Presenters: Meaghan Krazinski and Teukie Martin, Syracuse University

Neurodivergent college students report experiencing loneliness and isolation (Gunin et al., 2021; Kuder et al., 2021). However, their experiences with traditional mental health services are not uniformly positive. While neurodivergence is a top area of concern for students seeking mental health services, it is also reported as a reason for discontinuing services. Counseling and other mental health services, operating from a normalizing, medicalized framework, may ultimately reinforce the same pressures to conform that cause mental distress for neurodivergent students. We contend this indicates a need for new types of “interventions” that seek to intervene and disrupt the dominance of neurotypicality. The Neurocurious programming at Syracuse University is an attempt to create such spaces that center embodied enactments of neurodivergent culture (Beck, 2023). We suggest approaches that implement peer support structures generated and invented by the community itself, affirming neurodivergent people as experts in their own lives (Frost et al., 2019). Created and implemented by two neurodivergent doctoral students, Neurocurious emerges from our experiential knowledge. The name intentionally de-centers diagnosis, honoring - and celebrating - experiences of self-discovery and self-diagnosis. Given that systemic inequities lead to the persistent underdiagnosis of certain groups, such as people of color and people assigned female at birth, spaces that invite students to explore their neurodivergence without shame and stigma are essential. Furthermore, students who already identify as neurodivergent uncover new layers of their neurology well into adulthood, often facilitated by contact with other neurodivergent people. Neurocurious brings neurodivergent students, staff, and faculty together to share in community, knowledge production, and joy. In this session, we will describe our intentions for Neurocurious, what we have learned along the way, and the importance of building capacity for spaces like Neurocurious. Program directors, faculty, mental health practitioners, and student support specialists may all benefit from this informative session.