From its beginning in 1977, the National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) has worked to bring hope and help into the lives of children and adults with learning disabilities. NCLD carries out its mission in three important ways to benefit the 15 million children, adolescents and adults nationwide with learning disabilities:
Inform
We create and disseminate essential information for parents and educators, providing help and hope.
NCLD's online communications program encompasses Web portals — LD.org, RTINetwork.org, and GetReadytoRead.org — devoted to learning disabilities, early literacy, the effective implementation of Response to Intervention in school districts nationwide, and policy and advocacy. Our online newsletters and interactive programs like LDTalk and webinars provide parents, educators, other advocates, and the media with a comprehensive source of reliable information.
For parents who need information about LD or related disorders, who need tools to be effective partners with school personnel, or who are searching for national, state or local resources, NCLD's websites continue to be a trusted source of free and easy-to-access information. NCLD is also committed to assisting teenagers and young adults with LD as they make decisions about school and work and as they grapple with life's responsibilities and their roles as members of their community. For educators, NCLD's websites provide information about effective research-based practices.
Innovate
We develop and deliver programs and promote research to improve instruction, assessment and support services for individuals with learning disabilities.
More than 80 percent of learning disabilities are language- and reading-based and are most effectively addressed through early identification and intervention. That is why NCLD's priority is to help meet the learning and literacy needs of young children aged 4 through 9. Most children can become successful readers if they enter school having acquired the literacy skills they will need to learn how to read. To help parents and early care providers make sure all children have these critical skills, NCLD has developed Get Ready to Read!, an early literacy program that screens children for pre-reading skills before they enter kindergarten and that provides skill-strengthening activities to promote reading success.
NCLD is committed to ensuring that young children's learning difficulties are recognized and responded to early enough to allow for a successful transition to kindergarten and beyond. The Get Ready to Read! website provides an observation tool and related resources to assist early educators and care providers in detecting the early warning signs of learning disabilities.
Advocate
We mobilize parents to strengthen rights and opportunities for all individuals who struggle to learn.
NCLD has long provided national leadership in the shaping of public policy and federal legislation, working effectively to ensure that the voices of individuals with learning disabilities are heard by those in government. Since launching our public policy program in 1990, we have become a leader and national voice on LD issues in Washington, D.C. In recent years NCLD has implemented a national public affairs program that included an award-winning, Web-based advocacy campaign that mobilized tens of thousands of parents to support improvements in federal legislation.
We are committed to working in partnership with other organizations that share our values. In addition to actively participating in several coalitions, we have organized and led two policy initiatives through a collaborative process we created the Learning Disabilities Roundtable.
NCLD focuses on educational opportunities and rights that have primarily been shaped by federal policies and laws such as the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Led by our Washington, D.C. office and working closely with policy makers, their staffs, federal agencies, and other national organizations, NCLD is determined to make sure that hard-won access to effective instruction in the general classroom, and through special education, appropriate assessment and critical support services will truly be available to every child who needs them.
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