Cathryn Kelshall is the founder and chairman of the non-profit/volunteer organisation, The Dyslexia Association of T&T (DATT), which was formed in 1990 by a group of teachers and parents concerned about dyslexic children. In T&T there are about 120,000 dyslexics (based on our last census and the conservative global statistic of ten per cent of our population being dyslexic).
Since its inception, DATT has been able to train over 400 teachers in specific methods of teaching both children and adult dyslexics. One of its major programmes is an annual three-week teachers’ training course, held every year in July, scheduled this year for July 7-25. Cathryn Kelshall is a member of the Teachers’ Guild/Dyslexia Institute of the UK and also of the International Dyslexia Association of the USA.
Tell us a bit about your early years: where were you born, and where did you grow up and receive education?
I was born, together with my twin sister, in San Fernando, where we lived with the rest of the family until I went off to the University in Montreal, Loyola College, Canada. I attended a wonderful little private one-room school taught by Miss Joan Lessey. At nine years old I moved on to St Joseph Covent in San Fernando. After surprising everyone with my academic successes at O’ and A’ levels, I decided to study English Literature so that I could teach. By then, I had taken some education electives and had become interested in the way that young children learnt. I went on to the UK where I studied Montessori’s methods. I taught in the UK for five years before starting our family and returning to Trinidad. We now live up north, though—St Anns, to be specific.
What was the motivating factor in starting and being so passionately involved with the Dyslexia Association?
It is important to me that children are happy in school. Dyslexia does become a huge disabling condition for anyone having their literacy needs unmet. For dyslexics, school is a miserable place. I am not sure that people really recognise how much children want to do well, want to please their parents and their teachers, and how much misery these children carry around. It is no wonder that they come up with these tummy aches (which are real, by the way). It was my indirect exposure to dyslexic children while teaching in England that led to me becoming aware and interested in understanding their learning patterns as a result of their being taught by the trained teachers. Back in Trinidad, it was some years later when I was the reading teacher at St Andrew’s School and through a series of very fortunate events, I was sent to the UK to study at the Dyslexia Institute. When I came back to Trinidad, my dyslexic students started making excellent progress. I was hooked!
Then some of the parents suggested that we start an association so that we could train teachers in these wonderful methods. We put $35 each into an account, adopted a constitution and approached the British High Commission to fund the programme. We invited an expert from the Dyslexia Institute in the UK, Barbara Foster, to come…and so we trained our first 14 teachers. Barbara Foster is an inspiration. She is dyslexic herself and really understands the purpose behind every part of the programme. The first training course was in 1990, and we still keep in touch.
What do you think is the biggest challenge and, opportunity, in dealing with dyslexia?
There are two big challenges. First, trying to get schools to provide research-based, effective remediation for their dyslexic students. It is no use using retired teachers who are going to use the same methods which have failed them in the past. We have had many conversations with many Ministers of Education about this, but to no avail. The sad thing is that the teachers are out there. The Dyslexia Association has trained over 600 teachers in methods for teaching literacy skills to dyslexics. The second challenge is our punitive culture. We hear of three-year-olds being severely punished for not being able to read. In schools, teachers have been known to embarrass children; perhaps putting their names up on the board as the non-readers. We blame the children for not trying hard enough…but it is the adult’s job to teach the child. If they are not learning the way we teach them, then we need to look for answers. It is not the children’s job to teach themselves to read.
What is the most prevalent misconception about those with dyslexia?
In Trinidad there is still embarrassment about being dyslexic. This is understandable because we are judged by our literacy skills, and it is embarrassing to admit that you don’t read or write very well. So teachers who have a dyslexic student will often say to me, “but you know, he’s bright,” as if this is astounding. But many dyslexics are bright and are particularly talented in three-dimensional skills: art, design, engineering, business, architecture, choreography. They make excellent pilots and mechanics. For example, I have read that Brian MacFarlane is dyslexic. He never finished school, but joined Raoul Garib’s Mas Camp at 15 years old where his superior talent in colour and design was immediately recognised. I am sure he doesn’t realise that he should thank his dyslexic brain for his talents! Think of all the major names of the last century. Ten to one the names on the tip off your tongue are dyslexic—Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, Winston Churchill, Richard Branson, Bill Gates, just to name a few.
What is the most valuable piece of advice you give to those close to people with dyslexia?
Read to your children (every day), get specialist teaching, and make sure that talents are exercised. Time is also the enemy of dyslexics. Advocate for your child for reduced homework; one-word answers; or just doing the last five questions, not all 20; allowing a parent or grandparent to scribe for the child.
Who has influenced you the most (outside of your immediate family), in your career and in life in general, and how did they?
Without a doubt, Barbara Foster who taught me everything I know about dyslexia. Her favourite saying was: “Without joy, what is the point?” I try to make every lesson a joyful experience.
Tell us about your inspiration to do the type of work you do. What advice would you give to anyone contemplating a vocation such as yours?
The inspiration is the children, their faces alight with the joy of success. Once the teachers that we train start to teach, they are just as inspired. I don’t need to give them any advice. If you are talking about running the Dyslexia Association, the advice is: small, manageable steps; surround yourself with wonderful people; and remember your family. This kind of work can become all-absorbing. Time with your family should be sacrosanct.
What daily motto/credo do you live by? In three words, your recipe for success?
I do not have a motto, as such, but I love what I do and I like to do things well.
If someone only reads a couple lines of this interview, what would you want them to know?
I would like them to contact the Dyslexia Association if they are worried about their child’s reading progress. We are proud that we have trained hundreds of teachers from all over T&T. If you live in Sangre Grande or Moruga, Scarborough or Siparia, we can put you in touch with a Dyslexia Association-trained teacher for tutoring.
Most times NGOs are led by mothers or women, and its participants are mainly female. Do you think fathers are fulfilling their roles as involved people in supporting equality and opportunities for those with dyslexia?
I actually think that people do the best they can. I really don’t want to get in to the gender thing. Maybe Dad is kicking the football around the yard. That’s important too. There are lots of business men and women who support our work financially. We couldn’t operate without them.
What is the biggest need/priority at the Dyslexia Association, and how can people help?
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