Dyslexia Intervention

Structured Literacy for Real, Lasting Progress

Reading is not just a skill, it's a foundation for learning, confidence, and independence. At Wordplay, we use the Orton-Gillingham approach, widely regarded as the gold standard for supporting students with dyslexia and other reading challenges. Instruction is explicit, sequential, and multisensory, helping students connect sounds to letters, letters to words, and words to meaning.

Research shows that late talkers and children with articulation or phonological difficulties are at greater risk for reading struggles, including dyslexia. That’s why early, evidence-based support is essential. Whether your child is just beginning to read or has started falling behind, our structured literacy intervention targets the root of the issue, empowering learners with the tools they need to become confident, capable readers.

Our literacy instructors are trained through the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education (IMSE), a nationally recognized program grounded in the science of reading. IMSE training equips educators with evidence-based strategies to deliver structured literacy instruction that is both systematic and engaging, an essential approach for students who struggle with decoding, fluency, and comprehension.

"Up to 80% of children with speech and language impairments will experience reading difficulties."

— American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), 2020

Why Orton-Gillingham?

  • Many children struggle with reading not because they aren’t trying, but because they haven’t been taught in a way that matches how their brains process language. This is especially true for students with dyslexia, speech and language delays, or other language-based learning differences. The Orton-Gillingham (OG) approach is different from traditional reading tutoring because it's explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory—three elements research shows are essential for helping struggling readers succeed.

  • Unlike most classroom reading instruction or general tutoring programs, OG doesn’t assume kids will “just pick up” reading through exposure. Instead, it directly teaches the building blocks of reading in a step-by-step sequence, starting with sounds, then linking them to letters and patterns, and eventually moving into more complex rules of spelling, fluency, and comprehension.

    Students are taught how language works, not just what to memorize. This structured progression is especially important for students with dyslexia or those who struggle with decoding and spelling.

  • OG uses a multi-sensory approach to engage visual, auditory, and tactile/kinesthetic pathways all at once. That means students are not just seeing and saying letters, they’re also tracing, tapping, writing, or manipulating sounds and symbols. This reinforces learning by activating more parts of the brain and helps students retain and apply what they’ve learned.

    For example, when learning a new phoneme, a student might:

    • Say the sound aloud

    • Trace the letter with their finger while saying it

    • Build the word with tiles

    • Use visual cues to remember the spelling pattern

    These layered experiences help strengthen the connections between sounds, symbols, and meaning.

  • Orton-Gillingham isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” method. It’s diagnostic and responsive, meaning the instructor continually assesses what the student knows and adjusts the pace and instruction accordingly. This ensures no skill gaps are left behind and students master each concept before moving forward.

  • OG is especially effective for children with:

    Speech and language delays, which often impact phonological awareness (the ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words)

    Articulation challenges, which can make it harder to connect spoken sounds with written symbols

    Late language development, which research shows is a risk factor for future reading difficulties (Justice et al., 2005; Rvachew & Grawburg, 2006)

    Dyslexia or suspected learning differences, which require a structured, research-backed approach rather than generalized support

    The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) recognizes OG as a gold-standard intervention for struggling readers because it aligns with how the brain learns to decode, spell, and comprehend language (IDA, 2010).