What is dyslexia? Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability characterized by difficulties with specific language skills, particularly reading. Students with dyslexia usually experience difficulties with other language skills, such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words.
What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach? The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling do not come easily to individuals, such as those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system. In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.
The essential curricular content and instructional practices that characterize the Orton-Gillingham Approach are derived from two sources: first from a body of time-tested knowledge and practice that has been validated over the past 80 years, and second from scientific evidence about how individuals learn to read and write; why a significant number have difficulty in doing so; how having dyslexia makes achieving literacy skills more difficult; and which instructional practices are best suited for teaching such individuals to read and write.
The Approach is so named because of the foundational and seminal contributions of Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham. Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948) was a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist. He was a pioneer in focusing attention on reading failure and related language processing difficulties. He brought together neuroscientific information and principles of remediation. As early as 1925, he had identified the syndrome of dyslexia as an educational problem. Anna Gillingham (1878-1963) was a gifted educator and psychologist with a superb mastery of the language. Encouraged by Dr. Orton, she compiled and published instructional materials as early as the 1930s, which provided the foundation for student instruction and teacher training in what became known as the Orton-Gillingham Approach.
The Orton-Gillingham Approach is most often associated with a one-on-one teacher-student instructional model. Its use in small group instruction is not uncommon. A successful adaptation of the Approach has demonstrated its value for classroom instruction. Reading, spelling, and writing difficulties have been the dominant focus of the Approach, although it has been successfully adapted for use with students who exhibit difficulty with mathematics.
Amy has over twenty years of experience teaching and mentoring students and adults. She's passionate about tutoring children with dyslexia since she has seen firsthand the impact it has had on her family. While living in Florida, she taught as an Educational Assistant at the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. She assisted in developing curriculum for their living history programs as well as teaching and leading programs for Palm Beach County's students and teachers. She later served as Director of Collections at the Florida History Center & Museum, overseeing the collection of artifacts at three historical sites, developing exhibits, and managing the education program. In addition to working at the museum, she also tutored at Samaritan Home for Boys in Stuart, FL. Since living in East Cobb, she has served as a substitute teacher and tutored with an after-school program in Grant Park. Her training and certifications were completed with the Orton-Gillingham Academy.
What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach? The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling do not come easily to individuals, such as those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system. In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.
The essential curricular content and instructional practices that characterize the Orton-Gillingham Approach are derived from two sources: first from a body of time-tested knowledge and practice that has been validated over the past 80 years, and second from scientific evidence about how individuals learn to read and write; why a significant number have difficulty in doing so; how having dyslexia makes achieving literacy skills more difficult; and which instructional practices are best suited for teaching such individuals to read and write.
The Approach is so named because of the foundational and seminal contributions of Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham. Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948) was a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist. He was a pioneer in focusing attention on reading failure and related language processing difficulties. He brought together neuroscientific information and principles of remediation. As early as 1925, he had identified the syndrome of dyslexia as an educational problem. Anna Gillingham (1878-1963) was a gifted educator and psychologist with a superb mastery of the language. Encouraged by Dr. Orton, she compiled and published instructional materials as early as the 1930s, which provided the foundation for student instruction and teacher training in what became known as the Orton-Gillingham Approach.
The Orton-Gillingham Approach is most often associated with a one-on-one teacher-student instructional model. Its use in small group instruction is not uncommon. A successful adaptation of the Approach has demonstrated its value for classroom instruction. Reading, spelling, and writing difficulties have been the dominant focus of the Approach, although it has been successfully adapted for use with students who exhibit difficulty with mathematics.
Amy has over twenty years of experience teaching and mentoring students and adults. She's passionate about tutoring children with dyslexia since she has seen firsthand the impact it has had on her family. While living in Florida, she taught as an Educational Assistant at the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach. She assisted in developing curriculum for their living history programs as well as teaching and leading programs for Palm Beach County's students and teachers. She later served as Director of Collections at the Florida History Center & Museum, overseeing the collection of artifacts at three historical sites, developing exhibits, and managing the education program. In addition to working at the museum, she also tutored at Samaritan Home for Boys in Stuart, FL. Since living in East Cobb, she has served as a substitute teacher and tutored with an after-school program in Grant Park. Her training and certifications were completed with the Orton-Gillingham Academy.
