Neurodiversity Alliance

Neurodiversity is the idea that people with neurological and/or psychological conditions deserve respect, should not be pathologized and are entitled to live full and satisfying lives.

Many members of the Wolf Pack – faculty, staff and students – share neurodiverse identities, but neurodiversity affects far more than the neurodiverse population; it impacts the entire University. The Neurodiversity Alliance’s mission is to raise awareness, promote access and ensure equity for the neurodiverse population at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Our newly formed alliance has three primary activities:

  • We advocate Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an approach to learning that recognizes variation in human cognition and neurological conditions as natural, to afford every student an equal opportunity to succeed.
  • We identify unintentional institutional barriers that disadvantage neurodiverse people, and we develop alternative practices that do not discriminate.
  • We coordinate faculty and student efforts to form an alliance that pools resources to meet the different needs of every neurodiverse person at the University.

Join us! Sign up for Neurodiversity Alliance emails

Volunteer with us for Northern Nevada Pride!


Reach out to us at neurodiversity@unr.edu.

"Neurodiversity Alliance - University of Nevada, Reno" text identifier with a block N logo

Neurodiversity Alliance founding members:

David Branby, Creative Director, University Marketing & Communications, dbranby@unr.edu

Jim Cherney, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, jlcherney@unr.edu

Mary Anne Christensen, Assistant Director, Disability Resource Center, maryac@unr.edu

Karl Fendelander, Editor in Chief, Nevada Today, kfendelander@unr.edu

Jeffrey Hutsler, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, jhutsler@unr.edu

Andrea Juillerat-Olvera, University Lead Interpreter, Disability Resource Center, ajuillerat@unr.edu 

Zhizhong Li, Assistant Professor & Assistant Dean of Diversity Equity and Inclusion, Orvis School of Nursing, zzl@unr.edu

Mental health resources

Neurodiversity news & perspectives

The Pennington Student Achievement Center

Healthy Minds Study: understanding mental health on campus

The Healthy Minds Study survey was recently sent out to students and, for the first time, faculty and staff at the University – check your inbox!

Jim Cherney

Let's kick off the new Neurodiversity Alliance!

Associate Professor Jim Cherney invites us to consider a more inclusive definition of neurodiversity and you to join the Alliance for a kickoff reception April 18

Karl Fendelander

Worth celebrating: moving beyond neurodiversity awareness

It’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week. It’s also OK if you’re not sure how to feel about that.