On December 16, 2025, a conference was held at the University of Haifa on raising awareness of learning disabilities and attention disorders in Arab society. The conference was the fruit of an initiative by the Accessibility and Learning Disabilities Unit at the Dean of Students, in collaboration with the Mofet Forum for Support Centers in Higher Education, the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center for the Study of Learning Disabilities, the Faculty of Education, and the Egdal Association.
During the conference, three main sessions were held. The first session presented research that focused on the unique challenges faced by students from Arab society with learning disabilities and attention difficulties in higher education, such as language barriers, social stigmas, under-diagnosis, and lack of access to support services. In the second session, the Haifa Model for accompanying and supporting students with learning disabilities and attention disorders from Arab society was presented, followed by a panel in which students accompanied by the unit shared their challenges as well as their successes. In the third session, professionals from various centers and positions discussed at roundtables ways to advance the issue of learning disabilities in Arab society.
As part of the “Adult Intervention” course for a master’s degree in the Department of Learning Disabilities at the University of Haifa, students presented posters summarizing research on topics related generally to issues in the field of students with learning disabilities in higher education and to the unique challenges of students from Arab society in higher education.
The conference served as a platform for joint academic discussion among researchers, professionals in higher education and the Ministry of Education, as well as students, with the aim of raising awareness of learning disabilities in Arab society so that the number of those seeking diagnostic and support services will increase significantly.