Educational Therapies

ORTON GILLINGHAM – Multi Sensory Structured Literacy and Language (MSL) Program for LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

The Orton Gillingham (OG) method incorporates a combination of multi-sensory, phonics and kinaesthetic techniques. The Orton-Gillingham approach is an intensive program in reading, spelling, writing and comprehension for children and adolescents with learning disabilities like dyslexia and dysgraphia.

The Orton Gillingham approach The term ‘Orton Gillingham’‚ refers to the structured, sequential, explicit teaching methodology which uses a range of multisensory techniques and tools to support students with learning difficulties.

The intervention program was developed by Dr Samuel Orton during 1920s while trying to assist students who suffered from ‘word blindness’, known today as Dyslexia.

Dr. Orton suggested that the use of kinaesthetic-tactile reinforcement of visual and auditory associations could correct the tendency of confusing similar letters and improve the sequence of letter transposition while reading and writing.

Dr Samuel Orton teamed up with psychologist Anna Gillingham to add multisensory techniques into the program framework in order to teach individuals with a learning difficulty the structure of written English, including the sounds (phonemes), meaning units (morphemes such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots) and common spelling rules. These same teaching principles were subsequently incorporated into other areas of learning including mathematics, comprehension and writing.

There are many programs around the world today that use Dr Orton’s foundational work to deliver literacy interventions.

What is Multi-sensory Learning and how can it assist an individual with learning

difficulties to learn easier?

At Mind Matters Cairns we provide the opportunity to address learning limitations by

engaging the underlying neural networks of learning, the visual, auditory, and proprioceptive systems.

By integrating these domains, the multiple sensory pathways allow the brain to be engaged in multi-tasking processes, further stimulating the attention and memory networks through auditory, visual and proprioceptive inputs.

When information is presented in this matter, it facilitates greater cognitive real estate to

assist with the uptake and imprint of the information, and thereby improving the process of association and enriching the learning process.

We all have the sense that when a student is engaged in the learning process “if they see it,hear it and feel it”, they seem to learn and retain information more easily.

A Multi-Sensory Learning approach builds on the premise that by engaging different cognitive pathways simultaneously, the approach allows individuals who process information differently to experience the information in a variety of formats to maximise retainment. Furthermore,

when a student associates the multisensory activities with having fun, learning is more engaging and motivating.

Orton Gillingham tuition services are provided at Mind Matters Cairns in conjunction with our other developmental therapies so that every child has the opportunity to flourish.