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Frequently Asked Questions

Do you follow the school term calendar?

    Our Orton-Gillingham lessons are offered from September through June and group programs are offered throughout the year. Click here to see the exact dates we are open for the 2010 - 2011 school year.

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What are your hours?

    Our center is open from approximately 10:00am until about 7:30pm Monday through Thursdays. We are open from approximately 10:00am until about 5:00pm on Fridays, and from 8:45am until about 3pm on Saturdays. We are closed on Sundays and statutory holidays.

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The school support team is preparing an IEP for my child. I'm confused about this process. Can you help?

    An Individualized Education Plan is an important tool for the school team of many of our students who struggle with learning. Parents may find the following website helpful as an overall guide when beginning the process:  http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/specialed/iepssn.htm

    Our current families may request additional support from our directors. Please contact us for details.

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Can you provide references from families you've helped in the past?

    We are pleased to be able to provide testimonials from some of our past and current families. Please click here to go to our testimonials page.

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How do I set up tutoring lessons?

    If you have been referred to REACH or if you would like to register with REACH without a prior referral, call our center to see if there are openings available. Once a tutoring time is available, an appointment is made to discuss the particular needs of your child and review any previous assessments that may have been conducted and ensure that REACH will be a good fit for your child.

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What happens after I register for tutoring?

    Once a child is registered for one-to-one OG tutoring, they will meet with one of our directors who will conduct a standardized test to determine a baseline for your child’s reading and spelling abilities. The following lesson will be with their tutor, who will conduct an Orton-Gillingham diagnostic lesson to determine where your child is in the scope of sequence of language skills as taught by an OG practitioner. From these base lines, the tutor and the director will determine where to best begin with your child, developing a course of action to help your child with their literacy skills.

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How much does it cost for one-to-one lessons?

    Please call our North Vancouver centre at 604.987.6760 or our Langley centre at 604.888.8831 for details about our one-to-one lessons.

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Can I sit with my child while they're doing their lesson?

    We find that our students benefit most from their tutoring hour with the least amount of distraction. Since having a parent or other family member sit nearby may cause some performance anxiety, we encourage parents to listen to lessons from our open parent waiting area.

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What happens if my child is sick on their lesson day?

    If your child is ill, they should not come to tutoring as they will not be able to fully absorb the content of their lesson, while risking both their own health along with the health of their tutor. We are happy to provide three make up days each year that you may take advantage of. To take advantage of these make up lessons, simply call our centre. Please see our current school year calendar for our upcoming make up days.

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What is Orton-Gillingham?

    The term “Orton-Gillingham”, or “O-G”, refers to an approach to teaching, rather than a set program. The Orton-Gillingham Approach grew out of the work of Dr. Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948) and Anna Gillingham (1878-1963). Dr. Orton, a professor of neuropsychiatry and neuropathology at the Neurological Institute of Columbia University, was a pioneer in focusing attention on language differences by bringing together neuropsychiatric information and principles of remediation. As early as 1925, he had identified the syndrome of developmental reading disability, separated it from mental defect and brain damage, and offered a physiological explanation with a favorable prognosis. Anna Gillingham was a gifted educator and psychologist who worked with Dr. Orton. Ms. Gillingham trained teachers in this remedial approach to teaching students with dyslexia and compiled and published instructional materials with Bessie W. Stillman. The Orton-Gillingham approach, first introduced in the 1920’s, is still widely in use today across Canada, USA and other countries.

    Specifically, letters which represent the single sounds of familiar speech are presented to the student, then immediately synthesized into words that carry meaning. By introducing the letters simultaneously through hearing, seeing, and feeling, the student's weaknesses are lessened by integrating all of his learning pathways. This multisensory approach helps to ensure automatic memory which is so difficult for those who lack natural facility in language learning. Progress is made by going from the simple to the more complex tasks, building in much reinforcement, and proceeding as fast as possible but as slowly as necessary to master the basic elements. Careful pacing, structured but not programmed procedures, and a sequential presentation combining reading, writing, and spelling will help the student succeed.

    The structure of the approach often helps to organize the student's general way of learning and working. Its logic helps him where his memory fails and when he encounters unknown words. Its step-by-step progression leads to a sense of mastery and competence.

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What is dyslexia?

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Is the Orton-Gillingham approach only for students with dyslexia?

    Although the approach was developed for students with dyslexia, it is highly effective for students with other language-based learning difficulties and for students who are simply struggling to read or spell.  Since our OG lessons are conducted on a one-on-one tutoring environment, each student’s lesson has been specifically developed for him or her. The child’s specific needs with phonetic spelling and reading, sight word spelling and reading, alphabet sequencing, general sequencing, reading fluency, comprehension, and writing skills are each individually addressed in each lesson. Because our tutors carefully plan each student’s daily lessons, rather than applying a set curriculum, we can individualize each lesson for each student.

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Are Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) learning disabilities?


    ADD and ADHD are behavioral disorders. Many students with attention difficulties also struggle with learning due to "missing" the information when it was taught to them.
    An individual can have more than one learning or behavioral disability. In various studies as many as 50% of those diagnosed with a learning or reading difference have also been diagnosed with ADHD. 
    Although disabilities may co-occur, one is not the cause of the other.

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How common are language-based learning disabilities?

  • 15-20% of the population have a language-based learning disability.
  • Of the students with specific learning disabilities receiving special education services, 70-80% have deficits in reading.
  • Dyslexia is the most common cause of reading, writing and spelling difficulties.
  • Dyslexia affects males and females nearly equally, and people from different ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds as well.

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Can individuals who are dyslexic learn to read?

  • Yes, if children who are dyslexic get effective phonological training in Kindergarten and 1st grade, they will have significantly fewer problems in learning to read at grade level than do children who are not identified or helped until 3rd grade.
  • 74% of the children who are poor readers in 3rd grade remain poor readers in the 9th grade. Often they continue to struggle with reading into adulthood.
  • It is never too late for individuals with dyslexia to learn to read, process, and express information more efficiently. Research shows that programs utilizing multisensory structured language techniques can help children and adults learn to read.

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How do people get dyslexia?

The causes for dyslexia are neurobiological and genetic. Individuals inherit the genetic links for dyslexia.  Research shows differences in how the brain of a person with dyslexia develops and processes language. Dyslexia is not caused by lack of motivation, lack of intelligence, nor parenting styles.

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Is there a cure for dyslexia?

  • No, dyslexia is not a disease. There is no cure.
  • With proper diagnosis, appropriate multisensory structured instruction, hard work and support from family, teachers, friends, and others, individuals who are dyslexic can succeed in school and later in life.

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How do I know if my child has dyslexia or a learning difficulty?

Dyslexia or other learning difficulties can only be diagnosed by an educational psychologist after a series of standardized assessments have taken place. If you are seeking an assessment to help in understanding your child’s learning abilities, we are happy to offer some guidance in seeking a practitioner who can help you with this.

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Will you diagnose my child for dyslexia?

We are privileged to be affiliated with Dr. Gavin Reid, who is a world-renowned expert in dyslexia and learning styles. When Dr. Reid is in the country, he is willing to conduct a limited number of assessments. Please contact our office for details.

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    Sources:

  • Basic Facts about Dyslexia: What Every Layperson Ought to Know - Copyright 1993, 2nd ed. 1998. The International Dyslexia Association, Baltimore, MD.
  • Learning Disabilities: Information, Strategies, Resources - Copyright 2000. Coordinated Campaign for Learning Disabilities, a collaboration of the leading U.S. non-profit learning disabilities organization. Used with permission.
  • Research studies sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
More FAQ's to come!
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