Raymond Coderre stands in front of the wall of his specialized books. Coderre has started printing on coloured paper to help people with dyslexia read easier.
Jessie Gunnell likes blue paper.
This might sound like something a kindergartner might say, but in fact, Gunnell is a 26-year-old student who, like many other people with dyslexia, finds it easier to read on coloured paper.
Raymond Coderre, the owner of a local publishing company, has made it his mission to help people with dyslexia by printing some of the books he publishes on coloured paper.
People with dyslexia often find it hard to read on bleached, white paper.
Yet, Coderre is having trouble getting people interested in buying these books.
A few years ago, Coderre printed a handful of Kermudgie the Spirit Bear as a sample, each copy including sections in beige, mint green, lilac and a pale robin’s egg blue.
Coderre says teachers and educators responded enthusiastically when he showcased the book at the Canadian Dyslexia Association’s annual conference, but hasn’t received any orders for the books.
He says a few teachers have purchased multi-coloured copies Kermudgie, but school boards are not exactly lining up to place orders.
There is no scientific evidence that coloured paper can “cure” dyslexia.
But many people with dyslexia notice improvements when reading coloured paper or with tinted glasses.
Simone Oliver, the superintendent of Special Education and Student Services at the Ottawa Catholic School Board, says coloured books are not a resource the board uses currently.
To help students with dyslexia read, the school board uses, among other things, transparent, coloured sheets that are placed over a page to tint the paper called Irlen filters.
Oliver says Irlen filters are “a very accessible resource” since they only cost a couple of dollars each.
The problem with the filters is they draw attention to student with dyslexia in the classroom.
Gunnell says she was never made fun of for using a filter, but was still very hesitant to use it unless she was very tired.
“There’s always the perception that everybody is looking at you.”
Gunnell says she didn’t start using blue paper consistently until high school.
She discovered that it helped when she was diagnosed with dyslexia in Grade 4.
“I had to sort of get over the self-confidence issues,” she says.
Coderre thinks his coloured books could help self-confidence in children with dyslexia since they draw less attention to their learning disability.
“If a child is diagnosed with dyslexia, they either have special glasses or a special sheet they put in front of their page and they are singled out by their classmates,” says Coderre.
“But if you have a classroom where all the kids are all reading from coloured-paper books, then nobody stands out.”
Gunnell says Coderre’s rainbow books are a great idea.
“You don’t want to be different as a kid. If the rest of the class is doing it, then you fit in,” says Gunnell, who refused to wear the blue-tinted glasses dyslexia specialists recommended she wear as a child.
Coderre says the next step in getting people interested in these books is actually printing some to sell, but that comes with a risk-factor for a small business.
“If you have six colours, what do you do? Print a hundred of each colour and hope that they sell?” he asks, laughing.
Despite the financial risk, Coderre says he just wants to help more people experience the joy of reading.