Project Overview
This project centers on research, advocacy, and practical work around neurodivergence, mental health, and creating inclusive academic environments that support diverse minds and experiences. The work addresses systemic barriers in higher education and promotes understanding of neurodiversity as a natural and valuable form of human variation.
Core Mission
To transform academic culture by fostering environments where neurodivergent individuals can thrive, contributing their unique perspectives and talents while receiving appropriate support and accommodations.
Key Areas of Focus
- Neurodiversity Awareness: Promoting understanding of ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other forms of neurodivergence
- Mental Health Advocacy: Addressing stigma and supporting mental wellness in academic settings
- Inclusive Pedagogy: Developing teaching methods that accommodate diverse learning styles and needs
- Workplace Equity: Advocating for neurodivergent-friendly policies and practices in higher education
- Student Support: Creating resources and systems to support neurodivergent students' academic success
- Faculty Development: Training educators to recognize and support neurodivergent learners
Published Work & Research
Personal Perspective & Lived Experience
As someone who received an ADHD diagnosis later in life while navigating the demands of academia, this work emerges from deep personal experience. My journey includes:
- Late Diagnosis: Understanding ADHD as an adult and reframing past experiences through this new lens
- Parenting Neurodivergent Children: Supporting children with ADHD while managing my own neurodivergence
- Academic Challenges: Navigating higher education systems not designed for neurodivergent minds
- Medication and Management: Exploring treatment options and developing personal strategies for success
- Public Advocacy: Using personal experience to advocate for broader systemic change
Key Themes in Writing & Research
ADHD and Executive Function
Exploring how ADHD affects time management, organization, and task completion in academic settings. Writing includes personal strategies for managing working memory challenges and time blindness.
Resilience Critique
Questioning dominant narratives around resilience, particularly for neurodivergent individuals who may face systemic barriers that require accommodation rather than individual adaptation.
Affective Labor
Examining the emotional work required in academic environments and how this disproportionately affects neurodivergent individuals and those with mental health challenges.
Creative Expression as Coping
Exploring how creative activities like sewing, writing, and artistic expression serve as both coping mechanisms and sources of meaning for neurodivergent individuals.
Advocacy & Outreach
Through speaking engagements, workshops, and written work, I advocate for:
- Policy changes that support neurodivergent students and faculty
- Increased awareness and understanding of neurodiversity in academic communities
- Practical strategies for creating inclusive classrooms and workplaces
- Recognition of neurodiversity as a form of human diversity to be celebrated
Future Directions
This project continues to evolve, with planned initiatives including:
- Development of neurodiversity training programs for faculty and staff
- Research on best practices for supporting neurodivergent graduate students
- Creation of resources for neurodivergent academics navigating career transitions
- Collaboration with disability services offices to improve support systems