Active Listening
Renee Garvin
July 16, 2025
There’s a fast-food restaurant not far from where we live. On nights when we were too tired or got home too late to cook, my
A Legacy of Excellence: Yoshimoto Orton-Gillingham Language Approach
Speech Pathology Tasmania’s Orton-Gillingham Language Approach uses the Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham Approach, which was developed by Ron Yoshimoto.
The Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham Approach is a long name and a bit of a mouthful to say! So what does it mean and who are Yoshimoto, Orton, and Gillingham?
Who were Orton and Gillingham?
The Orton-Gillingham Language Approach is named after its founders Samuel Torrey Orton and Anna Gillingham.
Dr Orton (1879–1948) was a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist who pioneered the study of learning difficulties. In particular he studied the causes and treatment of dyslexia.
Anna Gillingham (1878–1963) was a gifted educator and America’s first school psychologist. She had a superb mastery of language. The daughter of two teachers, she was homeschooled and went on to earn two Bachelor of Arts Degrees and a Masters in Teaching.
In the 1930s, with Dr Orton’s encouragement, Ms Gillingham compiled and published training materials for teachers on reading instruction. Her work provided the foundation for student instruction and teacher training in what became known as the Orton-Gillingham Approach. First published in 1936, and updated and republished regularly, her work is still the basis of the Orton Gillingham manual used today.
The Orton-Gillingham (OG) Approach mostly focusses on reading, spelling and writing difficulties, but has also been adapted for teaching maths.
Who is Ron Yoshimoto?
Ronald Yoshimoto is a master trainer in the Orton-Gillingham Approach. He wrote the courses and created the training materials that we use to teach the OG Language Approach.
Ron has more than 30 years’ experience working with people living with dyslexia, and training people in the essentials of literacy. Based in Hawaii, he has trained thousands of educators, parents, and speech and language pathologists, in the USA, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia.
Ron is one of the two founders and directors of Orton-Gillingham International based in Denver. He’s also the current president of the Dyslexia and Orton-Gillingham Institute in Hawaii.
He is the former vice-president of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators in the USA, and has also been president of the Hawaii Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).
Ron is also the director of the MSL Centres in Singapore and Hong Kong. He co-founded the centres in 2007 to provide educational therapy for children and adults with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. (MSL stands for Multisensory Systematic Literacy).
Ron began his career as an elementary school teacher, then moved into social work. He spent seven years learning and gaining experience with the Department of Social Services in Hawaii before returning to the education sector in 1988. Ron’s vast experience working in both public and private schools includes roles as an educational diagnostician (doing assessments), teacher trainer, summer school coordinator, and 18 years as the Principal of a school for dyslexic and gifted students.
He has also been a consultant to public schools and numerous organisations in the USA and abroad.
Ron’s qualifications include Masters Degrees in Elementary Education and Social Work from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu.
For the past 17 years Ron has specialised in literacy training, developing and delivering the Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham methodology for training educators in various educational settings. This includes the Orton-Gillingham Language Approach for reading instruction, multisensory math instruction, and adaptations for English Language Learners (similar to our English as a Second Language).
Why is it the Yoshimoto Orton Gillingham Approach?
Ron has developed the OG Approach into the acclaimed and effective method of teaching reading instruction that we use today. It is time-tested and proven to work.
The OG Approach was originally designed to be implemented as a one-on-one intervention for students with dyslexia. The Yoshimoto OG Approach builds on that, creating a solid data-driven method for teaching all students to read, write and spell. It takes the OG method and applies it to a classroom, small group and/or individual setting. This method means we can meet the needs of all students while students with dyslexia and those who struggle with reading can thrive.
The training is designed for classroom teachers, tutors, reading specialists, special education teachers and parents who want to teach students experiencing challenges with reading, writing and spelling.
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Speech Pathology Tasmania acknowledges the traditional owners of country and their continuing connection to land, sea and community throughout lutruwita (Tasmania) and Australia. We give our respect to the muwinina people upon whose land our offices stand.
