Few Schools Offer Extra Services to Those With Learning Disabilities - Higher Education

Few Schools Offer Extra Services to Those With Learning Disabilities - Higher Education: Last year Ricky Adams signed up for an ancient philosophy class at Marshall University and soon found himself struggling. Adams, a native of Centreville, Va., is learning disabled. He suffers from ADHD, has problems with reading, writing and comprehension and doesn’t test very well. Without plenty of additional assistance, he knew he was doomed to flunk the class.

So he turned to his one refuge at Marshall: the Marshall University Higher Education for Learning Problems Center, more commonly known on the Huntington, W.Va. campus as the HELP Center. The center, a nonprofit, fee-based program, provides services for the learning disabled. With the help of 10 full-time professional staff and 70 tutors, it provides assistance to more than 200 students like Adams.

“I had the best tutor who was behind me 100 percent,” says Adams, a junior majoring in physical education. “She took the time to help me out of her personal time. Without her I wouldn’t have passed the class. I got a B in the class. I had no idea what I was doing. But she believed in me.”