Orton Gillingham/ Multi Sensory Language / Structured Literacy Approach
Orton Gillingham/ Multi Sensory Language / Structured Literacy approach
critical analysis
By Belinda Dekker and Julie Mavlian
Proponents of alternative therapies often attack the credibility of the Orton Gillingham (OG) approach, MSL or Structured Literacy Instruction in order to discredit our evidence based stance. Criticism of mainstream approaches is a typical tactic of psuedoscience. In the interests of transparency the following is a critical analysis of the Orton Gillingham approach, MSL or Structured Literacy applying the same red flags and warning signs that we have applied to alternative therapies.
In Australia, the Orton Gillingham Approach is also known as Multisensory Structured language approach (MSL), and more recently has been referred to as Structured Literacy Instruction.
The problem with looking at and researching Orton Gillingham is that the programs vary which is actually one of its strengths so there is difficulty in researching it as a whole. Unlike other reading programs, the OG method is not scripted or rigid and allows flexibility. It is best implemented by individual therapists and there is no strict adherence to OG methods.
The actual multi sensory component is just a small part of a much larger pedagogy. It is NOT a program. Because it is a pedagogy, it is virtually impossible to isolate because every teacher will approach students differently based on their own unique literacy profile, that alone means that it is not applied the same way in every student. It is individually tailored, as students will have varying literacy needs. It is the knowledgable TEACHER that makes all the difference in a truly OG/ MSL/ SL session.
There are also many OG based programs such as the Wilson Reading System® (WRS), Barton Reading System and Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing® Program for Reading, Spelling, and Speech (LiPS®) that have been researched for efficacy. Because all these programs have foundations in OG but have variations they must be researched individually. "The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing program has been scientifically validated in a series of well-designed research studies.[8,11]." Current Status of Treatments for Dyslexia: Critical Review Ann W. Alexander, MD; Anne-Marie Slinger-Constant, MD J Child Neurol. 2004;19(10):744-758.
In light of the difficulties with an examination of OG we will examine it as MSL or Structured Literacy as it has been more recently called by the International Dyslexia Association. "The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is the oldest organization dedicated to the study and treatment of dyslexia. It is also committed to providing complete information and services to address the full scope of dyslexia and related reading and writing challenges. The IDA was born in the 1920’s with direct roots to Dr. Samuel T. Orton’s pioneering studies in the field of reading research and multisensory teaching. In 1949, after Dr. Orton’s death, June Orton, Dr. Orton’s wife and colleague, formalized the Orton Society to continue this important work, train teachers and publish instructional materials." IDA
Several authors (Herbert, Sharp, & Gaudino, 2002; McWilliam, 1999; Park, 2003; Scheuermann & Evans, 1997; Simpson, 1995; Worrall, 1990), (supplemented by Neuroscientific interventions for dyslexia: red flags) concerned with the uptake and use of interventions and therapies that may be regarded as frauds or fads, have developed a set of 14 indicators that may serve as warning signs that a practice has not been shown to be effective. We will analyse OG/MSL/SL using those same red flags indicators.
- The practice is supported by anecdotes and testimonies, not by the results of scientific studies reported in refereed journals.
The International Dyslexia Association do not list any anecdotes or testimonies on their website. They do list success stories of prominent dyslexics. They do not attribute this success to OG.
Reading research studies conducted over the past 70 years have included the Orton-Gillingham method as a standard. Studies are as follows:
FOORMAN ET AL., 1997
OAKLAND ET AL., 1998
SILBERBERG ET AL., 1973
TORGESEN ET AL., 1999
VICKERY ET AL., 1987
Additional studies on Orton-Gillingham were conducted in 1940, 1956, 1969, 1979, and 1984
"This evidence-based treatment is the only method offering a complete intervention, including writing instruction, and has been the forerunner in the field. Unfortunately, there are few methodologically sound studies in peer-reviewed journals to validate its efficacy. Quasi-experimental studies were published by the International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council in 1995.[33] Many of the studies were hampered by either large, diverse groups of subjects or by inadequate numbers of subjects, by gains being reported in grade equivalents and not standard scores, by no long-term follow-up, and by the absence of control groups." Current Status of Treatments for Dyslexia: Critical Review Ann W. Alexander, MD; Anne-Marie Slinger-Constant, MD J Child Neurol. 2004;19(10):744-758.
"Of all the reading programs specifically designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds, Orton–Gillingham was the first. And after many decades, it’s still the standard. Today, many reading programs include Orton–Gillingham ideas. Orton–Gillingham has the most research of any program to support its approach. That’s why many classroom teachers choose to use strategies from the program in their reading instruction." Understood website
2. The practice is reported directly to the mass media and does not appear in professional, refereed journals.
The International Dyslexia association do not advertise a program on mass media to sell a product. This is not in keeping with their mission. "The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is an international organization that concerns itself with the complex issues of dyslexia. The IDA membership consists of a variety of professionals in partnership with dyslexics and their families and all others interested in The Association’s mission.
We believe that all individuals have the right to achieve their potential, that individual learning abilities can be strengthened and that social, educational and cultural barriers to language acquisition and use must be removed.
The IDA actively promotes effective teaching approaches and related clinical educational intervention strategies for dyslexics. We support and encourage interdisciplinary research. We facilitate the exploration of the causes and early identification of dyslexia and are committed to the responsible and wide dissemination of research based knowledge." IDA mission statement
OG / MSL/ SL has all of recommended components by Shaywitz, by the Rose Report and National Reading Panel recommendations.
3. The treatment recommended does not have a logical connection to the presumed cause of the difficulty.
OG / MSL/ SL directly addresses the fundamental difficulties of dyslexia well established by science. In order to treat dyslexia, you must address the particular skills required for effective reading and spelling. Dorothy Bishop explains the fallacy in treating unrelated skills and expecting them to transfer into reading skills when she states, “as Rabbitt (2015, p 235) noted regarding brain-training in general: "Many researchers have been frustrated to find that ability on any particular skill is surprisingly specific and often does not generalise even to other quite similar situations." There's little point in training children to type numbers into a computer rapidly if all that happens is that they get better at typing numbers into a computer. For this to be a viable educational strategy, you'd need to show that this skill had knock-on effects on other learning. That hasn't been done, and all the evidence from mainstream psychology suggests it would be unusual to see such transfer of training effects.”
"Individuals with dyslexia or a related difference require explicit, direct and systematic instruction in both oral and written language. (National Reading Panel 2006) (Australian Dyslexia Working Party document 2010) (National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy) ." Australian Dyslexia Association (ADA)
Structured Language/ Literacy instruction has a logical connection to the presumed cause of the difficulty in that it gives direct instruction in phonology, sound-symbol association, syllable instruction, morphology, syntax and semantics. Structured literacy is distinctive in the principles that guide how critical elements are taught, these being; systematic and cumulative, explicit instruction and lastly diagnostic teaching.
"Dyslexia, or a reading disability, occurs when an individual has significant difficulty with speed and accuracy of word decoding. Comprehension of text and spelling are also affected. " Perspectives on dyslexia
Linda S Siegel, PhD
"It is now clear that the major problem with dyslexia involves difficulties with phonological processing, that is, being able to segment words into their component sounds, and associate letters with their sounds and phonological awareness (ie, the ability to segment speech into small parts, such as syllables, and the smallest units of sound, phonemes)." Linda S Siegel, PhD. Therefore, these are the skills that must be directly addressed in reliable literacy instruction.
4. The practice is not supported by established, related bodies of knowledge.
Structured literacy instruction is marked by several elements. There is a substantial and indisputable body of evidence and research to support the major elements of the Structured Literacy approach. Refer to the IDA’s Effective Reading Instruction recommendation
Structured Literacy is also the recommended approach by Learning Difficulties Australia in their “position Statement on Approaches to Reading Instruction Supoorted by LDA”,
"The overall goal of the Orton-Gillingham Approach is to thoroughly train teachers and tutors to teach students with severe reading disabilities to read by explicitly and systematically breaking down the structure of the English language. It is diagnostic and prescriptive. This program touches on all components of reading with focused instruction in phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency. Trainees of the Orton-Gillingham Approach are taught to use informal assessments and data collected from each lesson to drive instruction based on observable student need. " Florida Center for Reading Research
"Findings from the research evidence indicate that all students learn best when teachers adopt an integrated approach to reading that explicitly teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge and comprehension." National Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy in Australia (2005)
"Scientific evidence confirms that the most effective approach to teaching reading is direct, systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, synthetic phonics, vocabulary development, fluency, and comprehension." Molly De Lemos, Learning Difficulties Australia (LDA)
The IDA acknowledge that the multisensory element is the only element that is yet to be researched in detail. In their publication, Expert Perspectives on Interventions for reading they describe their initiative on research in mulitisensory teaching and learning.
Recognising the need first for a consensus on a definition of multisensory teaching and learning and its theoretical frameworks based on scientific evidence, IDA has created the Multisensory Instruction Research Initiative to stimulate scientific investigation into how the components of multisensory teaching and learning might or might not enhance the learning of reading-related skills.
This initiative has adopted scientific investigation of multisensory teaching and learning in literacy acquisition as its major agenda. Although the value of its clinical and classroom use has been known for over 75 years for students with dyslexia and other struggling readers, the true nature of its efficacy and an understanding of its individual components and subcomponents have yet to be given scientific scrutiny. Studies on the multisensory aspects of the interventions and remediation work with students are needed to provide the missing evidentiary link. In other words, studies are needed to determine the value of the multisensory aspect of the MSL approach when combined with evidence-based instruction that directly and explicitly addresses the multiple components of oral and written language in an integrated, systematic, and cumulative approach with various populations of learners including those with dyslexia. The new grant program will provide funds for research projects focused on multisensory instruction." For information on this initiative go to the IDA web site at
In summary, research supports the general conclusion that knowledge of the structure of language, systematically and explicitly taught and learned within a complete lesson framework that focuses on fluency, is important for beginning and struggling readers. However, there is no scientific evidence behind the multisensory component, emphasized by practitioners of multisensory structured language education, and central to programs derived from the principles of Orton-Gillingham instruction. Yet, its efficacy has been demonstrated over and over again for students with dyslexia and other struggling learners in independent and public school contexts as well as in clinical settings (Joshi, Dahlgren, & Boulware-Gooden 2002). The need for discovering what Dr. Gordon F Sherman, chair of the Multisensory Instruction Research Initiative , calls the "mysteries of multisensory teaching and learning" in light of the broad implications for instruction in this nation's public schools, which have come to rely on evidence-based instruction, brings a new urgency to the Multisensory Instruction Research Initiative at IDA.
The principles of multisensory teaching and learning rest on a bedrock of decades of clinical and classroom experience as the approach of choice for reading instruction for students with dyslexia. The emphasis on the basic language components of a comprehensive program along with the application of direct, intensive, and systematic instruction parallels the consensus derived from the science of reading on what and how to teach reading to beginners and those struggling to learn. The future promises new knowledge and information based on scientific evidence that will test the efficacy of the multisensory components deemed essential in multisensory teaching and learning. Page 53 & 54 Expert Perspectives on Interventions for Reading. A collection of best practice articles from the international dyslexia Association. Edited by Louisa C Moats, Karen E Dakin and R. Malatesha Joshi. (2012)
"There is a growing body of evidence supporting multisensory teaching. Current research, much of it supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), converges on the efficacy of explicit structured language teaching for children with dyslexia. Young children in structured, sequential, multisensory intervention programs, who were also trained in phonemic awareness, made significant gains in decoding skills. These multisensory approaches used direct, explicit teaching of letter-sound relationships, syllable patterns, and meaning word parts. Studies in clinical settings showed similar results for a wide range of ages and abilities." IDA
"In 2006, the National Reading Panel issued a landmark report focusing on the critical years of kindergarten through third grade reading skills. After reviewing more than 100,000 reading research studies that met demanding criteria, the panel analyzed the results of these studies and identified five skills critical for all beginning readers: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The panel also suggested implications for classroom instruction and proven strategies for teaching these skills. The results of this study aligned with decades of IDA evidence-based research." IDA
"Learning Difficulties Australia (LDA) supports approaches to reading instruction that adopt an explicit structured approach to the teaching of reading and are consistent with the scientific evidence as to how children learn to read and how best to teach them. This approach is important for all children, but is particularly important for children who have difficulty in learning to read. Programs that follow an explicit structured approach to the teaching of reading include as an integral part of the teaching program specific instruction in phonology (phonological and phonemic awareness), sound-symbol associations (letter-sound correspondences), as well as syllable structures, morphology, syntax and semantics (the structure, use and meaning of words) as a basis for developing accurate and fluent word reading and reading comprehension. " LDA position statement
5. Proponents claim they are conspired against by the “establishment”.
The reputation of the International Dyslexia Association is well established therefore they are the establishment. Samuel Orton is a well respected pioneer in the field of reading disability.
6. Proponents make exaggerated claims about effectiveness and may claim to cure a condition.
The IDA base all claims on research and readily highlight areas where more research is needed. The approach was developed out of extensive reading research. It is not a quick fix or a cure nor does it claim to be.
"Alternative therapies for reading difficulties, ''generally have a weak (or non-existent) evidence base and poor efficacy, and often rely on the superficial attractiveness of a promised instant (and comparatively effortless) ‘cure’'. Singleton
7. The practice should be used exclusively.
To be registered with the IDA intensive and lengthy training must be undertaken. Members are not restricted to the use of OG as an exclusive program as it is a teaching approach. The IDA website states, “The identification of individuals with dyslexia and other reading difficulties, and appropriate instruction by a well-trained teacher using a structured approach to teaching reading, has been a cornerstone of IDA since its beginning. The components of Structured Literacy are outlined in the IDA Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading.
8. The treatment is very intense.
To facilitate automaticity frequent tutoring sessions are required to remediate areas of weakness. This will be dependent on financial commitment and follow up of parents at home. The length of time needed is dependent on the individual, the complexity and the severity of their difficulties.
9. Legal action has been taken over the treatment.
Like any reputable organisation the IDA has accepted criticism of the lack of research of the multisensory element and is currently working to address this issue. "IDA has launched a bold and challenging research initiative. Its purpose is to shed light—via vigorous scientific investigation—on the value of the multisensory component in MSL reading instruction, particularly for students with dyslexia. The immediate goal of this competitive grant program is to fund replicable studies with promise for stimulating research on a larger scale. It will be difficult to isolate the effects of the multisensory component (make that components), the primary reason this research has yet to be conducted. Lack of funding has been another obstacle." IDA’s Multisensory Research Grant Program: A Bold and Challenging Initiative by Carolyn D. Cowen, Ed.M