TAYLOR ERICKSON TUTORS STUDENTS FOR THE LEARNING DISABILITIES ASSOCIATION OF PENNSYLVANIA. PHOTO BY SIDNEY MULLIS.

It can take a village to teach a child to read. Fortunately, Pittsburgh has the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania to help build that village.

A state affiliate of the Learning Disabilities Association of America, the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania provides reading tutoring services to students at locations throughout the region. The mission, according to co-founder and president Collin Diedrich, is to “offer high-quality services for kids with reading issues and learning disabilities … who ordinarily couldn’t afford these services.”

According to the Learning Disabilities Association of America, about 1 in 5 people in the United States have learning or attention issues. While schools are mandated to provide individual attention to children with learning disabilities, disparities in funding often make that job difficult — if not impossible.

“There’s a lot of data out there now showing that, if you grow up in a lower-income neighborhood … you’re less likely to receive services for learning disability diagnoses,” Diedrich says. “There’s also a higher likelihood of misdiagnoses.”

The organization, which Diedrich co-founded with Carrie Gardner, offers a one-on-one reading tutoring program. Lower-income students receive instruction at no cost — and the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania trains the tutors at no cost as well. The training aspect of the program is vital; it can cost between $2,000 and $4,000 for a tutor to be certified, a barrier of entry for many would-be tutors.

“The biggest thing we wanted to do with this aspect of our reading program was make it as equitable as possible,” says Diedrich, who is also an infectious disease scientist with the University of Pittsburgh.

In the course of their work, Diedrich and Gardner noticed that geographic limitations made getting students to educators a challenge. “They don’t [always] have reliable transportation. We were losing some of our students; it was really heartbreaking.” In response, he says, “We decided to create early-literacy hubs around the city. Our goal is to create reading hubs in lower-income neighborhoods.”

Currently, the organization offers early-literacy instruction for children in kindergarten through second grade at Carnegie Library and Miller Elementary in the Hill District, in Bedford Dwellings and at Woolslair Elementary in Bloomfield.

Diedrich says those efforts help reach students who may not have a learning disability diagnosis, as many families may be unaware that a child has a learning disability or are unable to afford the testing required for a formal diagnosis.

“We didn’t want to have that as a requirement for our kids … if any kid is struggling with reading, they can get reading tutoring services from us.”

Right now, the Learning Disabilities Association of Pennsylvania is seeking donations to help expand their services. Diedrich, who has multiple learning disabilities himself, says he hopes the organization’s mission can also include better educating people about learning disabilities — beyond classroom settings.

“Understanding more about learning disabilities in general is something we want to convey,” Diedrich says. “It’s okay to have learning disabilities. It’s okay to struggle in certain areas; it doesn’t mean that you can’t be successful in school and successful in life.”