What is Sounds in Syllables (SIS)?
Sounds in Syllables is an Orton-Gillingham reading program for dyslexia that builds spelling and reading together, one mastered step at a time.
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- Sounds in Syllables (SIS) is an Orton-Gillingham structured literacy program designed for students with dyslexia across the full range of severity, from mild to profound.
- Sandra Dillon developed SIS over 21 years at the Albuquerque Public Schools Language Clinic, drawing on the methods of Orton, Gillingham, Lindamood, Slingerland, and Aylett Royal Cox. In 2023, ASDEC acquired the program.
- SIS teaches reading, spelling, writing, and the foundations of syntax and grammar as one connected system, binding spelling to reading from the first lesson and mastering each concept before the next begins.
- The ASDEC training pathway for SIS requires over 200 class hours and 700 supervised practicum teaching hours, and leads to certification as an Academic Language Therapist.
- Sessions are taught one to one at a cadence of three sessions per week, following a sequence that begins with phoneme-level sounds and builds through six written syllable types toward fluency and comprehension.
Sounds in Syllables (SIS) is a structured literacy program for students with dyslexia that teaches reading, spelling, writing, and the foundations of syntax and grammar as one unified system. It belongs to the Orton-Gillingham tradition, and it is the method at the center of Lantern’s sessions. What it emphasizes most is how tightly it binds spelling to reading from the very first lesson, and that a concept is not left behind until it is automatic.
What exactly is Sounds in Syllables?
Sounds in Syllables is an explicit, multisensory, and cumulative approach to teaching reading, spelling, writing, and the foundations of syntax and grammar. According to the Sounds in Syllables program, it draws on work in neurology, cognitive science, psychology, speech-language pathology, and linguistics. It is taught one to one.
The word “multisensory” has a precise meaning in this context: a student sees a letter pattern, hears its sound, and writes or traces it in the same moment. All three channels, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, are engaged at once, which gives the student more than one way to reach the same pattern. The International Dyslexia Association lists hands-on, multimodal methods among the principles of structured literacy, and is clear that students are not expected to discover or intuit language concepts from exposure alone. SIS is built on that premise throughout.
If you want to understand the broader Orton-Gillingham tradition SIS lives inside, see What is the Orton-Gillingham approach.
Where does Sounds in Syllables come from?
Sandra Dillon began searching for more effective methods for students with specific language disabilities in 1972, inspired by the foundational work of Dr. Samuel T. Orton and Anna Gillingham. Over the following two decades, she learned directly from Patricia and Charles Lindamood, Beth Slingerland, and Aylett Royal Cox, the author of Alphabetic Phonics. Her 21 years of collaboration with students and colleagues at the Albuquerque Public Schools Language Clinic for dyslexic students shaped the SIS program into its current form.
In 2023, the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center (ASDEC) acquired SIS from Sandra Dillon. ASDEC now publishes the program and trains the practitioners who deliver it.
| At a Glance | |
|---|---|
| Developed by | Sandra Dillon, over 21 years at the Albuquerque Public Schools Language Clinic |
| Approach | Orton-Gillingham, drawing on Lindamood, Slingerland, and Alphabetic Phonics |
| Now stewarded by | ASDEC (Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center), acquired 2023 |
| Who it is for | Students with dyslexia, mild to profound severity, all ages |
| How it is delivered | One to one, three sessions per week |
| Training standard | IMSLEC-accredited (IMSLEC is recognized by the IDA). 200+ class hours and 700 supervised practicum hours. |
What do ASDEC, IMSLEC, and IDA recognition actually mean?
These credentials signal that the training program producing SIS therapists meets the field’s recognized independent standards. Here is what each one means in plain terms.
ASDEC (Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit training and advocacy center. It was founded in 2000 and has trained educators in structured literacy since then. ASDEC has owned SIS since 2023 and is its primary accredited training center.
IMSLEC (International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council) accredits training programs in structured literacy. An IMSLEC accreditation means the coursework, faculty qualifications, and supervised practicum requirements have been independently reviewed and approved.
IDA recognition is one step further out. After an independent review, the International Dyslexia Association recognizes IMSLEC-accredited coursework as meeting its Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading, the peer-reviewed framework that defines what a competent reading teacher must know and be able to do. Because ASDEC’s training is IMSLEC-accredited, a SIS therapist has completed coursework the IDA recognizes on that standard.
How does the Sounds in Syllables sequence progress?
The SIS sequence moves from phoneme-level work through increasingly complex patterns. The order below reflects how skills are layered in the curriculum, per the SIS story and training documentation from soundsinsyllables.com.
- Phoneme-level work. The practitioner introduces individual speech sounds (phonemes), the smallest units of spoken language. A student learns to hear, identify, and segment sounds before connecting them to print.
- Sound-symbol correspondences. Each phoneme is linked to its grapheme (the letter or letter combination that represents it in writing). The student sees the grapheme, hears the sound, and writes it in the same moment.
- Closed syllables first. The program begins reading and spelling with the simplest syllable type: a closed syllable, where a single vowel is followed by one or more consonants and makes its short sound (examples: cat, mist, blend). Mastery here is the foundation for everything that follows.
- Simultaneous oral spelling. Before spelling a word on paper, the student says the sounds aloud while tapping or segmenting them. This links the spoken word to the written word at the level of individual phonemes and is central to SIS’s emphasis on spelling.
- Expanding through the six syllable types. Once closed syllables are solid, the practitioner introduces the remaining five syllable types: open (me, no), vowel-consonant-e (take), vowel team (vow, mean), vowel-r (car, port), and consonant-le (little). Together with the closed syllable, these are the six syllable types the IDA describes as standard in structured literacy programs.
- Mastery before advancing. The practitioner does not introduce a new concept until the current one is automatic. Each lesson includes a review component to reinforce earlier patterns before new material is added.
- Spelling and reading at every stage. SIS requires that the student encode (spell) every pattern as it is taught. Reading and spelling are practiced as two sides of the same skill throughout the lesson.
SIS teaches spelling and reading as one skill, in steps small enough that each can be brought to mastery before the next.
A child may be able to read a word aloud and still not spell it. Reading and spelling draw on the same code in opposite directions.
What changed how I teach is waiting for mastery instead of assuming a skill will be picked up if I keep moving forward. It made me pay much closer attention to why an error is happening rather than correcting it and moving on.
What SIS emphasizes
All Orton-Gillingham programs share a core set of principles: explicit instruction, systematic and cumulative sequencing, multisensory methods, and diagnostic teaching. SIS fits squarely within that tradition. Where it is distinctive is in degree and emphasis. Other programs set their own standards, and any program’s own documentation is the place to check them.
| Feature | Sounds in Syllables (SIS) |
|---|---|
| Spelling emphasis | Central. Encoding is taught alongside decoding from lesson one. |
| Scope | Reading, spelling, writing, and the foundations of syntax and grammar |
| Mastery standard | Automatic and fluent before advancing. The practitioner does not move on until mastery is demonstrated. |
| Who delivers it | Practitioners trained through ASDEC’s IMSLEC-accredited pathway, which includes a 700-hour supervised practicum and leads to the CALT credential |
The practical upshot for a parent is that SIS asks for consistent commitment: three sessions per week, with each step brought to mastery before the next is introduced.
For a side-by-side look at how structured literacy intervention differs from general academic tutoring, see tutoring vs. intervention.
Who is Sounds in Syllables for?
The Sounds in Syllables program description covers students across the full range of dyslexia severity, from the most profoundly affected to those with milder symptoms, and older students and adults as well as children.
If you are not sure whether your child’s reading difficulties point to dyslexia, What is dyslexia explains what dyslexia actually is and how it is identified. For parents wondering whether reading struggles in the middle grades are common or a sign of something more specific, reading problems in third and fourth grade addresses that question directly.
Who teaches Sounds in Syllables, and what does the training involve?
SIS is taught by Academic Language Therapists, professionals who have completed the full training pathway through an IMSLEC-accredited center, and by practitioners completing that pathway under their supervision. At ASDEC, that pathway requires more than 200 class hours and 700 supervised practicum teaching hours, according to the SIS training page. The practicum is what puts the coursework into practice: it means the therapist has delivered actual lessons to real students under the direct supervision of master teachers before working independently. The depth of the supervised practicum is what allows a therapist to respond diagnostically, adjusting pacing and presentation in real time.
Completing that training path leads to national recognition as a Certified Academic Language Therapist (CALT) through the Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA). CALT requires a master’s degree, the coursework and supervised practicum just described, and passing the ALTA competency examination, and the designation identifies the holder as a member of ALTA.
To be clear about where Lantern sits on that pathway: sessions are delivered by a licensed elementary teacher completing ASDEC therapy-level training, working under the supervision of a Certified Academic Language Therapist while the required hours are completed. That certification is in progress and not yet awarded. The full detail is on the about page, and Lantern’s approach explains how Sounds in Syllables is applied to one child’s reading profile.
What should parents expect from sessions?
SIS sessions are one to one and run three times a week. That frequency is not arbitrary. Three sessions a week keeps a new pattern in front of the student while it is still fresh. The concept needs rehearsal across multiple exposures before it becomes automatic.
A typical session has a consistent shape: review of earlier patterns, introduction or reinforcement of the current concept, simultaneous oral spelling practice, and reading in connected text that contains the patterns already mastered. In a SIS session, the practitioner monitors response patterns within the session and adjusts before moving on.
You can expect regular communication about where your child is in the sequence and what to watch for at home. The goal of SIS is not just performance during the session. It is automatic, fluent application across settings.
Teachers and school teams can see how this runs alongside classroom instruction on the page for schools. If you are ready to talk about whether SIS is a good fit, contact Lantern to start the conversation.
Sources
- Sounds in Syllables (soundsinsyllables.com): program description, history, what sets SIS apart, and who it is for.
- The SIS Story (soundsinsyllables.com): Sandra Dillon’s development of SIS, her influences, and ASDEC’s 2023 acquisition.
- About Training (soundsinsyllables.com): practicum hours, CALT credential pathway, what ASDEC training involves.
- Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center (asdec.org): ASDEC’s history, IMSLEC accreditation, and training programs.
- International Dyslexia Association, IDA Recognizes IMSLEC and NILD: the basis for the IDA recognition of IMSLEC-accredited coursework.
- Academic Language Therapy Association (ALTA): CALT certification requirements, including the master’s degree, coursework and practicum hours, and competency examination.
- International Dyslexia Association, Structured Literacy fact sheet: the six syllable types, principles of explicit and systematic instruction, multimodal methods.
- IDA Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading: the framework IMSLEC-accredited coursework is measured against.
Questions, answered.
Is Sounds in Syllables the same as Orton-Gillingham?
Sounds in Syllables is an Orton-Gillingham program, built on the same foundational principles of explicit, systematic, multisensory teaching that Samuel Orton and Anna Gillingham developed. SIS is a specific curriculum within that tradition, with its own sequence, materials, and training pathway, and a particular emphasis on spelling and on mastery before advancing.
Who can teach Sounds in Syllables?
SIS is taught by practitioners trained through an IMSLEC-accredited center, with certification as an Academic Language Therapist as the endpoint of that pathway. At ASDEC, the program’s primary training center, that means more than 200 class hours and 700 hours of supervised practicum teaching. The supervised practicum is what allows therapists to respond diagnostically to each student’s specific pattern of difficulty.
What ages and severity levels is SIS used for?
Sounds in Syllables is designed for students with dyslexia across the full range of severity, from mild to profound. It is also used across a wide age range. The program is not limited to young children and is used with older students and adults as well. The one-to-one format allows the therapist to pace instruction to exactly where the individual student is, regardless of age or how far behind they may be.
Why does SIS put so much emphasis on spelling?
Spelling and reading are two sides of the same alphabetic code. When a student only practices decoding (reading words), they exercise one direction of the phoneme-grapheme connection. When spelling is taught alongside decoding from the start, both directions are practiced. SIS treats spelling not as a separate subject but as the encoding half of every reading skill. The International Dyslexia Association’s structured literacy framework is clear that reading and spelling rely on the same system of sound-symbol correspondences, which is why SIS teaches them together.
