Orton-Gillingham Tutoring for Students with Dyslexia
Learning how to read and write is critical for learning, communication skills, and can even have an impact on emotional health. But students with dyslexia, the most common learning disorder that effects up to 15-20% of the general population, have hurdles to overcome when learning to read and write. Hurdles, though, that can be overcome with the right tools and strategies. One critical tool is specialized tutoring. Students with dyslexia do need a different type of tutoring to become successful readers, and the Orton-Gillingham approach is a method of tutoring designed specifically to help struggling readers and students with dyslexia.
Hello, my name is Laura Williams, Learning Director for College Tutors of Indiana and Proficiency Builders. In addition to managing our tutoring operations, I tutor students with dyslexia, helping them on their path to building proficiency in reading and writing. Trained by the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana for tutoring in the Orton-Gillingham approach at basic, intermediate, and advanced levels, I have over 15 years of experience successfully working with students with dyslexia. It has been an enormous privilege of mine to watch my students complete tutoring, make honor roll, graduate from high school and attend college. With Orton-Gillingham tutoring students with dyslexia can indeed succeed!
What is the Orton-Gillingham approach?…
- The Orton Gillingham approach is multisensory, meaning it activates your visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways at the same time.
- It is alphabetic and phonetic, meaning it clearly teaches the logical connection between the sounds and symbols in the English language.
- It is synthetic/analytic, meaning students should be able to see how phonemes and graphemes work to create words.
- Lessons are structured, meaning the lesson follows the same pattern, so students know what comes next.
- Lessons are sequential, moving from simple to complex concepts.
- Plans are repetitive, consistently circling back for review. This helps build automaticity for reading and spelling.
- Lessons are cumulative, meaning as content is mastered new content is added.
- Lessons are cognitive, meaning they focus on the logical rules of the English language.
- Lessons are diagnostic, meaning they focus on the student’s performance to assess needs and progress
- It is prescriptive, meaning you are taking the diagnostic information and using it to drive future lessons.
Students tutored with the Orton-Gillingham can indeed succeed, and learn to read and write. I have personally experienced students who tutor with this approach attain mastery and gain confidence, ultimately achieving their goals such as graduation and advancing to attending college.
Dyslexia does not have to be disabling when students get tutoring with the right approach! To schedule an introductory conversation, please complete the form below or give us a call at 317.559.1777.