Parents, kids rally for dyslexia programs

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This article was published 24/10/2014 (3471 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

About 50 parents rallied at the legislature Saturday to raise awareness about dyslexia, a learning disability that affects one out of five Canadians.

The fact that MLAs and cabinet ministers were off for the weekend and didn’t hear the speeches on the stone steps made very little difference, one organizer said.

The rally was for the kids with dyslexia who came out for the rally with their parents.

Many carried homemade cardboard signs decorated with the same slogan reading: “Dyslexia is a gift.”

“This is the first year anything has been done to mark October as Dyslexia Awareness Month. The intention is for the kids to celebrate it because they often feel bad because school is so hard,” organizer Cheryl Hoffmann said.

Hoffmann, the mother of a daughter born with the condition, ended up establishing her own program outside the school system to see her girl through high school.

Kristen, 19, is now enrolled in college.

Seven years ago, Hoffman founded a private learning centre called the KC Dyslexic Learning Centre for families like hers; this year 300 students are enrolled in classes.

The learning centre sponsors presentations in Manitoba schools, offering tips to help teachers spot kids with the condition and suggesting ways they can accommodate those students by modifying their teaching styles.

In Manitoba, students have the right to an education appropriate to their needs, abilities and disabilities under the Public School Act.

School Divisions are required to consider reasonable options, such as support in a regular classroom, or a special education program, according to a Manitoba pamphlet posted online called the Rights of Youth.

The pity is the schools don’t always catch the warning signs of the learning disability, Hoffmann said.

Twenty percent of the population suffers from dyslexia in varying degrees of severity, she said.

Dyslexia is defined as a cluster of disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence.