From failing grades to the honour roll: The Learning Centre for Hamilton helps students overcome dyslexia

In Grade 6, Lenny Nazir could barely read, had illegible handwriting and was failing assignments.

On any test, the teacher would be like, I can't read it, so you get a zero,'" said Lenny. I'm like, But I know the stuff.' So it was kind of unfair."

English was the hardest. Lenny, now in Grade 11, remembers being assigned a book report, which meant reading a novel and then writing about it.

I was like, I can't do either of those things," Lenny said.

For years, the Nazir family didn't know why.

Lenny tried several after-school English programs throughout elementary school, but it didn't help with comprehension. A belated psychoeducational assessment at school failed to identify the problem.

I was struggling a lot with reading and writing and spelling," Lenny said. It was really not good for my self-esteem."

Finally, at a learning disability centre in Halton, the desperate family got an answer: dyslexia.

I always knew Lenny was very bright, but something was standing in the way," said Lenny's mother, Debbie. It was just so amazing to find out."

The first step was to rewire" the Burlington student's brain to cope with the disorder, which can affect reading speed and comprehension, spelling and speech, and impede progress in school.

Through a friend of Debbie's, the family found out about a national program of charitable tutoring centres for students with dyslexia.

The Learning Centre for Hamilton, supported by the Scottish Rite Charitable Foundation of Canada, opened the doors of its renovated George Street home in September 2018. Lenny was its first student, registered even before the centre was launched.

Co-directors Barbara and Michael Baxter, who watched their own kids struggle - likely with undiagnosed dyslexia - years earlier in high school, have been with the centre since its inception, and are now certified in Orton-Gillingham - a tutoring approach that breaks reading and writing down into smaller literacy skills like sounds and letters.

We have kids coming to us in Grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 not being able to read," Barbara said.

Michael said one student started in Grade 10.

Currently, 10 volunteer tutors, including retired teachers and a speech pathologist, support 12 students in the centre's one-on-one program.

We basically individualize every single program for each child," Barbara said. There's no bells and whistles as far as slides and screens ... it's all multi-sensory."

In lieu of traditional textbook and note-taking, students use flash cards to review letters and words, trace letter shapes in sand or on a textured bumpy board, and learn sounds first before connecting them to a written word. Coloured felt and chips are used to represent syllables, vowels and consonants.

Tutors also use games, developed to suit a student's needs.

Students must have a dyslexia diagnosis, which the Baxters say can take time to get, in order to join the program.

Take Lenny, for example, whose diagnosis didn't happen until years after the first signs of dyslexia - including the inability to rhyme - appeared in kindergarten.

You'd ask, What rhymes with ball?' And Lenny would say baby, beach,'" Debbie said. They couldn't grasp the rhyming concept."

Lenny also struggled with phonics, unable to identify sounds in a word.

Funding for the Learning Centre, which operates out of a renovated home adjacent to the Scottish Rite building on Queen Street South, comes from Masonic Lodges and Eastern Star Chapters, as well as individual and corporate donors. The program is free to students and totally dependent on donor support," the centre's website reads.

Most students, who come from as far away as Cambridge and Niagara, take twice-weekly classes at the centre for about three years - though some may need more time to complete the program. Graduates are always welcome to return should they need help down the road, the Baxters say.

The Baxters, both former high school teachers, say they hope to start training new tutors in March in order to accept students currently on a wait list.

Today, Lenny is an honour-roll student after graduating from the tutoring program earlier this year along with eight others.

I'm not falling behind in any of my classes or anything and it's not really affecting my assignments," they said.

Not only is Lenny able to keep up with peers in English class, but they will often pick up a fantasy or science fiction novel for fun, too.

That's what got me into really liking reading because it was an interesting escape from the world," Lenny said. I actually really enjoy reading now."

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com