Skyler Allen takes a deep breath and settles down into a comfortable chair across from their Longhorn Transition, Inclusion, Empower, Success Neurodiversity Support coach. 

At their biweekly meetings, Allen sets professional and academic goals, talks through everything from housing to friend issues and, most importantly, gets the opportunity to have their voice heard as a student who identifies as autistic. 

Founded in 2019, Longhorn TIES seeks to benefit and advocate for UT students who identify as neurodiverse. Along with drop-in visits, education initiatives and referral networks for students and faculty, Longhorn TIES expanded their outreach services, introducing the #NDatUT program this semester. #NDatUT events include mixers, student discussions and college success groups for new students. 

“Our programming is always evolving to meet (students’) needs,” said Ashley Richardson-Minnitt, founder of Longhorn TIES and UT autism spectrum education and outreach administrator. “The more we hear from our neurodivergent students, the more we include them in the planning and the creation of things. They are at the head of creating and implementing things. We try our very best to listen and create programming that fits their interests and their wants.”

Noor Iqbal, a rhetoric and writing junior, said that as a student who identifies as autistic with OCD and ADHD, #NDatUT offers a unique opportunity to feel accepted among those with similar diagnoses.

“(#NDatUT) is an awesome resource for students,” Iqbal said. “Inside the classroom it can be challenging, but with other neurodivergent students, it feels like I can unmask and just be my neurodivergent self.”

Allen, who began working with Longhorn TIES their freshman year as one of the program’s first participants, said that despite the program’s growth, its mission remains the same: to aid and advocate for neurodiverse students on campus. Since then, Allen has joined the University Leadership Council, lectured on mental health and neurodiversity inclusion in classes and helped the University Co-Op with its hiring practices. 

“Before I began working with Longhorn TIES, I didn’t even know what the term neurodiversity meant,” Allen said. “Longhorn TIES has been so helpful in getting my voice heard, (learning) about my own identity and sharing my experiences with other people. The social, organizational and leadership skills available (with #NDatUT) will help in my future career.”

Allen said they hope the Longhorn TIES Support program continues to broaden their outreach, especially regarding initiatives to educate neurotypical students on neurodiversity.

“There’s always room for improvement,” Allen said. “The program has gotten bigger and demand for it has gotten bigger. This community is not getting any smaller as we learn more about these kinds of identities. Especially with education among students, that’s a place Longhorn TIES could really grow.”

#NDatUT programming continues throughout the semester, with their next event, a mixer and fidget toy giveaway, held on Friday at the Littlefield Patio Cafe. 

“I want to cultivate a program that fits the needs of UT Austin students because our students’ needs are definitely different from other students,” Richardson-Minnitt said. “UT students thrive in community and connection with one another. With #NDatUT, we’ve worked hard to create spaces and opportunities for students to hang out and see someone else that looks like them and acts like them.”