Wayne State hosts Neurodiverse Career Expo to help students thrive beyond the classroom
'Neurodiverse' college fair helping students thrive
"Neurodiverse" refers to students who may have autism, dyslexia, or ADHD, to name a few. FOX 2 hears about college and career fairs all the time, but you don’t see many like one designed to help students who may learn or think differently thrive beyond the classroom.
HARPER WOODS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Multiple Metro Detroit organizations are teaming up to create an atmosphere filled with opportunities for neurodiverse students.
Big picture view:
"Neurodiverse" refers to students who may have autism, dyslexia, or ADHD, to name a few. FOX 2 hears about college and career fairs all the time, but you don’t see many like one designed to help students who may learn or think differently thrive beyond the classroom.
"I just love college in general, and to experience this is amazing," said Christian Taylor from Harper Woods High School. "My name is DJ Fatz."
The Harper Woods High School sophomore aspires to be a DJ and entrepreneur, but he’s being exposed to even more possibilities.
"A lot of different career plans for me, it’s a lot," said Taylor.
Christian is one of more than 200 students filling the room at the Neurodiverse College and Career Expo at Wayne State University.
"They’re helping me out to be more motivational and put myself out there," Taylor said.
Dig deeper:
The Simmons Advantage is connecting students to college programs, workforce training, and inclusive employers. Because although they may learn differently, they still deserve the same opportunities for a successful future.
"We don’t talk enough about the school-to-prison pipeline. Seventy-five percent of the Black and brown males who are in prison were identified with an IEP, which means they had a special need," said founder Kwame Simmons.
This program serves as a stopgap solution.
"We ensure that the quality of our programming creates quality, competitive options," said Simmons. "So they can then be seen as the top talents that we see in them."
From networking to resume development, interview preparation, and more, if you’re wondering about the difference it’s making:
"With this, this is encouraging me to be a better entrepreneur, and it’s just amazing," Taylor said.
What's next:
The event was hosted in partnership with Michigan Rehabilitation Services and represents one of the first regional workforce pipeline initiatives connecting neurodiverse students with employers and training programs before they graduate high school.