Ben Rowsome

What did I work on?

Over the last two months, my work as a Summer Intern for the Disability Services has mainly concerned the Neurodivergent Project, which has involved the following objectives:

· To showcase the supports available to neurodivergent students across three areas; student supports, transitions, and the university environment.

· To collaborate with different collegiate bodies in order to help them better facilitate the needs of neurodivergent students in Trinity College by running training workshops (Lir Academy, Careers)

· To run orientation programmes and weekly group sessions for neurodivergent students in Trinity College (Neurodiversity+ Orientation, Autism Drop-in Group)

· To collaborate with neurodivergent students on different projects and initiatives (Neurodivergent Society), as well as establish ties with external organisations (Thriving Autistic).

What did I learn?

· I got to meet a lot of new people with different ideas for projects and new ways to approach things – I felt I took a lot away from that during my time on the internship

· Through my production of video content (e.g. wayfinding videos), I got to see more of the college and find out more about the college, which was a big plus for me

· Myself and Clare Verdon (head of the Neurodivergent Project) got to work closely on creating new content and updating pre-existing content for the project, which served me well from a collaborative point of view

· The role got me out of my comfort zone from time to time (chairing a meeting, working with new software), which I felt broadened my horizons greatly.

Highlights

Autism & Uni website

Off-books experience article