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Children With Learning Disabilities Can Learn At Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic Thanks to a New Online Platform
The Learning Disabilities Society’s RISE at Home supports vulnerable students
Vancouver, B.C., March 25, 2020 ─ Today, the Learning Disabilities Society (LDS)—in the face of COVID-19 related school closures and physical distancing—announced the launch of RISE at Home, a new, innovative online learning platform providing students with learning disabilities one-to-one at-home instruction. This tool will be available beginning March 30th, when students were set to return to the classroom following Spring Break. LDS is a local non-profit charity which provides programming to students with suspected or diagnosed learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia, auditory processing disorders and others.
“Consistent learning support is especially critical for students with learning disabilities,” said Rachel Forbes, Executive Director, Learning Disabilities Society. “By designing a system that combines online learning with personalized instruction, we can provide some of the much-needed engagement and continuity that not only curtails potential regression through a break from school, but positively impacts learning.”
LDS’s RISE at Home (Research-informed Individualized Student Education) sessions support vulnerable learners by utilizing dynamic and interactive software that enables LDS instructors to customize lessons based on the needs of students, just as they would during in-person sessions. The new format of the LDS RISE at Home program makes it available to students learning from home throughout Greater Vancouver.
In keeping with its mandate of ensuring that high-quality learning support is available to all students, regardless of circumstance, LDS offers bursaries to families in need. The pricing structure is based on a sliding scale model to make it accessible to all who need it.
Responding to the needs of its community at this critical time, LDS is providing additional services through RISE at Home including:
Eva Cipera, whose daughter in grade 7 has a diagnosed learning disability, has already been using the RISE at Home program. She was granted early access during the program’s trial phase. “The system that LDS has set up is a rich, dynamic platform. It is great to see the potential to integrate all sorts of media, templates and resources that can enhance the online lesson,” she says. “My daughter found it very intuitive to use.”
“Our team of instructors and staff are very pleased to offer ongoing individualized educational support to our community, helping to provide resources and structure at a time when families are feeling multiple pressures,” said Forbes. “RISE at Home is one more way LDS is diversifying its services to ensure we are empowering all students with learning challenges. We are now able to take these technological tools and apply them to our RISE & Tell and RISE & Solve Summer Camps to ensure that programming continues regardless of our ability to meet in groups come July.”
LDS is grateful to its thoughtful and generous community of supporters who through financial and in-kind donations are enabling LDS to rapidly develop and expand its online services platform and offer RISE at Home to children and youth in Greater Vancouver.
As a non-profit, LDS relies on donations and community support in order to sustain its programming and provide bursaries to families in need during this challenging time. Those interested in making a financial contribution to help vulnerable students access RISE at Home are encouraged to visit LDS’s Giving page: http://ldsociety.ca/giving-2/. LDS is doing its best to ensure that all families are supported during this time; they encourage families to visit their website for learning resources or if they don’t have access to the internet to call LDS offices for support.
About Learning Disabilities Society (LDS):
Founded in 1970, LDS is a non-profit charity that serves children with suspected or diagnosed learning disabilities by providing customized learning support. LDS’s Research-informed Individualized Student Education (RISE) program enables students to understand their unique strengths and find success in the classroom. The organization is committed to making high-quality, affordable learning support accessible to all students, regardless of circumstance.
