ADHD, Autism, and Other Neurodivergence in Social Work Education: Recognizing and Supporting Neurodiversity in Our Classrooms and Research Teams

Diagnoses of autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have surged in recent years, which means that the neurodiversity in social work classrooms is growing. Approximately 5.5 million people in the US are autistic, representing 2.2% of the population. Diagnoses among children and adults are increasing dramatically, due not necessarily to increased incidence but rather to increased awareness among clinicians and, in particular, autistic adults who self-refer for assessment. Similarly, ADHD diagnoses have increased, with diagnoses doubling in the last two years among women aged 23-49 (a demographic that is overrepresented in social work programs). Currently, 10% of US children and more than 3% of US adults have ADHD. Notably, autism and ADHD often occur together, and the combination can lead to vastly different experiences from person to person.

Autism and ADHD share overlapping anatomical and neurochemical features, with dopamine and norepinephrine implicated in both conditions. New research is helping to uncover the biological mechanisms and clinical markers of these conditions, as well as their link to other neurological differences, which are typically labeled as learning and/or behavioral disorders. Dyslexia, dysgraphia, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and other recognized DSM diagnoses are other forms of neurodivergence that are more likely to co-occur with autism, and are highly stigmatized and misunderstood. Importantly, giftedness is also likely to co-occur with other types of neurodivergence, which may explain why many PhD programs see a higher prevalence of neurodivergent students.

There are also important disparities in diagnoses of neurodivergence. Differences in access to providers, combined with effects of bias and discrimination, lead to different rates of diagnosis and access to appropriate treatment across different minoritized identities; for instance, Black children are more likely to receive conduct disorder diagnoses than White children, and have historically been less likely to be identified as autistic, though this disparity has recently decreased. Meanwhile, trans and nonbinary identities are strongly correlated with autism and other types of neurodivergence. Thus, the discussion of neurodivergence in the academy must include consideration of how the effects of multiple, intersecting experiences of bias and discrimination affect our students, their access to competent assessment, and their experiences in educational spaces.

Given the increasing prevalence of these neurological differences, educators must learn to understand how neurodivergence impacts students in classrooms, internships, and research training experiences. In this roundtable, the organizer will summarize the current state of research on prevalence and common traits of ADHD, autism, and other common forms of neurodivergence, especially among students in the US. The second panelist will present evidence from the panelists' recent scoping review of research literature on supporting neurodivergent students in educational settings. The third and fourth panelists will then share from their own experiences as both students and instructors holding intersecting minoritized identities in schools of social work. Topics covered will include specific accommodations that help neurodivergent students as well as universal design for learning strategies that support neurodiversity in classrooms and research teams. Ample time will be dedicated to conversation among panelists and roundtable participants.