Academic and Cognitive Remediation for Students With Learning Disabilities: A Comparison Between Orton Gillingham and NILD Educational Therapy

Abstract

This study compared the effectiveness of Orton Gillingham (OG) tutoring and National Institute for Learning Development Educational Therapy (NILD). A randomized controlled trial using 27 participants determined whether academic and cognitive outcomes differed between the groups over a 9-month period. Participants had designated learning disabilities (LD) in reading (RD), written expression (WD), and/or math (MD), and received 64 hours of one-to-one remediation. Pre and post measures were conducted using WJ IV Cognitive and WJ IV Achievement assessments. Results indicated that the standard score median increased in both groups for Fluid Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and Word Attack with Fluid Reasoning and Reading Comprehension increasing more dramatically for the NILD group and Word Attack increasing more dramatically for the OG group. Outcomes are congruent with the instructional focus of each approach thus supporting the efficacy of both approaches which currently lack robust empirical evidence. This preliminary research provides important contributions for researchers and practitioners considering interdisciplinary remedial options for students with LD.