Why use a tutor?

Elizabeth MacIntosh and her son Calum, 12, come from Haddington in East Lothian. A tutor regularly helps Calum cope with his dyslexia. Elizabeth says:

"Calum’s tutor is absolutely excellent. There's only so much schools can do to help children with dyslexia, because of the shortage of money in the system. He sees his tutor once a week for 45 minutes. Calum struggled to enjoy the sessions at first because he found them hard, but now he has a nice relationship with his tutor. He likes the one-to-one attention. He can now break up words into their sounds, whereas before it was just a block of letters which he couldn’t read. That’s been a huge achievement."

Jane Logan, from Argyll and Bute, used a tutor to help her daughter, Helen, 14. She says:

"The primary thing having a tutor did for Helen was to boost her confidence and help her to see that she wasn’t stupid. Primary school taught her that she wasn’t good enough, but the tutoring showed her that she was. We used the tutoring partly for homework and if there were tests coming up then we used it for revision time. Otherwise, we mostly concentrated on using it for her maths."

Why volunteer for Dyslexia Scotland?

Colin Williamson, 43, is a volunteer from Edinburgh:

"I had a terrible time at school. I wasn’t assessed as dyslexic until I was 15. Dyslexia wasn’t as recognised in the 1980s as it is today, and it made my school days the worst of my life. I left with very little self-confidence."

"However, since then I’ve managed to get a proper education. I did some modules in social care at West Lothian College in my early twenties, and in 2000 I spent a year at Newbattle Abbey College in Dalkeith, which offers courses to people with few or no qualifications. That allowed me to go on to university, where I did my undergraduate degree, followed by a postgraduate degree in community education."

"I’ve volunteered for many different causes and charities, but dyslexia has a special place in my heart because of what I’ve been through. I’ve always wanted to make a contribution to improving the lives of others with dyslexia."

"I became involved with Dyslexia Scotland when I helped set up its branch in West Lothian. Since then, as well as helping to run the group, I’ve been asked to speak in front of the local council about my struggle with dyslexia. I’ve also attended meetings of the Cross-Party Group on dyslexia in the Scottish Parliament."

"I love being a volunteer and giving something back. I think it’s very important to raise awareness of dyslexia. If it’s not identified in childhood, it can cause an immense amount of pain. Many adults with dyslexia, like myself, are scarred from what we’ve been through."