A Multisensory Approach to Language Arts The Slingerland Approach in a Californian School

Born in the United States at the end of the last century, the Slingerland Approach is a multisensory method for literacy teaching, at the basis of which lies the assumption that language works based on a complex neurological organization which causes the automatic union of auditory, visual, and kinaesthetic stimuli at a cerebral level. This method offers the exceptional advantage of creating the conditions for the three sensory channels to be associated automatically, thus also connecting the respective association areas in the brain; this gives the child the means to overcome any (possible) difficulties that might occur in the reading-writing skills acquisition process. This article presents the results of a case study conducted at the Stellar Academy for Dyslexics in Newark (CA), a Californian school where the Slingerland Approach is applied to teaching.