Like most people Brenton Swart didn’t have strong knowledge around what dyslexia is other than the common misbelief that it’s simply a matter of mixing letters around when writing. This all changed when his youngest son was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 9. Brenton could sense that there was a disconnect in his son’s learning even at the age of 4 and with continued meetings with his teachers and educators the common reply was either to have his ears tested, check his eyesight or to simply read to him more. His son was surrounded by books from infancy and was already read to every single night so he knew the answers lay somewhere else.

After 5 years of battling the education system his son was officially diagnosed with dyslexia and that’s where the real learning began. His son simply wants to belong and for people to understand there is a reason why he can’t read or write as well as others in the class and that he doesn’t want his learning disability to define him.

Brenton joined the Board of Code Read as he believes the organisation was born from a truly altruistic place and shares their vision and mission by helping to raise awareness of dyslexia, empowering dyslexic thinkers and driving changes in the education system.