What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?

The Orton-Gillingham approach is named for a neurologist, Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948).  Dr. Orton was a pioneer in the field of reading failure and related language difficulties.  As early as 1925, he had identified dyslexia as an educational problem, and brought together neuro-scientific information which resulted in his theory for principles of remediation.  Anna Gillingham, a school teacher with a superb mastery of the English language, worked with Dr. Orton to train teachers and compile and publish comprehensive instructional materials based on Dr. Orton’s theories. 

The Orton-Gillingham approach is language-based, multisensory, structured, sequential, cumulative, cognitive, and flexible.  It is a philosophy rather than a system.  The components of Orton-Gillingham instruction are:

• Language-Based.  The Orton-Gillingham approach is based on the technique of studying and teaching language.

• Multisensory.  Orton-Gillingham teaching sessions are action oriented, with auditory, visual, kinesthetic and often tactile elements reinforcing each other for optimal learning.  The student learns spelling simultaneously with reading.  In this respect, an Orton-Gillingham lesson differs  from traditional phonics instruction.

• Structured, Sequential, and Cumulative.  The Orton-Gillingham teacher introduces the  elements of the language systematically.  Students begin by reading and writing sounds in isolation.  They then blend the sounds into syllables and words.  The students learns the elements of language – consonants, vowels, digraphs, blends, diphthongs, prefixes, suffixes and roots – in an orderly and organized manner.  As new material is added, previously covered material is reviewed to the level of automaticity.  The teacher addresses vocabulary, sentence structure, composition and reading comprehension in a similar structured, sequential and cumulative way.

• Cognitive.  Students learn the history of the English language and study the many generalizations and rules that govern its structure.

• Flexible.  At its best, Orton-Gillingham teaching is diagnostic and prescriptive.  The teacher always strives to understand how each individual learns, and adapts and devises appropriate teaching strategies.  

• Emotionally Sound.  Because of the sequential and comprehensive format of Orton-Gillingham instruction, each lesson is designed to provide a high degree of success for the student.  As he/she becomes more confident, learning becomes a happy and motivating experience.

[Excerpted from www.pediaspeech.com.]