College offers many opportunities for growth, connection, and personal achievement. However, these opportunities require students to manage complex executive functioning and adaptive skills.
For many neurodivergent individuals, the transition to higher education is both an exciting milestone and a daunting challenge. These new challenges also include more self-advocacy and navigating a legal landscape that differences from K-12 education.
This article explores legal protections, executive functioning demands, independent living, and the growing need for student self-advocacy to help neurodivergent learners succeed in college.
Click here for the TL;DR summary.
Higher Education & Disability Rights
Neurodivergent learners are protected by federal civil rights laws that ensure equal access to college programs, services, and campus life.
What Changes After High School?
There are a handful of key differences between the supports available at K-12 schools and higher education. When students attend college, they do not have case managers, evaluations are not conducted, and parents are not automatically included in school processes. When students enroll at a higher education institution, they are expected to self-identify and provide documentation of their unique needs before requesting accommodations. Learners are then provided reasonable accommodations to access their coursework. Higher education institutions typically do not provide specialized instruction, related services, or curriculum modifications, as they would in K-12.
This helpful chart by Understood outlines differences and commonalities in the protections outlined in IDEA, ADA, and Section 504.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990 with the intention of prohibiting discrimination based on a student’s disability. This ensures legal protections that do not allow universities to deny access to or participation in higher education courses and campus life. This civil rights law also protects people who are neurodiverse from discrimination at work.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in various spaces, including colleges and universities. For neurodivergent students, this guarantees the right to access academic services, programs, and activities on an equal basis to their peers. Institutions must provide “auxiliary aids” to ensure that students can access their education like their peers. These aids may include notetakers, interpreters, open and closed captioning, or talking calculators, to name a few. Section 504 applies to any institution that receives federal funding, which differs from ADA.
Executive Functioning and College Expectations
Executive Functioning Skills in Young Adulthood
As learners enter young adulthood, typically beyond age 18 and beyond, executive functioning skills are expected to become more refined and independent. At this age, learners develop advanced abilities in planning, time management, and organization. These skills are essential for balancing responsibilities. Skills like working memory and cognitive flexibility help students adapt to new routines, environments, and problem-solving demands. Emotional regulation and impulse control become increasingly important, which help manage stress and conflict. Development of these skills continues into the mid-20s. However, learners may demonstrate increased difficulties with this jump in expectation. These skills can continue to be developed and supported throughout college to help foster independence.
Application & Enrollment
Applying to college is a process heavy with executive functioning expectations. Students must be able to plan out their timeline for researching schools, writing essays, and submitting applications. Learners must prioritize which applications are due first, or which schools have extra requirements (e.g., letters of recommendation). It’s helpful to initiate important tasks like writing personal essays and completing your FAFSA application without excessive procrastination. Completing all these important admission requirements takes organization and the ability to self-monitor by reviewing your application for accuracy and completeness before submitting.
Academic Demands
The academic demands in college increase in comparison to typical high school expectations. Learners must adapt to the freedom that comes with the courses you take. Learners must be organized, manage time, and plan out the semester. Learners will have to be able to balance multiple course deadlines and manage studying and attending classes, in addition to any other social, extracurricular, or vocational responsibilities. Learners must be able to keep track of their course materials and due dates. College requires that learners establish a plan for making progress (goal-directed action) on their academics, keep track of exams, and determine what tasks to prioritize and complete each day.
In addition to navigating the demands of college coursework and other activities, young adults are expected to be independent with various other tasks including grocery shopping, meal planning, scheduling and attending appointments, household chores, hygiene, and managing personal finances. All these expectations can feel very overwhelming.
Many college institutions embed these daily living skills into campus life to help with the transition to independent living, such as having meal plans and dining halls, dorm living, student on-campus employment and offering campus-run student health services. Many students reside on campus and purchase meal plans to help manage some of the additional responsibilities of college life. Students who opt to reside off-campus will experience a more sudden increase in daily living demands.
Neurodivergent learners have various changes to prepare for as they transition to college. Students will be expected to self-advocate for themselves and demonstrate independence with daily living skills. Families continue to play a crucial role in student success, even though their involvement becomes less.
Building Self-Advocacy Skills
Students are expected to be self-advocates in higher education. For many learners, these expectations are more than ever before. Self-advocacy in college includes being able to describe your needs to others, coordinating with professors, composing emails, setting up a meeting, expressing the support you need, and taking action when your supports are not honored. This requires a clear understanding of what your needs will be and communicating those needs to others.
Parent/Guardian Involvement
Unlike the K-12 process, parents do not have a legal role in the accommodation process unless the learner consents. Despite this, families continue to play a considerable role in their learners’ postsecondary success. Strong relationships with family, a supportive home environment, and meaningful connections with friends and the community are key in a successful transition to young adulthood.
How Executive Functions Shape Daily Living Skills
Executive functioning (EF) skills are deeply intertwined with daily living skills (DLS). Most DLS tasks require planning, working memory, organization, and emotional regulation, from doing laundry to navigating public transportation. When learners struggle with EF skills, they may avoid or resist DLS tasks because the cognitive demands of organizing, starting tasks, and managing time around those tasks feels overwhelming. Students with EF challenges may present as having difficulty with the process of doing laundry and meal planning due to underlying skills that need to be taught and developed. With support in EF skills, DLS tasks become manageable and less frustrating.
Potential Next Steps
Reach Out for Support
Every higher education institution that receives federal funding has a center or office for students who are neurodivergent. This office may appear under many names, some of them referencing “equity” and others mentioning “disabilities” in their title. This office helps students get the support they need. Each school will have their own process, so it’s a good idea to contact them early to learn what steps you need to take to get accommodations. If you haven’t picked a college yet, you can still reach out anonymously to ask questions and learn more about how they aim to support students. This is also a great way to practice self-advocacy before even attending classes.
Explore Colleges That Offer Strong Executive Function Support
Choosing the right college can feel overwhelming, especially when considering executive functioning needs. We’ve compiled a list of colleges and universities known for providing outstanding executive function resources, including structured coaching, dedicated neurodivergent support centers, and trained faculty. This list highlights schools committed to helping neurodivergent students succeed academically and personally. To explore these EF-friendly institutions and quickly compare their offerings, check out our detailed guide: 11 Best Colleges & Universities With Executive Function Resources.
Additional Support
If you’re looking for extra support with executive functioning and daily living skills, Life Skills Advocate offers executive function coaching specifically designed for college students. To explore how coaching might support your personal goals, I invite you to schedule a free discovery meeting. It’s a relaxed, no-pressure way to find out if coaching is a good fit.
You can also check out free resources on our website, like the Real-Life Executive Functioning Meal Plan, a visual, step-by-step guide designed to help neurodiverse learners confidently manage meal preparation and daily routines.
Build Support Networks
Building support networks in college is important for all learners who are navigating this shift in responsibility. Support networks may include friends, professionals, advisors, campus services, mental health professionals, coaches, and colleagues, to name a few! The people in your support network provide encouragement, guidance, and can offer helpful insight as challenges arise. Having people to turn to reduces stress, increases confidence, and improves success with daily living skills. The earlier these supports can be created, the better support you will have during your college experience. Some of these connections can be made in your classes, through school-based clubs and organizations, or during work experiences on or off campus.
TL;DR – (Too Long; Didn’t Read)
Transitioning to college is an exciting but complex process, especially for neurodivergent students. Greater independence, increased executive functioning demands, and a new legal landscape can make the transition feel overwhelming. Unlike in K–12 education, college students must self-identify their needs, provide documentation, and actively request accommodations. While protections under the ADA and Section 504 ensure equal access, specialized instruction and curriculum modifications are not typically provided.
Executive functioning skills like time management, organization, and planning become crucial as students juggle academic responsibilities, social life, and daily living tasks like cooking, cleaning, and budgeting. These skills will continue to develop well into the mid-20s, with difficulties common during this transition. Building a strong support system is key. Stay connected with your family, and seek out relationships and resources on campus that can help you succeed. In some cases, accommodations through your school may be enough, while in others, seeking outside professional support, such as executive functioning coaching, may also be beneficial.
Further Reading
- Gould, Harris, & Mullin (2019) – Research Brief: Higher Education and the ADA
- Inside Higher Ed (2024) – Study: How Students See Parental Communication in the First-Year Experience
- The University of Arizona (2022) – Families are Important for College Student Success
- Understood (n.d.) – IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA: Which laws do what
- Understood (n.d.) – 7 things to know about college disability services
- U.S. Department of Education (1998) – Auxiliary Aids and Services for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities
- Life Skills Advocate (2020) – Executive Function Skills By Age: What To Look For
- Life Skills Advocate (2025) – How to Build a Support Network for Better Emotional & Practical Support
- Life Skills Advocate (2024) – Practicing Real-World Self-Advocacy: A Guide for Neurodivergent Individuals
- Life Skills Advocate (2025) – The Real-Life Executive Functioning Meal Plan
- Life Skills Advocate (2025) – Real-Life Executive Function Coaching for College Students
- Life Skills Advocate (2022) – Why Executive Functioning Builds A Foundation for Daily Living Skills