Frequently Asked Questions

Student Services FAQs

  • 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.

  • Our Orton-Gillingham lessons are offered from September through June and group programs are offered in the summer and throughout the year. Our school term calendars are available from each of our locations, reflecting the schedule at each Reach centre.

  • School Term: Our centres have different hours depending on location. Please check the contact page for the hours of your closest Reach location. Our offices are closed on statutory holidays.

    Summer: Our centres are open weekly from Monday through Friday for morning programs and afternoon 1:1 sessions. Our centres may also be open for training during part of the summer. Please contact the Reach Centre nearest you to learn about their summer programs.

  • 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 information helpful as an overall guide when beginning the process: Dyslexia Canada

    Our current families may request additional support from our directors. Please contact your nearest centre for details.

  • Please send us an email, and we will be happy to provide testimonials from some of our past and current families.

  • If you have been referred to REACH or if you would like to register with REACH without a prior referral, call the centre nearest you to see if there are openings available. Once lesson times are 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.

  • Once a student is registered for one-to-one OG lessons, they will meet with one of our centre directors who will conduct one or more standardized tests to determine a baseline for your child’s reading and spelling abilities. Subsequent lessons will be with their Practitioner, who will conduct a Reach Orton-Gillingham diagnostic lesson to determine where your child is in the scope of sequence of language skills as taught by our team. From these base lines, our Practitioner and Student Services Director will determine where to best begin with your child, developing a unique course of action to help your child with their literacy skills.

  • Fees for sessions vary dependent on if the lessons are in a small group or 1 on 1, and on a scale depending on how many days per week and which days the lessons are scheduled. Fees are charged for school term lessons for scheduled hours during the school year, reports and case management, then prorated to equal payments and withdrawn monthly on pre-authorized debit, making the school fees predictable and easier to budget. Please call our centres for specific information based on availability to support your child.

  • Some of our families have been successful in receiving generous grants from Variety, the Variety the Children's Charity or from CKNW Kid's Fund. Other organizations in other communities have also supported families at Reach at the family's request. Sometimes, families participating in homeschooling or distance learning have been supported by some funding through their homeschool or DL group. Students who receive funding through the BC Autism Funding Unit are able to direct some of their AFU funds to REACH. Please contact your local centre to discuss regional programs to which we may direct families.

  • No, we do not charge GST for lessons at REACH because tutoring services are exempt from GST under Schedule V, Part III, s. 9. REACH provides services of tutoring or instructing an individual in a course that is either approved for credit by a 'school authority' or in a course that follows a curriculum designated by a 'school authority' which, in our students' cases, is in reading, writing, spelling (language arts) and/or maths.

  • Please note that we are not tax advisors and you must consult a professional tax advisor for support in applying for the Medical Expense Tax Credit (METC). If your child is diagnosed with a diagnosed learning disability by a qualified educational psychologist you can apply for the medical expense tax credit. There will be a DSM-V code on the psycho-educational assessment verifying if a learning disability was determined by the assessment. Families will need to submit a copy of the assessment, and may need to also ask your psychologist to fill out a T-2200 form, depending on the expenses claimed. Please consult with your tax professional to verify the required documents for your claim to CRA. The main expenses claimed by families with children with learning disabilities are: Tutoring services, Devices or software, Talking textbooks, Reading services, Note-taking services, Travel expense (to and from intervention lessons), and Certificates (Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate).

    The link to the CRA info on the medical expense tax credit: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individuals/topics/about-your-tax-return/tax-return/completing-a-tax-return/deductions-credits-expenses/lines-330-331-eligible-medical-expenses-you-claim-on-your-tax-return.html

  • We believe in open communication. Therefore, families will find that our centres are designed so that families can see or hear lessons from the waiting area as they are occurring. That said, we find that our students benefit most from their appointment hour with the least amount of distraction. We are also conscious of the private learning environment by students working in nearby proximity, and having a parent or other family member sit nearby may cause some performance anxiety by a learner, or compromise the privacy of another learner nearby. Therefore, we encourage parents to listen to lessons from our open parent waiting areas. If you would like a closer observation on a particular day, please connect with your centre Director prior to that lesson so that we can arrange a good observation point for you.

  • If your child is ill, they should not come to lessons 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 Practitioner. A student who is sick, has a family member affected with a transmittable illness, or has been in contact with an infected person or a person in quarantine, will not be allowed on site at any REACH centre. Absent students will be given the option of either accessing a make up lesson on one of our scheduled make up days per year, or accessing a Personalized Home Package (PHP).

  • Students who must remain off site for an extended time due to a covid related or other transmittable illness family situation can schedule available make up lessons and be provided a PHP for each additional lesson they will miss during their quarantine period.

  • We do not offer online OG lessons online as this goes against best teaching practices. Students, especially those with LDs, learn best in a live, face to face, intervention setting where the Practitioner can be completely responsive to the student’s learning needs. Multisensory teaching is a key element of instruction for students with dyslexia. Multisensory teaching engages multiple senses for the student to support their learning. Ideally, this would involve the senses of sight, hearing and touch or movement. This cannot be done via online lessons for the long term.

  • 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.

  • ++ 15-20% of the population are affected by 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.

  • While we are able to provide screening assessments and level B assessments, a full psycho-educational assessment must be conducted by an educational psychologist in Canada. We work with many local psychologists and may be able to help you with local contacts, or you can search for available psychologists through the BC Psychological Association. Please contact our office for details.

  • The Orton-Gillingham approach to teaching and remediation of a learning disability is scientifically sound, research-based and involves intensive training and practice. It is firmly supported that prescriptive, multisensory, research-based remedial teaching can not be "picked up" by simply reading a book or two on the subject. Our specialist practitioners complete our own intensive training program to deliver the Reach curriculum, developed by our founder who is a respected international Orton-Gillingham/MSL author and expert.

    Families come to REACH by referral from a psychologist or teacher, or when it is important to them to work with the most knowledgeable and experienced individuals to help with their child's learning difficulty. Following the Science of Reading, Reach students enjoy carefully individualized Orton-Gillingham lessons by our highly trained Reach Practitioners and supported by their Reach case manager to ensure a level of intervention unattainable by private practitioners or tutors.

Training Services FAQs

  • OG training courses offered through REACH have been subject to rigorous peer review by both the Canadian and American OG professional academies and our training meets or exceeds standards laid out in Canada and by international organizations. This accreditation is important as graduates who have completed coursework may want to work professionally as OG Practitioners or OG Classroom Educators and would need to be licensed or accredited to do so. While our OG Trainers can provide trainees information about seeking membership with international professional academies, one can also connect directly with the Orton-Gillingham Canada or "OGC", formerly named CATT OG, for Canadian professional accreditation.

  • The process for becoming an accredited Orton-Gillingham Practitioner aims to provide a strong foundation of understanding of current research and historical influences, as well as deep study of the mechanics of language followed by thorough practice in the OG MSL procedures and clinical practice.

    After ensuring that one is eligible to take OG training, an OGP applicant would complete: Foundations of MSLE, OG Practitioner training, followed by OGPractitioner Practicum. After successful completion of the practicum, the trainee would be eligible to apply to the Canadian OG Academy (OG Canada) for certification as an OG Practitioner-Interim and begin working in the field.

    Educational steps for becoming an OG Practitioner:

    ++ Foundations of MSL by certified trainers)

    ++ Orton-Gillingham Practitioner Basic coursework (may be offered in levels)

    ++ Supervised Practicum

  • No. A trainee must successfully complete Foundations-level and Basic level courses and a supervised practicum before they are ready to begin practice as an Orton-Gillingham Practitioner. After completion of training, a private service provider should also seek accreditation to ensure insurance policies and ongoing professional development is maintained.

  • Certified OG training may be eligible for grants or subsidies through your school, union office, or employer.

  • If you are not sure if your education meets the requirements necessary for OG training, contact our office and request a meeting to discuss your particular background and application.

    The following are some guidelines to consider:

    ++ Applicants for OG training must demonstrate a strong command of both spoken and written English.

    ++ Post-secondary education demonstrates a commitment to ongoing higher education, and completion of coursework requiring writing at a university level. Strong writing skills are also required, since an OG Practitioner will be required to write reports for parents and for the professionals who also support their students (teachers, speech pathologists, psychologists).

    ++ Other post-secondary coursework that emphasizes pedagogy, speech and language, psychology and special education is often also accepted as good preparation for the rigors of OG training.

    ++ The goal is to ensure that those beginning OG Practitioner training have a reasonable opportunity for success.

  • The REACH OG Practitioner practicum program is designed to support community-based intervention for the trainee in their home community and for their personal and professional educational benefit. To support remote practical applications, we have developed an online Practicum Companion Course to provide additional assignment explanations with video support, additional lesson review videos, a huge bank of lesson resources, and support for other aspects of practicum completion. Assignments will be completed via sharing of digital files online and with access to large file sharing folders on our Practicum Companion Course platform. Initial contact between the trainee and their Supervising Mentor is usually conducted through a telephone or online meeting (zoom or skype). Lessons conducted by the trainee will need to be held face to face with practicum students, digitally recorded, and sent to their Supervising Mentor immediately after each of the lessons are conducted, so use of a laptop with camera, high speed internet, a printer and scanner are necessary. As assignments and lessons are completed, the trainee will submit files to their assigned Supervising Mentor, who will then provide timely written feedback so that the trainees can incorporate the feedback into developing their subsequent lessons.

    Trainees should expect the practicum to take 4 - 12 months (maximum of 12 months) and include 50 - 100 hours of lessons with their practicum student held 2 - 3 lessons weekly.

  • Our professional community strives to stay current with best practices and research for language instruction. Therefore, refinements in training requirements are always being implemented and our Reach training team prides themselves on always ensuring we provide training that meets or exceeds standards laid out by international professional certifying bodies. The structure of Reach training courses incorporate current standards as detailed in the International Dyslexia Association document: Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading

  • The field of Orton-Gillingham/Multisensory Structured Language Education/Structured Literacy (OG/MSLE) has grown since its inception in the early 1920s. There are several professional bodies around the world who certify practitioners or training programs, although many of them are US based organizations. In Canada, Orton-Gillingham Canada (OG Canada) certifies OG Practitioners, Supervisors, Trainers and training programs and is the primary group to do so in Canada. Reach OG training is streamlined so that applicants can readily seek credentials with OG Canada after completion of our training courses. In the United States, AOGPE, CERI-IDA, IMSLEC and ALTA are the largest organizations to certify Practitioners and programs. Other groups, such as the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) in the UK and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) in the US, are recently adding to their mandates of disseminating research-based information about dyslexia and entering into the realm of also certifying Practitioners and programs for training educators. All groups have members in many countries. In short, there is no "one certifying body" that certifies all evidence-based instructional approaches such as Structured Literacy and the OG approach, but we encourage educators seeking OG/ Structured Literacy training to ensure that training providers are accredited by at least one of the organizations named above. Like many widely popular programs, applicants should be cautious of training providers who do not hold outside accredition or who accredit themselves and their own programs.

  • REACH prides itself on the high quality of Practitioners who teach within our centres. We accept applications from OG Practitioners who have graduated from only fully accredited Orton-Gillingham training programs, certified by our Canadian accrediting body, including our own training courses. Our OG Practitioners also must complete our own intensive training program to be ready to deliver our unique services. We do not hire OG Practitioner applicants who have taken abbreviated coursework or workshops, done only OG readings, or have taken training from a non-recognized program. To find out if another training course is accredited by OG Canada, contact them via: www.ogtutors.com

  • Since the Foundations course provides an overview of OG and MSLE education, reading and writing development, testing and progress monitoring for reading fluency, as well as teaching procedures for conducting phonemic awareness lessons in an OG environment, Foundations is a requirement for all applicants wishing to go on to either Practitioner or Classroom Educator coursework and may not be skipped.

  • While the Foundations coursework is not required for current or grand-mothered/grandfathered OG Practitioners, it is the position of REACH, the Canadian OG Academy and the feedback of graduates, that OG Practitioners who trained prior to the introduction of Foundataions coursework will benefit from the increased knowledge, current research and procedures studied in that level of training.

  • Are you an educator or OG Practitioner who has completed our training in the past but would like to update or revisit the curriculum to refresh your skills or update your credentials? As research continues to grow to enhance our understanding of how to best support our learners, so does our curriculum in each of our certificate level courses. Due to requests, we are now able to offer an official audit level of our training courses. If you are interested in auditing a course with which you have already completed, please email us for availability and to see if we can accommodate your request to join us again. Fees for auditing a Foundations, OGP or OGCE course will be 50% of the current course fee plus any requested publications.

  • The Classroom Educator course is designed to provide teachers with the procedures and resources to offer OG instruction to a classroom or group in a tier 1 or tier 2 setting (classroom or learning resource group). An OG Classroom Educator is not required to complete an additional supervised practicum (for Canadian accreditation) as in-class practice of skills is completed and the resources shared are designed to support group instruction. An OG Classroom Educator is not certified to provide 1:1 instruction in a tutorial or clinical environment. If your goal is to enhance your teaching practice in the classroom or learning assistance centre of your school, the CE course may be right for you. If your hope is to also be able to provide 1:1 tutorials in a private after-school or clinical environment, you may want to consider Practitioner training. Keep in mind that the procedures learned in OG Practitioner training are different than those provided in the CE course and may be time consuming and confusing to adapt to a group environment.

  • Withdrawals or course transfer requests will be accepted more than and up to two weeks prior to the enrolment date of our * asynchronous platform or the scheduled day of the first ** synchronous presentation with a 20% course withdrawal fee.

    Withdrawals or course transfer requests received less than two weeks prior to the enrolment date of our * asynchronous platform or the scheduled day of the first ** synchronous presentation will be accepted, less a 30% course withdrawal fee.

    *Courses with asynchronous content are deemed to begin when the online course content opens to trainees. Synchronous courses are deemed to begin on the first scheduled day of the first presentation.*

    **No withdrawals, transfers, or refunds will be issued once the online course content has been opened to trainees or your first scheduled day of the first presentation begins.**

    Applicants are required to ensure that they meet prerequisites for OGP or OGCE, including completion of Foundations coursework. Applicants rejected due to incomplete prerequisites will be processed as withdrawals.

  • Yes, your materials will be shipped to you for a fee which is automatically added to your total when checking out. If you are attending from outside of Canada, you may receive a follow up email with a new shipping total based on where you live. Materials will be shipped within Canada about 3 weeks prior to the course live dates. Please allow more time for international shipping.

  • Receipts can be accessed here: https://reachcentre.account.webconnex.com

    Go to this link and "Claim Your Account". Once claimed with the email address you used to sign up for training, you can access all of your prior course receipts through Reach.

    Please note that we do not issue T2202s as we are not a federally registered university in the traditional sense, and our training programs are generally outside of the time scope required.