How Neurodiverse is our Community College Population?

Alamo Colleges is on a mission to break the cycle of poverty for students, but one of the stigmas often not talked about in many households is undiagnosed neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD or autism.

“The undiagnosed community is often in the Hispanic community. Our families don’t believe in going to doctors, or it’s often said if you are like this, it’s because your ‘Tio Nacho’ was like that, and look, ‘He’s fine,’” said student Chris Sauceda, who attends both Northwest Vista College (NVC) and St. Philip's College (SPC).

But it’s not fine, Sauceda said. An ADHD/autistic diagnosis means students have a hard time focusing in class, the class work may be going too fast for them, or they are suffering from anxiety while in class. All these factors could mean that a student won’t get a passing grade, may not continue to the next semester, or possibly drop out.

Sauceda and his student research team of Northwest Vista College students (Mel Cordero, Abril Martinez, Suzzie Olvera, Robin Pritchard, Christopher Sauceda, and Jasmine Silva) decided to do something about this. They conducted surveys at both NVC and SPC to collect data to detect how many students who attend a community college are undiagnosed with neurodevelopmental issues.

The student research team surveyed 476 students. Sauceda said the study, titled, Prevalence of ADHD and Autism in Community Colleges, hasn’t been attempted on a community college population before.

Once their research and key takeaways are completed, the student team hopes to go to the Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees to identify resources and funding to provide holistic avenues for students to cope with ADHD/autism. Sauceda said he envisions hosting workshops on campus to help students with memorization, focus, and day-to-day strategies to increase success in the classroom.

This is not Sauceda’s first time working with students on the neurodevelopmental spectrum. He received a teaching certificate in Oklahoma and worked in classrooms with an innovative approach to helping similar students. He said that the school district’s comprehensive strategies opened his eyes to what can help students succeed. Sauceda, who recently attended the Hispanic Associations of Colleges and Universities conference in Colorado, is also one of the few community college students who recently participated in the Hispanic Serving Institutions Scholars Program from the American Heart Association. This program invests in biomedical and health sciences undergraduate students enrolled at Hispanic Serving Institutions and allows them to learn about health disparities in Hispanic communities.

Sauceda’s NVC mentor, Dr. Donald Lucas, who is an NVC professor of Psychology, said many of our students who likely fall on the neurodevelopmental spectrum may not have the resources to get diagnosed, and only by establishing and knowing our neurodivergent student population's rates, can educators, truly serve this population.

“My students never cease to amaze me,” Lucas said. “The studies they are currently conducting for possible presentation at next year’s annual meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association will make the survey method of collecting data less discriminatory and more inclusive; and the studies will allow for the neurodivergent student population at Northwest Vista College and beyond—to be better served in higher education.”