Neurodivergent College Students from an Inclusive Campus to the Workplace

This chapter provides an overview of programmatic initiatives for neurodiverse students moving through both their collegiate experience and career readiness as a means for workplace preparation. Neurodiversity originated as a term used to describe individuals with autism and has grown to include other conditions showing a difference in brain function, but are considered within normal variation (Clouder et al. in High Educ 80:757–778, 2020). As an umbrella term, neurodiversity also includes “dyspraxia, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dyscalculia, autistic spectrum, and Tourette syndrome” (Clouder et al. in High Educ 80:757, 2020). Despite the broad nature of its application, this study will focus on neurodiversity from the lens of autism and less from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for reasons which are discussed below. Still, we believe expanding the programmatic reach of the ideas provided herein might be helpful to other neurodiverse communities. Furthermore, aspects of differentiated development can be seen in executive functioning (EF), academic achievement, peer relationships, etc., either singularly or as a combination of effects. Despite shared symptomology and EF challenges among students with autism and ADHD, students with autism present with unique and differentiated challenges that must be considered in higher education and beyond (Elias and White in J Autism Dev Disord 48:732–746, 2018). This chapter will provide an example of a model college autism support program along with recommendations for consideration and implementation.