ST LOUIS LEARNING DISABILITIES ASSOCIATION INC

At St. Louis LDA our passion is to see kids reach their full potential and succeed. Every child has gifts and abilities, but not every child is able to learn and grow independently in a traditional educational setting. To that end, we seek to help children who are struggling discover their strengths, overcome weaknesses and become self-sufficient, confident learners who can achieve great things because of their unique abilities.

An important element in bringing about the success of children is educating and partnering with the adults in their lives--parents, teachers and other professionals--to work together for each child's benefit. This includes enhancing their awareness and acceptance of learning disabilities, giving them the ability to identify when children are struggling and need assistance, empowering them to advocate for their children and giving them practical tools to support and encourage kids as they progress.

St. Louis LDA has identified a number of specific goals for the coming years:
1. Expand the Early Childhood Outreach Program, including serving an increased number of at-risk children.
2. Broaden specialized services for students in grades K-12.
3. Grow our reputation as an authority on learning, specializing in learning disabilities, ADHD, language impairment and other atypical learning challenges.
4. Strengthen volunteer involvement, including growing and diversifying the board of directors.

In addition to providing direct services to children who need assistance, a significant portion of our programming is focused on training and equipping parents and educators to maximize their impact in each child's life through daily interactions and dynamic learning environments. We believe it is important not only to address each child's unique situation with customized strategies and plans but also to address the systems in which our children are being educated.

In order to carry out this approach, we have implemented a number of strategies:
• We hire highly-qualified, experienced educational consultants and learning specialists to work with students, parents and educators.
• We partner directly with early childhood centers, schools, colleges and universities to provide expert training for caregivers and educators and to give guidance to administrators on how to shape professional development and monitor the effectiveness of their faculty in the classroom.
• For parents and children who have reached the point of crisis, we facilitate immediate consultations with our specialists to answer questions and get them the help they need.
• We make sure that parents not only understand their children's needs but are also empowered to advocate for their children with teachers and other professionals involved with their education.
• We offer over 70 unique workshop topics for parents and/or teachers to educate and equip them in practical ways to enhance the learning experience of each child in their care, whether it's restructuring classrooms and using best practices, identifying warning signs of potential learning disabilities or making the most of every interaction both at school and at home to improve the child's ability to learn.
• We work directly with students both through individualized tutoring and in classes at LDA's educational center or in schools, helping them understand their personal style of learning and teaching them how to succeed independently when they are at school or doing homework.
• We are regularly networking out in the community to build stronger relationships that will facilitate growth of our programs and secure the funding to support them.

St. Louis Learning Disabilities Association has been changing the lives of children in the greater St. Louis region for over 20 years. We have grown from a small, grass-roots organization hosting support groups for parents of children with learning difficulties to a thriving, multi-faceted powerhouse respected by educational institutions and professionals for our expertise in helping children with a vast array of learning disabilities and other challenges to learning. Our educational consultants are sought out for their ability to guide educators and parents in very specific, complex situations that require intensive work and follow-up to ensure a child's success. The learning specialists we hire for our one-on-one tutoring program are all certified in special education, and each student is carefully paired with the specialist who has the most appropriate background and experience to meet his/her specific needs. Each year our experts train hundreds of parents, teachers and other caregivers how to identify and support children who are struggling in a traditional learning environment. Our early childhood consultants provide ongoing support and professional development to ensure that all young learners have an enriched classroom experience that maximizes their foundation for success, especially those in communities with extremely limited resources. With effective programs, strong relationships in the community and a staff of highly qualified consultants and specialists, St. Louis LDA is well-positioned to grow and reach more children than ever.

Our organization has experienced significant growth over time. As a small grassroots organization in 1993, we had 150 interactions with parents through support groups. By 1999, as our services diversified, we had 5,200 interactions with children, parents and teachers. Because we are continually building new relationships and earning a strong reputation in the community, in 2017 we had a record 44,798 interactions per year with over 7,000 individual children and adults.

While we aim to expand each program year by year in general, one particular area of focus at present is growing the number of economically challenged students for whom we provide testing, advocacy and tutoring by fundraising for need-based financial aid to cover the cost.

In early 2015, we hired a dedicated staff person to oversee our data collection and reporting across all programs and focus on grant research, writing and management. As we have improved our evaluation tools and tracking methods, we are seeing encouraging data that validates the effectiveness of our programs and gives us direction on how to grow and refine our approach for even better results.

One of the goals in our strategic plan, to enlarge and diversify our board, is still a work in progress. Over the next 2-3 years we intend to nearly double the size of the board (20 members maximum) and intentionally seek out members who will bring diverse experience and perspectives to better reflect the broader community we serve.