By Hunter Jordan
"A big culture change needs to happen for things like our design studios to become more inclusive."
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Although my parents have always been honest about my and my family's various neurodivergences, it took me a while to identify with the label consistently. I attended a cyber charter school where I could excel in an environment where I had academic flexibility and support from my family. That, along with a largely neurodivergent friend group in my extracurriculars, meant I didn’t stand out and made other parts of my life easier. Then college smacked me in the face.
Surprisingly, I found the design studio structure more challenging than a traditional classroom. The open-ended instructions were a struggle, and my first design professor’s most recurring critique was that I take things too literally. Sensory issues, particularly the noise in the wide-open studio space, became my biggest enemy. I often had to retreat into noise cancellers or earbuds to avoid the overwhelming buzz of lights and overlapping conversations. Any disruption to my plan for the day made it difficult to regain focus and complete my work, even if it was something I usually enjoyed.
These experiences quickly forced me to become acutely aware of my neurodivergence. I found myself wondering how other neurodivergent individuals have navigated architectural education and careers. However, I was met with a stark reality. There is a severe lack of information. A simple Google search for “neurodivergent architects” yielded more results about designing for people with various neurodivergencies than information about neurodivergent individuals working within the profession. I couldn’t name a single neurodivergent architect, and the struggle to find a role model I could relate to was real.
The first time I met a design professional who discussed how being neurodivergent impacted their career was when we had a guest speaker for my Topics in the Built Environment class, Rachel Updegrove. In that class, she discussed her experiences as an Autistic architectural professional with ADHD and OCD and what led her to her current job. I later saw her in my studio and approached her to tell her how much I appreciated her talk. She told me she had since become a professor at Jefferson and that she would be running a workshop at Jefferson’s annual Neurodivergency Symposium. Due to her variety of professional experiences, she seemed to be the perfect person to interview for this article.
During the interview, one thing that seemed to come up repeatedly was how no two neurodivergent people have the same exact needs. I find the unspoken rules of studio culture and interaction unintuitive, while it is a more supportive environment for her. She said she liked that students could show up at any time and always have someone to hang out with. She appreciates the freeform aspect of the studio, while I work better with structure. Sound is a big issue for me, but it is not for her. She mentioned that the building where my studio is has large partitions across various studio spaces, which is a setup that someone like me might find helpful for sound issues but interferes with social connection.
Toward the end of our interview, I talked to Professor Updegrove about how the studio could become more accessible for neurodivergent students and if she is working to improve the studio now that she is a professor. The most significant thing she discussed was how important communicating with her students is. She believes using various communication methods allows her to best support her students instead of relying on just one. For group communications, she uses a class GroupMe chat and verbal directions. Regarding one-on-one communication, she uses a combination of talking, writing, and sketching to relay her point. She’s also found that being transparent about her neurodivergence makes her students more comfortable about disclosing their own needs to her. I also asked if she thought having more space options in the studio (for example, tight versus open spaces) might help address diverse needs by allowing students to pick which environment best suits them. She said it could be, but it would require a significant culture change for something like that to happen because we are so accustomed to our current setup.
Another issue that both of us recognized was the significant number of architecture students with ADHD. This trend is not only prevalent in the student body but also in the overall profession. Despite this, there is a shocking lack of information and resources available. This is particularly concerning given that college students with ADHD are more likely than others to have low grades or drop out of college entirely.
Since Jefferson’s design students anecdotally have a significant neurodivergent population, we must ask ourselves how we can best serve those students. It should be highly prioritized to ensure student success. Beyond our time at school, neurodivergent students will eventually become neurodivergent professionals, which raises the question of what our future in the workforce will look like if these problems aren’t solved. . NCARB, the United States National Organization for Architectural Licensure, releases an annual report on the profession with statistics divided by race, age, and gender. Yet they offer no such information regarding disabilities and neurodivergence in the community. How can Jefferson and the world support neurodivergent architecture students and professionals if there isn’t even any information about us? Echoing what Professor Updegrove said, a big culture change needs to happen for things like our design studios to become more inclusive. Unfortunately, before that can occur, society needs to acquire fundamental awareness.
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