SLD Read tutor George White has a long history with literacy – from earning his GED, to advocating for his son in school, to working at the Kalamazoo State Hospital, White has spent his entire life emphasizing the importance of reading, writing and spelling to those around him. It only made sense that his advocacy would lead him to tutoring children with learning disabilities, like dyslexia, at SLD Read.

White is originally from Detroit, Michigan. From a young age, he was a good reader – he was reading at the college level by the time he was in sixth grade – but struggled in school to keep up with the other students. He had a difficult time focusing which made it hard for him to stay on track.

“I literally did not graduate from high school,” says White. “I had the academic skills at least to be able to go right down to the Jefferson Building and take my GED. I passed.” 

From there, White went on to work at the Kalamazoo State Hospital for 41 years, retiring in 2019, and was a foster parent for 33 years. It was these roles that began to put White into positions where he could see the true value and importance of literacy. 

“In my foster parenting, I started getting a lot of kids who had reading difficulties,” says White. “I was trying to figure out what is going on with these kids and why they can’t read. I started to realize that they hadn’t heard of phonics. And so I was just like, okay, yeah, there’s a problem here.” 

It was these children, along with his own biological children, that began to open White’s eyes to how students with reading disabilities struggle in the real world. White took it upon himself to begin advocating in the community for better literacy programs. 

“I started advocating in the schools,” says White. “And that took me into the courtrooms. Advocating for the children in the courtrooms took me into the mental health system.” 

When discussing his time in community advocacy and teaching literacy, White emphasized the importance of self advocacy for his students and their parents. 

“Education is important,” says White. “If you’re not receiving education, it’s extremely important that you verbalize that. Make it very clear that you’re not doing what it is you need to be doing. Be persistent.”