MTA

What is Multisensory Teaching Approach (MTA)?

"Multisensory Teaching Approach is a program for the remediation of Dyslexia and other reading disabilities. It follows research begun at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in 1965 by Aylett R. Cox and Dr. Lucius Waites as they developed the Alphabetic Phonics program. This program is an Orton-Gillingham multisensory approach to teaching reading that combines Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (or muscle) instruction. Titled Alphabetic Phonics because it is based on the alphabet symbol system, it teaches the science of the written language and addresses reading, handwriting, and spelling.

Margaret Taylor Smith developed Multisensory Teaching Approach (MTA) in the mid 80's as a refined and more “teacher friendly” curriculum that enhances and further develops Alphabetic Phonics by teaching for mastery.

The research of a four year study (Reynolds, V., Vickery, K., and Cochran, S., Annals of Dyslexia, 1987) showed highly significant gains for all remedial students while students in regular classrooms also showed gains.

The MTA curriculum meets all state requirements as an exemplary choice for the remediation of dyslexia. In fact, the descriptors for remediation were based on this curriculum.

Workshops include training in phonological awareness, verbal expression, alphabet/dictionary skills, reading, reading comprehension, reading fluency, cursive handwriting, and spelling. Daily, a demonstration lesson, a practicum lesson and lesson planning are also included.

Districts also use multisensory Teaching Approach (MTA) as the remediation program for students in Special Education with a general reading learning disability as well as those identified as having Dyslexia in Special Education. For that reason, some districts choose to train one Special Education teacher and one regular education teacher per campus/district to serve all children with Dyslexia, as mandated by state law. While students with Dyslexia who are also Special Education students can receive Dyslexia services from a general education Dyslexia teacher (specified in the ARD), districts often find that the number of students needing such services supports the training of a Special Education teacher, also.

Additionally, MTA is an appropriate Response-to-Intervention to use for struggling readers who are not progressing as expected. Thorough teaching of the phonetic structure of the language provides these children with a framework for successful reading and spelling.

Content of Training: Dyslexia Characteristics, Texas Law and Dyslexia, Developing Phonological Awareness, The MTA Curriculum, MTA Daily Activities, Methods of Multisensory Letter Introductions, Oral Language Activities, MTA Alphabet/Dictionary Skills, MTA Reading & Spelling Decks, MTA Reading Practice, MTA Handwriting Practice, MTA Spelling Practice, Verbal Expression Activities, MTA Review Activities, A Daily Demonstration Lesson, Daily Practicum, Lesson Planning, Accommodations in the Regular Classroom, Evaluation." (Smith, 2021).

Smith, K. (2021). Multisensory Teaching Approach | MTA Workshops | Dyslexia Remediation | Amarillo, TX. Https://Www.Kriszsmith.Com/Mta.Html. https://www.kriszsmith.com/mta.html

Progress Reports 

MTA curriculum is taught to the level of mastery, therefore, we informally monitor student performance daily and maintain data in the areas of reading (accuracy and fluency) and spelling.  This data is shared in the form of progress reports provided to you during each nine-week grading period.   In addition to progress reports, each student will be assessed formally at the end of each MTA kit using a mastery check in reading and spelling.  As students pass a mastery check, this information will be shared and celebrated, and the next MTA kit will be introduced.