$66,102 raised for the Association québécoise de la dysphasie
Capitale-Nationale

QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 14 /CNW Telbec/ - The SSQ Quebec City Marathon was instrumental in raising $66,102 for the Association québécoise de la dysphasie Capitale-Nationale. The funds raised will go toward this organization's efforts to raise awareness about dysphasia in the various educational and health sectors.

SSQ Financial Group would like to thank all those who gave so generously this year. Without them, such a successful fund-raising campaign would not have been possible. The SSQ Quebec City Marathon and its Health 5K event enable us to make a concrete contribution to the work of the community. Many thanks to all the runners, walkers, organizers and donors for their wonderful show of solidarity and generosity.

About SSQ Financial Group
With $2 billion in annual revenue and close to $5 billion in assets under management, SSQ Financial Group is a leading mutual diversified financial institution. The Group serves over 1 million customers and provides jobs to over 1,600 employees. SSQ, Life Insurance Company Inc., the Group's principal company, is recognized as a leader in the group insurance industry and as an expert in the investment and retirement sector. SSQ Financial Group is also a rising star in home and auto insurance (SSQ General Insurance Company Inc.) and realty management (SSQ Realty Inc.).

Information about Quebec's Dysphasia Association
The mission of the Association québécoise de la dysphasie Capitale-Nationale is to raise awareness about dysphasia and promote assistance services for children who have been afflicted by this disorder and their parents. The association actively promotes the following objectives throughout Quebec:

• Provide a network for the parents of children with dysphasia and serve as a source of information for the community about the day-to-day challenges of the children afflicted
• Inform parents of their rights and the various services that are available to them
• Identify the needs of these children and their parents
• Foster the creation of new services
• Raise the awareness of daycare services, educational services, health services, social services and the professionals who work in these sectors about the types of problems these children experience
• Compile information about the disorder and encourage dysphasia research 

Dysphasia is a language disorder in which there is an impairment of speech and language comprehension. Children with dysphasia often experience serious difficulties and repeated frustrations in their interpersonal contacts, which can lead to social isolation and delays in personal development and learning. The disorder manifests itself in different ways depending on how and to what extent speech and language comprehension are affected. In children with dysphasia, language problems are not the result of any intellectual or hearing impairment, relational problems, lack of stimulation or bilingualism. Children with this disorder have the desire to communicate and generally are of normal intelligence.

Diagnostic assessment of children with dysphasia requires the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of trained professionals that includes specialists in speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, pediatrics, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, etc.

/NOTE TO PHOTO EDITORS: A photo accompanying this release is available at http://photos.newswire.ca. Images are free to accredited members of the media/

For further information:

Source:	SSQ Financial Group
Information:	Élaine Dumais 418-651-7000