Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) is rolling out new support services for neurodiverse students.

According to a press release sent out to local media on Monday afternoon, NMC’s new Neurodiversity Support Center (NSC) will launch this month with a cohort of four students. Those students span "a range of learning differences, including but not limited to anxiety, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder." These students and others will be able to access new support services on a first-come, first-served basis from an on-campus center.

Nancy Gray, who will serve as coordinator for the NSC, said in the press release that the transition from high school to college life is often especially difficult for neurodiverse students, due in part to the lack of available supports. High schools are required by disability laws to provide additional support services to all neurodiverse students, but in college, it often falls upon students to advocate for themselves in finding and accessing such supports – if such services even exist.

“Neurodiverse students need more than the accommodations, which address academics,” Gray said. “They need help and support, and the supports must also meet their social and sensory needs.”

Gray, who also teaches as part of NMC’s English department, was inspired to bring the idea of the NSC to the college after spending a recent sabbatical researching neurodiversity support services at other institutions of higher learning. Under Gray’s leadership, the NSC will take up residence in NMC’s Scholars Hall and will provide support services as well as train other college faculty and staff on how to meet the needs of this particular segment of the student population.

“We want to normalize it, so that it is seen as both acceptable and necessary,” Gray said of neurodiversity among the NMC student body. “We need to increase awareness of neurodiversity, celebrate the strengths, and design educational practices that address the specific needs of neurodiverse students.”

Through the NSC, neurodiverse students will be able to access weekly one-on-one mentoring sessions, structured study times with on-site tutors and success coaches, workshops and seminars, sensory-friendly social events, and more.