ASDEC
For Educators
For 25 years, ASDEC master instructors have been delivering accredited clinical training in reading, writing, handwriting, spelling and math. We offer pathways to practice to hundreds of teachers every year pre-k through high school. ASDEC faculty are all Certified Academic Language Therapists who have also been trained in a wide array of specialized reading programs such as Orton-Gillingham, Sounds In Syllables, Alphabetic Phonics, and the Slingerland System. Drawing upon years of experience as therapists and trainers, our faculty develops and delivers multisensory training programs to educators and parents in the Washington, DC region as well as throughout the country and overseas.
ASDEC is the only IMSLEC-Accredited training center that delivers certification pathways in reading and in Math. ASDEC Math Director, Marilyn Zecher, M.A., CALT, has been named the first (and only) Honorary Math Fellow of the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators.
Our Master Instructors design and deliver evidence-based multisensory methods designed to accelerate learning for all students but which are essential for those with learning disabilities. ASDEC experts align multitiered systems of support that enable classroom teachers, para-educators, special educators, and volunteers to learn diagnostic and prescriptive methods which build mastery and automaticity in reading, writing and mathematics. These highly effective practices train educators to deliver multi-part lesson plans interwoven with opportunities for individual and group practice.
Trinity University, Washington, recognizes all ASDEC courses as meeting their rigorous standards for graduate-level training.
“ASDEC’s courses have been stimulating, edifying, and above all energizing. Language I and the Practicum gave me a powerful approach to teaching reading and writing as well as a more comprehensive understanding of the English language and language disorders. I have become a better parent and teacher, and a stronger advocate for my children and my students as a result."
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- Graduate of ASDEC Academic Therapy Certification program
EDUCATOR ACADEMY
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IMSLEC accredited/IDA Endorsed Orton-Gillingham based courses and workshops.
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ORTON-GILLINGHAM: AN APPROACH NOT A PROGRAM, METHOD, OR WORKSHOP
The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does 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.
The Approach is so named because of the foundational and seminal contributions of Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham. Samuel Torrey Orton (1879-1948) was a neuropsychiatrist and pathologist. He was a pioneer in focusing attention on reading failure and related language processing difficulties. He brought together neuroscientific information and principles of remediation. As early as 1925 he had identified the syndrome of dyslexia as an educational problem. Anna Gillingham (1878-1963) was a gifted educator and psychologist with a superb mastery of the language. Encouraged by Dr. Orton, she compiled and published instructional materials as early as the 1930s which provided the foundation for student instruction and teacher training in what became known as the Orton-Gillingham Approach. (Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators).
As required by our accrediting agency, IMSLEC (International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council) adheres to and exceeds all the non-negotiable elements of instruction without compromise or dilution. Attending a workshop, a short course or simply reading books and manuals is not a sufficient or effective way to learn the breadth, depth and scope of knowledge necessary to successfully instruct students or adequately train teachers.
