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Staff Development Programs for Practical and Direct Teaching Strategies 2008 Catalog
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THE ORTON-GILLINGHAM APPROACH The Orton-Gillingham approach grew out of the work of Dr. Samuel T. Orton (1879-1948) and Anna Gillingham (1878-1964). Dr. Orton, a professor of neuro-psychiatry and neuropathology at the Neurological Institute of Columbia University, was a pioneer in focusing attention on language differences by bringing together neuropsychiatric information and principals of remediation. As early as 1925 he had identified the syndrome of developmental reading disability, separated it from mental defect and brain damage and offered a physiological explanation with a favorable prognosis. Working with Dr. Orton, Anna Gillingham and Bessie Stillman further developed procedures in an organized presentation. Their manual, published first in 1936, is now in its seventh edition. Specifically, letters which represent the single sounds of familiar speech are presented to the student, then immediately synthesized into words that carry meaning. By introducing the letters simultaneously through hearing, seeing, and feeling, the student's weaknesses are lessened by integrating all of his learning pathways. This multi-sensory approach helps to ensure automatic memory which is so difficult for those who lack natural facility in language learning. Progress is made by going from the simple to the more complex tasks, building in much reinforcement, and proceeding as fast as possible but as slowly as necessary to master the basic elements. Careful pacing, structured, but not programmed, procedures as a sequential presentation, combine reading, writing, and spelling to help the student succeed. The structure of the approach often helps to organize the student's general ways of learning and working Its logic helps him where his memory fails and when he encounters unknown words. Its step-by-step progression leads to a sense of mastery and competence and re-establishes the child's sense of self esteem. This approach can be valuable to any child. To the dyslexic child it is often essential "The Orton-Gillingham Approach" June L. Orton in the Disabled
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