The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) is a non-profit education and advocacy organization dedicated to issues surrounding dyslexia

Dyslexia

Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...

. It is based in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, USA.

The International Dyslexia Association serves individuals with dyslexia, their families, and professionals in the field. It has 13,000 members and it operates with more than 40 branches throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and has global partners in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, and The Philippines. IDA has an all-volunteer Board of Directors.

The IDA provides information about dyslexia on its website, publishes a peer-reviewed scientific journal

Scientific journal

In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication intended to further the progress of science, usually by reporting new research. There are thousands of scientific journals in publication, and many more have been published at various points in the past...

 (Annals of Dyslexia), publishes newsletter updates to members; provides referral services to individuals and professionals; advocates for the rights of individuals with dyslexia through the legal and Federal legislative systems; and grants funding for research on the neurological, developmental, and educational issues related to dyslexia.

History

IDA was founded in 1949 with the name The Orton Dyslexia Society. Its mission was to continue Dr Samuel Orton

Samuel Orton

Samuel Torrey Orton was an American physician who pioneered the study of learning disabilities. He is best known for his work examining the causes and treatment of reading disability, or dyslexia....

's pioneering work in the study, prevention, and treatment of the specific learning disability

Learning disability

Learning disability is a classification including several disorders in which a person has difficulty learning in a typical manner, usually caused by an unknown factor or factors...

known as dyslexia.