Neurodivergent Peer Tutoring and Anti-Ableism: Two High Schoolers’ Lived Experiences While Working in a Neurodiversity-Based Writing Center

Neurodivergence is naturally present in the writing center and most often recognized by labels like ADHD, autism, OCD, dyslexia, and so on. However, neurodivergent voices in writing center scholarship have been few and far between in postsecondary institutions (Babcock, 2017; Batt, 2018; Kleinfeld, 2023), and in the secondary writing center even less so. Therefore, the purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the personal, relational, and formative aspects of the lived experiences of two neurodivergent students through a critical disability theory lens as they provided writing consultations to their neurodivergent peers in a Mid-Atlantic, independent special education school. The results of the study included debunking certain bodymind stereotypes like “lack of empathy” as well as calling for the reexamination of traditional practices like read-alouds.