Oregon Reference Summit Presents 2025

The Oregon Reference Summit invites you to join us April 10th from 11am-12pm Pacific Time for a presentation entitled “Supporting Neurodiverse Students in Reference.”

Supporting Neurodiverse Students in Reference

Neurodiversity is the idea that people experience, process, and interact with the world around them in many different ways. A person who is neurodivergent experiences the world differently from society’s “norm,” often facing barriers that may not be present for neurotypical people.

In conversations with neurodivergent students, Bridget Scoles has heard much anxiety surrounding the library, especially when it comes to reference and research help. As the Student Success Librarian at Whitman College, she is responsible for ensuring that students feel supported and know what resources are available for their success. Forming a partnership with the Academic Resource Center (an office on campus that houses Disability Support Services) enabled her and her colleagues to start making connections with many neurodivergent students with whom they previously had little interaction. The partnership with ARC has yielded increased reference appointments from neurodivergent students and created a more comprehensive awareness amongst those students that the library is here to help.

This presentation will center on ways reference librarians can begin to break down barriers that exist for neurodivergent students. It will highlight strategies employed at Whitman to create more effective reference interviews, as well as programs and materials under development to better reach the neurodivergent population.

Presenters bio

Bridget Scoles is the Student Success and Instruction Librarian at Whitman College, located in Walla Walla, WA. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Idaho and is a 2023 graduate from the University of Maryland with her Master’s in Library and Information Science. She is passionate about accessible education and creating spaces for students to thrive as researchers and as critical consumers of information. Outside of the library, Bridget is a violist, an avid reader, a cross-stitcher, and quilter. She also enjoys gardening on her balcony, even with a black thumb, and cooking.