READ was established in Karachi 32 years ago, and has since become a pioneering institution in Pakistan for three reasons:

The institute, R.E.A.Dyslexics first made its presence felt seventeen years ago in 1988. It was a pioneer in a field which was virtually unknown in our part of the world. It was established by the enterprising Shad Moarif, with a Masters degree in Counseling and Special Education from Harvard University, who began remedial teaching with a team of just three tutors who were trained by him. Shad Moarif introduced three main pedagogical strands and weaved them together to design the READ remedial program: (a) The Orto-Gillingham Approach (b) The Hickey Multisensory Method ( U.K.) and (c) the Harvard Literacy Lab Program headed by Dr. Jeanne Chall ( deceased), based on her Five Reading Stages”.

• It was the first center in the subcontinent to explain, diagnose and remediate the incidence of learning difficulties among children and adults.
• It was the first center in Pakistan to introduce formal standardized educational assessments in clinical as well as group settings.
• It was the first center to introduce formal one-year long teacher-training through a Diploma Course collaboration with a leading UK-based institution specializing in learning difficulties.

Today the READ Diploma Course (RDC) has been improved with the availability of new resources and updated research. Over the past 32 years more than 300 tutors have graduated and swiftly found places in Pakistan’s leading schools and overseas institutions. READ has had a positive impact in changing the attitude of the teaching community and parents to understand the educational needs for children with learning difficulties.

READ paved the way forward with successful educational interventions and almost all renowned schools followed suit. For the first time the parents and teachers understood that there were explainable causes for underachieving children/students.

To spread more awareness of learning difficulties, READ has worked with various NGOs, most notably the Kiran Foundation.

READ has now accumulated a wide and diverse array of experiences with underachieving children, through their educational assessments, teacher-training, administrative monitoring, quality-control and interventions.

Nadir Toosy

Being dyslexic doesn't mean that you don't see things the same way as everyone else. All it means is that you are slightly more gifted in some things over everyone else. Sadly, at school there wasn't a way to measure that and I'd often hear my teachers say that you are very smart, however, your reading and writing are not at the same level as the class.

I attended READ for 2 years and that helped change the way I approached school. The time spent there probably felt like the best time of the day as it was one full of pure encouragement and that's often what a child really needs. It’s more of a battle for the parents to accept that their child isn't the regular kid than it is for a child to be fine with being different.

I dabbled in law school for about 4 years and left it to go on to pursue a Communication Design degree at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture. I’ve run my own Photography Company for the past 2 years and all I really can say is that accepting one’s natural talent and pursuing it is far more exhilarating than constantly trying to be “normal”. READ enabled me to realize that earlier on but, I wasn't able to enforce it till much later in life. Embrace yourself and work on that which makes you happy and it will never feel like work!

Fahad Khan

Growing up I hated school. I never understood the concept of waking up so early in the morning, getting dressed and then sitting for hours on end listening to a teacher. I still hate the idea, but I have realized that is essential in life to get ahead. While, sitting in the classroom, which was no less than a torture chamber, I found myself struggling to comprehend what was being taught. Far too often words seemed to just jumble themselves in front of me, almost as if the letters themselves were jumping and dancing on the pages they were printed on. Yes, I had a problem. A disadvantage I could barely understand. Why was it easier for others to grasp the concept of reading and writing, while I was still struggling to read even the simplest books?

I was in fourth grade, when one day I was taken out of class and taken to the library along with three of my other classmates who also faced the same challenge. A kind looking teacher patiently helped us go through all the lessons taught to us in the previous grade. This started my journey to READ where, for the next nine years, I spent long hours with numerous teachers who tirelessly worked with me so I could reach where I am today. Even though my problems, although seldom, did return while I was studying in college, their teachings always stayed with me so that I could overcome my difficulties easily. Today as I start my venture into the restaurant world I can never forget where I started from and how much READ has helped me over the years to be more expressive than I have ever been.