Managing the Problem of Dyslexia: A Review of the Ontario Human Rights Commission Report of The Right to Read Inquiry

Abstract

In January 2022 the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) published the Report of The Right to Read Inquiry (Right to Read) which summarised the findings of a public inquiry into human rights related to reading disabilities and reading instruction in Ontario’s public education system. A public inquiry centred on the human rights of disabled people would appear to be a victory for inclusion and disability rights. From a disability studies approach, the Right to Read report represents the dominant perspective of disability, rooted in biological determinism and the medical model of disability (Goodley, 2001). Right to Read illustrates how the perception of disability as a problem to be solved is so firmly entrenched that it goes unnoticed and unquestioned. For this reason, the report provides an opportunity to examine how disability matters, and what disability means.