The LD Resources Foundation

Introduction

The LD Resources Foundation has committed itself to overcoming barriers while providing access to knowledge for adults who experience forms of learning disabilities.

Main Item

The Foundation's award program was created to assist students who have been diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia and other learning disabilities. They hope their awards will provide the necessary foundation by which students can build a strong academic future.

The financial assistance the Foundation provides allows college students to receive the testing they need to appropriately evaluate the assistive technologies they need to accommodate their learning needs. The needs students may have include things such as:

• RFB&D Library
• Recorded textbooks
• Kurzweil Learn-Station
• Premier Key to Access
• Franklin electronic dictionaries

The challenges students with learning disabilities who also face financial needs have are greater than others. For many it is often the first time they must deal with the challenges of learning what types of accommodations they need and how to apply them in relation to their particular schools. Many times, college students' prior test results, which document their specific forms of learning disabilities, are too old to satisfy college or university requirements to provide the assistance they need. For many, due to their financial situation, they find themselves unable to pay for additional testing. As a result - they are unable to receive the accommodations they need such as recorded text books or other types of assistive devices. It is a, 'catch-22,' situation that finds many of these students simply dropping out.

The creator of LD Resources Foundation was inspired when they realized the predicament students with learning disabilities face. In the late 1990's, when the person who created the Foundation decided to return to a university, ADHD and dyslexia appeared in the news fairly often. Knowing they would have to defeat their own fears about writing, reading and note-taking, the person who created the Foundation never imagined that their test results, which were slightly too old to satisfy the requirements of the university, would be considered outdated. The officials of the university were completely unwilling to talk about any accommodations until they reviewed the test results, as if a learning disability would simply disappear of itself.

Even after the creator of the LD Resources Foundation had submitted the documentation required by the university, the school made it very hard for them to receive the assistance they were entitled to. Education was something that had to be achieved the hard way, a difficult experience, during which the creator of the Foundation felt very much alone. It was at this point that the creator of the Foundation decided they didn't want any other person with a learning disability to have to endure what they had experienced.

The LD Resources Foundation understands that some students who need financial aid fall between the cracks while others simply can't take on a full semester's program. The creator of the Foundation hopes that by providing people with assistance, eventually they will be in a position to give back to the community - maybe by helping others to succeed in education.

The LD Resources Foundation's Vision

The LD Resources Foundation believes that every person with a learning disability who wants to attend a college, use a library, go to a museum or pursue employment will be able to successfully do so. They collaborate with and inspire colleges, libraries, museums, correctional facilities and employers to provide and make accessible assistive technologies to everyone who needs them. The Foundation is known as the benchmark and pacesetter for excellence in service delivery for people with learning disabilities who are pursuing their dream of achieving a college education or a job.

The LD Resources Foundation is also seen as the premier training and communications leader in educating the post-secondary college community and students with learning disabilities in the use of both new and innovative technologies. They meet and respond to new and emerging needs on the parts of people with learning disabilities and facilitate full-engagement in post-secondary learning and employment. The Foundation will go anywhere their services are needed.

The LD Resources Foundation is the leader in customer satisfaction.

They show the highest fiscal and ethical responsibility. The Foundation shows a strong and cost-effective nonprofit management, as well as attracting and keeping the best volunteer and paid workforce.

Nicholas Bochinis, in a letter to the LD Resources Foundation, expressed his gratitude for the services the Foundation provided to him.

He had attended the Access & Awards ceremony through the Foundation and the seminar that discussed the key to Access program. Nicholas felt the seminar greatly benefited him because the company that created the program, Premier Assistive Technology, had created systems which expand the Educational Employment and Social opportunities for people with physical and visual forms of disabilities. Nicholas stated:

"The award I won was significant because I not only received professional technical and employment support but also received emotional validation, a priceless gift. Although I've held both professional and volunteer positions, one as the Program Director of 'Carol & Joes Extra Ordinary Life,' the other as music Instructor at the New York Philanthropic League, I have never experienced the kind of validation I received from Premier Assistive Technologies and L.D. Resources."

He also said the partnership between the organizations gave a message of inclusion and hope to people who experience varying degrees of impairment and disability. Due to the award, Nicholas stated that he will be able to achieve his future employment objectives as a rehabilitation Counselor, certified Music Teacher and Music Therapist.

LD Resources Foundation was Created to Assist You

The LD Resources Foundation was created to help people with learning disabilities pursue a path of self-advocacy. 'Self-advocacy,' means placing your own needs first. It means improving yourself by:

• Knowing your own rights
• Knowing who may help you to facilitate your rights
• Demanding your rights when they are not directly offered to you
• Enjoying your rights after you have obtained them

The bottom line where self-advocacy is concerned is simply this, 'No One Cares More About You Than You Do.'

Do not wait for someone else to come along and offer to change your life, improve it, or somehow make it better. Empower yourself - take notice of the tools that are available to help you. Then reach for those tools and improve your own life.

The old saying is very true, 'If you want something done right, you had better do it yourself.'

When it comes to finding a person to fight for your rights as a person with learning disabilities, no truer words have ever been spoken. The good news is that if you experience ADD, ADHD, or Dyslexia you are entitled to certain inalienable rights under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. What this means is that after your disability has been appropriately diagnosed you are entitled to receive certain invaluable dispensations that will allow you to compete as an employee or student; it is the law.

There is also some bad news.

The laws do not work unless people invoke them. A number of unfortunate cases exist where institutions appear to be disinclined to follow the law. For example; some universities have refused to provide students with learning disabilities with dispensations to help them study. A number of corporations have also refused to recognize the needs of their employees with learning disabilities. Claim your rights!

Author Credentials:

Thomas C. Weiss is a researcher and editor for Disabled World. Thomas attended college and university courses earning a Masters, Bachelors and two Associate degrees, as well as pursing Disability Studies. As a Nursing Assistant Thomas has assisted people from a variety of racial, religious, gender, class, and age groups by providing care for people with all forms of disabilities from Multiple Sclerosis to Parkinson's; para and quadriplegia to Spina Bifida. Explore Thomas' complete biography for comprehensive insights into his background, expertise, and accomplishments.

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Cite This Page (APA): Weiss, T. C. (2013, March 4 - Last revised: 2020, May 17). The LD Resources Foundation. Disabled World. Retrieved October 10, 2024 from www.disabled-world.com/disability/foundations/ld-resources.php

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