Friday, September 26, 1997
Peer-mentoring program targets learning disabilities
STRESS: Fellow students offer studying methods, moral support,
advice
By Stacy Cohen
Daily Bruin Contributor
Emma LeRoch once ran a food distribution business in the heart
of Paris. Years later, after deciding to pursue a degree in
religious studies, she experienced doubts about entering a
university.
She hoped her disability would not prevent her from entering a
reputable school.
"When I got to UCLA, I felt I wouldn’t be accepted." LeRoch
said.
She feared that her math and language disability would separate
her from other students.
Since 1992, the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) has
helped students like LaRoch feel at home and adapt to the
university.
The peer/mentor program provides study tips, organizational
strategies and a social circle for 220 students with learning
disabilities.
A learning disability affects the manner students perceive,
organize, retain and express information. Students with learning
disabilities may excel in certain areas but have significant
difficulties in at least one academic area.
The peer mentors have a wide variety of tricks up their sleeve
to overcome the disabilities. One of them is color coding.
Color coding is a method where students can prepare for exams by
organizing study materials into categories by using different
colored markers.
Other tips mentors share at the meetings include tips to
organize the academic quarter on paper.
They suggest making outlines from textbooks, paying careful
attention to headings, bold-faced and italicized words and chapter
summaries.
When students are tested for learning disabilities, they
discover the way they learn best, or their "preferential learning
modality."
Some students learn best visually, others auditorily or
kinesthetically. The visual student benefits from color coding
methods or using illustrations. The auditory student will gain more
from lectures by taping the lecture, and the kinesthetic student
will benefit by physically moving while studying.
In addition to academic support, it also provides students with
a comfortable social connection to the university.
"I wanted to provide a home for students so they could feel they
were being assisted holistically," said Arline Halper, coordinator
of the program for students with learning disabilities.
Having a buddy made all the difference to
mentee-now-turned-mentor Laura Tsoneff when she was a freshman.
"It was good to talk to someone who struggled with the same
things that you did," Tsoneff said. "The older students gave you a
lot of good ideas."
When she became a mentor, she enjoyed the experience. "My mentee
and I became really close. I was kind of the voice of reason."
Many people with learning deficits use their strengths to
compensate for their deficits.
Notable examples such as Albert Einstein, Woodrow Wilson and
Hans Christian Anderson made significant contributions in their
respective fields despite their presumed learning disabilities.
If you suspect that you have a learning disability, please
contact the Office for Students with Disabilities at A255 Murphy
Hall, 825-1501.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Arlina Helper (left), program coordinator of the
peer-mentoring
program, advises second-year psychology student Chantal
Pollicino.