SVA Symposium Insight Session A2

Building Belonging Through Partnership: A StudentLed Occupational Therapy Program for Neurodivergent University Students - UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA (UC) - Rebecca Morris (she/her), Manager, Inclusion UC, Sarah Fenn (she/her), Occupational Therapy Clinical Educator Neurodivergent students represent the largest and fastest-growing equity cohort in Australian higher education yet continue to participate at significantly lower rates than their peers. This presentation explores how the University of Canberra's Occupational Therapy (OT) Student-Led Clinic, delivered in partnership with InclusionUC, has created a model of support born from real feedback and need, sustainably designed and delivering tangible benefits to students. The program pairs neurodivergent UC students with OT students on placement to co-develop personalised strategies across academic success, wellbeing, and social participation. The Faculty of Health has since commenced a formal research project to investigate the program's impact, examining how peer mentoring supports neurodivergent students transitioning to university, how it shapes OT students' professional identity and practice readiness, and what conditions are needed to sustain and scale the model over time. What makes this model distinctive is its dual-student design: neurodivergent students are not merely recipients of support but active partners in shaping their own goals, while OT students develop empathy, clinical competency, and a deeper understanding of lived experience and in doing so, become advocates for institution-wide cultural change. Student feedback highlights not just practical skill development, but transformative shifts in confidence, self-understanding, and sense of belonging within the university community. This presentation will share program outcomes, student voices, and reflections on the conditions that enabled psychological safety and authentic participation - offering a replicable framework for institutions seeking to move beyond