Special Needs Grant provides relief for military family posted during the pandemic Mrs. Jones knew something was making learning more difficult for her two children, but the stress of moving during a pandemic made expensive educational assessments seem far out of reach. Moving is a hallmark of military life. For military families, postings and relocations can provide a fresh start, but they can also be the source of significant stress. Military families with children with special needs, like the Jones family*, who were relocated to Kingston, Ontario, this summer, face additional challenges, like finding new health care professionals to help meet their children’s specific needs. “After moving to our new posting in August, I wasn't sure where to start for the kids to have a psychological educational assessment done. Both kids struggled with school and they both work hard. I knew there was something that was making learning harder for them,” says Mrs. Jones. Fortunately, through friends and their children’s schools, the family learned of the Special Needs Grant. Thanks to the grant, the family could cover the costs of educational assessments for their two children aged 8 and 14. Mrs. Jones’ intuition was correct: both kids were diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, which affected their reading, writing, and mathematics skills. “Thanks to funding from Support Our Troops, we were able to have assessments done for both kids in the same month and learned that they both have a specific learning disability. We are now in the process of working with the schools to adapt to how they learn so it makes their learning and each day easier for them. For that I am very thankful.” Click here to learn more about the Special Needs Grant and eligibility. *The family’s name has been changed at their request