Is Orton-Gillingham the Secret Sauce to Reading?

Did you know there is a successful approach that is effective for all students but works especially well for struggling readers and for teaching students with dyslexia? Orton-Gillingham is a highly structured approach that breaks reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds, and then builds on these skills over time. It uses explicit, direct, sequential, systematic, multi-sensory instruction to teach reading.

This approach was developed by neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator and psychologist Anna Gillingham in the 1930s to help students with dyslexia learn to read. Their approach incorporated multi-sensory teaching strategies paired with explicit instruction and sequential lessons and focused on phonics.

This evidence-based approach focuses on teaching students the connection between sounds and letters through the use of auditory (hearing), visual (seeing), and kinesthetic (touch) pathways. Using multiple pathways to teach and review concepts helps the student store information in their long-term memory. Students then understand the connection between what they hear, say, see, and write.

The Orton-Gillingham approach helps students take the mystery out of reading and spelling by focusing on why words are spelled the way they are. The English language contains twenty-six letters, and these letters combine to create approximately forty-four speech sounds, and there are over 250 ways to spell those sounds. But the Orton-Gillingham approach translates the spelling of these sounds into letters or groups of letters and demystifies reading and spelling by teaching students to apply rules and generalizations that help make what was once difficult and easy to understand.

A feature of Orton-Gillingham is its adaptability. A certified Orton-Gillingham clinician is able to diagnose their students’ strengths and weaknesses and then develop an appropriate course of action through personalized lessons that meet the needs of the student. With an emphasis on corrective feedback, students master each skill before moving on to the next concept. By implementing strategies, Orton-Gillingham promotes a supportive learning experience where students succeed.

So, is Orton-Gillingham the secret sauce to help all children learn to read? Yes, it is!