I'm asked these questions often, and they're really good questions. Let's dive in.

First, let's define what "OG" is exactly. OG stands for Orton-Gillingham and is named for physician Samuel Orton and educator Anna Gillingham. OG is an approach and philosophy to reading instruction. It is not a program.
So, what exactly is this approach and philosophy? The Orton-Gillingham Academy gives the perfect definition, and here it is:
"The OG approach is a direct, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling do not come easily to individuals, such as those with dyslexia.
It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system.
In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility."
Let's break this definition down even farther.
PART ONE
The OG approach is....
Direct: the client knows exactly what is being taught, why it is being taught, and how
Multisensory: it leverages all learning pathways and senses, like seeing, hearing, and feeling
Structured and sequential: information is presented in a logical fashion that moves from easier to harder material
Diagnostic and prescriptive: The client's progress and areas of need are continually monitored and inform what is taught next
These elements occur while students are taught phonics. And phonics is really good! We need to explicitly teach phonics to everyone, especially struggling readers and spellers.
This is in contrast to methods like "Whole Word" or "Whole Language."
PART TWO
It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system.
Like all good things, people have monetized this approach. There are many OG branded programs out there that you can pay to be certified in. Does this automatically make you a fantastic reading and spelling instructor? No. Absolutely not.
Which leads me to PART THREE
In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.
Say it louder for the people in the back!!
The OG approach is great when it's in the hands of someone who knows how to use it to create an individualized reading and spelling intervention for the specific client in front of them.
Someone who keeps up with the significant body of research and science we have regarding how to teach people to read and spell.
Someone who can interpret test scores that tell us about an individual's unique learning profile.
Someone who can utilize specific elements from various OG-based programs to help the individual in front of them.
At DC Speech Language, and Literacy Center, we are these interventionists / tutors / clinicians / practitioners / whatever else you want to call us :)
AND the cherries on top?
We have Masters-level education in speech processing and language processing, which are both key to literacy acquisition.
The extra cherry? We integrate explicit executive-functioning work into our interventions. Every skill - including reading and spelling - involves executive functioning.
So does your child need OG? Probably, yes. Do we do it? Absolutely. But I like to think of us as OG+
And there goes my first blog post!
Stay tuned for my next post, which will be about my qualms with a "traditional" OG program.
And for further reading, my references:
Stevens, E., et al., (2021) Current State of the Evidence: Examining the Effects of Orton-Gillingham Reading Interventions for Students With or at Risk for Word-Level Reading Disabilities doi:10.1177/0014402921993406
Orton-Gillingham Academy. (2020). What is the Orton-Gillingham approach? www.ortonacademy.org/resources/what-is-the-orton-gillingham-approach/