The faculty and staff neurodivergence book group met for the third and final time last Thursday in Hutchinson Lounge to discuss the book “Of Many Minds.” The book is a collection of personal essays spotlighting the experiences of neurodivergent faculty and staff in American higher education. For three weeks, over lunch, participants discussed each one of the three parts, “Coping and Masking,” “Higher Ed Structures” and “Stigma,” coming up with takeaways at the end of each meeting.

The book group was created as part of an initiative of the neurodiversity working group, a subcommittee of the Accessibility Task Force. Associate Director of the Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching Tina Chong, who created the book group and facilitated the meetings alongside Director of Institutional Inclusion and Diversity Programs Katy Stern, explained the genesis of the idea.

“My original goal was, three years ago, to increase awareness around neurodivergence on campus among students. I was on the lookout for a book that shares personal stories from neurodivergent students and how they experience college life, what the challenges are and how they’re thriving, and I just could not find one for students, but I came across one that had stories from faculty and staff,” Chong said.

While there has been much programming geared toward neurodivergent students, this is the first initiative on campus that focuses specifically on faculty and staff. Chong noted that faculty and staff neurodiversity and mental health have been much more overlooked in higher education, which this book club aims to change.

Jolie Gagnon, disability culture coordinator for the student accessibility office and staff advisor to the Disabled Students Association (DSA), explained why she decided to attend the book group.

“I realized that, even though I know a lot about how neurodivergence manifests among Gen[eration] Z and younger populations, I definitely have a knowledge gap as far as how existing as an adult with neurodivergence can be, or what a late-stage diagnosis might look like…, so I wanted to learn more,” Gagnon said.

Stigma surrounding neurodivergence often adds a layer of complexity to having these conversations, explained Digital Archivist in the Department of Special Collections and Archives Meagan Doyle, who attended the meeting.

“I think that it’s all complicated by how disclosing neurodivergence can be—I don’t want to say dangerous—but can be risky. There can be repercussions, it can change the way your coworkers look at you, or change, potentially, your ability to live up to positions. I can see why these aren’t just conversations that are flying around and just being had super openly, too,” Doyle said.

Gagnon emphasized the importance of having such opportunities to talk about neurodivergence, especially within higher education.

“There’s this whole idea that if you are working at a college, there’s this professionalism that you hold yourself to, and if you don’t fit this very narrow ideal of what professionalism within college looks like…, then you’re not fit for higher education. There are already so many people in this environment who are neurodivergent, [or] who are mentally ill, who have all of these experiences, who just don’t feel comfortable sharing about them, who don’t feel comfortable getting help for it,” Gagnon said.

Gagnon emphasized how open conversations can support the tangible experiences of neurodivergent staff and faculty.

“I think it’s really important to have these conversations because that provides the space for people to reduce stigma and increase awareness, and then that has tangible steps associated with it as well. The less stigma there is, the more likely you are to actually apply for accommodations,” Gagnon said.

Like the often-quoted slogan “You belong at Bowdoin,” Chong hopes to continue such efforts to make Bowdoin a welcoming space, not just for students, but for staff and faculty as well.

“The book group is really just the starting point. The next thing I envision is creating affinity groups on campus with the purpose of giving people a space where they feel like they belong…. One of the pressures that neurodivergent people feel is that they have to fit in, like, ‘I have to mask so I fit in because only if I fit in, can I work the system, can I get promoted, can I be a part of this campus community,’” Chong said.

Chong expressed hope for creating a judgement-free campus.

“Hopefully, being more comfortable in those [affinity group] spaces to let your mask down will give you the experience [of doing so], then maybe you can start slowly taking the mask off in your other work environments…. Giving people spaces where they can just be who they are, without being judged, without having to worry about stigma,” Chong said.