Right to Read: Inquiry into Reading Disabilities Backgrounder
The Ontario Human Rights Commission is conducting a public inquiry into human rights issues affecting students with reading disabilities in Ontario’s public education system.
Goods, services and facilities
You have the right to be free from discrimination when you receive goods or services, or use facilities. For example, this right applies to:
- stores, restaurants and bars
- hospitals and health services
- schools, universities and colleges
- public places, amenities and utilities such as recreation centres, public washrooms, malls and parks
- services and programs provided by municipal and provincial governments, including social assistance and benefits, and public transit
- services provided by insurance companies
- classified advertisement space in a newspaper.
Relevant policies and guides:
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Voices from the community
[The] public school refused to acknowledge or accept the dyslexia diagnosis until she was seven. … Without timely remediation, my daughter is barely able to read and write in English as she enters Grade 3. … In the meantime, her mental health is strained because she is keenly aware of her learning differences and extremely frustrated by the fact that she struggles to read and write. … Last year she asked Santa Claus for “the power to read” – she’s still wondering if she’ll ever get her wish.
- Parent of 8-year-old
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OHRC initiatives related to disability and education 1999 – 2019
2019
Letter to Minister of Education re: Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM) – school board policies on service animals
The OHRC responded to the Ministry of Education’s consultation on its draft PPM for school board policies on service animals in schools. The OHRC recommended revisions such as recognizing that the duty to accommodate disability also includes individual needs not related to learning needs.
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Right to Read : Ontario Human Rights Commission Inquiry into human rights issues that affect students with reading disabilities in Ontario’s public education system : Terms of reference
Reading is a fundamental skill that students must have to navigate their school experience and their later lives. Our public schools should be able to teach students
to read. Yet, this may not be the reality for students with reading disabilities. -
Protection of personal information and privacy safeguards policy: Reading Disabilities Inquiry
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Voices from community partners
The Learning Disabilities Associations (LDAs) across Canada started from the Toronto office in 1963 and today is overseen coast-to-coast by the LDA of Canada. The LDAC led the efforts involving the Geoffrey Moore case where the Supreme Court of Canada examined the rights to education and considered the “ramp” required for those with Learning Disabilities to have the access they deserve. Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario (LDAO) is committed to students with Learning Disabilities being given the best possible opportunities to succeed in Ontario schools and therefore looks forward t
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Right to Read: public inquiry into human rights issues affecting students with reading disabilities
The OHRC is conducting a public inquiry into potential human rights issues that affect students with reading disabilities in Ontario’s public education system.