Supporting Neurodiverse College Student Success: A Guide for Librarians, Student Support Services, and Academic Learning Environments

The basic premise of neurodiversity is that there is no “normal” baseline for brain processes, but that all individual brains vary and therefore are diverse. The CAST organization estimates that 11% of college students enrolling in post-secondary campuses having a learning disability or learning difference. As neurodiverse students enroll in post-secondary education, the environments within which these students learn, can either support or impede their ability to succeed. Simply put, a neurodiverse campus population means that educators recognize that all students process and learn differently and must adapt our approaches and services in order to reach and support all students enrolled on our campuses.
Neurodiverse students are a growing population on today’s college campus. Their growing presence prompts new approaches to support their success and change traditional student services and collegiate experiences.
This practical guide:
Assists readers in better understanding neurodiverse students and the way campus services can create welcoming environmentsExplores the role Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Executive Functioning (EF) plays in student success, and Focuses on specific collegiate offices and services that effectively address the needs of neurodiverse learners. Chapters cover tutoring, learning supports, academic coaching, academic advising, career services, residential living, and classroom experiences that impact and assist neurodiverse college students.

Elizabeth Coghill has served as the inaugural director of the Pirate Academic Success Center at East Carolina University for the past eleven years. An experienced higher education administrator, her research and practice interests focus on the academic and social success of marginalized student populations: neurodiverse learners, students of color, first generation, economically disadvantaged, and military affiliated students. Dedicated to the academic achievement of collegiate students, she is an early adopter of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) techniques imbedded within a learning center. She has over 25 years of experience in higher education in learner support services, academic advising, registrar, systems training, career development, and admissions.

Jeffrey Coghill is outreach librarian and director of Eastern AHEC Library Services since 2009 at Laupus Library at East Carolina University. From 2001–2009, he was collection development librarian at Laupus. As the outreach librarian, C helps healthcare professionals find the best information so they can help their patients get better.