Learning Disabilities Association of Kentucky Inc

There are a lot of people that think they had dyslexia growing up. Their story is that they overcame it, and went on to be successful in academics and in a career. There is one problem with that belief. Most of these people never had dyslexia, they were simply going through a growing process that millions of people go through in their brain development.

The population we work with has difficulty recognizing letters and symbols on a consistent basis, and they have that difficulty their entire lives. This is a condition that affects 8-12% of the population. Dyslexia has a major impact on the fluency of reading and why a dyslexic individual requires more time and expert instruction: the processing of language is inefficient and can be mentally draining.

When advocating for a child or trying to explain to teachers the effort it takes, I use this example – the effort it takes this child to read and write could be compared to the effort it would take to spend your school day being taught in a foreign language that has not been mastered. Everything you read, write, even note-taking, you are translating in your head as you go along. It is mentally draining to have to do this all day long. This is why we fight for dyslexics as well as children with dyscalculia (math disorder), dysgraphia (writing disorder) and ADHD.

Our organization fights for these most common issues within the schools. They are so common in fact that it is hard to get the attention or sympathy needed to raise money. Everybody thinks they had the disorder, or knows someone that has, they overcame it so it isn't a big deal. But again ...it IS a big deal. It's a big deal for the person trying to get a job in an office but cannot because his reading and writing are not adequate. There are intelligent people taking jobs that frustrate them because they are smart with a high IQ score, but they can't read or do math calculations to take on jobs in offices or the medical field. This often leads to depression or the possibility of being on SSI disability because they also may not be able to do physical labor past a certain age. This is a tremendous waste of human resources.

This is why LDA needs your help. We are the voice that advocates for true additional remediation in schools. We are the ones that encourage employers to use assistive technology to help employees do a better job of reading training materials and writing reports. LDA is a voice for almost 20% of the US population, yet we are far from the most vocal or funded. Help us continue our quiet fight and give generously to the LDA of Kentucky.