Winton Woods Primary South Principal Linda Giuliano was honored by the Ohio Valley Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (OVB/IDA) at their fall conference on October 11 for her work in advancing Orton-Gillingham (OG) training in her school.

The Orton-Gillingham Multisensory Method was developed in the 1930s as a way to teach people with dyslexia to read. Since people with dyslexia learn best by involving all their senses, the teaching method is visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic.

Giuliano said that over the last few years, she has seen impressive results from OG instruction in her school. The success story began with an incoming student who was severely dyslexic and unable to read. The boy had moved to Cincinnati from another state and had had two years of both kindergarten and first grade. Yet, said Giuliano, all the child recognized were four letters—none of them in his name.

With the help of Leanna Paxson, a teacher at Winton Woods Primary South who was trained in Orton-Gillingham, and Star Mierenfeld, an Orton-Gillingham Master Teacher who was assigned to the school as a tutor, the student was able to read the words in a pre-primer book after just four weeks.  Giuliano said she returned to her office in tears after seeing what the student had accomplished. “If we can teach this child to read, we can teach anyone,” she said. 

Since that time several teachers at Winton Woods Primary South have received OG training. Even the school’s spelling curriculum is based on the OG idea of phonemes, or “word patterns,” as Giuliano calls them. The district did away with students memorizing spelling words and instead gave them a new way to learn.

“We use phonemes like the vowel team ‘ee,’” said Giuliano. “All the words that fit that “ee” pattern—meet, tree, bee, as well as other words that were previously taught—are fair game on a spelling test.” Instead of memorizing unrelated words, Giuliano said this method empowers students to be better readers and spellers.

Giuliano said the biggest challenge has been how to do OG in groups of children, but added that some of her teachers are well on their way to perfecting this skill. “I want every child to have these strategies,” said Giuliano. “OG is giving kids a tool belt. Just pull out a tool, and you’ll be able to read!” 

Giuliano will receive a one-year free membership to the IDA and a citation from the International Dyslexia Association.