Phonological Disorders
Phonology refers to patterns of speech production. If your child is very difficult to understand and has trouble producing a wide variety of sounds, they may need assistance with their phonology skills.
Some examples include:
- if your child drops the last sound in all their words (‘ball’ à ‘ba-‘ ; ‘orange’ à ‘oran’)
- if your child produces ‘front’ sounds (t, d) in the back (dog à gog, toe à goe).
Errors like these suggest that the entire system of sounds requires therapy to improve patterns.
What is the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a language-based, direct, multi-sensory, and diagnostic way to teach reading and comprehension skills. This phonics-based reading program teaches the basics of word formation before the words themselves, directly involving all of the components of language: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
Is the Orton-Gillingham Approach Right for My Child?
If your child experiences any of the following, the Orton-Gillingham Approach may be a good fit:
- Does your child struggle with reading, writing, and spelling?
- Does your child have confidence when reading?
- Does your child have difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words?
- Does your child have trouble understanding what s/he read?
- Does your child have a diagnosis of dyslexia?
How Will My Child Benefit From the Orton-Gillingham Approach?
By combining the training and experience of an American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certified, New Jersey licensed speech language pathologist with the Orton-Gillingham approach, individuals with weaknesses in the areas of phonological awareness, phonological processing, vocabulary, morphology, reading comprehension, and expression through writing, can be helped.
Literacy Program FAQsHow Do I Get Started?
First, contact us to discuss your child’s history and the situations she/he is struggling with. We will determine if the Orton-Gillingham Approach is appropriate and will then schedule an evaluation with a speech-language pathologist.
During the evaluation, the speech-language pathologist will assess your child’s present knowledge of phonemic discrimination. The results of the evaluation will help the speech-language pathologist to effectively establish a baseline or proper remedial for language and literacy growth.
Services are available as individual 30 minute sessions or 60 minute groups. Participation in a group is determined by the speech-language pathologist’s assessment of placement needs.
After school, evening, and weekend appointments are available!
Literacy Group InformationCall Speech & Hearing Associates at (800) 742-7551 for more information or to schedule an appointment.