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Show , Spring 2005 page 3 A common problem for students with learning disabilities is not being able to focus on the task at hand with everything else going on. It can be a constant struggle. each student. People with some hidden disabilities have perception difficulties; they perceive things differently than the majority of people do. Visual and auditory stimuli can bombard the perception of students with hidden disabilities. The student is unable to focus on one thing at a time and is subsequently overwhelmed. Often, these students will then hasten to complete required tasks. The hastening results in overlooked and omitted parts of the requirements. They also may have difficulty organizing information and dealing with impulsiveness, in-attention, forgetfulness, restlessness, disorganization, difficulty completing tasks, focusing, poor self-esteem, risky behavior, and have a hard time keeping their friends. In an article in the "Daily Texan," an engineering senior with ADHD said, "Ever since I can remember, I have been easily distracted, disorganized, lost things, spaced out during conversations, and had difficulty paying attention in general. I'd forget my homework, assignments, sometimes even my backpack. I seem to study a lot more than the average engineering student, yet still only have an average GPA." This student also struggled through years in school without knowing she had a disability that inhibited her capabilities. It wasn't until her senior year that some of her tutors recommended she be tested and then was clinically diagnosed with ADHD. If it were not for them, she would've never realized what she was fighting. The late teens and early 20s is when the more extreme hidden disabilities, like bi-polar disease and schizophrenia, appear in an individual's development. Something as simple as dyslexia can make spelling impossible. Anxiety, which easily increases as a student feels more pressure, can reduce concentration affecting spelling, handwriting, and the congruency of context. A 2004 survey by the American College Health Association reported in "The New York Times" that nearly half of all students at some point find themselves feeling "so depressed that they have trouble functioning," and 15 percent meet the criteria for clinical depression. Among students seen at campus counseling centers, the number taking psychiatric medications rose to 24.5 percent in 2003-2004, from 17 percent in 2000 and just 9 percent in 1994. This article also points out that the college environment is expected to be a safe environment for students, yet students face increasing stress from work, school, and personal life without the support of the family environment they graduated. Universities are seeing increased amounts of anxiety |