Q: How is speech and language development related to literacy?
A: Strong oral language abilities, including vocabulary knowledge and phonological awareness, are considered building blocks for future reading comprehension success. Receptive and expressive language pertain to skills pertinent for listening comprehension and oral expression growth. These skills are considered the foundational framework for the development of later language abilities such as reading, spelling, and writing.
Q: What components of language are integral to reading success?
A: Successful readers demonstrate skills with: phonemic and phonological awareness, semantic and morphological knowledge, vocabulary, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. In short, phonology and expressive/receptive language skills are integral to reading success.
Q: What is the “Orton-Gillingham” approach to reading?
A: The Orton-Gillingham program is a systematic and direct approach specifically designed to help struggling readers learn the connection between letters and sounds. This approach is designed to help individuals master language skills to improve literacy fluency, along with reading and listening comprehension.
Q: Does this approach only benefit individuals with Dyslexia?
A: Although this program has been proven effective for dyslexic individuals, the multi-sensory and phonological approach to learning is beneficial for anyone struggling with sound-to-letter correspondence, blending of sounds, and comprehension of information presented through oral or written expression.
Q: What does the summer curriculum entail?
A: Two different groups will be available to join, dependent on the areas of difficulty presented by each individual. One group will focus on learning the basic phonological skills and concepts related to early literacy and language development (i.e., vowel discrimination, syllabic concepts, auditory discrimination techniques, and phonological blending of letters), whereas the second group will concentrate on secondary receptive and expressive language skills pertinent for comprehension, segmentation of sounds within multisyllabic words, and learning affixes.
Q: Can parents sit in on sessions?
A: No, parents cannot sit in on sessions due to HIPAA (privacy) laws. However, the program includes an individual child/parent 30-minute individual session with the SLP after the program’s final group session to discuss progress and experience.
Q: How long are the group sessions?
A: Each session is one hour in length.
Q: Which SHA location are the groups taking place?
A: The group sessions that are held “in-person” will be conducted at the Metuchen office. Other group sessions will be held virtually.
Q: If COVID-19 is still affecting in-office services and groups what will happen to the program?
A: The group sessions that are held “in-person” will be conducted at the Metuchen office. Other group sessions will be held virtually. The program may be modified due to COVID-19 restrictions.