Montreal Fluency Centre marks 25 years

The Montreal Fluency Centre is marking 25 years of supporting children with learning and speech disorders, with several celebratory public outreach programs. Over the last quarter of a century, the Westmount non-profit has become a success story in equipping their students with learning tools needed for advancing into future studies or finding meaningful employment in the workplace.

The institution’s new executive director, Sandra Furfaro, said that one of the features that sets the centre apart is that students are tested for both learning and speech disorders at the intake stage so that parents can get a more complete picture of what supports their child may need. Once a new student is assessed by a team of professionals, they are paired with a clinician equipped with the expertise that matches the student’s profile.

Furfaro said that since learning disabilities do not disappear with age, students need to learn to work with them, work around them and to adapt. “That’s what we’re doing,” Furfaro said. “We’re giving them those strategies.” Before taking on the role with the Montreal Fluency Centre, Furfaro worked with the English Montreal School Board for 45 years, including serving as Educational Services director for 15 years.

Employees at the centre also take pride in the educational role they play to help destigmatize dyslexia and other learning disorders. According to Furfaro, the anniversary outreach programs are meant to be a celebration, not just of the centre’s students and parents but of the community at large.

The centre partnered with the Westmount Public Library to provide a free workshop to help parents understand what a dyslexia diagnosis in their child may look like and how to live with it. The event, planned for dyslexia awareness month in October, was to feature a presentation from a speech language pathologist and the centre’s former executive director, Véronique Paulet, who shares her experience as the mother of a child with dyslexia. “I explain to the parents what they go through,” Paulet said, “and that there is hope.”

Up until the winter holidays the centre will also be running their annual fundraising campaign for the bursary program called the Annual Gift of Speech.

For information about the Montreal Fluency Centre, including how to register or donate, visit montrealfluency.com.