The IDC

the iDc leAh AnD nAftAli Ben-yehuDA stuDy skills center
“ArOunD 10% Of the stuDents
in higher eDucAtiOn hAve sOme
fOrm Of LEARNING DISABILITIES
Or ADD - A cOnDitiOn thAt cAuses
imPulsive BehAviOr, An inABility
tO cOncentrAte AnD Difficulty in
Beginning AnD enDing PrOJects”
28 < IDC Winter 2010
- Rachel Thomas, Center’s Director
i’m sitting in Rachel Thomas’s office when the door opens and a
beautiful young woman enters. With her wavy brown hair and sense
of style, Adi looks like a commercial for those carefree college years. In
fact, university is anything but carefree for Adi, who must cope every
day with her learning disabilities.
Diagnosed in high school, Adi figured that she would continue at university
to get by in the way she always had, cramming for exams and taking
advantage of the extra time she’d be granted to complete them. However
things didn’t turn out the way she imagined.
The magnitude of work that IDC demanded came as a complete shock.
Overwhelmed and wondering if she’d have to drop out, Adi began to attend
lectures on ADD (attention deficit disorder) and ADHD (attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder) held by IDC’s Leah and Naftali Ben-Yehuda Study
Skills Center. To her profound relief, Adi discovered she was not alone.
“It felt like a little community,” Adi says. “I saw people getting help from the
Center and when I talked to others who were facing the same challenges, I
felt we had something in common.”
According to Thomas, the Center’s director, around 10% of the students
in higher education have some form of learning disabilities or ADD - a
condition that causes impulsive behavior, an inability to concentrate and
difficulty in beginning and ending projects. Many of these students make
it through the first 12 years of school with their disability staying below the
radar, using various strategies – sometimes unethical – to get by. Others
have been diagnosed and granted accommodations such as extra time to
complete an exam. Regardless of their history, what these students really
need is someone to teach them the study and life skills to succeed both in
university and in their professional lives to follow. The Study Skills Center
at IDC aims to do just that, and under Thomas’ dedicated leadership, is
succeeding.