The South Allegheny School District developed the need for a multi-sensory reading program in the spring of 2001 following an Extended School Year I.E.P. review for a 3rd grade Learning Disabled student. The team believed that the student had not reached his annual Reading fluency and comprehension goals. We were using the Heath Reading series with a Phonics Workbook from Curriculum Press in both Regular and Special Education. Additional instructional supports were employed in Special Education, but multi-sensory reading was not included.

Clearly, the District needed professional support. As the L.E.A. Representative, I contacted Dr. Kathy Donahue from The Tillotson School, who would be providing the E.S.Y. service for our student. She, in turn, referred me to Mrs. Maria Paluselli, Center Director for the Orton-Gillingham, Masonic Learning Center for Children in the North Hills of Pittsburgh. Maria and I decided to contract her services to provide a Professional Development Program for the District’s Elementary Faculty. Following this in-service, two of our teachers, a primary Learning Support and Speech/Language Teacher, agreed to attend a two week class sponsored through the University of Pittsburgh to become Orton-Gillingham Certified.

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