LYNX LIFE LIBRARY

College is a time of personal growth as well as academic growth. For some, that personal growth involves discovering that the way they work is different from others. Increasingly, adults are discovering that they are neurodivergent, and many make this discovery while completing their education. I made that discovery right in the middle of my own undergraduate degree. 

“Neurodivergent” is a non-medical umbrella term for people who work differently or whose brains developed differently from those of neurotypical people. While many statistics and TikTok videos discuss developmental conditions like Attention Hyperactivity/Deficit Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the term encompasses any kind of condition that significantly impacts your brain in a way that makes it work “atypically.” Depression, Anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can all be called neurodivergences and so can conditions like Tourette Syndrome and Dyslexia. While it’s true that most of the media attention on neurodivergence is related to adults discovering they have undiagnosed ADHD or ASD, plenty are also finding other conditions they identify with under the neurodiversity umbrella.

Even if a person doesn’t have a specific neurodivergent condition, they may experience symptoms or thinking patterns associated with neurodivergence. Navigating this new information can be difficult in many ways; most of the research on neurodiversity focuses on developmental disabilities in children, so psychologists may be reluctant to diagnose adults. Also, despite an estimated 20% of the global population being neurodiverse, there are still clear stigmas against people who have disabilities or a-typicality. 

Here at CU Denver, we have a dedicated staff at our Disability Resources & Services Office who can help students reach the resources they need to make their lives easier. While this team is an incredible resource students have available, some students may choose not to reach out to official accommodation resources for a variety of reasons. So, outside of support from the Disability Resources & Services Office, what can you do to support your learning as a neurodiverse student? 

From my personal experience as a student navigating new-found neurodiversity and my professional experience as an English lecturer and Writing Consultant at CU Denver, I have gathered a lot of tips for learning with neurodivergence. I encourage you to explore your needs, make changes within your control, ask for support, and find your community.  

Explore Your Needs 

“Has anyone ever tested you for ADHD?”

I was asked this in my first meeting with a new psychiatrist in my junior year of my undergraduate degree. I was surprised and confused by the question.

“No…do you think I should be?”

The psychiatrist nodded and turned to her computer. “I myself have ADHD, and some of the struggles you described closely resemble my own – the ones related to my ADHD, I mean. I’m sending you some paperwork. Try it out, and we can talk about what your results mean and what to do about them later.”

Sure enough, after I performed some tests, it was found that the probability I had ADHD was extremely high. When I was retested later, the results were the same. I was shocked and also relieved. Suddenly, things made a lot more sense; I always felt that I was struggling more or differently than my peers, and I finally had validation for that feeling. I experienced the same shock and relief a year later, when I discovered I had ASD as well. 

The validation and the relief felt amazing. It wasn’t all in my head! Or, well, it was, but now I knew why I had always felt that my struggles were not the same as others. Yes, other people did experience some of the difficulties I had – like staying organized and motivated to finish projects – and the way I experienced them was on a different scale. I was elated, until I realized that I didn’t quite know what to do with that information. 

If you’re navigating your own neurodivergence, you may be experiencing something similar. You may not have a diagnosis, medication, or therapeutic support, but even if you do, you may feel like you were thrown into a completely new world. What now?

The first thing I recommend is exploring your needs. Figure out what makes you feel comfortable, focused, and content. If you like research, like me, you can try looking up the symptoms or conditions you identify with and look into them more closely. What do experts think people who experience these things need? What do other people who have these experiences think they need? Sift through the information and keep what resonates, discarding what doesn’t seem relevant to you. 

If you aren’t as research oriented, then experiment! Try out different lighting levels in your living space, try different types of music or try silence, try working completely alone and when others are with you. What feels best? 

Though it may be difficult, try to note these needs without judgement. It’s not “silly” or “dumb” if it helps you; it’s just different. Figure out what works for you and you’ll be on your way to getting a handle on your neurodivergence. 

Make Changes Within Your Control 

Once you’ve developed a better sense of what works for you, you can start making some changes to things in your control to make your life easier. It may also take some experimentation to figure out how you want to address your needs, especially in environments with lots of other people, like at school. The goal is not to find the “right” thing to do on the first try; the goal is to explore how you have agency over your own learning. 

One of the first things I addressed for my own neurodivergence was my tendency toward sensory overwhelm. Classrooms often felt too bright and too loud; desk surfaces felt strange; clothing felt itchy. I had a hard time getting through class and absorbing any information, let alone participating. Even when I was successful in getting through class, I would come home completely exhausted. That had to change first. 

Some of the changes felt easy. One of the only things I knew about neurodivergent people (mostly based on the “special needs” students I had known in K-12 school) was that they needed the tags cut out of their clothes. I tried that, as well as experimenting with different fabrics to get a feel for what felt good most of the time. Shocker – it worked! It was also easy to bring scentless wipes with me to wipe down my desk when I sat down in class. No one really minded, and I ensured that I didn’t have to interact with a sticky weird surface. 

Other changes took more work to feel good. Originally, I was so unobtrusive that I would never have asked the professor if we could dim the lights in the classroom, so I had to find another solution. The simplest one I could think of was wearing sunglasses to block out some of the harsh fluorescents. I knew that people were teased for wearing sunglasses inside, and I also thought some people would suspect I had a hangover, which made me uncomfortable. I pushed through the social discomfort and found that the tangible benefit of the classroom being less bright outweighed the nebulous potential of people laughing at me behind my back. Later, I used the simplest solution of all and politely asked my professor if we could dim the lights a little, which was almost always met with a “sure” and a dimmer classroom. Either solution worked to make the visual stimuli less overwhelming. 

The most difficult self-accommodation to make was figuring out how to make everything feel less loud. I had to hear my professors and classmates, and I also felt it inappropriate to always ask everyone to speak more quietly; besides, I didn’t want to detract from anyone else’s learning, and the people in the back of the class needed to hear the professor too. Earplugs blocked out too much noise and felt awful, and blocking sound in only one ear felt unbalanced and unpleasant. Thankfully, making the other changes I mentioned meant that I was less prone to sensory overwhelm in the classroom anyway, so being unable to change the noise level bothered me infrequently. One day, I found that there was such a thing as pass-through earplugs, like the kind that musicians or concert-goers used to protect their ears while still being able to hear. These did work for me, and my other sensory management carried me through to finding that better solution. 

As much as you can, try to make changes like this in your own life. I identified ways to control my own sensory input, changed them, and was much more able to learn and be comfortable in class. If you can do something to make your learning experience easier, try it out! Meeting your own needs not only helps you feel better; it also gives you a satisfying sense of power and agency over your own life.

Ask for Support

I was a graduate student before I decided to inform my professors of the strategies I used to pay attention in class. I had had enough professors who got frustrated with perceived “distractions” that I wanted to clarify my needs. It still felt strange to say something. 

“...so when I’m doodling, or tapping on my notebook, or not looking at you when you’re talking, it’s not because I’m bored or not paying attention,” I explained, “that’s actually what I do so I can pay attention.” 

My professor nodded. “Sure, ok. Thank you for telling me.” They paused, then decided to ask, “Do you need me to do anything differently?”

“No, thank you, though. I just need to be doing something that might seem unrelated during lecture. I don’t need you or anyone else to do anything special.” I was embarrassed enough that I needed to do something special. 

“Ok. Yeah, thanks for telling me.” 

I took that as a dismissal and went and sat back at my desk. But the professor was never bothered by my doodling or tapping, and neither were my classmates. I even had some classmates ask me what I was drawing during the class break, and I once caught a classmate finishing the end of a tune I had been tapping. 

Once I started as a TA/Lecturer at CU Denver, I became even more comfortable with talking to my professors and classmates about my needs. I realized, from the other side of the student-teacher relationship, just how great it was for a student to come to me with ideas for how I could support them. 

I was open with my students about my own neurodivergence, which is maybe why more than a few students were comfortable talking to me about supporting their learning. One student asked if I could post pictures of the whiteboard notes on Canvas, while another asked if we could have meetings during my office hours every week. There was only one time where I couldn’t do something a student asked of me, and then I tried to offer things that I could do instead. The important thing to me was that the students felt comfortable opening a dialogue with me — once they had made the first step, it was easy for me to be supportive. 

You should feel free to ask for support from your professors and classmates, even if you don’t have any official accommodations from the Disability Resources & Services office. Some things, like bringing an unobtrusive fidget toy to class or coming into office hours, you don’t necessarily have to ask for either. However, for things that you should ask for, like dimming the lights in the classroom or requesting audio recordings of lectures posted to Canvas, don’t be afraid to speak up. People will be happy to work with you to support your learning; that’s what we’re all here for, after all! 

Other student services are also excellent resources. The Writing Center, the Learning Resources Center, and Math and Stat Support are all available to help you out in the Learning Commons. If you’re struggling with a concept (whether that struggle is due to your neurodivergence or not), it can be helpful to hear someone else explain it in a totally different way. Talking through your ideas can help, too. The Student Wellness Center is great for moving around, studying, and snacking, and the Career Center at LynxConnect will know how to discuss your disability in job applications. These and many more student services are available and dedicated to supporting your learning, so take advantage of them!

Find Your Community

Community is a big part of any college experience and can be valuable when you are learning about yourself. As you connect with other people, you might also discover more about yourself. In any case, sometimes it’s just helpful to know that you’re not alone. 

Finding other neurodivergent people might be one of the most helpful aspects of my own journey. I made connections with people who were accepting of my differences and people who had ADHD and ASD themselves. I was even fortunate enough to make friends with others who were also navigating neurodiversity in their adulthood. Being able to speak with people who had the experience of being diagnosed in childhood and people who were discovering their neurodiversity like me has given me lots of great perspectives and resources. It’s also nice to know people who think and work more similarly to you. 

The advice discussed here will help you get to know yourself better and build your support system. These strategies are effective for all aspects of your life as you navigate your neurodiversity and are particularly applicable to your learning. You have opportunities to learn and grow at a university just like any neurotypical person. It’s a work in progress – I’m still learning about myself too! – but knowing more about your neurodivergence, asking for support, and developing a community will make your experience more pleasant and lead to greater success and happiness down the road.