This open educational resource (OER) on Neurodiversity and Higher Education has been developed for staff and students in third-level education, with a particular focus on supporting neurodivergent learners. It adapts a short course originally created by neurodivergent students under the supervision of a neuromixed academic team at an Irish university, that combined neurodivergent and neurotypical perspectives. The team drew on a literature review, policy documents, NGO resources, and global cafés with neurodivergent students to explore key themes including terminology, the affirmative model, lecturers’ roles, institutional responsibilities, and transition from university to work.
This site is organised into six core topics, which you can explore in any order from the Topics page or the Topics dropdown menu in the global header. Each topic page includes a short introduction, clear learning outcomes, sub-sections you can navigate via on-page links or the sidebar, and a reflective activity to help you apply ideas to your own practice.
Unless your institution requires a different format, you can cite this OER in written work and presentations as follows (example in Harvard style):
Neurodiversity and Higher Education OER (2026) Neurodiversity and Higher Education [OER]. Maynooth University. Available at: [site URL] (Accessed: [date]).
This OER is intended to be released under a Creative Commons licence, for example CC BY-NC-SA, which allows others to share, adapt, and build on the material for non-commercial purposes, as long as they:
The exact licence version and attribution text will be confirmed on the Terms of Use page and in the site footer; please refer there for the final wording.
This project was developed with the support of a Maynooth University Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Teaching and Learning Fellowship (2022) which explored the lived experiences of neurodivergent students in third-level education and informed the development of a reusable learning resource to raise awareness among academic staff.
The project also received funding from the CTL SPARK Initiative at Maynooth University 2024-25 and from the CTL led ‘MU – UDL & U. Building a Culture of Inclusion in Maynooth University’ project which was supported under the HEA PATH 4, Phase 1 – Universal Design for Education Fund. Additional funding was provided by the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.
The project team gratefully acknowledges Gerta Nestorov (eLearning and EdTech Consultant, Developer, and Project Manager) for website design and development, and Anastasia Campbell (School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University) for managing website-related correspondence and coordination.
The project team comprises Dr Etain Quigley, Tara Gallagher, Michael Connolly, Molly O’Hanlon, Rowan Kennedy, and Emma McLoughlin.
Student research support was provided through a student content advisory group, comprising neurodivergent students at Maynooth University, who contributed ongoing review and feedback at each stage to ensure the project was informed by lived experience.
Additional advisory input was provided by staff members across Maynooth University.
This work was supported by: