CAARES Helps Launch New Training to Support Neurodivergent SUNY Students 

The Center for Autism Advocacy: Research, Education, and Supports (CAARES) strives to create inclusive environments for neurodivergent people at Empire State University. Now, thanks to a new collaboration, the organization has an opportunity to expand its reach to students throughout the SUNY system.  

CAARES has partnered with Universal Design for Learning at SUNY and the SUNY Center for Professional Development on creating a system-wide training that will help faculty, staff, and student leaders better support neurodivergent individuals on their campuses. The asynchronous, online program—titled “Supporting Neurodiversity Across SUNY: Practical Strategies for Our Campus Communities”—will cover topics such as digital accessibility standards, legal frameworks, and supporting neurodivergent students in both classrooms and residence halls.

“The vision is to make a more inclusive SUNY—a SUNY that is better prepared to meet neurodivergent students where they are,” says Aley O’Mara, CAARES program associate and training coordinator. “Research has shown that while more Autistic students are going to college, there’s also still a pretty high drop-off rate for neurodivergent students, which definitely affects attrition across all institutions of higher education. If we can build experiences that are more intentional in meeting the needs and supporting the talents of neurodivergent students, that will be a benefit to students and workers as well.” 

The training, which also features work from experts at Buffalo State University, will be officially launched on April 30. To mark the occasion, SUNY is hosting a kick-off event from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. that day. Attendees can expect a keynote talk from Dave Thompson, visiting scholar and program manager at Vanderbilt University’s Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, and an expert panel featuring O’Mara and other speakers. The event will also include a demonstration of the training, which O’Mara says has been a few months in the making.  

“It is a practical training that is research-based and based in the lived experience of neurodivergent people like myself,” O’Mara adds. “Everybody who takes the training is really getting the best of both worlds. [It will] help everybody who’s in a position of leadership build their confidence, competence, and compassion in creating a student experience that everybody can benefit from.”