Hi Barbara
By default the Course creator role has access to the Course and categories from the Quick access menu
The create courses is also available to this role when they select Find Learning under the Learn top menu. If this doesn't show here then this course creator role may have been modified. You will need to edit the course creator role to ensure Create courses and view hidden categories and allowed.
If it does show here then it may be the menu navigation may have been modified see edit main menu items to see how to add this menu item or edit the access rule
Regards