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Letter: B.C. schools don’t help children with dyslexia

The Editor, Re. “Parents want more SD43 dyslexia support” (The Tri-City News, May 20).
dyslexia

The Editor,

Re. “Parents want more SD43 dyslexia support” (The Tri-City News, May 20).

I hate to break the news to Cathy McMillan and Kim Fisher, but when my son was finally diagnosed with dyslexia in School District 43, that was only the beginning of our frustration.

B.C.’s school system does not teach dyslexic children how to read and write the way they need to learn. When my son was in Grade 3, there was only one Orton-Gillingham-trained teacher in SD43 and that person did not teach a single child. They will “accommodate” dyslexic children but they don’t actually change their teaching style to match the learning style of the child.

We had to send our son to a private school in order to get the education he needed. If we hadn’t done that, he would still have a Grade 3 reading level, not because he couldn’t learn to read but because the school system would not have taught him to read the way he can learn to read. He is back in a public school but not in Coquitlam.

Approximately 15% of school kids are dyslexic. With more than 550,000 kids in B.C. schools, that means there are about 83,000 who are dyslexic. We have seen kids get to Grade 12 in B.C.’s school system and still not be able to read.

It is criminal that B.C. does not teach all kids to read despite the BC School Act stating that a “purpose of the British Columbia school system is to enable all learners to become literate.”

I think it will take a class action lawsuit to change things. I do wish Ms. Fisher and Ms. McMillan and their kids the best of luck. My heart goes out to those families that do not have the resources to get their own kids tested or to hire a proper tutor that can teach their kids to read.

Dwight Yochim, Coquitlam