Executive Function &

Nervous-System Informed Programs

for Neurodivergent Student Success.

Supporting community colleges, disability services, and student success teams in improving retention, persistence, and functional access for neurodivergent learners.

Community colleges serve some of the most neurodivergent, first-generation, and trauma-impacted students in higher education yet they are also the least resourced to support the executive function, regulation, and navigation demands of college life.

The Executive Function Problem

Most student failure is not academic. It is executive function collapse:

Inability to initiate and complete work

  1. Missed deadlines and registration windows

  2. Overwhelm and shutdown

  3. Missed communications

  4. Accommodation plans that exist on paper but fail in practice

The Student Label

When this happens, students are labeled:

  • “unmotivated”

  • “non-compliant”

  • “not college-ready”

The Institutional Impact

Institutions lose:

  • Tuition

  • Retention metrics

  • Equity goals

  • Trust

Why Neurodivergent Students Leave College

Our Institutional Approach

We work at the intersection of:

  • Executive function science

  • Nervous system regulation

  • Disability access

  • Systems design

Rather than placing the burden on students to “try harder,” we identify where institutional systems overload working memory, regulation, and initiation. Then we design supports that make follow-through possible.

This is not tutoring.
This is functional access infrastructure

Programs for Disability Services and Student Success

We partner with:

  • Community Colleges

  • Disability Services Offices

  • Student Success & Retention Programs

  • TRIO, First-Year Experience, and Academic Coaching teams

Our work is especially effective for:

  • ADHD and autistic students

  • Students with anxiety, trauma, or burnout

  • First-generation and under-resourced learners

  • Students on academic warning or probation

Neurodivergent Uprising: Systems-Level Student Support

  • Structured, nervous-system–informed programming that teaches students how to:

    • Initiate tasks

    • Track assignments

    • Regulate overwhelm

    • Communicate with faculty

    • Use accommodations effectively

    Delivered as:

    • Small-group programs

    • Cohort models

    • Embedded student success tracks

  • We train DS, advising, and support staff to:

    • Understand executive function as an access issue

    • Identify regulation collapse vs. disengagement

    • Support ND students without increasing burnout

    • Design accommodations that work in real life

    This reduces:

    • Frustration

    • Staff overload

    • Student attrition

  • We provide direct consultation for:

    • Students in crisis

    • Repeated academic failure

    • Accommodation breakdowns

    • High-conflict or high-needs cases

    This supports both the student and the staff supporting them.

Why This Works

Traditional supports assume:

  • Motivation is internal

  • Follow-through is a character trait

  • Students just need better time management

Neurodivergent students need:

  • External structure

  • Regulation-safe environments

  • Clear, predictable systems

When institutions provide this, retention improves, because students can actually use their intelligence.

Why Community Colleges

Community colleges are:

  • The largest entry point to higher education

  • Home to the highest percentage of neurodivergent, first-generation, and working students

  • Most impacted by executive function breakdowns

Our work is designed specifically for these environments.

Partnership Models

We offer:

  • Pilot programs

  • Semester-long cohorts

  • Embedded student success tracks

  • Staff training & consultation packages

Programs can be:

  • Grant-funded

  • Equity-based

  • Retention-focused

  • Scaled across departments

Frequently Asked Questions

  • A neurodivergent student success program is a structured support system that addresses executive function, regulation, and access barriers that prevent ADHD and autistic students from completing coursework, meeting deadlines, and staying enrolled. These programs focus on systems and supports rather than trying to “fix” students.

  • Neurodivergent students are often capable but are overwhelmed by the executive function demands of college; managing schedules, deadlines, communication, and multi-step tasks. Community colleges have fewer built-in supports, making these invisible barriers more likely to cause failure or withdrawal.

  • Tutoring focuses on subject matter. Academic coaching focuses on individual habits. Our programs address functional access by redesigning systems, supports, and expectations so neurodivergent students can actually use their skills without burnout or shutdown.

  • Yes. Executive function is a neurological process that affects initiation, memory, organization, and regulation. When systems overload executive function, neurodivergent students lose access to education in the same way as when physical or sensory barriers exist.

  • Yes. We partner with Disability Services, Student Success, TRIO, and advising teams to design accommodations, programs, and workflows that better support neurodivergent students and reduce staff burnout.

  • Yes. Our programs align with equity, retention, persistence, and disability access goals and are often funded through student success, mental health, or accessibility grants.

  • No, our primary focus is serving the largest population of neurodivergent, first-generation, and under-resourced students. We also work with four-year and graduate institutions using similar frameworks.

  • Institutions typically see:

    • Improved retention

    • Fewer repeated course failures

    • Better accommodation usage

    • Reduced staff crisis load

    • Increased student engagement and persistence

  • Yes. Our work aligns with disability access principles under ADA and Section 504 by focusing on removing functional barriers rather than pathologizing students.

  • Institutions can contact us to explore pilot programs, staff training, or semester-long student success cohorts.

For answers to common questions, visit our Institutional FAQ.

Let’s Talk

If your institution is:

  • Struggling with ND student retention

  • Seeing repeated academic failure

  • Supporting students who are “trying but can’t”

We’d love to explore a partnership.

Contact Us

About Neurodivergent Uprising

Neurodivergent Uprising blends expertise in law, education, executive function, and nervous-system informed practice to design supports that work for real people inside real systems.

Our work is grounded in:

  • Hundreds of student cases

  • Disability law and advocacy

  • Trauma-informed and somatic frameworks

  • Lived neurodivergent experience

We do not treat neurodivergence as a deficit.
We treat access as a design problem.