We See What's NExT: Why Building Transformative Participatory Research Approaches for Neurodivergent Stakeholders Matters

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: From Access to Transformation: Disability, Giftedness, Music, and Neurodivergence in Education

Abstract

Despite growing attention to disability in higher education, the intersectional experiences of neurodivergent students remain largely overlooked in the literature. What happens when neurodivergent higher education stakeholders reimagine policies and practices that center neurodiversity? This concept paper explores the lived experiences, systemic barriers, current research, and historical perspectives that formed the foundation for creating the first Neurodivergent Experiences Tranformed (NExT) Summit in response to this gap in research. The three-phase mixed-methods transformative participatory social justice design for NExT, a radical imagination intervention, is then explored along with preliminary findings. By centering the lived experience of students navigating barriers unique to the racialized experience of neurodivergence in higher education, this paper aims to contribute innovative approaches for equity-focused policy and practice reform.

Author

• Janelle A. Johnson, North Carolina State University