Dyslexia can be a 'unique advantage,' entrepreneur says, but more support in schools is needed

An entrepreneur in British Columbia says having dyslexia is a "unique advantage," even though he didn't always feel that way growing up. 

"You definitely think outside of the box with ease," said Jeff Hornell about the bright side of living with the learning disorder, which can cause people to struggle with reading, writing and spelling.

But Hornell, who's based in North Vancouver, B.C., says as a student he lacked proper support to manage it.

Along with other dyslexia advocates, like UBC Professor Emeritus in Language Sciences Linda Siegel, Hornell says stigma around the disorder still looms large and the B.C. government needs to do more to help people who live with it. 

They hope that by advocating for better programs in B.C. schools, others will be educated about the realities of dyslexia. 

"[There are] special techniques to help [people with dyslexia], but that isn't happening in the schools," said Siegel.

Blueprint for success

Hornell says he spent most of his youth jumping from school to school, trying to find a place that could support him. 

"You know yourself that you're not stupid. But the system, how it was designed when I was growing up, was not geared to teach kids that were dyslexic," he said. 

Siegel says Hornell is far from the only one to have struggled to manage dyslexia. 

She says five to 10 per cent of B.C.'s population live with dyslexia, and in many cases people are unaware of their condition. 

Siegel says there are assessments, programs and tutors available to help manage dyslexia, but they come at a hefty price. 

"You can get a private assessment, but that costs between $2,000 to $3,000, and people don't have that money," she said, adding that there are public assessments in B.C. but wait times can be as long as two years. 

"If you're a young child, that's a long time to struggle in school."

In 2022, Ontario released the Right to Read report, which highlights human rights issues experienced by students with dyslexia. The inquiry found that Ontario's public education system didn't use evidence-based approaches to teach students to read and, by not doing so, it "is failing students with reading disabilities such as dyslexia."

The report contained guidelines on how to support students with learning disabilities, calling on the ministry, faculties of education and school boards to explicitly recognize the term "dyslexia" and recommending school boards identify and track students by their type of learning disability.

"That report, I think, really provided a blueprint for how we should approach dyslexia in children who are struggling with reading," said Seigel. 

But she said when she tried to talk to the B.C. Ministry of Education about implementing something similar in the province, they were not interested. 

"That's very sad because it really provides solutions to the problems and it's not expensive," she said.

In a statemnt, the ministry said it is committed to providing equitable access to quality education for all students, adding that the province is providing $847 million in additional funding this year to provide supports and services to students with disabilities and diverse abilities.

It said educators in the K-12 public school system use a variety of approaches to address the learning needs of all students.

"In British Columbia, the education system recognizes that not all students learn in the same ways, at the same rate and in the same learning environment," the statement said.

From Fs to As

Hornell says challenges in school led him to drop out. He later graduated as a mature student at the Fraser Academy, an independent school in Vancouver that supports students with language-based learning disabilities — and went on to serve as a member of the school's board of directors since 2010.

He says his experience there was life changing.  

"I was struggling for Cs, Ds and Fs and then I went to Fraser Academy years later and [my grades] went to As and Bs. It was night and day," he said. 

Colleen Chow, the academy's executive director of training and learning, says new research has highlighted the interesting ways dyslexic people think. 

"Science is starting to take note of the fact that dyslexic thinkers come with a sea of strengths," she said.

"If I want to get from A to B and I'm a dyslexic learner, then I take a little bit of a curvier road and that … gives me an advantage in terms of the skills that I amass along the way," she said. 

Hornell, who says he's been able to confidently pursue a career as an entrepreneur, encourages employers to realize the strengths of people with dyslexia. 

"[They] can think on their feet really, really quickly. They don't seem to get shell shocked by tackling items out of order," he said.