Since 1973, NILD has built the competence and confidence of those who struggle to learn by training educators, developing minds through learning programmes, and implementing researched-based, best-practice interventions to bring lasting change for struggling learners. NILD exists to enable people to learn and reason effectively. Instead of adapting the learning environment to a student’s unique learning struggles, we seek to change the way a person thinks so that he or she can succeed in any environment. Rather than accommodating weak cognitive connections, we strengthen them.
Over the past thirty years, USA have trained almost 4,000 educators, and our programmes have helped more than 75,000 students in 45 states and in 29 different countries. Our work has received numerous endorsements, and has been lauded by educators, parents, and students who have gone on to succeed and realise their potential.
The NILD Educational Therapy® model was developed in the 1960s by Deborah Zimmerman, a nurse and educator. Many of the educational techniques she developed were shaped by her work with early pioneers in the field of learning disabilities such as Archie Silver, M.D. and Rosa Hagin, Ph.D. In 1973, Deborah’s techniques were introduced into a private school in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1982, the Norfolk Institute for Learning Disabilities was established as a 501(c)3 charitable organization under the direction of Grace Mutzabaugh. As NILD’s influenced broadened, the name was changed to the National Institute for Learning Disabilities.
In 2012, NILD was one of two organisations in the US to receive the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) endorsement for meeting teacher training standards in reading. The IDA standards provide a comprehensive, research-supported documentation of what every teacher needs to know and be able to demonstrate, whether they are teaching students with dyslexia, other struggling readers, or the general student population.
NILD Zimbabwe was registered at the beginning of 2012 and currently we have trained over 40 NILD educational therapists and have therapists in 18 of our private schools, at both primary and secondary level. Training is at graduate level and numbers are restricted to 20 per year.
NILD’s programmes consist of diagnostic assessments as well as explicit and intentional instruction to help students overcome their learning difficulties. NILD’s flagship training programme, NILD Educational Therapy™, SEARCH and TEACH ©, are available to schools, organisations, and individuals in Zimbabwe.
