"[He] had regular meltdowns after school from Grade 1 from frustration and fatigue. In Grade 3, he came home and told me that he was the "dumbest and stupidest kid at [name of school]." He tends to act out to avoid doing work that is too difficult for him and so he is often in trouble at school. In Grade 5, he developed anxiety and a facial tic. In Grade 7, he would refuse to go to school or go and hide in the bathroom because he had so much anxiety. In Grade 8, he was purposely acting out so that he would be sent out of the classroom because he could not do the work. He said his dream was to be able to read and do the same work as the other students."

Imagine an 8-year-old girl with school avoidance. It is very difficult to get her out of bed and ready for school in the mornings. Mom holds down a full-time job and has been late to work because of this. She has multiple somatic or body complaints which are symptoms of anxiety. She struggles to sleep at night –worried about school the next day and is tired throughout the school day. She struggles to read at a Grade 1 level and mom is given the names of psychologists in the community because she is told, no interventions can be put in place until they have a formal Individual Education Plan. The mom is told the school’s waiting list is at least two years to get an assessment. The mother is near to tears in my office and her voice is full of frustration and worry. How are they going to afford the expense of a psychological evaluation? These children experience poor self-confidence, will say things like “I’m stupid…why was I born,[”] and face ridicule by classmates.

Ten months of the year, five days a week, our son goes to a place where he feels like a failure. It's a place that exhausts him because he has to work so much harder than neurotypical students to not even keep up. He has been called stupid by peers at school. That wears on his mental health and overall happiness. Not surprisingly, he is a completely different, far happier child during the summers.

The President of the Pediatricians Alliance: 

Many years ago, I had a patient who was being seen for mood and anxiety problems and suicidal threats. Eventually she received a diagnosis of dyslexia, and spent a very long time on the waiting list for the Orton Gillingham evidenced based reading and language program. After one year, her reading and language skills had improved so significantly that her self-confidence, mood symptoms improved and suicidal threats abated.