Orton Gillingham Approach and Its Effect on Students with Dyslexia By: Sarah Abadi

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM According to the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) (2015) “Dyslexia is a neurologically-based, often familial, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions, but may occur together with these conditions. Although dyslexia is lifelong, individuals with dyslexia frequently respond successfully to timely and appropriate intervention” (¶4).

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS Using the Orton Gillingham Approach five times a week for 55 minutes over a 6-week period will increase the encoding and decoding skills of two students with dyslexia at a private school in Brooklyn, New York as measured by the Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) Proficiency Test(s).

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The experimental design that will be used is an AB single-subject design, which is a quasi-experimental design. Both students will be pre-tested (O), exposed to the intervention (X), and post-tested (O). The symbolic design is as follows: O X1 O, O X2 O

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The baseline (A) will be students not receiving the intervention. Students reading levels will be measured using a pre-test and a post- test. After their reading levels have been established, the students will receive the intervention (B), which will be using the Orton Gillingham Approach five times a week for 55 minutes over a 6-week period in order to increase their reading fluency. The Orton Gillingham approach measure whether this improved their encoding and decoding skills, a post-test will be administered, also known as Preventing Academic Failure (PAF) Proficiency Test. The independent variable is the Orton Gilligham Approach and the dependent variable is the PAF proficiency tests.

THREATS Internal Validity Threats History Maturation Testing Instrumentation Selection Mortality Selection-maturation interaction. External Validity Threats ecological validity generalizable conditions pre-test treatment selection-treatment interaction specificity of variables multiple treatments.

PRE AND POST TEST RESULTS This graph demonstrates pre and post - test results of the students who participated in this research. According to the graph, students scores improved after the six week treatment. Pre –Test Mean: 69.5 Post -Test Mean: 82.5

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS RESULTS: SELF ATTITUDE RATING SCALE: When asked questions in terms of enjoying reading independently, both students strongly disagreed. Both students strongly agreed that they like being read to. Both students are aware that they struggle reading and will refrain from reading aloud in class. Although, when asked if reading is important, one student strongly agreed, while the other strongly disagreed. Based on the Survey, I concluded that students with dyslexia do not enjoy reading but much rather enjoy being read to, because of their inability to comprehend and enjoy the text properly. The inability to encode and decode is a big factor in their opinion.

Based on the AB analysis, The Orton Gillingham Approach was beneficial to the students as both their scores increased once the intervention took place. CONCLUSION