Orton Gillingham is a structured literacy approach that is used by professional reading tutors to teach students that are facing reading difficulties. This reading approach is used for struggling readers and dyslexic children that struggle with reading, writing, spelling, and comprehension.
Orton Gillingham is a systematic approach to teaching literacy. The approach is often used by reading tutors to help people with dyslexia, but it also turns out to be effective for those people who struggle with reading as well as writing. Orton Gillingham’s approach was developed in the early 20th century. It was developed by educators Anna Gillingham and Dr. Samuel T. Orton. It is a highly effective and widely recognized approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling skills to people with dyslexia and other language-based learning difficulties.
Knowing more about the approach help dyslexic people and parents of dyslexic children decide whether they should hire a professional reading tutor for it or not. Some common things that each struggling reading and dyslexic person must know about Orton Gillingham’s approach are listed below.
Multisensory Instruction
The Orton Gillingham approach pays more attention to the use of multiple sensory channels to help struggling readers learn language skills. As per the approach, the instruction should engage visual, kinesthetic, auditory, and tactile senses to help struggling readers better process as well as remember information.
The Orton Gillingham approach is based on the idea that reading as well as writing are two complex tasks that require a strong foundation in the sounds, teaching reading, and rules of language. When using this approach, reading tutors add unique things such as sand, clay, shaving cream, etc. in the teaching so the learners will remember the shape of the letters. Sometimes auditory cues are also used by the tutors to help them with learning.
Structured and Sequential
The Orton-Gillingham approach is also highly structured. It is an approach that follows a clear sequence of instructions. When using this approach, it is essential for the reading tutors to make sure that they will teach skills in a specific order. They have to pay proper attention to building on skills and concepts that are previously learned by struggling readers.
The Orton Gillingham approach helps reading tutors teach reading and writing skills to struggle readers and dyslexic children in a highly structured and sequential manner. Hiring a reading tutor for Orton Gillingham’s approach helps dyslexic children focus on multi-sensory techniques to better understand and retain information.
Individualized Instruction
The Orton Gillingham approach is also known for its personalization. This approach is highly individualized with instruction that is tailored by tutors to the specific needs of each struggling reading. No matter whether the struggling reader is a dyslexic child, or someone experiencing any other reading difficulty, reading tutors use the Orton Gillingham approach to assess the strengths and weaknesses of each individual. This further helps them develop a customized learning plan.
The Orton Gillingham approach is often delivered by the reading tutors in a one-on-one setting. Some reading tutors also refer to a small group setting, with lessons that are tailored by them to not only just the specific needs but also the learning style of the dyslexic children. This further makes this approach best for dyslexia as it can be adapted to meet the needs of struggling readers of all ages, from preschoolers to adults.
Assessment and Progress Monitoring
The Orton Gillingham approach also pays high attention to the importance of ongoing assessment as well as progress monitoring. When using this approach, readers have to continually assess the progress of each learner so they can adjust their instruction accordingly. The use of this approach also helps tutors provide additional practice opportunities to the learners in case they require it. Those learners who mastered a skill, are further moved by the reading tutors on to the next skill in the sequence.
Explicit and Systematic Instruction
The Orton Gillingham approach considers explicit and systematic instruction. When using this approach, reading tutors have to provide clear as well as structured instruction to each learner in a particular skill or concept. The use of different phoneme, or sound, help learners correspond to letter or letters that represent that sound.
The tutors also provide multiple opportunities to learners so they can easily practice decoding words with that phoneme. Many people also consider Orton Gillingham an evidence-based approach to teaching language skills. This is because it is based on extensive research into the nature of dyslexia and related difficulties.
Final Thoughts
The Orton Gillingham is a reading approach that typically involves three main components: phonetics, phonology, and morphology. The flexible approach is used around the world by reading tutors as it turns out to be effective in improving literacy skills, particularly for those who are experiencing dyslexia. Those who receive Orton Gillingham instruction usually make greater gains in reading and writing skills than struggling readers who receive traditional instruction.
