Jasmine, Cailum and Harrison have a bond few would understand.

Key points: Students with dyslexia say they were made to feel stupid at schools

Students with dyslexia say they were made to feel stupid at schools The learning centre was set up by two home-schooling parents and has grown

The learning centre was set up by two home-schooling parents and has grown A expert says dyslexic children can thrive in mainstream schools



They all have dyslexia and dropped out of school when the learning disorder started to overwhelm them.

They know how it feels when a teacher talks for hours, but it's not making sense.

They know the feeling of dread when called on to answer a question, when you don't have the answer — again.

And they know the feeling of helplessness and despair when you've fallen so far behind you think there's no catching up.

But above all else, they know it is possible to keep on going — to learn and experience success, even when dyslexia makes it that much harder.

Graduates Jasmine, Cailum and Harrison say the learning centre changed their lives. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

'I felt absolutely stupid'

Dyslexia is a condition best understood as a persistent difficulty with reading and spelling.

Estimates vary between organisations, but it's thought to affect 5–10 per cent of the population, meaning every classroom is likely to have at least one dyslexic student.

Jasmine Vikan, 19, was diagnosed with the learning disorder six years ago.

"It made me feel useless, absolutely stupid," she recalled.

Jasmine said she was called names and was told she was useless and was never going to get anywhere in life.

"I was told that in year seven. It just made me feel like crap," she said.

Finally learning to read

Seven years ago Jasmine had given up hope when a family friend suggested she try the Language and Literacy Learning Centre in Perth, where she met Cailum and Harrison.

"My school gave up on me," she said.

"Then I came to this centre and this place made me feel amazing.

Students say they feel supported and encouraged at the centre. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

"I pretty much came at year one level with my reading. I couldn't read a single word.

"If it wasn't for this centre, I wouldn't be able to read."

Mums establish school dedicated to dyslexia

The Language and Literacy Learning Centre in Cockburn has been running for eight years.

It was started by two home-schooling parents — Cailum's mother Vikki Hipkin and Harrison's mother Lyn Hardy.

They refused to accept that dyslexia would limit future career options for their sons and decided to join forces.

When Ms Hipkin, a qualified computing teacher, pulled Cailum out of school, she quickly skilled up, learning how to teach the boys the way they needed.

Co-founder Vikki Hipkin teaching spelling, using a combination of phonetics and mnemonics. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

Progress was quick and word spread. More children in need came and it hasn't stopped.

The centre also helps students with dyscalculia, which is a learning disorder that makes it hard to understand maths, and dysgraphia, which affects writing.

There are currently 55 students at the centre, some for just one or two days of intervention a week, while others attend four days a week.

Teaching model means fewer meltdowns

It is staffed by parent volunteers, who have been trained to work with small groups of children, repeating and reinforcing concepts over and over again.

Ms Hipkin said she wanted to create a place that would make parents and students feel optimistic.

Vikki Hipkin decided to found the centre when her son Cailum struggled in mainstream education. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

"They want to be successful, they want to be able to learn their way without being judged and they also want to be around people like them," she said.

"We're not teaching them anything different to a mainstream class, we're just teaching them in the way they learn.

"The children don't go home and have a meltdown at the end of the day.

"And if you're not having to hold all those big feelings inside and you're able just to be you, go home and still be you, it means that they have more success."

The founders say the learning centre lets children learn in their own way. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

Students don't have to sit at a desk

She credits the centre's success to its teaching model of explicit direct instruction and multi-sensory approach.

Children create and share memory hooks in order to learn, so they have multiple fallback options in times of struggle.

The centre has developed its own multi-sensory times table program, helping students to learn with rhymes and clues. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

The centre has also developed its own method of teaching the times tables, using rhymes and clue words.

It's also OK for students to lie down or rock on a chair if that's what makes them comfortable.

Unofficial school gives hope

Shaya Mitchell withdrew her daughter Roxanne from a mainstream school last year so that she could attend the centre full time after watching her mental health rapidly deteriorate.

"This place means that I still have a daughter," she said.

Roxanne's mother says her daughter now knows the way she learns is different, not wrong. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

"In a mainstream school, children with dyslexia don't fit into the mould.

"This place has given us hope, it's given her confidence.

"It's given her a chance to see that the way she learns is not wrong. It's just different to mainstream.

"This place is our second home."

Students, parents and teachers of the soon-to-be-named Havenport MSL College ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

Expert says mainstream schools can handle dyslexia

Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond from Edith Cowan University specialises in preventing literacy-based learning difficulties in children.

She travels around the country coaching teachers on high impact explicit instruction and is also the president of Learning Difficulties Australia.

Associate Professor Hammond said there was no reason why dyslexic students couldn't thrive in a mainstream school, provided they received "gold standard" instruction and small group intervention if needed.

Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond says it is possible for dyslexic students to thrive in a mainstream school, with the right instruction. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

"Mainstream schools, particularly government schools in WA, are doing a really good job at supporting and trying to prevent these issues," she said.

"Of course it's really challenging for any school teacher, on top of everything else they have to do, to cater for a really diverse range of students.

"I think it's a myth that we need to provide something bespoke for children with dyslexia.

"We need to provide them with the same evidence-based instruction as everybody else, it's just a question of getting in earlier and making sure the intensity is there from the very beginning.

"It's a myth to think that children learn differently how to read.

"Everybody has the same brain, we all do it in exactly the same way."

Learning centre to be recognised

While children said they didn't feel judged at the Language and Literacy Learning centre, some didn't like the stigma of not attending a "proper school".

Students enjoying a break outside the language centre. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

They spoke of wanting SmartRider transport cards and student cards, and of their desire to belong to a school.

It's taken three years but they will soon get their wish, with the centre to become a registered school from term three, making it eligible for government funding.

It will be known as Havenport MSL (multi-sensory learning) College, after the children who have found it a safe haven and a port to call home.

But it won't be an option for everyone, with fees of $4,190 per term — currently parents are paying $100 a day.

Graduate success story

In the meantime, Ms Hipkin's 18-year-old son, Cailum Crosley Hipkin, has graduated and is now studying creative media at Murdoch University.

He's come a long way — there was a time not long ago when he thought his dyslexia and dysgraphia meant higher education was out of reach.

Cailum Crosley Hipkin is now studying creative media at university. ( ABC News: Rebecca Carmody )

"I was so disengaged with school by year 7 that I didn't want to learn," he said.

"I was done. I wanted to give up. I was bullied by not just my peers, sometimes by teachers.

"The thing that hurt the most was being called lazy when it was completely and utterly out of my control.

"The centre is just the beacon of hope that kids like me and Jasmine and Harrison need just to keep going.

"I'm incredibly proud of my Mum, it's amazing what she's done and without her I wouldn't be where I am."

The WA Education Department was contacted for comment but said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was unable to respond to non-essential inquiries.