What would you sacrifice to give your child a chance at a brighter future?
More than 120 Australian families made the extraordinary decision to leave behind their homes, careers, communities, and everything familiar—crossing oceans in search of answers for their children who had long struggled with learning difficulties. What they discovered would change their lives forever.
The Trailblazers is a powerful and uplifting collection of real-life stories that chronicles the courage of families who dared to believe in the possibility of brain change. At its heart is a deep hope—that neuroplasticity, the brain’s capacity to rewire itself, could unlock the potential that traditional education had overlooked.
Each chapter brings to life the journey of a child once limited by dyslexia, ADHD, auditory processing challenges, or other learning difficulties, and the parents who refused to accept that these challenges had to be a lifelong sentence. From tearful goodbyes in Sydney and Melbourne to new beginnings in Vancouver classrooms, this book captures the raw emotion, scientific promise, and human grit behind their transformation.
This is more than a story of hardship—it’s a celebration of resilience, determination, and the profound impact of believing in what’s possible. Written for parents, educators, and anyone who has ever questioned the limits of learning, The Trailblazers invites you to rethink what you know about the brain, education, and the future of children who learn differently.
If you’ve ever wondered whether something more could be done—this book will show you what happens when families find the courage to act on that belief.
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About the Book
In 1980, Barbara Arrowsmith Young began her lifelong mission to create a program that could strengthen cognitive capacities in children with learning difficulties. Her one-room school on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, became the birthplace of her efforts to help both children and young adults access their untapped cognitive potential. Driven by a deep passion to challenge the prevailing belief that learning disabilities were lifelong and unchangeable, Barbara dedicated over 40 years to reshaping this educational paradigm.
As of 2025, the Arrowsmith Program is being implemented in public schools, private schools, and learning centres around the world—including in Canada, the United States, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, India, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Cayman Islands, Thailand, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, and Australia—improving lives every day.
In The Trailblazers, Howard Eaton and Antoinette Commins focus in on Australia and how Twenty-Three different schools from Brisbane to Perth, Melbourne to Sydney all chose to adopt the program and why it was so vitally important to do so. This story is a remarkable one, we journey with these Australian families, who realise that no school in Australia is going to implement the program in time for their child to benefit from and thus decide that Canada is the only choice. These Australian families were truly pioneers in their country, and through their experiences and advocacy helped initiate educational change in their own Homeland. The children and families who benefited from this program upon their transition back to Australia shared their stories, sufferings and eventually successes with the people around and close to them. Over time, Public and Private schools started taking a serious look at the program as Advocacy groups in Melbourne and South Australia also started to form. The results have been positive and more schools in Australia are now looking at the program for their students with Learning Difficulties.
Howard Eaton and Antoinette Commins bring their unique backgrounds and experiences to the pages of this book. Howard was diagnosed with Severe Dyslexia in 1972 and struggled through school eventually overcoming exceptional obstacles to start his own schools for children with Learning Difficulties. Antoinette Commins was diagnosed with multiple Learning Disablities in 2009-2010 ranging from Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia as well as a Non-Verbal Learning Disability. She journeyed to Vancouver Canada with her family who made many sacrifices so that she could attend the Arrowsmith program. Antoinette made significant progress in her cognitive capacities in just Eighteen months and for a child who was told she would never even pass High School, graduating in the the top 12% of the state, was accepted into the University of Melbourne to further her studies.
Through their own personal experiences and insights into Learning Difficulties and Disabilities, they bring these stories to life. If you are someone interested in Educational Neuroscience, Paradigm Changes, Stories of overcoming obstacles and have an open-mind for Scientific Discovery, then this book is for you.
The Authors
Antoinette Commins is an innately passionate and enthusiastic individual. Antoinette has always believed that the best learning any individual can acquire is through the life changing experiences life spontaneously yet beautifully throws our way. At one point in her education, Antoinette’s parents were told she may not get through High School.
After completing her Arrowsmith Program at Eaton Arrowsmith School in Vancouver, Canada, Antoinette’s cognitive capacities, self-image, happiness and assurance in her independence sky-rocketed. Upon her return to Australia, Antoinette spoke to advocacy groups, teachers and principals from across Melbourne about her journey and encouraged the implementation of the Arrowsmith program in Australian schools to help change the education system for children like her.
Recently, Antoinette transitioned into the Mental Health Support field, securing a new position with the leading Public Hospital in Melbourne. This collaborative initiative within the Public Health system in Melbourne focuses on comprehensive mental health care, especially for individuals facing severe or complex issues. Antoinette will serve as a Psychosocial Worker on the three-month crisis intervention team, continuing her lifelong passion to help others.
Howard Eaton, Ed.M., founded Eaton Arrowsmith Academy (EAA) in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2005. The school has worked with over two thousands students over the last twenty years.
In 2015, Eaton Arrowsmith Academy was started in Redmond, Washington also serving children with learning difficulties.
Howard Eaton is the author of Brain School: Stories of Children with Learning Disabilities and Attention Disorders Who Changed Their Lives By Improving Their Cognitive Functioning and The Brain Pioneer: The True Story of How Barbara Arrowsmith Young Used Brain Science to Help Children with Learning Disabilities..
He has presented at various events and conferences in Canada, United States of America, Australia and New Zealand on topics related to the Arrowsmith Program, Learning Disabilities, and Attention Disorders.
He has worked as a Sessional Instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia, teaching courses on Learning Disabilities. He has been a high school and elementary teacher in the United States and Canada, and has trained as an Orton-Gillingham Tutor working at the Kildonan School summer program (Camp Dunnabeck) in Amenia, NY.
He earned his B.A. in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and his M.Ed. at Boston University in Special Education along with a Kindergarten to Grade 9 Teaching Certification.
More about Howard Eaton
In Brain School, Howard Eaton explores how, applying the principles of neuroplasticitiy, Barbara Arrowsmith Young developed cognitive remediation exercises, founded the Arrowsmith Program and opened the first Arrowsmith School in Toronto, Ontario over 30 years ago. Mr. Eaton then discusses how difficult it was for him to move from traditional remediation methods for learning disabilities to seeing the new possibilities that are due to the ability of the brain to change itself. The lives of nine children are discussed as they start the Arrowsmith Program and then move on to either private or public schools.
This is an AMAZING book!! Reading this book both saved and changed my daughter’s life. Because of this book we enrolled her in an Arrowsmith school in VA. Before we started Arrowsmith my daughter was in a reading program for 4 years without much progress. One night at age 7 she said to me, “Mommy if they could give me the shot they give the animals at the shelter, I would take it. Because maybe if I came back to this life I could read.” That statement scared us. And luckily we found this book and an Arrowsmith school. She is now in her second year of Arrowsmith and reading at grade level. Not only that, she reads chapter books for fun!! This book changed our entire family.
Barbara Arrowsmith-Young, once told she’d never overcome her learning disabilities, defied the odds by using brain plasticity to change her brain and improve her learning. She developed her own brain improvement program and founded the Arrowsmith School in 1980. Now offered in over 100 schools worldwide, her program helps both children with learning disabilities and adults with brain injuries. Her work has transformed how these individuals are perceived and educated, showing that meaningful brain change is possible.
When I began to read this book it was with the thought that I would be sharing my passion for all things brain related with my children. I thought that they would be inspired by this story of Barbara Arrowsmith Young, who has made it her life’s work to enable first herself and then others to reach their potential in life by strengthening their brains ability to learn. When we began to read together I was pleasantly surprised that I learned a great deal as well! Barbara Young’s story, while written with children/youth in mind, certainly captures the adult reader and provides information about the growing field of brain science and education, and the exciting research that is happening in this area. If you are interested in the brain, education, reaching your potential and the possibilities that exist when these worlds collide, you’ll love this book!
For anyone interested in learning more about the schools and programs developed by Howard Eaton, Ed.M. here are the links:
- Eaton Arrowsmith School (Vancouver British Columbia)
- Eaton Arrowsmith Academy (Redmond, Washington)