According to the U.S. Department of Education, one in five American children is diagnosed with learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder (LD/ADHD). It is estimated that there are between ten and fifteen million individuals with LD/ADHD in the United States alone (National Institutes of Health). The outcomes for students with LD/ADHD who do not have the opportunity to work with programs like Project Eye-To-Eye can be quite bleak.

Our society's inability to adequately address the educational and emotional needs of LD/ADHD students costs taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year. Most students who are diagnosed with a learning disability (LD) or an attention disorder (ADHD/ADD) are not adequately served by the current educational system. Leading to several dismal statistics:

• Only five percent of all LD/ADHD students go on to any form of higher education, and less than two percent of LD/ADHD students will attend a four-year college or university. (Source: National Council on Learning Disabilities).
  
  
• Fewer than 40 percent of LD/ADHD students will graduate from high school; 50 percent will abuse substances or spend time in a juvenile hall. These students constitute 25 to 40 percent of all welfare recipients (Source: The National Institute for Health).
  
  
• More than 38 percent of children with learning disabilities drop out of high school. This is twice the rate of students without LD, and represents a 10 percent increase in the drop out rate for labeled LD students that the previous year. (Source: 25th Annual Report to Congress, U.S. Department of Education).
  
  
• Two-thirds of high school graduates with learning disabilities were rated "not qualified" to enter a four-year college, compared to 37% of non-disabled graduates. (Source: Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: A Profile of Preparation, Participation, and Outcomes, NCES).
  
  
• 48 percent of those with learning disabilities are out of the workforce or unemployed. (Source: National Institute for Literacy: Bridges to Practice).
  
  
• 43 percent of learning disabled adults are living at or below the poverty level. (Source: National Institute for Literacy: Bridges to Practice).

Contrary to popular opinion, the root of the LD/ADHD community's social struggle is not an inherent educational or neurological deficit within the LD/ADHD individual. According to professional diagnostic standards, LD/ADHD individuals actually possess AVERAGE OR ABOVE AVERAGE intelligence. In short, LD/ADHD individuals are competent citizens who have been failed by and discriminated against in a flawed and defective educational and professional system.

Project Eye-To-Eye seeks to change these statistics by empowering LD/ADHD individuals through mentorship and activism based on two principles:

• LD/ADHD labeled individuals are of average or above-average intelligence
• Self-esteem is the most important factor in the success of an LD/ADHD individual, not IQ, according to longitudinal research studies.

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