The demands college courses place on students can be challenging on their own, but with a learning disability, challenges become even harder.
For graduate student Amy Lehosit of Heidelberg University, reading and writing wasn’t always easy and when pursuing a master’s degree in clinical counseling, having those skills is paramount.
“I’ve always struggled in school and didn’t know why,” Lehosit said. “And when I’m going for my master’s, I needed to reach out and see if something was wrong.”
A counselor at Heidelberg referred Lehosit to the Reading, Organizing and Writing (ROW) Clinic located in the health center at Bowling Green State University, and she decided to sign up for an evaluation, she said.
Last summer, Lehosit said she went through a few hours of evaluation and was diagnosed with a reading and writing disorder and a receptive language disorder.
She started therapy in August and has been receiving treatments since.
Lauren Katz, who launched the ROWing Clinic in the fall of 2009, said it’s designed to help college students as well as people of all ages in a variety of ways.
If clients struggle with reading comprehension, the clinic can help them break up words and learn how to better implement sentences to understand readings, Katz said.
For writing problems, the clinic works on helping clients write their ideas more clearly by brainstorming and color coding thoughts, but each client receives individualized treatments, she said.
In the last two years, Katz said 20 college students have come for assessments and found the clinic very useful, but the cost does deter some students.
While students receive a 40 percent discount, the cost of an assessment runs at $165 and therapy is $11.75 per hour.
Stephanie Richards, a doctoral student who works at the clinic, is currently trying to find ways to help students who can’t afford the treatment.
By attempting to work with the Learning Commons and Student Disability Services, Richards said she wanted to provide free workshops to struggling college students.
Even with the cost, Lehosit said the treatment is worth it.
The treatment has been really effective and has made her more comfortable with reading and navigating through her textbooks, she said.
“Even though it is an hour drive, there are not many places for rehab in Tiffin and the clinic has been a saving grace,” Lehosit said.
“I would definitely recommend it,” she said. “It might be embarrassing and a hard pill to swallow that you weren’t given the same cognitive abilities as others, but it helps you be more successful and cope better.”
For more information on the ROWing Clinic visit bgsu.edu/departments/cdis/page67032.html.
