Fall 2022 LDAK President’s Update

October 3, 2022

Another school year is beginning and LDAK is preparing a program of activities to support students and families as they negotiate a post-pandemic educational landscape. This is both an exciting time and a challenging time, as changes are implemented in the public education curriculum and educators focus on helping kids catch up on learning losses over the past two years.

LDAK finished off the last academic year with a number of successful initiatives under our belt, and we expect 2022-2023 to be just as productive. Our plans include continuing to gather and share information on technology developments, LD research and ways to support children’s learning at home. Literacy will continue to be a large focus for us, building out from our successful literacy tutoring project. As school boards devote more staff and funding to literacy education and tutoring, we plan to develop materials and videos that families can use at home to promote reading, writing and arithmetic skills. We will offer webinars on issues specific to learning disabilities and in the spring we will again hold our popular Speak Up for Ability forum.

LDAK is a small, volunteer run and operated organization, and we are proud that after a number of years in which we faced significant challenges in terms of funding and human capacity, we are still here. We have grown as an organization and are better resourced, with new volunteers, new ideas and lots of energy. We are grateful for the support of our community and of our funders, including Community Spirit Gaming Association, the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area, and the Kingston Waterfront Rotary Club.

What has become very clear over the past two years is that, just as LDAK works to support our community, our community turns up to support us in this work. Thank you to all of our volunteers, and to our outreach and technology coordinators, for keeping us moving forward in difficult times. As gardening/camping/cottage season winds down, and you are wondering what to do with your free time, consider getting involved with LDAK. It might not change your life, but it will enrich it. For details on volunteering or making a donation to LDAK, visit the “Get Involved” page on our website.

Wishing all families a successful start of the school year!

Helen Simson, President