1. Art and Diseño

Academynews
Fall 2013
DSM-5 AND DYSLEXIA
John C. Howell, Ph.D., F/AOGPE
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th
edition (DSM-5)* has finally been published. Its birthing was not
without some contentious exchanges. One area of controversy
involved the term dyslexia. This became most obvious when the
American Psychiatric Association in 2012 solicited final comments
on its revisionary work. Among its pronouncements at that time
was the statement: “Learning Disorder [DSM-IV] has been
changed to Specific Learning Disorder and the previous types of
Learning Disorder (Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, and Disorder of Written
Expression) are no longer being recommended.” This evoked an
international firestorm from professional and public users of the
term. Formal objections were submitted by individuals and
organizations (the Academy being among the latter). The dust is
now settling. DSM-5 is out and dyslexia has survived, but in
what form?
DSM-5 changes the major diagnostic category relevant to the
work of most Academy members. The new term is Specific
Learning Disorder replacing Learning Disorder found in DSM-IV.
Specific Learning Disorder subsumes three coded rubrics of special
relevance to what Academy members do. The exact text reads:
SPECIFIC LEARNING DISORDER:
315.00 (F81.0) With impairment in reading:
Word reading accuracy
Reading rate or fluency
Reading comprehension
Note: Dyslexia is an alternative term used to refer to a pattern of
learning difficulties characterized by problems with accurate or
fluent word recognition, poor decoding, and poor spelling
abilities. If dyslexia is used to specify this particular pattern of
difficulties, it is important also to specify any additional difficulties
that are present, such as difficulties with reading comprehension
or math reasoning.
315.2 (F81.81) With impairment in written expression:
Spelling accuracy
Grammar and punctuation accuracy
Clarity or organization of written expression
315.1 (F81.2) With impairment in mathematics:
Number sense
Memorization of arithmetic facts
Accurate or fluent calculation
Accurate math reasoning
continued on page 7
Academy Conferences Provide Outreach to Educators
Every spring, the Academy tries to provide
outreach to new educators by presenting a
conference to the general public. The spring
conference has been held at cities across the
country and in Canada. This past March, the
Academy presented; Orton Gillingham
Across the Lifespan: A Multi-Tiered
Intervention in Providence, Rhode Island.
The goal of this large undertaking is to
introduce teachers, administrators,
psychologists, speech therapists, and parents
to dyslexia and to multisensory language
instruction.
Developmental Pediatrician who specializes
in the diagnosis and management of
handicapping conditions including ADHD,
Learning Disabilities, and Autism. Dr. Tridas
presented; The Physician’s Perspective of
Dyslexia.
The Keynotes were presented by Eric Tridas,
M.D., FAAP and Michele Berg, Ph.D.
Dr. Tridas connected the management of
dyslexia with the components of language
based instruction, moving from phonemic
awareness to the comprehension and use
of language.
Dr. Tridas, the Medical Director of the Tridas
Center for Child Development, is a
Dr. Tridas discussed how central executive
functions interrelate with the visual, auditory,
and tactile-kinesthetic input of information,
and the difficulty the dyslexic student has
with short term memory becoming long
term memory.
Keynote Speakers,
Dr. Eric Tridas & Dr. Michele Berg
Dr. Michele Berg is the Director of the Center
for Learning Disorders at the Family Service
and Guidance Center in Topeka, Kansas. She
specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of
continued on page 3
1
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[email protected]
www.ortonacademy.org
President’s message
O
The purpose of the Academy is to establish and
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practice of the Orton-Gillingham Approach. We
by the
Academy
of Orton-Gillingham
certify
practitioners
and accredit practitioner
Practitioners
and Educators.
training programs
and student instructional
programs that use the Approach to address
AOGPE
the language-based learning difficulties
P.O.associated
Box 234, Amenia,
NY 12501-0234
with dyslexia.
The Academy is also
in professional development and public
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Rosalie
Davis, President, Smyrna, GA
www.
ortonacademy.org
Marcia Mann, Vice President, Hilton Head, SC
TheSusan
purpose
of theVice
Academy
is to
establish
Santora,
President,
Guilford,
CT
C. Howell,
Treasurer,professional
Haslett, MI
andJohn
maintain
the hightest
Edith LaFrance,
Secretary,
standards
for practice
of theGananoque,
OrtonON, Canada
Gillingham Approach. We certify practitioners
C. Wilson Anderson, Prior Lake, MN
andMary
accredit
practitioner
programs
Briggs,
Lexington,training
MA
andShelia
student
instructional
programs
that use
Costello,
Charleston,
SC
Edwards,
Brooklyn,the
NYlanguage-based
the Ann
Approach
to address
Kay Howell,
Haslett,
MI
learning
difficulties
associated
with dyslexia.
Diana Hanbury King, Amenia, NY
TheKaren
Academy
is
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Leopold, Ward, CO in professional
development
andBoring,
public OR
awareness.
Sharon Marsh,
Jean Osman, Rochester, MN
BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Theresea
Peterson, Marion, IA
Rosalie Davis, President
NEWSLETTER
Marcia
Mann, ViceSTAFF
President
David Katz, Editor
Susan
Santora,
President
Matt Sawicki,Vice
Design/Layout
John
C. Howell,
Alicia
Sartori,Treasurer
Administrative Director
Sheila Costello, Secretary
C. Wilson Anderson
Mary Briggs
Edith LaFrance
Academy’s Charleston Conference
Ann Edwards
Special Thanks to our Keynote Speaker and
Janet George Supporting Organizations
Kay Howell
Dr. Leopold
Drake Duane
Karen
Academy
JeanTrident
Osman
South Carolina IDA
Theresea
Peterson
Camp Spring Creek
Commonwealth Learning Center
NEWSLETTER
STAFF
Greenhills School
David
TheKatz,
Key Editor
Learning Center
KildonanDesign/Layout
School
BlueThe
Parachute,
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Alicia
Sartori,House
Administrative Director
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privilege of working with many incredible
people. In this President’s letter, I would
like to say “thank you” to many of them.
I would like to give a special thanks
to our conference chair who has made
outreach a priority. Our most recent
conference in Charleston, South Carolina
ver a year ago,
I was introduced
to
was a tremendous
success.
The speakers
a
philanthropist
who
was
interested
did an outstanding job, and it was also an enjoyable time to reconnect with
in forming
a collaboration
withseminar
the
friends and
colleagues.
Our Fellows
in Hartford this October and
Academy
for
the
purpose
of
providing
our spring conference in 2012 in Indianapolis in conjunction with The
exemplary
OG training
along with
a
Hutson School
will provide
continued,
excellent professional development
practicum
experience
for
public
school
opportunities.
teachers.
Academy’s
geographical
Our The
board
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Thanka you!
Further,toI would
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Warmest Regards,
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RosalieDavis,
Davis,President
President
Rosalie
UPCOMING EVENTS
October 4th and 5th, 2013
November 6th-9th, 2013
2013 Fellows’ Seminar
2013 IDA New Orleans
AOGPE Annual Conference 2014
Sheraton Hartford Hotel,
at Bradley International Airport
Windsor Locks, Connecticut
Ernest N Morial Convention Center
The Power of Orton-Gillingham:
Inclusive, Effective and Universal
Open to Fellows and
Certified Members of the Academy
Visit the Academy Booth: 316
Academy Sponsored Reception
Thursday, November 7th, 6:00-7:30pm
March 15th and 16th,Academy
2014news 2
Triad Academy at Summit School
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Keynote Speaker:
Ronald Yoshimoto, M.Ed, M.S.W., F/AOGPE
2
Academy Conferences Provide Outreach to Educators
continued from page 1
complex learning disorders in children and adults. Dr. Berg
presented; Working Memory and the Dyslexic Learner.
Dr. Berg explained that there are three types of memory: short
term, working, and long term memory. It is working memory that
gives the individual the ability to hold and manipulate
information in the mind for brief periods of time in the course of
ongoing mental activities. Dr. Berg discussed how weak working
memory is a predictor of academic difficulties in reading
connected with writing and math. Next, Dr. Berg presented
categories of strategies for working memory, including rote and
relational. The presentation highlighted the use of mnemonics and
keywords.
development of automaticity
in decoding and word
identification. The learner
eventually moves from
fluency and word
recognition to sentence and
paragraph comprehension,
along to the rules of
highlighting pertinent
information. The key is to
identify memory problems
in the classroom and to
implement intervention of
rehearsal, organization,
elaboration and
visualization.
Speaker, Ann Edwards
The spring conference presented sessions on the teaching of
language across the language continuum and in all types of
classroom settings. The conference also offered sessions on
multisensory mathematics, assessment, assistive technology, and
metacognitive skill development.
The Academy wishes to thank the MET School of Providence,
Rhode Island for its assistance in organizing this conference.
Volunteers from the MET School
Dr. Berg went on to discuss the clinical characteristics of RD,
which are due to dyslexia and specific language impairment. She
introduced the concept of explicit instruction (Berninger and
Wolf, 2009) which is the connection of working memory with the
The Academy will present the next spring conference in WinstonSalem, North Carolina, at the Triad Academy at Summit School.
It will be held on Saturday, March 15th and Sunday, March 16th.
Entitled, The Power of Orton-Gillingham: Inclusive, Effective
and Universal, the conference will discuss how Orton-Gillingham
should be utilized from pre-k all the way through college.
The keynote speaker will be Ron Yoshimoto, F/AOGPE, who will
discuss how Orton-Gillingham needs to be integrated with the
core curriculum.
Historical Perspectives: Martha Sherrill
I have always loved the stories people tell about their experience with Orton-Gillingham and how this knowledge not only transformed their life
but also the lives of others. Many of these stories come from people now in their 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, and the one that follows was sent to me from
a lady who has lived a very long and fulfilling life. I believe that our newsletter can be a vehicle for sharing some of this wonderful “history.” Since
the Academy produces two newsletter issues per year, I would like to begin an historical perspectives section for our newsletter.
- Rosalie Davis
Our first story is from Ms. Martha Sherrill.
“After my graduation from the university with a degree in elementary education, I met a person trained in OG that let me watch her
tutoring at the Carlisle School in Massachusetts. I was very impressed, so I applied to attend the 300 hour course that was being offered at
the Massachusetts General Hospital, taught by Alice Garside. With the completion of my studies, I began tutoring one-on-one in the
Boston area. As my association with others in the field developed, I met Robert Hall, the head of Manter Hall School, and the president
of Educators Publishing Company in Cambridge. He acquainted me with the Slingerland Adaptation and introduced me to Beth
Slingerland.”
“I trained in Slingerland, receiving accreditation in 1976 through 1978. When we moved to New Hampshire full-time in 1982, I worked
to establish Slingerland programs in three towns in the northern part of the state, and one town in Vermont. They were all well received
and thrived until the public school leadership changed. But during their success, over three hundred students received remediation. It was
continued on page 5
3
Training OG Educators and Practitioners
Susan Santora, F/AOGPE
Member of the Academy Board of Directors and Executive Committee
Director, Learning House, Guilford, Connecticut
Training Orton-Gillingham educators and
practitioners is as thrilling as teaching
students with dyslexia to read, spell, and
write. Teachers pass through phases of
learning how to teach Orton-Gillingham as
students pass through phases of learning to
read and write, moving along from simple to
complex and “going as fast as you can, yet as
slow as you must.”
A recent staff meeting at Learning House
exemplified this progression as Learning
House has teachers at the Fellow, Fellow-inTraining, Certified, and the beginning and
more advanced Associate levels. Learning
House’s new Clinic Director, Beth Stone,
FIT/AOGPE led the meeting, asking the
question, “What I wish I knew when I first
started OG.” The conversation was lively
and productive with new trainees
commenting on the lengthy time it takes to
develop a lesson plan and prepare materials,
and seeking advice on how to expedite this.
The more advanced staff commiserated with
them on that point, saying that’s what it
takes in the beginning and reassuring them
that it gets easier to plan and develop lessons
over time. Furthermore, the purpose of the
practicum is for the teacher to be guided by
the Fellow to become more skilled over
time. The variety of materials in our closet
can be overwhelming to new trainees and
the mantra from the more advanced staff
was, “don’t look in the closet” without
guidance, and “make it,” meaning make
your own materials. One staff member, who
has been teaching the Orton-Gillingham
Approach for some time, recalled that when
she was new she was looking in the closet for
a decodable reader that focused on the suffix
–ed sounding like /d/. When her Fellow
noticed she was searching in the closet for a
considerable amount of time to find the
perfect reader, the Fellow commented,
“There isn’t a perfect reader; you need to
write a story with –ed words as /d/; and you
could have written your own little story in
the amount of time you’ve been searching
for the perfect reader.”
Selecting a practicum student is sometimes
difficult because the ideal student is often
not available. However, I think it is best for
a new trainee to work with a student who
needs to develop lower level skills at the
point when reading and spelling are easily
interchangeable. Learning to apply OG
principles to their lessons is easier at this
level because there is less complexity than
skills involving spelling generalizations
involving vowels, for example. Teaching
cursive writing systematically is preferred,
yet can be overlooked by a trainee without
Fellow guidance. Guiding the trainee to
organize their self-made materials and
student notebook is important. A teacher
can generate a multitude of index cards for
one student that are best categorized into file
boxes to be used with other students. The
same is true for worksheets, stories, and
games. Of course, the trainee must learn to
discern if the self-made materials need to be
revised for different students. Observations
and feedback are more frequent for new
trainees until they develop a routine and
confidence understanding the OG
curriculum and developing their lesson
plans.
During my training at Learning House,
Certified Level trainees present information
either during the initial OG course or
seminars designed for Associate Level
trainees in order for them to experience
talking before a group in a safe setting. This
allows a Fellow to assess the trainee’s ability
to understand and communicate about
Orton-Gillingham. It is particularly
important for a Certified candidate who has
not had experience speaking to a group.
Certified Level trainees should be
comfortable and confident discussing
information, instruction, OG principles,
their students, and the Academy with
parents and teachers, as well as within school
meetings or the community, to inform
educators and the general public about the
Orton-Gillingham Approach. Along with
Fellows and Fellows-in-Training, they are
the Academy’s representatives and agents.
A Learning House teacher and Certified
Level trainee was teaching a charming,
friendly, socially alert 9-year-old girl who
had severe dyslexia, very poor working
memory, and could only name a few letters
of the alphabet when she began her
Orton-Gillingham instruction. The teacher
began instruction with the student working
on phonogram cards, giving the name of
letters, key word, and sound. This in itself
was challenging because the girl could not
easily recall the key word or sound after
naming the letter. Pictures for the key word
helped and eventually could be removed.
Once the student was automatically recalling
the sound of short a, little by little a few
single consonant sounds that had no
variation (b, f, t, k, h, m, p) were added, and
then her teacher added practicing blending
the vowel with a consonant (ab, af, at, ak,
ap). The extent of the child’s poor working
memory was apparent because she had
significant difficulties keeping the two
sounds in correct order and it took months
for her to accomplish this task. Short i was
introduced when the girl could
automatically blend different combinations
of the letters listed above. The teacher
continued to introduce other vowel and
consonant phonograms because the child
experienced progression by learning sound/
symbol relationships through both visual
and auditory practice, yet mastery of
blending two sounds continued to be
challenging. The teacher continued to
develop materials that appealed to the child,
including games and homework. She
coached the mother to reinforce at home
what was being practiced during the lessons.
A few common phonetically irregular words
were introduced after the first group of
letters was mastered. This child often went
to our children’s library to select a book and
then came to show me that she could name
the letters or recognize words like at, it, if.
She once commented, “It’s working!” After a
year of instruction with no progress beyond
blending two sounds, I wondered if this
would be one child we could not teach. Her
teacher and I spoke to her mother, who was
aware of the severity of her daughter’s
disability. We asked the mother if she
wanted to continue with our service because
of the extremely slow progress. She
responded that her daughter said she was
continued on page 6
4
The following article has been submitted by Dr. Mary Heather Munger, who is a coordinator of professional development at a university located in
Ohio. Ohio education law now mandates that elementary teachers receive instruction in MSL. Dr. Munger began her training under Ron Yoshimoto,
F/AOGPE.
OG Teacher Education at the University Level
By Mary Heather Munger, Ph.D.
As a coordinator of professional development for teacher education in
a university setting, it is important for me to be able to identify areas
in which teachers need support in order to help their students achieve
academically.
when implemented with fidelity, provides an explicit, systematic,
sequential and cumulative structure for students to learn how our
language is put together. This, in turn, helps them with reading and
spelling. It makes sense to put the skills associated with OG into the
hands of university faculty. Doing so has the potential to impact
reading education everywhere in a very positive way.
One area in which administrators and teachers continually report the
need for assistance is reading. This same sentiment is also repeated
pervasively in the formal literature. Research has
Through my work, I see thousands of teachers and
shown that practicing teachers do not often possess
university faculties attend professional development
“It makes sense to put
a deep knowledge of the structure of our language
workshops throughout the year. What I have
the skills associated
(Cunningham, 2004). This is concerning since these
witnessed during Orton-Gillingham workshops is
are professionals trusted to impart that same
unique. Participants are engaged and eager to learn
with OG into the hands
knowledge to their students in order to help them to
more as each day progresses. They leave energized
of university faculty.
learn to read and spell. The data is also clear on the
and confident to tackle the difficult task of teaching
Doing so has the
benefits of systematic and explicit teaching of
struggling readers how to navigate and understand
potential to impact
phonics literacy (Blachman et. al., 2004; Connor,
text. Even more importantly, I’ve seen this
reading education
Morrison & Underwood, 2006). Decades of
enthusiasm and confidence transfer to students.
empirical data have provided evidence that the
Students progress through their instruction and
everywhere in a very
alphabetic principle and explicit, systematic phonics
increase their reading achievement every step of the
positive way.”
are important components of reading instruction for
way. Once they are provided with the tools to help
all students. (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2011; Ehri, 2001).
them read and write more clearly, students feel
empowered to take ownership of their learning, and they believe in
In order to respond to these two findings, I have looked to Ortonthemselves. There is no greater gift for a teacher than to see his or her
Gillingham training as a beacon. The Orton-Gillingham Approach,
students making progress with happiness and certitude.
Historical Perspectives: Martha Sherrill
continued from page 3
gratifying to assist those young people,
but the frustrations of coping with
school superintendents was difficult and
discouraging. I can say without
exaggeration that the Orton-Gillingham
Approach helped every student that I
worked with over the years.”
“My relationship with Beth expanded to
include my husband Henry, and the
three of us worked with others in
Bellevue, Washington to establish the
Slingerland Institute. Henry brought his
experience running non-profits as an
Episcopal clergyman, and president of
the Cheswick Center, to help Beth
operate the Institute at the start. Since it
was very gratifying to see the impact of
OG remediation, it was encouraging to
work to extend its benefits to larger
groups of students in need. Today, I
understand the Robinson School in
Washington continues her Adaption
work”.
“I always remember with great fondness
the relationships I formed with the
families and students I met through my
OG career. One student, a really bright
and appealing 12 year old boy, saw me
across the street one day, and rushed
over to give a warm-hearted hello; there
were many others that were so
appreciative of the training. I had
another student that became a rector of
the Northminister Community Church,
when he had previously been only the
caretaker at a neighboring parish. It was
also rewarding to tutor my grandson
with OG, and then see him graduate
from an excellent independent school,
college, and Ivy League graduate school.”
“Behind my motivation to teach in
elementary schools, and then train in
OG and Slingerland, was the experience
of my own school challenges, and my
desire to help children learn successfully.
Other members of my family struggled
with language-based learning issues,
which I did not recognize until I did the
OG training. But I was very fortunate to
receive good training after sixth grade at
the Chestnut Hill School, and for two
years at Westover School in Middlebury,
Connecticut. Many students, even
today, are not so lucky.”
“I am so glad to know that the OG
Approach is flourishing, and I am
certain that the efforts of every OG
trained teacher are making a difference
in the lives of their students. It is
wonderful to see a greater understanding
of learning disabilities in education,
which makes me think the work of my
generation was meaningful.”
Do you or someone you know have a
story or some history to share? Please
send your articles to David Katz to be
included in our future historical
perspectives.
5
BOOK
REVIEW
Reading in the Brain:
The Science and Evolution
of a Human Invention
Training OG Educators
and Practitioners
By Stanislas Dehaene
learning to read and wanted to
continue. After another six months of
similar instruction with tears of
frustration and happiness apparent
from both teacher and child, it
happened! A third phonogram could be
added before the vowel and the child
could now read CVC words, then
decodable phrases and sentences, and
finally text. I’m convinced that if this
young girl’s brain was scanned by MRI
technology, her word form area would
have displayed neurological
development. Clinically it was evident.
This teacher in Certified Level training
clearly demonstrated the OrtonGillingham principles: individualized
instruction, diagnostic and prescriptive
teaching, direct/explicit instruction,
lessons built around clear teaching
objectives, systematic and structured
lessons, cumulative content, multisensory delivery, emotionally sound,
and logical, common sense procedures.
She also adhered to Anna Gillingham’s
maxim, “go as fast as you can but as
slowly as you must.”
“At this very moment, your brain is accomplishing an amazing feat –
reading. Your eyes scan the page in short spasmodic movements. Four
or five times per second, your gaze stops just long enough to recognize
one or two words…
“The reader’s brain contains a complicated set of mechanisms
admirably attuned to reading.”
This is how Stanislas Dehaene, a French psychologist and cognitive
neuroscientist, begins his fascinating study of the human brain and how the
act of reading doesn’t seem to be possible, and yet it is a reality. Dehaene brings into focus how the
human brain, which appears to follow a distinct neurological structure, actually allows for variability. His
hypothesis, which he calls, “neuronal recycling” looks at how the human brain can adapt to changes in
the environment allowing for humans to read and write, and how the human brain can change as
humans develop how they communicate from the simple reading and writing of letters on a page to the
new world of digital formats.
Dehaene states, “The human brain never evolved for reading. Biological evolution is blind, and no divine
architect ever wired our brain so we could read this book! The only evolution was cultural – reading itself
progressively evolved toward a form adapted to our brain circuits.”
Dehaene begins with a look at how the human brain is capable of overcoming the “invariance problem” of
recognizing the letters as they appear in thousands of different shapes. He looks at how the image of a letter
starts at the retina of the eye and is able to be “seen” even though our eyes are in constant motion. He goes
on to explain how the human brain uses a phonetic coding from the individual letter, to the grapheme, the
syllable, the morpheme, and finally to a whole word. Dehaene looks at this visual process as, “the word
parsed out into a hierarchical structure, a tree made up of branches of increasing sizes whose letters are the
leaves.” The example he uses is the word: unbuttoning. Dehaene discusses how active letter decoding enables
us to look at a single letter within a word and use the context clues of coding to see the entire word.
In chapter six, Dehaene begins to look closely at dyslexia. He reviews the more recent studies on dyslexia,
which can now utilize brain imaging, along with new insights from anatomical and genetic research.
Dehaene points out that in spite of a huge amount of research, “a consensus on the exact nature of
dyslexia is only now beginning to emerge.” Dehaene does agree that dyslexia “appears to be a reading
deficit that can be reduced to a problem with single-word decoding, which is itself due to an impairment
in grapheme – phoneme conversion.” He goes on to explain, “The majority of dyslexic children appear to
suffer from a deficit in the processing of phonemes- the elementary constituents of spoken words. To
some extent, this is a revolutionary idea: a problem that seems restricted to reading would in fact be due
to subtle deficits in “speech processing”.
Dehaene connects the neurology of the brain to how humans learn to read. He points out that
the goal of reading instruction is to teach the neuronal hierarchy, “so that the child can recognize letters
and graphemes and easily turn them into speech sounds. All other essential aspects of the literate mind
– the mastery of spelling, the richness of vocabulary, the nuances of meaning, and the pleasures of
literature- depend on this crucial step.” Dehaene goes on to discuss the inefficiency of the whole language
approach:
“I would like to insist on this last point, because it refutes one of the central claims of the whole-language
system – the idea that this method alone is respectful of the child’s independence and happiness. In
reality, only the teaching of letter-to-sound conversion allows children to blossom,
because only this method gives them the freedom to read novel words in any domain they choose.”
Dehaene’s book, Reading in the Brain, is a required reading for all Fellows-in-Training candidates.
For information: Dehaene, Stanislas. (2009) Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a
Human Invention. New York: Viking
Paperback Edition: Dehaene, Stanislas. (2010) Reading in the Brain: The New Science of How We Read.
New York: Viking; Penguin Group.
Reviewed by David Katz, F/AOGPE
continued from page 4
The OG principles often take a
considerable amount of time to fully
comprehend. This is why our founders
of the Academy developed the training
criteria to proceed from Associate
through Certified levels, a process that
takes at least three years of training
before a teacher becomes an
independent practitioner, and an
additional three years to become a
Fellow. An OG teacher never stops
learning and devising new tactics to
teach students with dyslexia. The
purpose of the Academy’s Conferences
and Fellow Seminars is to gather OG
educators and practitioners together to
share, exchange, and clarify teaching
ideas, strategies, resources, and the
principles and uniqueness of the
Orton-Gillingham Approach.
Conversations outside the planned
sessions are frequently as valuable as
within the sessions, and the experience
of collegial sharing alone makes
attending these gatherings stimulating
and worthwhile, not only for trainees,
but for Orton-Gillingham educators
and practitioners at all levels.
6
DSM-5 AND DYSLEXIA
continued from page 1
Note: Dyscalculia is an alternative term used to refer to a pattern of
difficulties characterized by problems processing numerical
information, learning arithmetic facts, and performing accurate or
fluent calculations. If dyscalculia is used to specify this particular
pattern of mathematic difficulties, it is important also to specify any
additional difficulties that are present, such as difficulties with math
reasoning or word reasoning accuracy.
From this excerpt, it is clear that dyslexia is not treated as a diagnostic
category with its own code. The paragraph Note conveys how the term
is viewed. Applying the intent of Note (and other DSM-5 directions
calling for specification of levels of severity), in a given report the
following diagnosis might be encountered: 315.00 (F81.0) Specific
Learning Disorder With impairment in reading–moderate to severe
impairment of word reading accuracy, reading rate and fluency and
reading comprehension. Further, if the facts warrant, the diagnostician
could also introduce the concept of dyslexia to further illuminate the
findings of the report and to provide better understanding of the
instructional needs required.
The term dyslexia has been around for over 130 years. Early on it
languished in disuse. Since the 1960s its use has progressed to the
point that the term is now in the popular vernacular. The last three
decades have seen a dramatic and accelerating surge in relevant
research. The term did finally find its way into DSM-5 accompanied
by language that can be helpful. While making the case for dyslexia
has always required effort, history appears to be on its side.
Nonetheless, heed this admonition: be prepared to make the case for
dyslexia in DSM-6.
*American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical
manual of mental disorders. (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American
Psychiatric Publishing.
NEW MEMBERS 2013
The Academy congratulates the following new members
FELLOW
Maryann Chatfield, Millerton, NY
Brenda Mackaness, Johns Island, SC
CERTIFIED
Josephine Calamari, Atlanta, GA
Diana Carey, Greer, SC
Elizabeth Edwards, Cambridge, MA
Elena Ensing-Mogavero, Melrose, MA
Karyn Ginsburg, Lexington, MA
Tanja Goodloe, Carmel, IN
Vicki Grodsky, Roslindale, MA
Heather Lufkin, York Horbor, ME
Jennings Miller, Decatur, GA
Joanne Nimmo, Wellesley, MA
Karen Pervier, Boxborough, MA
Gail Poplaski, N. Reading, MA
Peggy Price, Burlington, VT
Holly Robbertz, New Albany, OH
Beth Stone, Clinton, CT
Geraldine Theadore, Westerly, RI
Lisa Tweed, Madison, CT
Martha Vaananen, Wayland, MA
Barbara Waterstradt, Mt. Pleasant, SC
ASSOCIATE
Diane Alting, Alton Bay, NH
Laura Bryant, Charleston, SC
Alison Buckner, Henrico, VA
ElizabethByron, Lawrence, MA
Frederick Confalone, Lawrence, MA
Elaine Daher, Methuen, MA
Donna Deyab, Andover, MA
Patricia Egan, Wakefield, MA
Patricia Elliott, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Carrie Flagler, Lakeland, FL
Catherine Hagberg, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Michele Hales, Milton, MA
Peggy Hendrix, Atlanta, GA
Sarah Hildebrand, Montpelier, VT
Kristen Hull, Lakeland, FL
Mary Jackson, Johns Creek, GA
Kimberly Kelley, Lakeland, FL
Amber Knight, Charleston, SC
Pamela Lewis, Oregon City, OR
Ann Marie Lundmark, Manakin Sabot, VA
Karen Malloy, North, MA
Lynne McCarthy, Wellesley, MA
Jean McCormack, Dartmouth, MA
Mary McManus, Canton, MA
Susan Moore, Danvers, MA
Ellen Morton, Henrico, VA
Nancy Nuckols, Carthage, NC
Catherine O’Sullivan, North Andover, MA
Lou AnnPeterson, Wilson, NC
Alicia Petry, McDonough, GA
Sharon Richard, Lakeland, FL
Katherine Robinson, Cummings, GA
Sarah Root, Portland, OR
Christine Scanlon, Weston, MA
Najia Siddiqi, Toronto, Canada
Adella Spires, Lakeland, FL
M. Greely Summers, Newton, MA
Ruth Trottnow, Lockport, NY
Amy Wise, Toronto, Canada
Sigrid Wurthmann, Los Alamos, NM
Bonnie Wyckoff, Forest Grove, OR
CLASSROOM EDUCATORS
Christopher Carlin, Brookfield, CT
Janel Clark, Crofton, KY
Lana Cummings, Charlotte, NC
Maureen Ehlbeck, Atlanta, GA
Julia Gibson, Toronto, Canada
Rachel Grade, Marietta, GA
Jacqueline Hauge, Westport, CT
Brenda Hennecke, Statenice,
Czech Republic
Alison Hirsch, Atlanta, GA
Dana Ishii, Haleiwa, HI
Anne Kahl, Scarsdale, NY
DeborahLamb, Toronto, Canada
Mia Levin, Toronto, Canada
Denise Lotko, Stamford, CT
continued on page 8
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NEW MEMBERS 2013
The Academy congratulates the following new members
Kelly MacDonald, Toronto, Canada
Mindy McIver, Charlotte, NC
Joe Metzker, Haddock, GA
Sarah Perez, Greenwich, CT
Gilchrist Phillips, Augusta, GA
Claire Brown Poole, Raleigh, NC
Diane Howell Robinson, Atlanta, GA
LeeAnn Robinson, Milledgeville, GA
Lindsay Salapka, Milton, GA
Jennifer Salter, Marietta, GA
Avery Smith, Tivertono, RI
Tara Weintraub, Atlanta, GA
SUBSCRIBERS
Beatrice Adams, Litchfield, CT
Rebecca Aldred, Charlottesville, VA
Candace Anderson, Grafton, MA
Niki Burger, Piedmont, SC
Carolyn Burkes, Suwanee, GA
Traci Cassas, Greer, SC
Vanessa Coles, Fishers, IN
Elizabeth Connors, S. Kingstown, RI
Dawnena Darnall, Simpsonville, SC
Svetlana Fishbein, Summit, NJ
Tammy Fortune, Centreville, VA
Joann Gasser, Staten Island, NY
Nancy Ghidro, Henderson, NV
Angela Giudice, Staten Island, NY
Alison Glerum, Weston, CT
Kelley Hager, Whisper Pines, NC
Nancy Hall, Sanbornville, NH
Andrea Hendricks, Dorchester, MA
Anita Herzsprung, Hodges, SC
B. Paige Holloway, Richmond, VA
Nancy Ianni, Springfield, OH
Mallory James, Harrisville, WV
Merideth Kemper, Indianapolis, IN
Jane Kriegbaum, Lakeland, FL
Cathleen Laliberte, Halifax, MA
Michelle Lefeld, Easley, SC
Rosemary Loft, Brooklyn, Australia
Jeanne Maggiacomo, North Providence, RI
Lynda McArthur, Biltmore Lake, NC
Lori Melnitsky, Plainview, NY
Lisa Modzelewski, Charlotte, NC
Deborah Parkhill Mullis, Monroe, NC
Paula Murphy, Wareham, MA
Clare O’Connell, Hoboken, NJ
Eryle Okamura, Mililani, HI
Darci Orth, Bartow, FL
EfstathiaPavlakos, Brooklyn, NY
Eve Plante, Colorado Springs, CO
Anna Roberge, Lakewood, CO
Marilyn Salisbury, Johnston, RI
Carrie Sawyer, Haverhill, MA
Sonja Skaggs, Lakeland, FL
Sharon Sudman-O’Neill, Brooklyn, NY
Nichole Turner, Canton, GA
Derrick Tyran, Stone Mountain, GA
Christinevan de Vijsel, Manitoba, Canada
Connie Velardo, Brooklyn, Australia
Nancy Walker, Redondo Beach, CA
Evelyn Whitebay, Clintondale, NY
Wendy Wilson, West Bloomfield, MI
Samantha Zaffiro, South Salem, NY
The Academy and Membership
The Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators is the only organization expressly established and authorized to set
standards for the practice of the Orton-Gillingham Approach, to certify teachers, and to accredit instructional programs that meet these
standards. Incorporated in 1995, the Academy derives its authority from action taken by the Board of Regents of the University of the
State of New York and operates under New York State Education Law.
For comprehensive information regarding training opportunities, requirements, and applications for Academy membership at all levels,
visit our website at: www.ortonacademy.org
IN REMEMBRANCE
Heather Holden
The Academy notes with regret the passing of Heather Holden of Burlington, Ontario. Ms. Holden was the driving force behind bringing
Orton-Gillingham training to Ontario, Canada. As Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Association of Halton, she saw the need to
help dyslexic children and adults.
Ms. Holden contacted Fellow, Edith (Dee) LaFrance, and assembled a class of fifteen teachers who wanted to be trained by the Academy of
Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. More than half of these teachers went on to become Certified members of the Academy, and
one, Evelyn Reiss became a Fellow who continues to train teachers and to be Principal of her school for students who have dyslexia.
Heather Holden was an inspiration to the educators who took on the challenge to become Orton-Gillingham clinicians. Ms. Holden was the
voice of reason as she wended her way through political forums that were necessary to make change happen. She had a wealth of knowledge
about learning disabilities and dyslexia which began when she entered the nursing profession. She made it her life’s work to advocate for those
who could not do it for themselves. She was passionate about the children, and passionate about making changes to improve their lives.
Through her tireless efforts, Ms. Holden cast a stone into the water that created ripples which brought Orton-Gillingham training to her
corner of the world and beyond. She made an immeasurable difference in the lives of so many, and her guidance, passion, and wealth of
knowledge will be profoundly missed.
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