The College AI Divide Is a Problem for Every Student — But It’s a Crisis for Neurodivergent Ones

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Alt text: Split-screen photo showing two contrasting college classrooms. On the left, a traditional lecture hall labeled “History 101 – No Tech” has a gray-haired professor at the front holding a large red sign that reads “NO AI IN CLASS! ORIGINAL WORK ONLY,” while rows of students sit behind him with laptops but neutral or disengaged expressions. On the right, a bright, modern classroom with large windows shows a diverse group of students collaborating around tables with open laptops and tablets, some wearing headphones and using accessibility tools, while a screen displays an AI diagram and a wall sign mentions critical AI studies and ethical learning.

🎓 The College AI Divide Is a Problem for Every Student — But It’s a Crisis for Neurodivergent Ones

By Joan Green, MS, CCC-SLP | Innovative Speech Therapy

In the same semester that Purdue University made AI proficiency a graduation requirement, professors at other institutions were banning AI tools entirely — threatening academic discipline for students caught using them.

Same year. Same job market. Completely different preparation.

That gap is growing. And for neurodivergent students, it isn’t just an inconvenience. It can be devastating.

What Purdue Just Did — and Why It Matters

In December 2025, Purdue’s Board of Trustees approved a first-of-its-kind “AI working competency” graduation requirement for all undergraduates at its West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses.

Beginning with students entering in fall 2026, every Purdue graduate — regardless of major — will need to demonstrate practical AI skills in their own field before they can receive their degree.

The goal, in Purdue’s own words, is to ensure graduates possess “job-ready skills and critical thinking competencies” to understand, evaluate, and effectively use AI technologies — including identifying the key capabilities, strengths, and limits of those tools.

The requirement is organized around five areas:

  • Learning with AI
  • Learning about AI
  • Researching AI
  • Using AI
  • Partnering in AI

Each academic college will define what meaningful AI competency looks like within its own discipline, with input from industry advisory boards and regular curriculum updates.

Purdue is the first U.S. university to implement this kind of requirement. I was thrilled to learn about this! It almost certainly won’t be the last.

Source: Purdue University Newsroom, December 12, 2025

The Other Side of the Divide

At the same time Purdue was making this announcement, students at other colleges were receiving very different messages.

Blanket AI bans. Vague policies. Syllabi that prohibit AI without defining what that means. Professors threatening academic integrity violations for students who use tools that are, in many cases, already built into the software they’ve been using for years.

The result is a patchwork of preparation that has nothing to do with a student’s ability, motivation, or field of study — and everything to do with which institution they happened to attend, or which classroom they happened to walk into.

Imagine losing a job offer because your college banned the tools your competitors were required to master.

This isn’t hypothetical. It’s happening right now.

Why This Is Especially Urgent for Neurodivergent Students

For most students, the AI skills gap is a professional disadvantage.

For neurodivergent students — those with dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, autism, or executive functioning challenges — it can be something more serious than that.

Many of these students have relied on assistive technologies for years: text-to-speech, speech-to-text, grammar and organization tools, reading supports. These are approved accommodations. Documented in IEPs, 504 plans, and disability services agreements. Tools that have made access to education possible.

Here’s what most people don’t realize: AI is now deeply embedded in many of these tools. The assistive technology neurodivergent students depend on has evolved. It’s smarter, more responsive, and more powerful than it was five years ago. And a significant part of that is because it now uses AI.

Tools such as Google’s NotebookLM can be amazing for students who need a new way of learning and organizing information to match how their brain functions.

When schools issue blanket AI bans without carving out space for assistive technology, students with disabilities face an impossible choice: abandon the tools that allow them to access and demonstrate their learning, or risk being accused of academic dishonesty for using accommodations they are legally entitled to.

Banning AI doesn’t level the playing field. For students who need these tools, it removes the playing field entirely.

“Use AI” Isn’t Enough, Either

To be clear: the answer isn’t simply to throw open the doors and tell students to use whatever they want, however they want.

Purdue’s approach is instructive here. The goal isn’t just exposure — it’s competency. Critical thinking. Understanding not just what AI can do, but what it can’t do, where it makes mistakes, and how to catch them.

What students actually need — all students, but especially neurodivergent students who may be navigating both a learning difference and a new technology landscape — is to learn how to use these tools wisely.

That means being able to answer questions like:

  • When is AI like a calculator — removing busywork and freeing up cognitive resources for higher-level thinking?
  • When is it a crutch — doing the thinking for you in ways that undermine learning and skill-building?
  • How do I evaluate AI output for accuracy, clarity, and whether it actually sounds like me?
  • Is this tool helping me learn — or just helping me finish?

These are metacognitive skills. They require self-awareness, judgment, and practice. They are not developed by banning AI — or by using it without any guidance.

They are developed by thoughtful, explicit instruction.

The Professional Gap Is Already Here

The Purdue requirement isn’t just about college preparation. It reflects something employers are already experiencing.

A 2026 survey by the AI-powered job platform Metaintro put it bluntly: companies are not hiring graduates who cannot use AI tools effectively. AI literacy has become, as one expert described it, what computer literacy was in the early 1990s — a baseline expectation, not a competitive differentiator.

Graduates who enter the workforce without these skills will face a steeper learning curve in workplaces where AI is already embedded in daily operations. For neurodivergent employees who could benefit most from AI tools that support executive functioning, writing, organization, and communication, arriving without that foundation is a particular loss.

What We Can Do About It

The professionals who support neurodiverse students — learning specialists, executive function coaches, IECs, disability services staff, SLPs, and parents — are on the front lines of this issue.

They are the ones fielding calls from panicked students who have been told their accommodations violate the AI policy. They are the ones trying to explain to families why a student who has used text-to-speech for a decade is suddenly in academic jeopardy.

They are also, often, the ones with the least access to training on what these tools actually do, how they work, and how to advocate for students who use them.

That’s the gap I built Tech for College Success to address.

It’s a 3-part course designed for professionals and families who support neurodiverse students navigating college. We work through the AI and assistive technology landscape practically and strategically — not just what the tools are, but how to use them ethically, how to talk about them with institutions, and how to help students develop the metacognitive skills to use technology in ways that support genuine learning.

All sessions are recorded. The course will be offered again this summer.

🔗 https://learn.innovativespeech.com/tech-for-college-success-2026

We also discuss these topics in the Tech Life Inner Circle, an ongoing membership that meets weekly for a 10-15 minute Tech Talk followed by “Ask me Anything” – Tech discussion and support. It’s a great group! 

🔗 https://learn.innovativespeech.com/inner-circle

The Bottom Line

Purdue made a bold, forward-looking decision. Whether or not every institution follows, the divide is real — and it’s widening.

Students graduating in 2026, 2027, and beyond will enter a workforce that expects AI fluency. The ones who arrive prepared will have an advantage. The ones who don’t — whether because their schools banned these tools, ignored them, or never addressed them at all — will be playing catch-up.

For neurodivergent students who could benefit most from thoughtful, strategic AI use, the stakes of getting this wrong are highest.

The good news: it’s not too late to change that.

Joan Green, MS, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and assistive technology specialist with 40 years of clinical experience, and the founder of Innovative Speech Therapy. She is the author of four books on assistive technology in special education, and the creator of Tech for College Success and the Tech Life Inner Circle.