Reading is fundamental to learning.  We must master the written word before the world is opened and revealed to us.  Luckily, there are many devoted teachers and parents dedicated to making sure we all have a grand start in the world of the written word.  Unfortunately, many children and adults do not learn to read properly and are left behind.  This can adversely affect them for the rest of their lives.  The case of the necessity to learn to read cannot be debated, however, what can be, is the method used to teach reading.  Multisensory techniques, if implemented in our classrooms, across the nation, would result in no need for laws, such as, No Child Left Behind, because naturally no child would be.

What are the multisensory techniques for teaching reading?

A few popular programs that come to mind are: Orton Gillingham, Slingerland, Lindamood-Bell, and Educational Kinesiology.  They all emphasize that when more than one sense is used to process information, reading is learned differently and retained, and all children benefit.

Many schools across the country use what is called Whole Language Reading.  Whole Language anticipates that all children will learn the same way and basically teaches the memorization of words or sight-word methods.  What multisensory does is add to the mix by joining visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways in learning.  When all three pathways are utilized at the same time, the end result is retention.  Many children with unique learning styles, such as, dyslexia, visual-perception strengths or weaknesses, and memory challenges are especially helped.

What are these programs and why would all children benefit from the multisensory method of teaching reading?

ORTON GILLINGHAM: Anna Gillingham and Dr. Samuel Orton developed the Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Method in the 1930’s.  They designed a whole new way of teaching the phonemic structure of our written language to individuals with dyslexia. The goal was to create a structured, sequential system that teaches children how sounds and letters are related, how they act in words, and how to attack words and break them into smaller pieces.  With simultaneous multisensory instruction, research shows students are better able to store and retrieve information.  A student may see the letter a, say its name, hear the sound, and write it in the air – all at the same time.  It is based on logic, and teaches the rules of our written language.

The Orton-Gillingham method teaches deliberate and systematic ways, using 42 basic sounds, helping the child learn to decode (read) and encode (spell).  Review is essential.  Mastery is the goal.  Spelling is incorporated into the lessons as well as writing. This is done in a sequential way that makes learning fun.  Former President of The Orton Dyslexia Society gave this description when referring to teaching dyslexic students:

SLINGERLAND:  Beth Slingerland founded the Slingerland Approach in 1960.  In 1977 she founded the Slingerland Institute for Literacy to carry on her work.  Her approach to teaching reading and learning language is much like the Orton-Gillingham approach because it stresses multisensory techniques and logic.   A simultaneous multisensory, total language approach is one of the advantages of the Slingerland method.

The Slingerland Approach has been proven to be successful and efficient.  It also meets the instructional needs of children in the general education setting, as well as those with unique learning styles in one to one settings.  Research shows positive test scores result.

LINDAMOOD-BELL:  Lindamood-Bell offers teachers, tutors, and parents the opportunity to learn the Lindamood-Bell way of teaching children, using a structured program along with specialized materials.  They emphasize sensory-cognitive programs that are diagnostically driven to meet the needs of an individual child.  It is also customized to ensure sensory processing is developed and applied to reading, spelling, language comprehension and critical thinking, and delivered in one-to-one, small group, or classroom environments.  They offer free screenings and provide a comprehensive evaluation in:

Visualizing and Verbalizing®, Seeing Stars®, and Visualizing and Verbalizing for Language Comprehension and Thinking® are just three of the programs they offer.

Educational Kinesiology/Brain Gym®:  Educational Kinesiology is a practical and dynamic system that uses simple body movements to integrate the functions of the brain.  In the late 1960’s Noble Prize recipients Sperry and Ornstein, emphasized that the brain has two hemispheres, left and right, which are joined by a bundle of fibers called the corpus callosum.  Their work showed that the left hemisphere controls the right eye, ear, hand, and foot, while the right controls the left side of the body.  They concluded the academic functions are usually housed in the left hemisphere.

In the late 1970’s Dr. Paul Dennison expanded and developed a system we now call Educational Kinesiology or Brain Gym®.  Dennison’s major contribution is Laterality Repatterning, which is a system of specific movements for integrating the logic (left) brain and the reflex (right) brain into a functioning whole.  For an example, children must use both sides of the body simultaneously, as well as, cross the center or mid-line of the body with their arms which integrates both hemispheres with the brain.