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14
Be: Supportive
Learning ‘write’
from wrong
PHOTO: MELISSA WOODS
As a child, school was ‘hell on earth’ for Brett Comerford,
so the classroom was the last place he expected to find a
career, discovers Marc Barnbaum.
Look at this list of famous people and think about what
they have in common ... Henry Ford, Leonardo da Vinci,
Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell and Richard
Branson. Apart from the obvious fact that they all
excelled in their fields, they all reportedly had dyslexia, which
means they all struggled with reading, language and words.
While dyslexia has been recognised for a long time, it was
not on Brett Comerford’s radar as a young man. He just thought
he was bad at school. “I would rather have died than to read out
aloud. School life was hell on earth for me. I daydreamed and
often got into trouble because I could not do the work.
“My teachers would often say that I was a ‘dumb, stupid, lazy,
good-for-nothing no-hoper’. I can still remember the day that my
Year 4 teacher said in front of the class: ‘Comerford, all you will be
good for is painting white lines in the middle of the road’. He had
me repeat that year which was embarrassing. I got no extra help
at school, just more caning.
“I was failing high school in a big way;
DID YOU KNOW?
the deputy principal was a family friend
and he knew the store manager at a local
sugar mill. He kindly gave me a start as a
cadet purchasing officer. I was way out of
my comfort zone as I wasn’t sure how I was
going to handle all the paperwork and the
maths side of warehousing, but I did.
“I wanted to succeed because going
back to school was not an option for me.
So I learnt how to get out of doing things
I knew I couldn’t handle; I found ways
to cover up my shortcomings. From the
sugar mill I went to a coal terminal doing
similar work just on a larger scale. Having
a computerised system helped me to cope
Dyslexia affects about 10% of the
Australian population
Dyslexia is resistant to traditional
teaching and tutoring
Up to 90% of children in learning
support could have dyslexia
Early identification and
intervention is key for children with
dyslexia
Dyslexia is recognised in Australia
under the Disability Discrimination
Act 1992 (DDA) and under the
Human Rights Commission.
To learn more about dyslexia go to
www.dyslexiaassociation.org.au .
with the work. I had no job satisfaction, but felt I wasn’t capable
of doing anything else. My wife always believed I would make a
great teacher, but I wouldn’t leave my job in fear of failing at uni.”
At the age of 36, Brett was retrenched. He was
devastated, but his wife felt it was a blessing in disguise as he
then had no excuse but to give uni a go. Brett says CQUniversity
gave him the support he needed to cope with studying as a
dyslexic student.
“In the first year of my university degree I remember seeking
the help of the University counsellor at CQUniversity Mackay as
I was having difficulty managing all the reading, having lots of
headaches and feeling like the only thing to do was to drop out of
uni,” he says.
“With her help I was diagnosed and given all the support
needed to cope. I was unaware of what the Uni could actually
offer me by way of increasing the size of my text books, having
them photocopied onto blue paper, given
breaks during exam time etc. The diagnosis
opened up a new world as it showed me
that I could learn.”
Since completing his Bachelor of
Education (Early Childhood) degree,
Brett has worked as a primary school
teacher in Mackay, helping other students
gain the confidence to succeed. He has
also completed a Graduate Diploma
in Learning Management (Special
Education) and is currently undertaking
postgraduate studies in ‘Multisensory
Structured Learning Education’ through
the Australian Dyslexic Association, to
assist students who have dyslexia either as
children or adults.
ISSUE 13