So CA Tri-Counties Branch of the International Dyslexia Assoc

The mission of Southern California Tri-Counties Branch of the International Dyslexia Association (TCB) is to improve literacy and access to appropriate education in the communities we serve. We want to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of dyslexia and other language-based learning disabilities, to assist parents and teachers in identifying children who may need specialized instruction in order to learn to read.

We are dedicated to facilitating literary success in our communities through appropriate recognition, understanding and effective instructional strategy implementation for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.

We believe that all individuals have the right to achieve their potential; that individual learning abilities can be strengthened; and that social, educational and cultural barriers to language acquisition and use must be removed.

There are several different types of events that we provide to increase education and understanding of dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities. We sponsor an annual conference where we invite researchers, authors, educators, and experts in the fields of education, neuroscience, technology, learning, and reading acquisition to present the latest information on appropriate recognition, understanding and effective instructional strategy implementation for students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences.

Our conferences are open to educators, administrators, psychologists, speech therapists, educational therapists, tutors, parents of dyslexics, and adult dyslexics. The purpose of our conferences is to raise awareness of the issues surrounding learning disabilities and are provided at low cost to make ends meet. Scholarships are also available to help defray conference costs. We seek grants to help defray the cost of the speakers, etc.

In addition to our conferences, we sponsor free, monthly webinars on a variety of subjects related to issues surrounding dyslexia recognition and effective instruction. We are able to present these free due to the generosity of an annual donor.

We publish newsletters; present free, public forums and community meetings; we sponsor regular parent support groups; create, distribute, and provide resources and informational packets to parents, teachers, and professionals, as well as individuals with dyslexia and learning disabilities.

We maintain a website which provides free downloads for anyone seeking information about dyslexia causes, research, and testing, as well as appropriate instruction and accommodations for students with dyslexia. We have a "contact us" page where individuals can send emails with questions and receive personal responses from a member of our board.

Our goals for the future include increasing attendance at our Annual Spring Conference, increasing our branch participation at free expos and fairs, increasing attendance at our webinars, increasing participation at our parent support groups.

TCB is an all-volunteer organization. Our Board of Directors is made up of both professional and lay persons, with a total of fifteen people. We provide the planning manpower for our events. Our board meets regularly, both virtually and in person, and each board member provides an annual donation. Besides the board, we have many volunteers who come out to help us with various events. These people are contacted through our 2,000 plus name mailing list of local volunteers.

In order to pay for event venues, speakers, food, etc. we raise money through various channels. We have a silent auction and raffle at our annual conference; items range from educational materials, to trips, artwork, and tickets to events. We recently started holding an annual Casino Night, which has proved to be fun for everyone. We provide workshops where speakers and special presenters are usually paid for their time; however some give us discounted rates and at times presenters have donated their time.

When someone joins IDA, the majority of their membership fee goes to help support the functions of the national office and a small percentage is given to the branch. In addition to our fundraising activities, we are constantly applying for grant opportunities, since both large and small grants provide the majority of our funds.

Progress with conferences - our attendance continues to grow and the feedback remains outstanding. Participants greatly enjoy the professionalism of the speakers and how reachable they are. Each speaker aims to provide the participants with take-home activities that they may use immediately to help their students. Our upcoming annual conference is scheduled for February 26, 2022 and we've already had requests to pre-register, due to its mention on our website.

Our webinars are highly successful and the attendance ranges between 100 and 250 people each time. We are pleased to notice that we always have registrants from around the world and throughout the USA.

In general, we are experiencing increased attendance and interest in our events and believe that is a barometer of how our message is permeating the general public awareness and curiosity about dyslexia and learning disabilities.

Progress with our overall community of awareness of dyslexia - this is greatly increasing through our emails and phone calls, as well as our various events, including our webinars. We now have two active parent support groups, one in Orange County and one is Riverside County. Creating on-going parent support groups for parents of children with dyslexia has been one of our mail goals.

The most important component of providing appropriate instruction is for teachers to have training and expertise in creating lessons geared to the needs of children with dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities. In the summer of 2016, we sponsored an Orton-Gillingham teacher training. For several years, we sponsored a Project Read teacher training. For the last 3 years and again this year (2021), we are co-sponsoring training in the Wilson Language Programs. These programs all use the strategies outlines in a "Structured Literacy" program.

Our goals for the future include increasing attendance at our Annual Spring Conference, increasing our branch participation at free expos and fairs, increasing attendance at our webinars, increasing participation at our parent support groups. We also aim to increase our participation at our fairs and also at our community meetings/workshops.