Reading and homelessness

Preventing and addressing homelessness needs to include learning disabilities.

Jino Distasio (Canada’s failing grade on homelessness, Sept. 3) correctly bewails the large increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg which has increased from 1,256 to 2,469 in the latest count. He provides five concrete suggestions for actions.

Missing are important actions for the early diagnosis and help with ADHD and dyslexia. In 1996, researchers reported that about 80 per cent of youth experiencing homelessness had a learning disability. The most recent count of people who were experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg found that 46 per cent had a learning disability, or cognitive impairment (53 per cent for those under 30 years of age).

These numbers are almost certainly low because self-reporting of learning disabilities tends to be much lower than results from actually testing learning ability. ADHD is also common in those experiencing homelessness with up to 64 per cent of youth experiencing homelessness having ADHD in a study in Quebec. In 2022, the street census found that more than half of those experiencing homelessness had not completed high school, another potential indicator of a learning difficulty and/or ADHD.

Undiagnosed and untreated learning disability and/or ADHD are almost certainly a significant underlying cause of homelessness. People with a learning disability or ADHD which are not identified too often struggle in school, develop low self esteem, develop mental-health problems and substance-abuse issues then drop out of school and become homeless. The homelessness may result from poverty and unemployment secondary to their low literacy levels and/or ADHD.

In Winnipeg, too many with dyslexia are not identified early on and too many are not adequately helped. While the problem was identified 25 years ago, it has been highlighted in the last two years in a community forum and in recent Oct. 8 presentations to a legislative committee on Bill 225 — The Public Schools Amendment Act (Universal Screening for Learning Disabilities).

Many presenters to Bill 225 echoed the sentiment of Laura Jones when she told the standing committee on social and economic development “many kids are leaving school without the level of literacy that they really need to flourish in life.” She continued “the problem is not dyslexia. The problem is when dyslexia remains unidentified and not accommodated, resulting in a child not meeting their full potential in literacy.”

As Tianna Voort noted “reading difficulties, including dyslexia, can be prevented for most children when needs are identified early and targeted instruction begins right away.” And as Karen Sharma, the executive director of the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, said, “the long-term consequences of low literacy are significant. It can impact employment opportunities and result in lower income, poverty and homelessness.”

It has long been known that children struggling in school are more likely to end up homeless. The best protection against homelessness is an education, yet in Manitoba too many children are not helped sufficiently to get the education they need. Passing Bill 225 will help, for it provides measures for universal screening of children as well as ensuring parents are informed of test results and that children are taught effectively.

It is possible that the increase in homelessness since COVID could be in part a result of decreased help for those with learning disabilities and/or ADHD during COVID. As Allison Guerco said at the hearings on Bill 225, “there could be something considered to also capture kids that were missed.”

Indeed, there needs to be help for youth and adults who are homeless today who have low literacy skills and/or ADHD, and it needs to use an approach which is effective in individuals with learning disabilities. The Manitoba Human Rights Commission has recently called for transformative change in disability services so that individuals with learning disabilities who have an IQ over 70 (most do) or are diagnosed after age 18 can receive the assistance they need and deserve.

Much evidence shows that there is tremendous potential in those with dyslexia, ADHD and other forms of learning disabilities, and that individuals with dyslexia who are diagnosed and helped are often successful entrepreneurs, artists, engineers or scientists.

The tremendous loss of human potential from undiagnosed and untreated dyslexia and/or ADHD leading to homelessness means addressing literacy and ADHD in children and adults needs to be a top priority for the provincial government if it is to effectively decrease homelessness.

Jon Gerrard is the former MLA for River Heights.