Orton-Gillingham Approach

The Orton-Gillingham Approach was named for a neurologist and pathologist, Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948) and a psychologist and educator, Anna Gillingham (1878-1963). Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948), a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist, was a pioneer in focusing attention on reading failure and related language processing difficulties. He brought together néuroscientific information and principles of remediation. As early as 1925, he had identified the condition of dyslexia as a medical diagnosis requiring an educational treatment. Anna Gillingham (1878-1963) was a gifted educator and psychologist with a superb mastery of the language. Working with Dr. Orton, she trained teachers and compiled and published instructional materials based on Dr. Orton's theories.