Students who are falling behind their peers because of reading disabilities are receiving extra assistance and support this school year in part from a coordinated effort to address dyslexia and other learning disorders led by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. Through its Strauss Literacy Initiative, the foundation has recently directed more than $1.2 million in grant funding to regional partners to identify students who may benefit from help, coach teachers and administrators in how to better assist them, offer scholarships and more. The goal: a future in which all students with reading differences receive the support they need to thrive. Grants issued from the Ira and Patricia Strauss Fund for Children’s Literacy since last December have gone to longstanding Strauss partners such as the School Board of Sarasota County, the School District of Manatee County, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties, St. Mary Academy and State College of Florida. A grant to the School District of DeSoto County, meanwhile, represents the fund’s first foray into DeSoto County public schools and marks a new chapter in the evolution of the Strauss initiative.