Both NILD and Orton-Gillingham have a rich history of success in helping students overcome learning struggles. In the 1930s, neuropsychiatrist and pathologist Dr. Samuel T. Orton and educator and psychologist Anna Gillingham developed the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction for students with “word-blindness,” which would later become dyslexia. Their approach combined direct, multi-sensory teaching strategies paired with systematic, sequential lessons focused on phonics. According to the Orton-Gillingham Academy, the process involves listening to and speaking the sounds and names of letters while writing them.
The National Institute for Learning Development (NILD) began in the 1960s with nurse educator Deborah Zimmerman‘s techniques for learning disabilities, leading to its formal founding as the Norfolk Institute for Learning Disabilities (NILD) in 1982 by Grace Mutzabaugh, who promised to dedicate her life to helping struggling learners after God showed her Zimmerman’s effective methods. NILD trains educators to use its unique “Educational Therapy” to target cognitive, perceptual, and emotional skills, not just symptoms, empowering students to learn effectively while becoming independent learners. One of these techniques is called Mediated Learning. A core principle where therapists use interactive questioning and feedback to guide students, helping them develop higher-order processing skills and independent thinking.
What all of this means is that NILD is a holistic approach aimed at strengthening the underlying cognitive functions necessary for learning. The NILD program is also recognized by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) for meeting IDA’s knowledge and practice standards. NILD Educational Therapy aims to change how a person thinks, fostering deep-seated cognitive skills (thinking, reasoning, memory) and perceptual processing.
Both NILD and Orton-Gillingham (OG) use what is called a key word approach. They are both recognized by the IDA, with one important exception. NILD therapists are automatically eligible for IDA certification, whereas OG requires a professional review process to be certified by IDA. The following chart provides further comparison.
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Orton-Gillingham |
NILD Educational Therapy |
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|
Primary Focus |
Foundational reading (decoding/encoding) and spelling. |
Cognitive skills (e.g., memory, reasoning) and general academic performance. |
|
Instruction Style |
Highly structured, sequential, multi-sensory, and rule-based. |
Diagnostic and prescriptive, using a variety of techniques that include OG principles but are broader in scope. |
|
Pace of Progress |
Thorough, which can sometimes mean slower progress, as mastery is required before moving on. |
May show more dramatic gains in some cognitive areas like fluid reasoning. |
|
Research |
An extensive body of research supports the principles of the approach for dyslexia. https://www.ortonacademy.org |
Independent research is less robust compared to the volume of studies on OG principles, but specific comparison studies exist. http://www.NILD.org |
Key Differences & Other Considerations:
- Content: OG is effective for reading skills; NILD is designed for reading plus cognitive functions, math, and executive functioning.
- Flexibility vs. Structure: OG is a framework; NILD is a therapy that uses OG within a highly individualized plan.
- Effectiveness: Both can be highly effective, but the person delivering the instruction and the student’s unique learning profile are often more important than the program itself.
In conclusion, the approach or program a parent chooses should be based on the child’s specific needs (e.g., does he need just phonics, or underlying cognitive support?) The answer to this question will determine the highly skilled, well-trained practitioner to be sought out.