What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a research-based, alternative, reading, writing and spelling curriculum. designed specifically for dyslexic readers and others struggling with literacy skills. It is;- validated by scientific reading research sponsored by The National Institutes of Health and the National Academy of Sciences
- systematic, synthetic phonics emphasizing the alphabetic principle; phonemic awareness; phoneme segmentation and blending; reading comprehension; and reading fluency
- flexible and individualized. Diagnostic/prescriptive teaching enables the tutor to adapt curricular elements to the needs of each student.
- effective for all ages. A skilled Orton-Gillingham tutor can help students achieve their potential and succeed in general education classes from grade school through college.
- success oriented. Materials are presented in a direct instruction, multisensory format. Elements are introduced sequentially with cumulative review.
- skill building. Starting with basics, the student moves toward mastery of intermediate, then advanced elements of written language. Reading and spelling accuracy improves, often dramatically, as students learn to utilize letter-sound correspondences, syllable division patterns and spelling generalizations to decode and spell words.
- integrated. Reading and spelling are taught together using visual, auditory and kinesthetic modalities simultaneously.
- developed collaboratively by a neuroscientist, a psychologist and a teacher.
- adaptable for small groups.
Not all phonics based remedial programs are aligned with the Orton-Gillingham approach. Several commercial programs which incorporate the Orton-Gillingham principles are: (Lexia Reading, Alphabetic Phonics, Language!, Project Read, Slingerlan, S.P.I.R.E., and Wilson.)