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Intersections of Neurodiversity: Resources for Neurodivergent Individuals  

By Megan Gauer

Intersectionality refers to components of one’s identity such as race, sexuality, disability, and gender, and how the oppression and unique experience as each of those components combine to make unique experiences for unique groups. 

Neurodivergence is one human component that has its own niche human-experience, and, when combined with other components, can allow for a unique experience that deserves awareness and attention.

Disabilities that can make someone neurodivergent include autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia,  down syndrome and tourettes. There is no medical qualification that labels a disorder as neurodivergent– it is often used as an umbrella-term for having a difference in the way one’s brain functions. 

Because there is such a wide spectrum of neurodivergent disorders, individual needs are specialized and can not often be met in social, professional and academic settings the same way. Therefore, individual resources have to be available based on individual persons’ needs. 

Currently, Butte College has a Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) office.This program allows students to fill out forms to request accommodations reasonable for their disabilities. Once submitted, the office will assess the application and issue academic accommodations for that student. Accommodations often include note taking services, technologies that can help with success and test-taking proctors or modifications. Faculty automatically receives information regarding student accommodations. These types of accommodations are important for neurodivergent students to be successful. 

However, this office isn’t specifically for neurodivergent individuals. Diverse resources do exist outside of the college.  

Currently, the Neurodiversity Hub, an online resource, hosts information and resources for neurodivergent students and professionals alike. This website community aims to provide resources to help students, professionals find jobs and bring awareness to people with neurodivergent conditions. 

For students, this hub hosts pamphlets on helping neurodivergent students or functioning within a university setting as one. These include materials such as guides to dressing professionally, student checklists to help with routine setting and life skill courses, among a multitude of other resources. Many colleges link this site to their pages, encouraging students to use it for academic needs. 

Some colleges have specific neurodiversity resources linked directly on their websites and have specialized staff resources for teaching neurodivergent students. 

For example, Eastern Michigan University’s neurodiversity page offers previous presentations from neurodivergent students communicating their challenges, podcasts on transitions to college, and resources for making classrooms more accessible. These include ways to create Canvas sites more accessible for all students, enabling real-time captioning for online courses and creating accessible documents issued for students.

These types of resources are important, because it shouldn’t just be up to the student to ask for help and have their classrooms accommodated for them. When professors and staff already have classrooms set up for all student success, it prevents the need for students to seek external resources and go through additional work to have success. 

Having neurodivergent resources in academic and professional settings is crucial to ensure success of all individuals and offer equal opportunities. 

Photos contributed by Butte College's Flicker