NEW YORK, April 7, 2009 — The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) announced today  the launch of an ambitious new multi-year campaign to help struggling young learners succeed.  The campaign, Our Kids Count, aims to recruit a legion of NCLD Advocates and raise $20 million in an effort to provide resources to children with learning disabilities (LD).  

The NCLD Our Kids Count campaign is making early identification and intervention a priority in response to the staggering statistic that 75% of children with un-remediated learning difficulties in Grade 3 will continue to struggle all the way through high school with more than 31% dropping out altogether.  In order to aid early identification, the campaign is hoping to grow the number of nationwide advocates to 2.6 million people – approximately one advocate for every child with LD.  Advocates will champion NCLD’s educational programs and services including early literacy screening and outreach to parents and educators.

With a new Administration in the White House and important education policy decisions on the horizon, advocates will also help to build awareness for the legislative and policy issues surrounding LD.

NCLD is inviting parents, caregivers, educators, and anyone impacted by LD to become an advocate and join the nationwide community of people who believe that Our Kids Count.  Becoming an advocate is easy – just log onto to LD.org and click on the advocate link in the center of the page which will direct you to the advocate sign-up center. 

“The more support kids with LD have from strong advocates the more likely it will be for them to excel,” said James H. Wendorf, executive director of NCLD.   “The Our Kids Count campaign seeks to give the nation’s 2.6 million struggling students a chance to build a strong foundation in learning and take advantage of every opportunity to succeed in school, work and life.”

The campaign aims to raise $20 million over the next three years.  Spending will be concentrated on programs to identify and support struggling learners, increase educators’ ability to understand and respond to their learning needs, and engage and support parents’ ability to advocate effectively for them. Between now and April 22, new donations will be matched up to $200,000. This generous match has been made possible by anonymous donors who have a child with learning disabilities.  Donations can be made at LD.org .

NCLD provides essential information to parents, professionals and individuals with learning disabilities, promotes research and programs to foster effective learning, and advocates for policies to protect and strengthen educational rights and opportunities.  For more information about NCLD please visit LD.org .

Media Contacts:

Tom Schuyler
M Booth & Associates
(212) 539 – 3223
toms@mbooth.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Catherine Nugent
NCLD
212-545-7510 x 214
CNugent@ncld.org This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it