History

Two of the leading specialists in dyslexia have stated that “adequate training (such as the Riverside School Teacher Training Program) above and beyond undergraduate and graduate degrees is necessary for those who teach children with dyslexia; otherwise, the outcomes for the children have been found to be negative: they fail to progress or even lose ground.”

Two educators from Riverside School understood the need for, and the value of, providing adequate training for the school’s teaching staff. Founder Patricia W. DeOrio and Ruth Harris, University of Richmond faculty member, Riverside consultant and formerly associated with Massachusetts General Hospital, created and developed the Riverside School Teacher Training Program in the mid-1970s. This program, which is the fundamental underpinning of a Riverside education, centers on the Orton-Gillingham Approach, a proven method for teaching and providing remediation for children with dyslexia.

More than 70 years ago, Samuel T. Orton, M.D., identified dyslexia as a neurologically based difficulty with language, treatable by multisensory, structured language education. He initiated the clinical method (Orton-Gillingham Approach) for the training and supervision of academic therapists to treat this problem. His findings and approach have been validated by research supported by the NIH-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Accreditation of Program

The Riverside School Teacher Training Program has an accreditation by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, an internationally recognized organization that is incorporated under the Board of Regents in New York state. The academy establishes and maintains standards for educators and practitioners of the Orton-Gillingham Approach in the United States.

The Program

Impact of Program