ldaamerica.org

Use the section that matches your role: Parents for families navigating a child's learning disability, Educators for classroom and instructional support, Adults for self-advocacy and workplace or higher-education accommodations, Professionals for assessment, legal, and clinical practice resources, and Students for self-understanding and school-based support. If you hold more than one role, start with the section tied to the decision you need to make now, then cross over.

The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) has organized its site around these five audiences since 1963, describing itself as a network of support, information, and practical solutions for people with learning disabilities, their families, and the professionals who serve them.

Match Your Role to a Section

How to Choose When You Fit More Than One

The sections overlap in content but differ in framing. A parent and a teacher may both need information on accommodations, but the parent section frames it around requesting services for a child, while the educator section frames it around delivering them. Choose by the action you need to take next:

• Facing a school meeting or evaluation → Parents
• Planning instruction or interpreting an IEP in class → Educators
• Requesting accommodations at work or college → Adults
• Preparing for a professional role or conference → Professionals
• Understanding your own learning disability → Students

What the Site Offers Beyond the Sections

LDA positions itself as an advocacy voice as well as an information source. Its news area carries organizational statements on federal special education policy, and it runs an annual international conference (LDACON) that brings educators, counselors, attorneys, school psychologists, administrators, researchers, and parents together. Membership is presented as the way to access ongoing support and updates; the site's own member testimonials describe using membership to stay current on special education law and to learn about accommodations for adults.

If your question is about a specific law, accommodation, or intervention, the audience section is the entry point, but the news and conference materials are where policy and practice updates appear.

A Practical Way to Use the Site

1. Identify your role and the decision in front of you.
2. Open the matching audience section first.
3. If you need current policy context or professional development, check the news and conference pages.
4. If you expect to return often, review the membership option — the site presents it as the route to sustained access and updates, though specific terms and any costs are not stated on the page and should be confirmed directly.

The site's core message is aimed at anyone who is a parent, teacher, or person with a learning disability: you are not alone, and the resources are organized so you can find the ones written for you.

ldaamerica.org is the official website of the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA), a U.S. nonprofit founded in 1963 that provides information, resources, and advocacy for people with learning disabilities, their families, and the professionals who serve them. It is a good starting point if you are a parent, educator, adult, student, or professional looking for practical guidance, legal and accommodation information, or a community network—rather than a clinical diagnostic service.

Who the Site Serves

The homepage organizes its resources around five audiences, each with a dedicated entry point:

What LDA Provides

According to the site, LDA's core offerings include:

• Information and practical solutions on learning disabilities, described as "cutting edge"
• A comprehensive network of resources built over decades since 1963
• Advocacy as "the voice for individuals with learning disabilities of all ages and their families"
• Membership with access to legal protections, accommodation guidance, and intervention strategies (member testimonials highlight special education law and workplace accommodations)
• An annual international conference—the 64th International Conference (LDACON64) is promoted on the site, aimed at educators, counselors, attorneys, school psychologists, administrators, para-educators, researchers, parents, and adults with learning disabilities

How to Use It

1. Start with your audience page. Choose Parents, Educators, Adults, Professionals, or Students from the main navigation to reach content matched to your situation.
2. Check the News section for policy developments. The site publishes statements on federal special education policy—for example, positions on the 21st Century Dyslexia Act, federal oversight of special education, and the proposed move of OSERS to HHS. These matter if you follow U.S. special education law or advocacy.
3. Consider membership if you need ongoing access. Member testimonials describe using LDA to stay current on intervention strategies, assessment, and special education law. The site offers a "Register Now" path and a "learn more" option; pricing and login requirements are not specified on the page, so check the membership page directly before assuming cost or access terms.
4. Look into the annual conference if you want to connect with the professional community or attend sessions on advocacy and new opportunities.

What It Is Not

The site is an information, support, and advocacy hub—not a diagnostic tool or a substitute for individualized medical, legal, or educational advice. If you need an evaluation for a learning disability or legal guidance on accommodations, use LDA's resources to understand your options, then consult a qualified professional.

LDACON is the Learning Disabilities Association of America's annual international conference, and its 64th edition is described on the LDA site as bringing together educators, counselors, attorneys, school psychologists, administrators, para-educators, researchers, and other professionals, along with parents of children and adults who have learning disabilities. The stated purpose is for these audiences to "learn, discover, advocate and work to create awareness and new opportunities." If you work in or around special education, or you are a parent looking for current information and a professional network, LDACON is the LDA event built for that mix of audiences.

Who LDACON Is For

The conference audience named on the LDA site is broad by design. It spans both the professionals who serve people with learning disabilities and the families who advocate alongside them.

This is not a single-track teacher workshop. The mix of legal, clinical, administrative, research, and family perspectives is the point — LDA describes the conference as a place for these groups to "learn, discover, advocate."

What Happens There

LDA frames the conference around four verbs: learn, discover, advocate, and create awareness and new opportunities. In practice, that means the value is twofold — current information on learning disabilities, and connection to a network of people working on the same issues.

LDA's broader identity supports this. Since 1963, the organization has described itself as providing "cutting edge information on learning disabilities, practical solutions, and a comprehensive network of resources" to people with learning disabilities, their parents, teachers, and other professionals. The conference is the annual, in-person expression of that mission.

One member quoted on the LDA site, an assistant professor from Michigan, says LDA "allows me to stay aware of cutting edge intervention strategies and assessment and encourages me to keep current on special education law." That combination — intervention practice plus special education law — is a reasonable expectation for conference content, given how LDA positions itself.

Becoming an LDACON Partner

LDA invites organizations to "Become an LDACON64 Partner." The site's description of the partner audience mirrors the attendee list: educators, counselors, attorneys, school psychologists, administrators, para-educators, researchers, and other professionals, plus parents of children and adults with learning disabilities.

If you represent an organization that serves this community, partnering is the route to visibility with that combined audience. The site does not publish partner tiers, costs, or deadlines in the material available, so treat the partner page as the starting point and confirm terms directly with LDA rather than assuming any package details.

Deciding Whether to Attend or Partner

Use these conditions to sort your situation:

• You are a parent or an adult with LD — the conference puts you in the same room as the professionals and advocates LDA describes; check the program for family-facing sessions before committing.
• You are a practitioner (educator, psychologist, counselor, administrator) — the stated focus on intervention strategies, assessment, and special education law is the draw; compare session topics against your own gaps.
• You are an attorney or policy-focused professional — LDA's advocacy posture (see its public statements on special education oversight) suggests policy content will be present; confirm by reviewing the agenda.
• You represent an organization — the partner route reaches the full cross-section of attendees; request current terms from LDA directly.

Practical Next Steps

1. Go to ldaamerica.org and open the LDACON conference section to see the current edition's dates, location, and program.
2. Match the session list against your role using the audience table above.
3. If you are considering partnership, use the "Become an LDACON64 Partner" entry point and ask LDA for the current partner terms, since pricing and deadlines are not stated on the site.
4. If cost or travel is a barrier, note that LDA also offers membership, which members describe as a year-round source of information on legal protections, accommodations, intervention strategies, and special education law — a lower-commitment alternative to the conference.

LDA membership gives you access to information about the laws that protect people with learning disabilities, guidance on accommodations in the classroom and workplace, and updates on intervention strategies, assessment, and special education law. It is aimed at individuals with learning disabilities, their parents, teachers, and other professionals. The site presents these as member benefits and points to a registration page for joining; it does not list prices or state that membership is free, so check the registration page for current terms.

What the membership covers

The LDA site describes its member offering in three practical areas:

• Legal protections and self-advocacy. Members can access information on the laws that protect adults with learning disabilities, which supports advocating for yourself.
• Accommodations. The membership provides information on the types of accommodations that may be available to help individuals succeed in the classroom and the workplace.
• Professional currency. Members receive updates on intervention strategies, assessment, and special education law, which helps educators and other professionals stay current.

LDA frames this as part of its broader role since 1963: providing support, information, practical solutions, and a network of resources for people with learning disabilities, their families, educators, and professionals.

Who it is for

The site organizes its resources around five audiences: Parents, Educators, Adults, Professionals, and Students. Membership is presented as relevant whether you are a parent or teacher of a child with a learning disability or have learning disabilities yourself.

Two member testimonials on the site illustrate the fit:

• Jodi from Pennsylvania describes using membership to access the laws that protect her as an adult with learning disabilities and the accommodations she might receive in the classroom and workplace.
• Loreena, an assistant professor in Michigan, describes using LDA to stay aware of intervention strategies and assessment and to keep current on special education law.

How to join

The site invites visitors to "Join LDA Today" and offers two paths: Register Now or learn more. Start with the registration page to see the current membership options and any costs, then use the "learn more" material if you want more detail before deciding. The site does not publish pricing in the material available here, so treat cost and login requirements as things to confirm at registration rather than assume.

What else the site offers beyond membership

Membership sits alongside other LDA activity that may matter to you:

• News and advocacy. LDA publishes statements on federal special education policy, including positions on the 21st Century Dyslexia Act, federal oversight of special education, and the move of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) to HHS.
• The annual conference. LDACON64, LDA's 64th International Conference, is promoted as bringing together educators, counselors, attorneys, school psychologists, administrators, para-educators, researchers, parents, and adults with learning disabilities. The site also invites organizations to become conference partners.

If your goal is legal and accommodation information plus professional updates, membership is the direct route. If you want policy news or conference participation, those are available through the site separately.

The Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA) takes public positions on federal special education policy, and its website's News section is where those statements appear. Current items include opposition to the 21st Century Dyslexia Act, a statement defending strong and coordinated federal oversight of special education and educational civil rights, and concerns about moving the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) from the U.S. Department of Education to HHS. If you want LDA's stance on a specific bill or agency reorganization, check the News section first; the excerpts below summarize what each posted statement says, not the full text.

Where LDA publishes its policy positions

LDA's site organizes its audience-facing content under Parents, Educators, Adults, Professionals, and Students, and carries organizational statements in its News listings. The page evidence shows three policy-related items:

Because the excerpts are cut off, treat the table as a map of LDA's positions rather than a complete summary. Open each News item for the full argument and any calls to action.

Opposition to the 21st Century Dyslexia Act

This is a coalition statement: LDA is one of several "undersigned organizations" urging the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) to oppose the bill. The excerpt notes the organizations share the goal of ensuring... before cutting off, so the specific reasoning is only in the full statement. If you are tracking dyslexia-related federal legislation, this item tells you LDA is aligned with the opposing coalition rather than neutral.

Federal special education oversight

LDA frames this as a defense of coordinated federal oversight. The statement expresses "grave concerns" about dismantling the U.S. Department of Education and transferring core functions of the Office of Special Education. The practical takeaway: LDA supports keeping special education oversight at the federal level and coordinated, rather than dispersed.

The proposed OSERS move to HHS

A separate statement addresses moving OSERS—the federal office that administers special education and rehabilitative services—from the Department of Education to HHS. The excerpt states LDA's view but is truncated before the full rationale. Read the complete item if you need LDA's specific objections.

How to use these positions

• If you are a parent or educator: the statements explain why LDA opposes or supports a given change; they are useful context for public comments or letters, but confirm details against the full statement and the bill or agency notice itself.
• If you are a professional or advocate: the coalition language (e.g., "undersigned organizations") signals where LDA stands alongside partner groups, which helps you identify aligned organizations.
• If you want to act: LDA's site invites involvement through membership ("Join LDA Today!") and its annual international conference (LDACON64), which it describes as bringing educators, counselors, attorneys, school psychologists, administrators, researchers, and parents together.

Limits to keep in mind

The page evidence provides only headlines and truncated excerpts, so this article cannot quote LDA's full reasoning, any dates, or any specific legislative asks. The site's pricing and membership terms are not described in the available material, so don't assume membership is free or that any resource is unrestricted—check the site directly. For the authoritative version of any position, read the complete News item on ldaamerica.org.