The Orton-Gillingham method of instruction was developed in the 1920s by Columbia University neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948), and New York Teacher and psychologist Anna Gillingham (1878-1964) at Columbia University. Having both studied learning difficulties that are now commonly associated with dyslexia, the two worked together to create instructional materials for teachers. Gillingham edited these materials with Bessie Stillman, and the official Orton-Gillingham teaching manual, "Remedial Training for Children with Specific Disability in Reading, Spelling and Penmanship" was published in 1935. The Orton-Gillingham technique has been in use since the 1930s, though mostly in small, privately funded schools in one-on-one sessions. Few public schools have decided to teach using the method, perhaps due to inconsistent research results.
The Orton-Gillingham method is based on a specific technique of studying, interpreting and teaching language. It was designed to help students understand the basic nature and principles of language, and the processes used to best teach language to students with learning difficulties.
Orton-Gillingham seeks to teach through a multi-sensory approach that involves learning through constant interaction with the instructor. Auditory, visual and kinesthetic cues are used to reinforce newly learned language skills, in attempt to associate learning with more than just rote memorization. Students are often instructed to write, speak and visualize a word at the same time.
The method aims to instill basic language knowledge in students by teaching in a logical, systematic way. The knowledge of sounds progresses to the basics of forming words, and later sentences. Students also learn the elements of language in a sequential order--vowels, consonants and dipthongs become roots and affixes. This is done to ensure that students are not just learning by memorizing, rather they are truly understanding the structure of written and spoken language.
Using the Orton-Gillingham technique requires that teachers are aware of their students actual knowledge of a recent lesson. If it is suspected through testing and evaluation that students are simply recognizing language patterns, teachers must go back and figure out where the gap in the students knowledge is and begin teaching again at that point.
In a 2007 research project done by the Florida Center for Reading Research on the effectiveness of using the Orton-Gillingham technique, researchers were unable to find a single study that showed any benefits to students using the Orton-Gillingham method. However, in 2006, K.D. Ritchey and J.L. Goeke published a paper in the "The Journal of Special Education," stating that when looking at research of smaller, more basic ideas included in the Orton-Gillingham method, it has been shown that many of these elements can be quite beneficial in helping children with learning disabilities to better understand the basics of language.