D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 1

The Orton Gillingham Instructional Technique to Dyslexia & Other Learning Reading Disabilities

Dominica R. Felici-Skal

SPED 6210: Physiological Basis of Learning Disabilities

Dr. Finkelstein

11/19/2015

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 2Historical Background on the Development of the Orton Gillingham Instructional Technique

‘The International Dyslexia Association was originally known as The Orton Dyslexia Society. In 1959,

The Orton Society was co-founded by Anna Gillingham and the second wife of Samuel Torrey Orton, June

Lyday Orton at a memorial dinner one year after the death due to his neurological contributions to both

medicine and education of Dr. Samuel Torrey Orton. Dr. Samuel Torrey Orton came from a family of New

England ancestry. Dr. Orton’s father, Edward Orton was a scientist and educator, who became the first

president of The Ohio State University. Anna Davenport Torrey, the mother of Dr. Orton was the younger

sister of Mrs. Alphonso Taft, who became the mother of William Howard Taft. William Howard Taft was

President and Chief Justice of the United States and the founder and headmaster of Horace Dutton Taft, better

known as Taft School. Taft School was located in Watertown, Connecticut, where young Samuel Torrey Orton

completed high school. While attending Taft School Edward Orton, Dr. Orton’s father predicted his son was fit

for college and headed into either the field of mechanical engineering or medicine. Samuel Orton attended

Ohio State University for four years and then transferred to the University of Pennsylvania to earn his medical

degree in 1905. Samuel Orton also earned a master’s degree from Harvard University. In 1945, Dr. Orton was

also awarded an honorary doctorate in science. From 1905-1908, Dr. Samuel Orton began his career working

as an apprentice for leading neuropathologists in various Massachusetts hospitals. Neuropathologists are

physicians who study, diagnose and treat diseases related to the brain, nerves and spine. Nonetheless, Dr. Orton

was interested in neuropathology and served as a pathologist from 1908-1912 and professor for Harvard

Medical School and Clark University. In 1913, Dr. Orton studied in the laboratories of Dr. A. Alzheimer in

Breslau, Germany known today for the founder of Alzheimer’s disease. I found this fact to be crucial in the

turning point of Dr. Orton’s career leading to his work with brain-damaged adults, which connects to his

interest of “word-blind” children, later known as Dyslexia due to his personal literacy struggles with his

daughter in learning how to read (Henry, M., & Brickley, S.)’.

‘While working with children with a literacy handicap yet normal intelligence, Dr. Orton was impressed

upon the serious effect of the personality development of these future adults with a recognized and untreated

handicap, for lack of a better term. Dr. Orton coined the term, strephosymbolisa (twisted symbols) to describe

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 3this difficulty. In 1928, Dr. Orton and his wife, June Lyday, a social worker relocated in New York City with

the ambition of opening their own office for the practice of neurology, psychiatry and specific language

disabilities. He became the president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association and soon led to the

appointment of neurologist at the New York Neurological Institute and part-time professorship in neurology and

neuropathology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Under the leadership of Dr.

Orton, The Language Research Project of New York Neurological Institute from 1932 to 1936 is where Anna

Gillingham, a school psychologist and educator and Dr. Samuel Torrey Orton were united. Diagnostic and

treatment techniques were developed and tested on mostly children and fewer adults with brain injuries, who

presented language problems with reading, spelling, handwriting, auditory comprehension, speech

development, stuttering and other language disorders. Although the project abruptly ended due to lack of

funding and space, Anna Gillingham formulated a manual with Bessie Stillman, an educator and colleague of

Anna Gillingham, in order to organize multi-sensory remedial techniques supported by the research of Dr.

Orton. Dr. Orton asked Anna Gillingham to organize the instruction based on his neurobiological hypotheses.

Anna Gillingham succeeded this request through her development of the alphabetic principle through the

assistance of her colleague, Bessie Stillman. Dr. Orton wanted the instruction to be structured but not

programmed so that it could cater to individual needs. I suspect that is why a manual instead of an Orton-

Gillingham series, similar to the structure of the Wilson Language Approach, was never developed. It is also

important to note that Bessie Stillman’s name is not mentioned in the approach because she passed on within a

year after the manual was originally published. The Orton-Gillingham Approach became an accepted method

after the death of both Dr. Orton and Anna Gillingham, an educator and social worker, who gave up her

opportunity for a doctoral degree (PHD) due to Columbia University’s rejection of her dissertation work with

Dr. Orton. The Orton Gillingham Approach is credited for the first theory and multi-sensory curriculum

targeted for students with Dyslexia (Henry, M., & Brickley, S.)’.

The Etiology of Dyslexia: What Causes Dyslexia?

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 4‘Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability that is neurological either due to heredity, illness or

accident. In other words, Dyslexia is neurobiological in origin. Due to technology, brain imaging has allowed

the recent use of fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), DCM (Dual Causal Modeling) and PET

(positron emission tomography) scan in measuring brain activity in all aspects of reading and language, visual

and auditory processing, phonological processing, orthographic responses and spelling, rapid automatic naming,

memory and fine motor skills of dyslexics and non-dyslexics, in order to detect to anatomical differences and

rates of activation of processes in different parts of the brain (Shaywitz, S., 2003). Please see brain imaging

pictorials and table for the difference between a brain functioning with Dyslexia versus without Dyslexia.

Brain Vocabulary Terms

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 5Frontal Lobe responsible for speech, executive function, reasoning, planning, problem

solving, behavior, regulating emotions and consciousness

Parietal Lobe controls sensory perceptions, links spoken and written language to memory, gives meaning to what we hear and read, affects math and spelling

Occipital Lobe controls sensory perceptions, visual perceptions and identification of letters Temporal Lobe involved in verbal memory and understanding of language

Left Parietal-Temporal Area

involved in word analysis and decoding as well as mapping letters and words into corresponding sounds

Left Occipital-Temporal Area

involved in automatic rapid access to word analysis and fluent reading

Gray Matter involved with phonological awareness

White Matter helps the nerves transfer information so that the brain regions can communicate effectively, needed for reading

Corpus Callosum the communication bridge between the cerebral hemispheres

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 6Brain Functioning “without” Dyslexia Brain Functioning “with” Dyslexia

• Good readers show more activation in the

left hemisphere in ALL areas needed for

reading: phonological processing,

orthographic mapping for sound/letter

connections for spelling and writing,

interpretation of sounds and faster

activation of the brain for rapid automatic

naming responses.

• Good readers demonstrate less activity in

the right hemisphere.

• Dyslexics show disruptions in the rear

reading system in the left hemisphere,

critical for reading fluently. There is

greater activation in the lower frontal area.

• Less activity in the left parietal-temporal

lobe required for phonological processing

is seen where identifying and manipulating

individual sounds and the structure of

words.

• There is less activity in the left occipital-

temporal lobe that affects the

“orthographic” mapping or

understanding of letters into sounds,

auditory processing and interpretation of

sounds, difficulty with rapid rate of

information coming in or phonology of

sounds. (fluency, which impedes on

comprehension)

• There is also less gray matter to help with

transfer of information of language

(phonological processing).

• Less white matter disrupts

communication of information.

• There are anomalies in the size of the

corpus callosum. There is less memory

storage capacity for phonological coding

or naming.

• Dyslexics demonstrate more activation in

the less efficient right hemisphere,

thought to be a compensation method

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 7Brain Functioning “without” Dyslexia Brain Functioning “with” Dyslexia

• Good readers demonstrate metabolic

differences in blood flow and physical

differences in size

• There is a different distribution of

metabolic activation when working on the

same tasks as non-dyslexics.

(Shaywitz, S., 2003)

‘Dr. Orton coined the term strephosymbolisa (twisted symbols) to describe this difficulty in decoding

(Henry, M., & Brickley, S.)’. During my research, it was my conclusion that this term was likely

misunderstood as a visual issue, through which Dyslexia was wrongly defined for many years. ‘Thus, Dyslexia

is not a visual learning disability of seeing things backgrounds. Therefore, reversals of letters and/or words are

not necessarily indicators of Dyslexia. In addition to those intellectually gifted, Dyslexia occurs in individuals

of various levels of intelligence. Although Dr. Orton’s research began with individuals with some sort of brain

injury either by accident or illness, his later work focused on children, similar to his daughter with average to

above average intelligence as evidenced by an average or high IQ score but who had great difficulty in learning

to decode. Dyslexia is not due to a lack of motivation or desire to read. Dyslexia is on a spectrum of severity

and does not guarantee that the individual will qualify for special services. In other words, Dyslexia is difficult

to detect because most individuals with average intelligence or above learn to compensate through

memorization. As a result, the later elementary grades become more challenging as the amount of reading

required expands, especially in the non-fiction domain in courses such as science and social studies. In 2008,

Texas and Louisiana were two of the few states that test and determine eligibility for Dyslexia. At the time,

Texas and Louisiana were the only states with a clear definition and understanding of Dyslexia. It was not until

2011, when the enactment of New Jersey Decoding Dyslexia, a parent driven movement erupted with a demand

of a clear definition of Dyslexia that has spread across the 50 states.’ (Shaywitz, S. 2003) ‘Thanks to New

Jersey’s Decoding Dyslexia Parent Movement, three years later in 2014 the New Jersey Board of Education has

approved three Dyslexia laws, which include: (1) state definition of Dyslexia (2) Dyslexia Screening and (3)

Dyslexia Professional Development for teachers. This law encompasses Dyslexia and any other reading

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 8disabilities so that students in need can seek special education which may include: direct instruction,

accommodations and/or modifications based upon individual need.’ (DD-NJ, 2015) In short, the value to

defining Dyslexia is so that parents, researchers, teachers and people with Dyslexia have a clear understanding

of the condition, in order to obtain the most helpful up-to-date instruction and accommodations for people with

Dyslexia. New Jersey has adopted the same definition of Dyslexia as described and continues to researched

through The International Dyslexia Association, which now has a state association for all of the 50 states.

The Implementation of the Orton-Gillingham Approach into the Classroom

‘The Orton Gillingham Approach as implemented into the classroom requires a trained OG instructor in

this systematic, sequential, multisensory, synthetic and phonics-based approach to teach reading (Ricthey, K.D.,

Goeke, J.L, 2006). Although many individuals misjudge Orton-Gillingham as a typical phonics program, it is a

direct instruction program of the English Language, which requires repetition and mastery of decoding. ‘From

a legal perspective, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Reading First initiatives’ current mandates require

evidence of a scientifically-based reading program. The revision of I.D.E.A. in 2004 allows teachers to utilize

an eclectic approach and accepts peer-reviewed research as scientific. Although parents have requested in over

30 years of case law with school districts a program utilizing the Orton Gillingham Approach, school districts

have utilized the inclusion loop hole in order to implement Orton Gillingham, which was designed for one-on-

one tutorial sessions, for whole group instruction due to cost (Rose, T.E. & Zirkel, P., 2007 & Ritchey, K.D. &

Goeke, J.L., 2006). The bottom line remains that if this approach was implemented in all K-2 classrooms,

perhaps a prevention model and/or reduction in severity of Dyslexia or literacy learning disability could occur.

Unfortunately, New Jersey has not correctly implemented the Response to Intervention (RTI) Model to achieve

the goal, instead of diagnose a learning disability.

I have implemented the Orton-Gillingham Approach in several populations; all, which I can report, have

had successful outcomes due to various literacy assessments in decoding, fluency and comprehension. I began

my career in Montville, New Jersey, a wealthy suburban community with a high population of Jewish and

Asian students. I continued my career in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, a poverty-stricken, rural

community with a high population of illiterate residents. Currently, I reside and work in Hackensack, New

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 9Jersey, a poverty-stricken, urban community with a high population of ESL and African American students.

‘According to a research study that compared Orton Gillingham to a basal series concluded that the Orton

Gillingham Model proved its success at any grade level but is very dependent of the training of the teacher in

multi-sensory literacy approaches (Malatesha J., Dahlgren, M., Boulware-Gooden, R., 2002)’. In other words,

teacher effectiveness of multi-sensory literacy techniques will determine the success of the implementation of

the Orton-Gillingham Approach into a classroom, regardless of the type of target population. ‘According to a

research study that utilized the teaching of a foreign language with the Orton Gillingham Approach proved its

success through the use of a multi-sensory approach that simultaneously engages students’ auditory, visual and

kinesthetic (motor) pathways (Sparks, R.L, Ganschow, L., Kenneweg, S., Miller, K., 1991). I cited this

research because I work with several students for whom English is not their native language. Although most of

my ESL students benefit from the direct instruction of the Orton Gillingham Approach, I do wonder whether the

student has a reading disability regardless of the language barrier. I question whether the fact that it is

understandably difficult to mix the English and Spanish vowel sounds or whether there is a reading disability

that exists in the student’s native language. Nonetheless according to National Reading Panel, the Orton

Gillingham Approach is ideal for all students regardless of diagnosis of Dyslexia or any other reading difficulty

because it will increase academic achievement. I currently tutor students with Dyslexia through the Orton

Gillingham Approach as a graduate student at Fairleigh Dickinson University in the Dyslexia Specialist

program. Although I believe that success phonological skills result from the Orton Gillingham Method, I do not

believe in a “one size fits all” program. Therefore, this program as with any other requires a trained instructor

who understands the importance of literacy instruction assessment and the intertwining of decoding,

comprehension and fluency skills in order to become a well-rounded, successful reader. Regardless of the

diagnosis of Dyslexia or not, decoding, comprehension and fluency skills need to be a part of every successful

reader’s toolkit.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Orton Gillingham Method started to become an interest of mine after I began my

study of literacy with the late former professor and Dean of Seton Hall University, Dr. DePierro. Dr. DePierro

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 10always began his class with a recollection from his work as a first grade teacher and/or research at the reading

clinic. I would deepen his discussions with recollections of my own, which consisted of just reading the

numbered line during round robin reading and using the pictures to guess the word. I do not think Dr. DePierro

sensed Dyslexia was the cause of my actions, for his research was geared more so on The Reading Wars and

The Eclectic Approach: The intertwining of phonics and whole language. Through my literacy research,

former kindergarten-first grade teacher and later Reading Specialist/Special Education Teacher, I always found

myself searching for the perfect kinesthetic alphabetic chant. It frustrated me that store purchased alphabet

charts and literacy programs always contained a picture of an elephant for the letter e. So I named the elephant

Ed. Through my research, studies and literacy teaching experience with direct instruction of the English

language, I diagnosed myself with Dyslexia. When the Wright Group Guided Reading series was the trend, I

was given the gift to see that crosschecking or using the letters to guess the word was a poor reading strategy.

Someone with Dyslexia knows how to compensate through memorization and I did not want my students to

learn this way. Although my Kindergarteners memorized songs of the capitals and states and the presidents in

order for school performances, I did not want memorizing words as a whole (other than sight words/high

frequency words) to equate to decoding. Kindergarten is the year for the Orton Gillingham Approach to begin

for all students as a prevention and early intervention method to reading disabilities. Although Kindergarten is

often the year debated “What is developmentally appropriate?” it saddens my heart as a current 7th and 8th

Grade Wilson Reading Intervention Teacher attaching Kindergarten Common Core phonemic and phonological

literacy standards to my lesson plans. How are memorized songs for a school performance deemed

developmentally appropriate? Why has a hands/minds-on, multi-sensory literacy method such as: Orton

Gillingham utilized when lack of literacy skills effect all content academic and emotional areas? Below is

evidence of a brain image to support my claim that the earlier the intervention, the greater the growth.

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 11

I researched my mother’s side of the family with a family history of reading difficulties and brain

aneurysms. Thus, I diagnosed several family members, myself included with Dyslexia, each of us with diverse

severities. My mother was the only family member on her side of the family ever to survive a brain aneurysm.

I clearly witnessed the connection to the brain as her behavior after the brain aneurysm mimicked an individual

with Autism. Dyslexia, brain aneurysms and Autism, I wonder if there will ever be a proven scientific

connection? As the label to Asperger’s Syndrome is dropped to Autism Spectrum Disorder, I ponder if

Dyslexia and Autism are connected on a greater brain-related spectrum. I do not find it a coincidence that most

individuals with Dyslexia in their family also have Autism in their family heritage. Therefore, it is my opinion

that Dr. Orton, a neurologist and Anna Gillingham, educator were on the right track in the early 1900’s through

the intertwining of neurology, direct instruction of the English language through utilization of a multi-sensory

literacy curriculum-based upon alphabetic and phonological principles. The early intervention years is where

the Orton-Gillingham Method needs to take place through various literacy assessments in decoding, fluency and

comprehension, in order to determine area(s) of need and strength in a timely manner.

D.Felici-Skal/OGApproach 12Works Cited

About DD-NJ. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2015, from http://decodingdyslexianj.org/about-

decoding-dyslexia-nj/

Henry, M., & Brickley, S. (1999). Dyslexia... Samuel T. Orton and his legacy (pp. 31-190). Baltimore,

Maryland: The International Dyslexia Association.

Malatesha Joshi, R.; Dahlgren, Mary; Boulware-Gooden, Regina. Teaching reading in an inner city

school through the multisensory reading approach. Annals of Dyslexia. 2002, Vol. 52, 229-242.

Ritchey, K., & Goeke, J. (2006). Orton-Gillingham and Orton-Gillingham based reading instruction: A

review of the literature. The Journal of Special Education, 40(3), 171-183.

Rose, T., & Zirkel, P. (2007). Orton-Gillingham methodology for students with reading disabilities: 30

years of case law. The Journal of Special Education, 4(3), 171-185.

Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming dyslexia: A new and complete science-based program for reading

problems at any level (pp. 59-102 & 176-230). New York, New York: First Vintage.

Sparks, Richard L.; Ganschow, L., Kenneweg, S., Miller, K., Use of an Orton-Gillingham approach to

teach a foreign language to Dyslexic/Learning-Disabled students: Explicit teaching of phonology in a second

language. Annals of Dyslexia, 1991, Vol. 41, p. 96-118; The Orton Dyslexia Society Language: English,

Database: JSTOR Journals.