There is a specific, heavy silence that settles over kitchen tables in Sacramento. It usually happens around 7:00 PM, when the dinner plates are cleared, and the backpacks are unzipped. It is the silence that follows the third time you have explained a math problem, or the fourth time you have helped sound out the same simple word. Then, it happens. Your child, your bright, funny, articulate child, looks up at you.

They aren’t angry. They are defeated. Their eyes well up, not with defiance, but with a crushing exhaustion.

They aren’t being difficult. They aren’t “checking out.” They are running a mental marathon every single day, and no one else seems to see how heavy their shoes are.

I know that silence. I know that look. As a mother to five neurodiverse sons, I have sat in that exact chair. I have felt the weight of my child’s frustration press against my own chest until I wanted to cry right along with them. In those desperate, quiet moments, you don’t care about school ratings or glossy brochures or “academic excellence.” You just want to know why. Why is my brilliant child drowning in shallow water? Why are they working twice as hard to get half as far?

The answer is not that they can’t learn. It is that traditional education asks them to contort their thinking to fit a curriculum that wasn’t built for them. At READ Academy, we operate on a different truth: we must change the instruction to fit the child.

To do this, we utilize Multisensory Structured Learning (MSL). You may have discovered terms like Orton-Gillingham, Barton, or Making Math Real in late-night Google searches. But to truly advocate for your child, you need to understand more than the names. You need to understand the mechanics of why they work when nothing else has.

The Foundation: Orton-Gillingham (OG)

Not a Curriculum, But a Methodology

It is a common misconception that Orton-Gillingham is a specific textbook or software you can buy. It is not. Orton-Gillingham is an instructional approach and a philosophy of teaching based on the work of neurologist Dr. Samuel Orton and educator Anna Gillingham.

For a non-dyslexic learner, reading often happens through “whole language” exposure. They see the word “house” enough times, and their brain snaps a picture of it. For a dyslexic learner, that “camera” doesn’t work the same way. The language feels chaotic, arbitrary, and slippery.

OG is the science of breaking down that chaos. It respects the dyslexic mind by admitting that English is complex, but it is also logical.

The Neuroscience of the “Multisensory Triangle”

Why do we insist on “multisensory” instruction? It isn’t just to make learning “fun.” It is based on neuroplasticity.

In a neurotypical brain, the pathways for reading (connecting visual letters to auditory sounds) are efficient. In a dyslexic brain, those highways are often blocked or inefficient. To bypass those blockages, we have to build new neural pathways. We do this by engaging three senses simultaneously:

1. Visual: The student sees the letter or grapheme.
2. Auditory: The student hears the sound associated with it.
3. Kinesthetic/Tactile: The student feels the shape of the letter as they write it or trace it in sand, or taps the sound out on their fingers.

When we fire all three of these neurons simultaneously, we create a stronger “memory trace.” We are literally physically wiring the brain to read.

Explicit, Systematic, and Cumulative

At READ Academy, we do not assume your child knows anything unless we have taught it.

• Explicit: We teach the rule directly. We don’t ask, “What do you think this word says?” We say, “This is ‘ph’. It makes the /f/ sound. Let’s practice it.”
• Systematic: We follow a logical order. We don’t teach complex vowel teams before a child has mastered short vowels.
• Cumulative: Everything we teach builds on what came before. We constantly review. A child never has to “dump” old information to make room for new. The new information is anchored to the old.

The Roadmap: Wilson Reading System

Why Structure Matters

If Orton-Gillingham is the philosophy, the Wilson Reading System is one of the most rigorous, research-validated applications of that philosophy available.

Why do we use Wilson? Because pure OG can vary depending on the teacher. Wilson removes the variability. It is a complete, systematic roadmap. For a dyslexic child who feels unsafe in school because they never know what will be asked of them, Wilson provides a profound sense of security.

The Scope and Sequence

Wilson is organized into 12 steps across three blocks, and each step builds a specific layer of literacy.

• Steps 1-2: Phonemic awareness and basic sound-symbol correspondence. Before we move forward, can the child hear the difference between sounds? Can they segment and blend? This is the step most schools skip, and it’s the step where most dyslexic students fail. We stay here until they master it.
• Steps 3-6: Closed syllables, vowel-consonant-e, and open syllables. We build the code systematically, one syllable type at a time.
• Steps 7-12: Consonant-le, r-controlled vowels, vowel teams, and multisyllabic words. By the end, students decode the complex Latin and Greek roots that comprise high-school-level vocabulary.

Removing the Guesswork

The beauty of Wilson for our Sacramento families is the transparency. You never have to wonder, “Is my child catching up?” The system is mastery-based: they have mastered the step, or they need more practice. There is no “sort of.”

This protects the child’s self-esteem. They are never pushed to a level they aren’t ready for. They learn that they can succeed if they follow the steps. It shifts the narrative to build confidence and helps to overcome feelings of inadequacy.

Making Math Real: The Multisensory Approach to Math for Dyslexic Learners

Most people think dyslexia only affects reading. But the same processing differences that make decoding words difficult also affect how children process mathematical symbols and sequences.

A child looks at 7 × 8 = 56 on the board. To most kids, that’s a straightforward equation. To a dyslexic child, those symbols can appear disconnected – the 7 might reverse, the multiplication sign holds no inherent meaning, and the relationship between the numbers isn’t intuitive. They struggle with directionality, reading 13 as 31. They lose track of sequential steps in long division.

Whe groupingn schools respond by drilling multiplication tables harder, they’re asking these children to memorize what feels like arbitrary data. The method itself is the problem.

How Making Math Real Works

We follow a developmental progression called Concrete-Representational-Abstract – the same structured, multisensory principles that make Orton-Gillingham effective for reading.

Concrete: Students don’t write numbers until they’ve built them. Addition means physically moving blocks, counters, holding the math in their hands. This grounds abstract concepts in physical reality.

Representational: Once they understand the weight of what numbers mean, we move to pictures – drawings, tallies, visual groups they can see and reference.

Abstract: Only after mastery of the first two stages do we introduce written numerals. By then, 5 + 5 connects to real experience, not arbitrary symbols.

We care less about instant recall and more about whether a child understands what multiplication actually is. When they grasp that it’s grouping – fast addition – they have a tool they can use forever. They can reconstruct answers because they understand the logic, not because they’ve memorized a fact that might fail them under pressure.

“Dyslexia is not a discrepancy of intelligence; it is a discrepancy of access. At READ Academy, we do not ask the child to try harder in a system designed for a different brain. We change the instruction to fit the child. We aren’t just teaching methods; we are handing them the keys to becoming lifelong learners.” — Leah Skinner, M.Ed., Founder, READ Academy

Why Your Dyslexic Child Needs This Specific Combination

You might be looking at the results of a comprehensive Sacramento dyslexia assessment and wondering where to turn next. You might find a tutor in Roseville who does OG. You might find a math specialist in Elk Grove. But at READ Academy, we integrate these systems into a singular, cohesive ecosystem.

When a child spends their day in an environment where every teacher speaks this language, where the history teacher understands what the student is doing in reading, and the science teacher uses MMR strategies, the anxiety vanishes. They stop burning 90% of their energy just trying to decode the room. They can finally use that energy to learn.

A Connection, Not a Correction

When we talk about these methods, we aren’t talking about “fixing” your child. Your child is not broken. They have a neurological difference that is often accompanied by gifts of creativity, empathy, and big-picture thinking.

Using OG, Wilson, and MMR is our way of saying, “We see you. We respect your intellect enough to teach you the way you learn.”

If you are seeing that exhaustion at your kitchen table, if you are tired of the silence and the tears, please know that there is a solution. It isn’t magic. It is rigorous, evidence-based, multisensory instruction. And it is right here in Sacramento.

Let us help you turn that silence into the sound of pages turning and problems being solved.

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About the Author: Leah Skinner, M.Ed.

Leah Skinner, M.Ed., is the Founder of Read Academy and a Certified Dyslexia Therapist with over 25 years of experience. She holds a Master of Education: Dyslexia Specialist degree and is a Doctoral Candidate in Reading, Literacy, and Assessment. As a mother of five neurodiverse sons, Leah understands the challenges families face and is dedicated to empowering students through personalized, evidence-based tutoring. Her expertise and passion guide Sacramento families toward academic success and confidence.