'It's amazing what we accomplish together': How a Montreal dad learned to read and love it
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Treldon James holds his head high now, proud of the progress he's made with his reading and writing since seeking help at Literacy Unlimited, a centre located in Pointe-Claire, that offers free tutoring.
It's a stark contrast to the way he felt 11 years ago, at just the thought of writing, when faced with a blank sheet of paper.
"It would make me so nervous and depressed that I couldn't read and write," said James, a 36-year-old father of three.
At that time, he'd been avoiding situations he thought might expose his literacy challenges. As a result, he was feeling increasingly isolated.
"You don't want to say 'I can't, so you try to stay away," he said.
James says he believes his struggles started as early as five years old, when he was attending school in Trinidad.
He remembers being sent outside to fetch a stick that the teacher would use "to whip my behind" to punish him, he said.
'I get nervous'
His behaviour wasn't a problem so he believes the beatings were provoked by mistakes he made while trying to read.
"If I read something [even now] and I don't get it, I get nervous, probably thinking back to [those days]," he said.
When James moved to Montreal at age eight, he had to attend a French-language school, according to Quebec's language charter.
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Without the basics in English, he was suddenly also struggling to learn French and did not graduate from high school.
James found work driving a delivery truck and didn't seriously consider facing his literacy challenges until he was 21 when he and his wife were expecting their first child.
Becoming a parent motivated him to face his fears.
It took a few years but eventually, while driving his truck, he heard a radio advertisement for Literacy Unlimited and decided to contact the centre.
'I failed a few times'
After an assessment, he was paired with volunteer tutor and librarian Sue Morgan, who started meeting with him weekly.
Tutoring sessions at Literacy Unlimited are tailored to the learners' needs and interests so when James decided to pursue a more advanced driver's licence (for transport trucks), Morgan helped him prepare the written exam.
"I failed a few times but I kept on doing it and I passed. Her help motivated me, pushed me," he said.
Over the years he's been promoted at work and he's become a homeowner able to manage writing cheques and reading mortgage forms.
More recently he also passed a written exam to obtain his motorcycle licence.
In the past, James would lean on his wife and his sisters for help reading and writing but that is no longer the case.
His progress has also improved his relationship with his three daughters who are now four, seven and 15 years old.
"I used to be distant and didn't read to the kids. Now I can read to them," he said.
Part of the family
His tutor is proud to say that James regularly reads novels, writes book reports, contributes short stories to Literacy Unlimited's annual publication and has also succeeded as a public speaker at the centre's events.
"I've seen him grow … and become a role model for his family and other people struggling with literacy issues," Morgan said.
James says his tutor knows his wife, and kids, and feels like part of his family.
"She's very patient, she wants to see me succeed," he said.
"It's amazing what we accomplish together."
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