Orton-Gillingham is an approach to teaching that was developed to help anyone who struggles with reading (and spelling). It is multisensory, meaning we use as many of the body's senses as possible to help reinforce learning in different parts of the brain. Orton-Gillingham is a structured approach that teaches letters, sounds, syllable forms, and rules - which is especially important for students who may not intuitively or quickly pick up on these things in traditional classroom settings. Orton-Gillingham is not a scripted program where the same lessons are taught to all students (e.g., Barton Reading, which is based on the Orton-Gillingham methodology). Rather, custom lesson plans are written each week for every individual student, following an established order (progression). Students can move at their own pace - taking as much time as they need, but also moving forward as they are ready. Writing custom lesson plans can be very helpful compared to a more scripted program, both to keep students engaged, and to tailor the time we spend together to meet specific needs. Orton-Gillingham tutoring helps with reading, decoding, spelling, writing and fluency. We typically also spend a few minutes each week working on reading comprehension and vocabulary. 

It can be really difficult to get a diagnosis of dyslexia, simply because of the way our school and healthcare systems work. Schools are required to provide testing, but do not diagnose - they may say a student has a "specific learning disability" but not indicate whether that disability is dyslexia. Medical providers often cannot assess for dyslexia because insurance companies refuse to cover what they think school districts should provide. School districts may not have any employee who is fully knowledgeable about dyslexia, and in many cases teachers receive little or no training on how to recognize signs. Many families also find that school districts require a lengthy process of meetings and paperwork, taking a long time before agreeing to test, or refusing services until a student is already far behind his or her peers.

Another challenge in identifying dyslexia is that many people with dyslexia are incredibly gifted in other areas. Many children are able to memorize words easily in early grade levels, giving the appearance of being able to read. This is what happened with my own son - instead of only memorizing sight words, he was memorizing entire books. I once caught him memorizing an entire chapter book because his teacher had asked him to bring a favorite book to read to her the following day. 

As children progress higher grade levels, if they have not learned to decode new words this will eventually become an obvious problem. History, science, and many other higher-level books require us to decode words that we see much less frequently. Reading to learn becomes slow or even impossible. By this time, needed help has been delayed for several years. This was my family's experience - we were told for three years that testing would not be provided because my child could read at grade level despite having multiple risk factors for dyslexia including signficiant family history. When we finally did get testing, it ended up being through a medical provider. 

Many families never get an official diagnosis of dyslexia (difficulty decoding, reading and spelling), dysgraphia (difficulty writing), or dyscalculia (difficulty with math). Orton-Gillingham is still highly beneficial, but in my opinion having a diagnosis can be helpful if you are able to get one. It can help with getting an IEP or 504 plan in school, as well as accomodations in college or adulthood. For example, my son has made big improvements in reading with our tutoring sessions, but due to severe dysgraphia will always need to be allowed to use adaptive technology on any written work - and his diagnosis will mean that colleges and future employers will recognize and allow this.

There are some factors that increase the likelihood of dyslexia. Genetics does play a strong role, so if one or more family members has dyslexia (or signs of undiagnosed dyslexia) there is a much stronger likelihood of a child being affected. A diagnosis of ADHD or anxiety, or both, also strongly increases the likelihood of dyslexia being present. Environmental factors, such as exposure to toxins or living in a home where reading is not part of early childhood, may also contribute to whether a person with a genetic predisposition will develop dyslexia. 

It should be noted that markers of possible dyslexia change as a child ages - for example, letter reversals during preschool are fairly common but in an older child may be an indicator. Also, dyslexia and dysgraphia do not affect everyone equally. Dyslexia can be mild, moderate or severe. Ideally, children get help early, to prevent them falling behind. However, Orton-Gillingham is beneficial at any age and is used with adults as well as children to improve reading, spelling and writing.

For more information, see:

Mayo Clinic on Dyslexia

Cleveland Clinic on Dyslexia

Overcoming Dyslexia - a thorough and up-to-date book by Sally Shawitz, M.D., and Johnathan Shaywitz, M.D. (also available in audiobook format)

International Dyslexia Association website

Understood - resources/info for neurodivergent learners

Understanding Dyslexia for Teens

National Institute of Health on Dyslexia