The Kaupp Family
Faculty, Foothill College · Neurodiversity and Belonging

Benjamin KauppMaster of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) · Master of Special Education (M.Sp.Ed.)

Belonging is being in the room without having to constantly prove that you deserve to stay there.

BasedBay Area, California
FieldsNeurodivergence, Disability
and Higher-Education Access
NowDoctoral student,
Johns Hopkins University

Biography

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Benjamin Kaupp is tenured faculty at Foothill College, where he serves as Curricular Vice President of the Academic Senate and faculty co-chair of the Curriculum Committee. He directs Tools for Transition & Work, a year-long college-and-career-readiness program for neurodivergent and disabled students.

His work centers on belonging: the difference between being admitted to a classroom and being able to stay in it without translating yourself all day to look like everyone else. He teaches, runs faculty workshops on the hidden barriers that push students out, and is completing a doctorate at Johns Hopkins on the success gap for disabled students in community college.

Writing

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Essay · benkaupp.com

What I Mean When I Say “Neurodivergent”

On language, the medical model, and belonging

Normal is not a scientific fact handed down on stone tablets. Normal is often just whatever institutions were built around first.

An essay on why the word neurodivergent does work that deficit language cannot: it names difference without reducing a person to a diagnosis, and it puts the question back on the environment instead of the individual. Careful about its terms, personal in its examples, and grounded in the research literature.

Cites Baumeister & Leary, Blume, Botha, Dwyer, Kapp, Kenny, and Walker, among others.

Read the essay ↗︎

Programs

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  • Tools for Transition & Work (TTW)A year-long college-and-career-readiness program at Foothill College for neurodivergent and disabled students. Director.
    Foothill
  • NESTNeurodiverse Educational Success Training: a free resource hub for students, families, educators, and employers, built as part of his doctoral work.
    ttwnest.org

Speaking and Workshops

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  • The Hidden Curriculum of CollegeUncovering the invisible systems that push students out, even when intentions are good. District Opening Day.
    2025
  • Supporting Neurodivergent Learners in K-12Guest lecture, University of San Francisco Counseling Psychology (CPSY612).
    2024
  • So You Want to Go to CollegeSmoothing the K-12-to-college transition for the disabled student. San Mateo County Office of Education Transition Resource Fair.
    2024
  • Inclusive Design for AllUsing neurodiversity best practices to make everyone's life easier. District Opening Day.
    2023
  • Supporting the Neurodiverse Student in the ClassroomAn overview of autistic and ADHD student populations and strategies for their success. District Opening Day.
    2022

Contact

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