The Orton-Gillingham Approach

Multisensory:  All of the learning pathways - seeing, hearing, feeling, motion - are engaged together, making connections in the brain so that the student learns successfully.

Diagnostic and Prescriptive:  Each lesson is designed especially for each student, based on his or her own learning style and language needs.

Direct and Explicit:  Information is presented clearly and directly.

Language Based:  Skills in reading, spelling, writing, and oral expression are built together.

Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative:  The student learns step-by-step, from the smallest elements up to the largest.

Cognitive:  The student learns reliable strategies for successful reading, writing, and spelling, as well as the structure and nature of the English language.

Emotionally Sound:  The student experiences his or her own increasing abilities, and gains self-confidence through learning.

The Orton-Gillingham approach originated with the work of Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948), neuropsychiatrist and pathologist, and Anna Gillingham (1878-1963), educator and psychologist, who together were pioneers in describing dyslexia and teaching dyslexic learners successfully.

More About Orton-Gillingham:

• The Orton-Gillingham Approach (from Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators)
• Multisensory Structured Language Teaching (from The International Dyslexia Association)
• Orton-Gillingham-Based and/or Multisensory Structured Language Approaches (from The International Dyslexia Association)