Supporting Neurodivergent Women in Higher Education: A Guide to Wellbeing and Authentic Flourishing offers a validating, neuro-affirming look at what it is truly like to be a neurodivergent woman navigating the modern, often elusive, university landscape.

Moving away from outdated medical models that view neurodivergence purely as a deficit, this book explores the hidden, everyday realities of academic life where gender and neurodivergence collide. It unpacks the invisible exhaustion of ‘masking’ to fit in, deciphering unspoken social rules, managing executive function demands, and finding sensory calm in high-pressure environments, while offering practical strategies to resist and recover from neurodivergent burnout. What makes this book unique is its powerful blend of lived experience, reflective wisdom, and practical advocacy tools. While acknowledging the profound challenges, sensory exhaustion, and daily hurdles faced by neurodivergent women, it rejects the idea that these minds are broken. Instead, it serves as an empowering ‘survival guide’ that validates these real challenges, showing how authentic self-understanding can protect well-being, transform personal research, and reshape how universities support and value their whole community.

This book is essential, comforting reading for neurodivergent women including students, researchers, and staff alike, seeking solidarity and real-world support. It is equally written for university leaders, HR professionals, and anyone dedicated to moving beyond superficial checklists to build truly inclusive, accessible, and compassionate spaces where every mind can thrive.

Dr Lauren Powell is an autistic and ADHD academic, researcher, and writer. Identified as autistic and ADHD later in life, she draws on lived experience to challenge deficit narratives and champion neurodivergent voices and approaches, shaping education, research, and policy across the UK.