Supporting Neurodiverse Students: A Three-Part Series

Thursday, November 6 | Thursday, November 13 | Thursday, November 20
11:00 a.m. Pacific | 12:00 p.m. Mountain | 1:00 p.m. Central | 2:00 p.m. Eastern (60 minutes)

As neurodiverse students face a growing number of challenges in higher education, academic libraries must evolve to provide inclusive, responsive, and flexible support. This webinar series equips library professionals and educators with actionable strategies to partner with neurodiverse students—those with autism spectrum disorder, PTSD, brain trauma, anxiety, depression, and other cognitive differences—to co-create inclusive environments and services. Drawing from and expounding on the ACRL book Supporting Neurodiverse Students in Academic Libraries, this three-part series offers scalable solutions for institutions of all sizes and budgets.

Part One - Creating a Welcoming Environment for Neurodiverse Users
Thursday, November 3 - 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Central (60 minutes)
Presenters will discuss ways to make the library more accessible for neurodivergent learners. This conversation will lean into the unique insight our neurodivergent colleagues can bring to these discussions as well as look at some concrete suggestions for changes libraries can implement.

Presenters: Amy Dye-Reeves, Head of the Library of Architecture, Design, and Construction, Auburn University; Mary Catherine “Cat” Ellis, Health Sciences Librarian, San Diego State University; Moderators: Amanda Boyer, Student Success Librarian, Susquehanna University; Amir EI-Chidiac, Librarian and Instructor, Community College of Philadelphia

Part Two - Creating Accessible Library Resources for Neurodiverse Learners
Thursday, November 13, 2025 - 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Central (60 minutes)
This webcast will examine various ways presenters have created accessible library resources. Their projects range from the creation of UDL instruction to conducting user testing with neurodivergent students.

Presenters: Sheryl Burgstahler, Past Director, Accessible Technology Services, University of Washington; Gary Childs, Associate Professor, Engineering (STEM-H) Librarian, West Chester University of Pennsylvania; Kimberly Shotick, Student Success Librarian and Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University; Moderators: Amanda Boyer, Student Success Librarian, Susquehanna University; Amir EI-Chidiac, Librarian and Instructor, Community College of Philadelphia

Part Three - Using Cross-Campus Collaborations to Support Neurodiverse Students
Thursday, November 20, 2025 - 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Central (60 minutes)
Presenters will discuss how they have utilized cross-campus collaborations to better support their neurodiverse students both in and outside of the library.

Presenters: Dawn Behrend, Associate Dean of Administrative Services, University of North Florida; Haley Dittbrenner, MLIS Student, Syracuse University; Brett Spencer, Research Librarian, Penn State Berks; Moderators: Amanda Boyer, Student Success Librarian, Susquehanna University; Amir EI-Chidiac, Librarian and Instructor, Community College of Philadelphia

Learning Outcomes

• Assess and recommend improvements to library spaces that enhance accessibility and sensory inclusion for neurodiverse users.

• Identify and implement communication strategies that make library resources more accessible to neurodiverse students.

• Develop a plan for initiating or strengthening partnerships with campus units to support neurodiverse student success

 Registration

Pricing is listed to the right on this page. To register, use the register button to checkout. You can register a group by specifying the number of people who will be accessing the webcast during checkout. If you are an ACRL member, you can purchase seats for yourself and your colleagues at the ACRL discount rate.

Number of Seats	Discount
3-5	15%
16+	If you are registering 16 or more individuals for a webinar or are interested in group registrations for other learning events, please get in touch with us at ce@ala.org.

Tech Requirements

ACRL Webinars are held in Zoom Meeting. Speakers or a headset for listening to the presentation are required. You may interact with the presenter and ask questions through text-based chat. Closed captioning is available.

Presentations will be recorded and the link to the recordings shared shortly after the live events.

Contact

If you have questions or need to make arrangements for additional assistance or accessibility, please contact Margot Conahan (mconahan@ala.org).