The Struggle You Can’t See: Experiences of Neurodivergent and Invisibly Disabled Students in Higher Education - cover image

Copyright

Ash Lierman

Published On

2024-11-04

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-374-4
Hardback978-1-80511-375-1
PDF978-1-80511-376-8
HTML978-1-80511-378-2
EPUB978-1-80511-377-5

Language

  • English

Print Length

282 pages (x+272)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 16 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.63" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 18 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.71" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback403g (14.22oz)
Hardback577g (20.35oz)

OCLC Number

1467055515

LCCN

2023513489

THEMA

  • 4TW
  • JNM
  • JNSC
  • MKFK
  • JNFK

BISAC

  • EDU026000
  • EDU015000
  • SOC029000
  • PSY022010
  • HEA039150
  • EDU048000

LCC

  • LC4812

Keywords

  • Neurodivergent students
  • Invisible disabilities
  • Higher education
  • Social justice
  • Universal Design for Learning
  • Chronic illnesses

The Struggle You Can’t See

Experiences of Neurodivergent and Invisibly Disabled Students in Higher Education

Winner of the Choice’s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2025.
This book offers a comprehensive review of current research on the higher education experiences of neurodivergent undergraduate students and those with invisible disabilities. Grounded in principles of social justice and equity, this work draws from design thinking, the neurodiversity model, and Universal Design for Learning, to explore the context of higher education in relation to neurodivergent and disabled students.

The author discusses findings from literature on the experiences of students with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, psychiatric disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, and disabling chronic physical illnesses. The inclusion of students with chronic illnesses is particularly timely, given the rising prevalence of long COVID symptoms and other lasting health impacts among university-aged individuals. Moreover Ash Lierman, who has extensive experience of serving students marginalized students, gives voice to this community, thus providing both a synthesis of existing research, and highlighting the needs and challenges of the students themselves.

The Struggle You Can’t See serves as a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand and support this underserved population, offering insights for transformational change in higher education.

Reviews

Lierman provides insight into the experiences of disabled students and the systemic injustices within the higher education system that both isolate disabled students and fail to give them the tools they need to succeed. A particularly strong chapter relates to the intersection of disability with other marginalized communities, especially students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and gender and ethnicity. This is a powerful text that everyone who works in higher education, or plans to, needs to read.

K. Albright, Otterbein University

CHOICE connect , vol. 62, no. 10, 2025.

Contributors

Ash Lierman

(author)
Instruction & Education Librarian at Rowan University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8462-2557

Dr. Ash Lierman (they/them) is the Instruction & Education Librarian at Campbell Library on the Glassboro campus of Rowan University, in southern New Jersey, USA. They are also the chair of Rowan University Libraries’ DEI Committee. They support teaching and learning across the university, particularly for the College of Education, graduate students, and online learners. As a disabled, queer, nonbinary and agender librarian, their research and professional interests focus on social justice for marginalized academic library users and workers, especially those who are disabled and LGBTQ+. They have also co-contributed a chapter to Toward Inclusive Academic Librarian Hiring Practices (Houk, Nielsen, & Wong-Welch, eds.), published in 2024 by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL).