Seminar Series | Navigating Engineering Education with ADHD - an autoethnographic reflection

Abstract

Let’s begin from a place of agreement: Accessibility matters. If we are building a more inclusive world full of diverse perspectives and voices, designing our offerings so that disability is not a barrier to entry is vital. When you hear the word “disability”, though, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
More than half of students with disabilities have nonvisible disabilities - ones whose presence is not obvious through simple observation. While you might have reason to suspect, someone would have to disclose to you they were on the Autism Spectrum, that they suffered from post-traumatic stress, or that they had an attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder diagnosis before you knew for sure. Indeed, they may not know themselves.
Ben Richetti has an ADHD diagnosis. He got it when he was 37 years old, several years into his work on his Ph.D. This seminar is part of his autoethnographic study documenting his graduate studies as a student with a nonvisible disability, both before and after diagnosis. During the seminar, Dr. David Delaine will be leading the podcast discussion with Ben regarding his experiences studying with the Engineering Education Department at OSU. This discussion will support conceptualization and refinement of the study thereafter. It will, perhaps, help us see what it is like to navigate issues of accessibility when one's accessibility needs are poorly understood.

Biography

Ben Richetti has been working with the OSU Engineering Education Department since before their Ph.D. program was officially recognized. Arriving in the autumn of 2017, he took part in many of the program’s first course offerings.
In 2019 he received his MS from the Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering (FABE) department of OSU. His culminating work involved contributing to a proposal for a departmental reorganization project alongside the department head and other faculty, including Drs. Ann Christy and Jeff Froyd. With Dr. Christy as his advisor, he is continuing towards his Ph.D. via the FABE department, focusing on engineering education studies. Specifically, he has studied motivation theory, faculty development, organizational change, and coaching - asking questions of “if we have ideas about how to change engineering education, how do we help engineering educational professionals make that change happen?”
Last summer, he assisted a KEEN Network workshop on making academic change happen, serving as a year-long post-workshop coach for two of the attendees.
At home, Ben helps his wife homeschool their three children, only one of which has an ADHD diagnosis so far. He loves all of them very much.