Altuz Academy – The Academy for Dyslexic Children with Orton-Gillingham Approach

As a parents, we always put our children at the first priority. Over the years, I have been knowing friends whom children are diagnosed with Dyslexic. Dyslexic Children have trouble matching the letters they see on the page with the sounds those letters and combinations of letters make. And when they have trouble with that step, all the other steps are harder. Dyslexia can’t be “cured” – it is lifelong. But with the right supports, dyslexic individuals can become highly successful students and adults.

It is known that the lack of expert instruction and proper intervention to rectify the reading problems of dyslexic children before they fall behind in traditional schooling can lead to irreparable harm, low self-esteem and a widening gap that becomes increasingly difficult to close.

This has negative societal implications and it is a crucial responsibility of parents to ensure that their dyslexic children are able to read proficiently to ensure their quality of life.

The Orton-Gillingham Approach – the highly structured evidence-based approach to teaching reading and recognized by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA), is now available in Malaysia with the opening of Altuz Academy, a premier education centre for dyslexia intervention.

All Academic Language Therapists at the academy receive the vigorous training and supervised practicum accredited by the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators (AOGPE) and IDA.

The lady in black jacket - the founder of Altuz Academy, Dr Choy Su-Ling

“It is critically important that remedial specialists, educators and teachers working with dyslexic students be vetted, highly trained in an evidence-based approach with oversight and accountability. Literacy training should be comprehensive, accredited by an international organization and include a supervised practicum period. There should also be ongoing professional development for the sake of the children whom they work with,” said founder of Altuz Academy, Dr Choy Su-Ling.
Dr Choy, together with centre manager Yap Jo Ling, created history in the international dyslexia community by being the first two AOGPE-trained academic language therapists from Malaysia. They will continue to be observed and audited by the AOGPE to meet and maintain the high standards of teaching.

The Orton-Gillingham approach was developed in the 1920s by Dr Samuel Orton, a doctor who first discovered dyslexia, together with Anna Gillingham, a gifted teacher and psychologist. This approach has been further supported by over 100,000 scientific studies over 70 years that conclusively showed that a reading approach should include five important pillars: phonemic awareness, systematic phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

In the hands of a skilled instructor, this is a powerful instructional approach that benefits students of all ages and abilities so that learning becomes a rewarding experience. The key features of this approach are multisensory, sequential, incremental, cumulative, individualized, based on phonograms, and explicit.

We have visited Altuz Academy last weekend. The academy is strategically located at Solaris Mont Kiara (SOHO KL), at the same row with CIMB Bank. We like the safetiness of the academy as the grill door to enter the lift and staircase is always closed. One need to press the intercon to talk to the person in charge then only get the access to go in. Then, take the lift to 3rd floor where the academy is situated.

The academy is bright and clean, it is surely a positive and safe atmosphere for Dyslexic children to learn and play.

For more information, visit their website at www.altuzacademy.com or Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/altuzacademy/

Touchstone Education and Technology PLT (LLP0014273-LGN)
Address: 9-3, Jalan Solaris, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Tel. No: 03-2389 2265
Email Add: info@altuzacademy.com