The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a structured, multisensory, and individualized method developed in the 1930s by neuropsychiatrist Dr. Samuel Orton and educator/psychologist Anna Gillingham, primarily to help individuals with dyslexia and other reading difficulties.

While it was initially designed for students with dyslexia, the Orton-Gillingham Approach can benefit anyone struggling with reading, writing, and spelling. It is widely used in special education settings and applied in general education environments.

Here’s an overview of its key components:

Multisensory Instruction:

The approach engages multiple senses—sight, hearing, touch, and movement—to help students connect language symbols (letters and words) with their sounds. For example, a student might write a letter in the sand while saying the sound it makes, helping them solidify the connection between language’s visual, auditory, and tactile aspects.

Structured and Sequential:

• Orton-Gillingham teaches reading and spelling in a highly organized manner, starting with the most basic concepts and gradually progressing to more complex ones.
• Lessons build upon what has already been learned, reinforcing earlier skills while introducing new concepts.

Individualized:

• Instruction is tailored to the student’s needs. The pace, materials, and specific skills can be adjusted based on each learner’s progress and challenges.

Explicit Phonics Instruction:

• The approach focuses on explicitly teaching the rules and patterns of phonics, ensuring students understand how sounds and letters work together to form words.

Diagnostic and Prescriptive:

• Teachers continually assess students’ abilities and adjust lessons accordingly. The approach is responsive to the student’s strengths and weaknesses.

Emphasis on Language:

• Orton-Gillingham incorporates instruction in the structure of the English language, including phonology (sounds), morphology (prefixes, suffixes, roots), syntax (sentence structure), and semantics (meaning).