Some students struggle everyday with a learning disability. The disability can be anywhere on an enormous wide-range spectrum like ADHD to struggling with a particular subject at their school. The Disability Services Department at TJC aids students in getting the care and accommodations they need.
Margaret Rapp is the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) student coordinator and a licensed professional counselor at TJC. Students with various learning disabilities come to her, make their requests and receive accommodations to meet their own personal needs.
“If students need a quieter environment, sometimes we’ll arrange with the teacher for them to test at a testing center (instead of in the classroom),” said Rapp.
The student must go to Rapp and present to her documentation from a physician or previous school system that describes their diagnosis. Rapp then proceeds to conduct an interview with the student discussing the accommodations the student wishes to receive. However, these requests must be reasonable.
Every learning disability is different therefore, no case is ever the same. Rapp says that the type of help they receive “All depends on the student.”
Students may not be aware that there is absolutely no cost to receive these services. Any student suffering from a learning disability needs to be aware there is an easier way.
“One of the blessings that we have here is we have a lot of highly qualified teachers,” said Rapp.
Some students don’t realize that there is such a thing as a reading or math disability. There are also medical diabetics that may need to eat during class and these accommodations can be met if the student just knows where to go.”
It’s alot of times learning what works best for the student,” said Rapp.
No student should have to suffer because they’re dealing with a learning disability.
“It’s their opportunity to succeed or fail just like everybody else. We just try to help level the playing field,” said Rapp.
To contact Margaret Rapp in the counseling office about a learning disability call 903 510-2395. Please share your thoughts and comments about learning disabilities in college on MyTJCnews.com
