Around one in five children is been diagnosed with dyslexia…and there is a program in the province that can help.
It is located in Riverview, and it attracts students from right across the province, who come looking for tutoring.
The Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation Learning Centre for Children is running out of funds to keep it going.
Jody Gagnon is the Chairman of the Board for the Dyslexic Centre. Last year they added seven new tutors last year, and another five were added this fall. They are all volunteers.
But the training to learn the method of teaching that can help these kids, requires training at a cost of around $30,000.
“It is called Orton Gillingham and it has been in use for over 50 years in the US. and in Canada for around the last 20 years,” Gagnon says.
Tracy Wilson’s son Aidan was diagnosed with dyslexia in grade 5. He is now in grade 7 and he has been waiting since August of last year to get into the program.
“Dyslexia, their brains are wired differently and they have to learn a different way. This is the best way for them to learn. The Scottish Rite Centre is the only place that has this,” Wilson says.
Jody Gagnon adds they had one student come through their program who went up 11 reading levels, “It is a fantastic program that also helps with self-esteem and how the students perform at school.”
He says if they don’t raise funds for the centre, they may have to reduce tutor training and the programming next year.
The program was created in 2010, with just two children. That number has grown to 21 and there are 40 children on the waiting list.
Wilson says, “My fear is, as Aidan gets older, the curriculum gets harder. He is already is behind. His anxiety is bad, and it’s not good for him. Him saying that he thinks he is stupid, just breaks my heart.”
She says with the funding issues, her hopes of getting him in this fall were dashed, because they couldn’t train the tutor and it didn’t happen.
The Centre is holding an Evening of Music as a fundraising event on Saturday, November 3rd. For more details, CLICK HERE
