What is Multisensory Education?
Multisensory education is an instructional approach that engages two or more senses simultaneously to
enhance learning and memory. It combines visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), kinesthetic (moving), and
tactile (touching) activities to help students absorb and retain information more effectively. This method
supports a wide range of learning styles and is especially useful for students with learning differences, such
as dyslexia or ADHD, by providing multiple pathways for understanding. By involving the whole body and
mind in the learning process, multisensory education makes abstract concepts more concrete and improves
focus, engagement, and long-term retention.
The Orton-Gillingham Approach
Orton-Gillingham was among the first teaching approaches designed to help struggling readers by explicitly teaching the connections between letters and sounds. In the 1930s, neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator, psychologist Anna Gillingham developed the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction for students with “word-blindness,” which would later become known as dyslexia. Their approach combined direct, multi-sensory teaching strategies paired with systematic, sequential lessons focused on phonics.
Orton-Gillingham is a highly structured approach that breaks reading and spelling down into smaller skills involving letters and sounds and then builds on these skills over time. It was the first approach to use explicit, direct, sequential, systematic, multi-sensory instruction to teach reading, which is effective for all students and essential for teaching students with dyslexia.
Orton-Gillingham and Dyslexia
Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the fundamental philosophies of Orton-Gillingham were developed by Dr. Samuel Orton and educator Anna Gillingham. They believed that students with strephosymbolia (twisted symbols), what we now call Dyslexia, needed a multisensory approach to their literacy education that included the use of auditory, visual, and kinesthetic channels. A multi-sensory approach means students are learning language by ear (listening), mouth (speaking), eyes (seeing), and hand (writing). The process involves listening to sounds and saying the sounds and names of letters while writing them.
Multisensory Math Teaching
Using multisensory strategies for teaching math engages students through visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and
tactile experiences, helping them build deeper conceptual understanding. By incorporating tools like
manipulatives, diagrams, songs, movement, and hands-on activities, educators can make abstract concepts
more concrete and accessible. These approaches support diverse learning styles and can be especially
beneficial for students with learning differences, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia. Multisensory instruction also
promotes active participation and can improve retention by linking new math skills to multiple sensory
pathways in the brain.