach is named after two individuals: Samuel Torrey Orton, and Anna Gillingham. Orton was a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist at Columbia University. His research was focused on children with dyslexia and other language processing issues. Gillingham was a psychologist and educator. Together, the two devised multisensory methods to better teach reading to children who were struggling. Their methods and principles were published in 1935 by Gillman and they’ve been widely applied in education facilities since.

Personalized Learning

The Orton-Gillingham approach is not a set in stone dyslexia program. It is a structured framework that will have lessons specific to each individual with dyslexia. The first step in the approach is to discern the student’s current reading level and where they struggle. From this information, fully trained Orton-Gillingham practitioners can devise a personalized program that addresses the individual’s needs using the principles covered in the Orton-Gillingham Approach. This ensures that students are getting the exact help they need. Teachers and EAs will follow the lead of the practitioner in teaching students.

Structured Literacy

Although not exclusive to this approach, structured literacy plays a large role in Orton-Gillingham as it helps improve the reading ability of children with dyslexia. Structured literacy takes the standard practice of teaching reading and spelling, and breaks it into even smaller chunks for students with dyslexia. A student will have direct instruction in individual letters, the sounds they produce, and then build on that knowledge by seeing how those letters function in words.

Orton-Gillingham training places an emphasis on students understanding the reasons why words sound the way they do. By building their knowledge of language and grammar structure, students become more capable in their spelling and reading comprehension.

Multisensory Learning

Orton-Gillingham pioneered this now popular learning method, wherein students engage in a multisensory approach of seeing, hearing, feeling, and awareness of motion, brought together by the thinking brain help them better retain information. Every exercise will include all the senses, allowing students to form a stronger connection to the information than if they had simply read it in a book or listened to a teacher explaining it.

For example, if students are learning about currency, they may be given a sample of coins to engage with. The teacher can encourage students to touch the coins, arrange them in order from lowest to highest, or perform other exercises to allow students to more fully engage with the topic they’re learning.

Integration with Other Programs

Orton-Gillingham is a widely approved method and many other learning programs have adopted parts of the approach into their own philosophy. Reading programs in particular borrow a lot from Orton-Gillingham. The Barton Reading Program and The Wilson Reading System both use multisensory approaches to teach reading. Simultaneous Multisensory Teaching is another program that is used in many schools across Canada and is based off the Orton Gillingham approach.

The flexibility of the Orton-Gillingham Approach is part of what has kept it so prevalent in the education field. By focusing on a set of principles  and specific exercises, the approach has proven to be useful to a diverse set of students, and applicable in a variety of scenarios.

End Result

The Orton-Gillingham approach helps struggling readers keep up with their peers in class. The exact dyslexia program looks different for each student, but it focuses on fundamental language knowledge and multisensory learning. You can learn more about dyslexia, and the fundamentals of the Orton-Gillingham approach by signing up for Ashton College’s Dyslexia and the Orton-Gillingham Approach Course to take the first step towards your introduction to the Orton-Gillingham training online.