WHAT IS THE ORTON GILLINGHAM APPROACH?
The Orton Gillingham approach is the means most frequently recommended by educational psychologists for the remediation of dyslexia (reading disability). In existence for more than 75 years, the approach is essentially intensive phonics, taught explicitly, reinforced by redundant sensory input, and highly-controlled for the individual learner. Unlike a preprinted curriculum (presented in a set of workbooks), the Orton Gillingham scope and sequence is highly adaptable. The OG practitioner adjusts the curriculum to ensure that the dyslexic student experiences 90% or greater accuracy in every lesson, which promotes student motivation and engagement. To rebuild a dyslexic child's experience of English as reliable, the Orton Gillingham practitioner must have sufficient knowledge of dyslexia, the structure of English, and multisensory teaching methods to do so. A "one size fits all" solution never exists for an atypical learner, who will thrive on individualized and intensive instruction.
TRAINING FOR AN ORTON GILLINGHAM PRACTITIONER
To appear on the Orton Gillingham Academy Provider List, a practitioner must have been throughly trained and vetted over a period of at least two years. At minimum, a practicum of 100 hours under a supervising Orton Gillingham Fellow is required, accompanied by an extensive reading list, 100 hours of coursework, and admission to the Academy based on recommendations and a review of case studies by an admissions board of Orton Gillingham Academy Fellows. Such a rigorous process is in contrast to cursory training in dyselxia as part of a course on reading in a graduate school of education program, or a one-day presentation on a phonics-based curriculum as part of an in-service program. In these cases, the Special Education teacher or school reading specialist lacks the ability to create a curriculum apart from what has been scripted. Furthermore, even Orton Gillingham-based packaged curricula (FUNdations, Wilson Reading, SPIRE, Sonday System) are designed for a typical rather than a dyslexic population. This explains why a child referred to Special Education for a reading problem will typically enter reading two grades behind and exit still reading two grades behind! The student's skills' gap does not close because the remediation has not been individualized and intensified for the dyslexic child by a knowledgeable expert.
REMEDIATION
Typically, a dyslexic students meets with the OG practitioner 2-4 times per week after school and on weekends, either at their home. Lessons are an hour in length. In order to be exposed to the entire phonics curriculum of English, 24 months is typically the length of treatment.
URGENCY
The earlier a problem is addressed, the smaller it can stay. By 4th grade, school children are expected to read to learn (having mastered how to learn to read). The onset of the tween years also brings a new self-consciousness regarding peers. Children who cannot read well struggle to access the curriculum, experience failure, and become the teenagers who want to drop out. Remediation that occurs before the start of 4th grade therefore is critical. It is never too early to solve a problem.
