Literacy Foundation for Children

The Literacy Foundation for Children is a charity that helps build brighter futures for children with learning disabilities, particularly dyslexia. One in five children struggle to learn to read fluently and write because of a learning disability. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and is when a child has the intelligence to learn, but is not able to learn these skills as expected. This is caused by a naturally occurring variation in the way the brain works. 90 to 95 per cent of children with dyslexia can learn to read and write if they receive the right instruction when they are still young. Learning disabilities, including dyslexia, are now recognised in Australia. But there is no specific government funding or policy to support these children. This means there is no standard assessment process to identify students and any support programs are at the discretion of the individual school. Consequently, most families must seek a private assessment and subsequent treatment program. There are no rebates available for private assessment or treatment through Medicare or private health funds. The cost of these programs can be out of reach for some families, which means these children may miss out on getting the help they need to learn to read. We help these families by providing them with financial support to offset some of the costs of support services.