How do you help a child with social anxiety so strong they won’t leave the car for their mentoring appointment? Staff at the Learning Disabilities Association of Vancouver (LDAV) found a creative solution: run the first two sessions in the car.

“He came in for his third session, by the fifth he was looking forward to his appointments,” says Victoria Walters, LDAV program coordinator.

This innovative approach is one of the ways LDAV, a charitable organization, has for more than 40 years provided assistance to families with children who have learning disabilities or other conditions, like autism or anxiety, which can be barriers to learning. Often, LDAV looks to parents for insight into the day-to-day life of their child and where they need help. This initial consultation may lead to finding the child a specialist for a formal diagnosis.

“We serve a largely immigrant community, where some people may not have connections to a specialist, or have the time to chase down a grant. That’s what we do: be experts who help,” says Sofia Fortin, LDAV’s resource and communications officer.

Individual challenges, shared solutions

LDAV is one year into a newly revitalized program, including reorganization for better progress tracking and new social skills programs for kids and teens. In addition to helping mentors tailor their methods to what a given student needs, a solid record of tracked success helps the organization secure better access to funding.

The reorganization – spearheaded by their new education consultant, Norlan Cabot – is intended to prepare LDAV to offer expanded services, including increased support for families with autistic children.

“When a child has trouble in a classroom because that environment doesn’t meet their needs, they can get very frustrated, discouraged. Helping them feel positive about learning and interacting with other kids is important,” says Fortin.

LDAV has launched a variety of programs designed to address social frustrations and help kids and young adults learn how to productively interact with each other. The backbone of this initiative is a series of social skills classes in which students practice working through difficult scenarios, like helping each other overcome a problem or calmly confronting a bully. Fortin is especially excited by the advanced leadership classes, in which students learn how to effectively support each other.

“Some kids have difficulty taking charge of a situation, others have trouble sharing the spotlight. In our program they learn about when to lead, when to follow, and when it’s time to listen,” says Fortin.

Many of these new programs provide an arts-focused context for that collaboration, like the Arts Expression day camp or Creative Movement classes. Other programs, such as the Connect U day camp, focus on providing a space where students are encouraged to talk with each other about their experiences with learning barriers and encourage each other.

Parents appreciate the social impact of these programs as much as better grades on a report card.

“[My son] was so shy, afraid to talk to other kids”, says one parent of an LDAV student. “Now every day I see more confidence. He smiles so much. He’s becoming the man I knew he was. I want other parents to know how much things can change, how good things can get, when [your child] gets this kind of help.”

Ruby Ollivier receives weekly tutoring in math and computer skills.

A connected community

With the province investing in new initiatives to respond to the rising number of learning disability diagnoses, the variety and extent of resources available to families with children with learning barriers is constantly growing. The largest of initiatives is a $20 million investment to construct a new Pacific Autism Family Centre, which will act as a central hub for training, information sharing and operation of existing resource centers and agencies.

Michael Lewis, president of the Autism Society of B.C., is optimistic about the impact of the proposed centre.

“This could help us slim down overhead, focus our resources on providing care. This is a step in the right direction, reducing costs for care,” he says.

Walters agrees with Lewis on the cost problem. As program coordinator for LDAV, much of her work involves connecting families with funding to cover the cost of services LDAV provides.

“Most of our kids are here on grant or bursary. We understand that cost can be a huge barrier,” she says. “Helping families find money to pay for what their children need is a big part of our job.”

Walters also believes that while the challenges are substantial, collective solutions for learning disability services are both possible and necessary.

“Anyone can learn anything,” she says. “We just need to give them what they need to do it.”