ADCET Webinar: Serving as a reminder you are not alone - Building Community and Supporting Neurodivergent Students through Study Skill Workshops at the University of Adelaide

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Neurodivergent students have often cited feelings of isolation and loneliness when attending university. The Neurodiversity Project at the University of Adelaide has recently begun facilitating Neurodivergent Study Skill Workshops for neurodivergent students. These workshops are part of the larger aims of the Neurodiversity Project, which includes establishing a peer mentoring program. This webinar discussed how the workshops are taught with a neuro-affirming approach. The workshops facilitator, Tiana Blazevic, is neurodivergent herself and these workshops ask students to reflect on their lived experiences as a neurodivergent learner.   

Students are given critical reflection worksheets that ask them to reflect on their academic practices and in what ways they could lean into their neurodivergent selves. The workshops often discuss some of the ways that neurodivergent conditions are situated in a cultural context and each topic shows students some practical strategies to incorporate into their studies. Students are given several alternative options to participate in the workshops so that each student can still participate without increasing social anxiety levels.   

Since these workshops began in Semester 2 of 2024, neurodivergent students have expressed how they feel a sense of community, a decrease in isolation, and at the same time, are learning practical study skills and strategies.

This webinar presented some of the feedback given by the students and explained ways to create a more neuro-affirming workshop space and discussed why the creation of these workshops are an important step in recognising the diverse needs of neurodivergent students.

Presenter

Tiana Blazevic is the Disability Support Project Officer for Disability Support at the University of Adelaide, coordinating the Neurodiversity Project. Tiana is also an Academic Learning Advisor at the Writing Centre in the Student Academic Skills Support Unit and was formerly the South Australian State Representative for the Association for Academic Languages and Learning. Tiana is a neurodivergent educator who has been working directly with neurodivergent students since 2020.

(October 2024)

ADCET is hosted by the University of Tasmania