According to the LSSSE Report on Disability in the Law, of the approximately 20% of the law student population who self-reported a disability, 83% of those disabilities were mental and developmental disorders.[1] Among disabled law students, anxiety (57%) and ADD or ADHD (55%) have the highest prevalence.[2] Depression, while not widely considered a form of neurodiversity,[3] was also prevalent at 41% of disabled students.[4] Autism and learning disabilities each impact approximately 10% of disabled law students.[5] Thus, of the disabilities most prevalent among law students, it appears that neurodivergence is at the top of the list.
The LSSSE Report showcases that more work must be done to center neurodiversity in how we develop programming, support students, and teach in law schools. Here’s why:
- From 2022 through 2024, the number of law students reporting disabilities climbed steadily from 19% to 23%.[6] Yet this year’s report noticed a 3% drop in student self-reports.[7] Understanding such a decrease in self-reports is important. Where mental and developmental disorders were the most prevalent disability and despite data indicating continued increased adult diagnoses of neurodivergent conditions, law schools should understand why fewer students may be self-reporting than in previous years. For example, could recent tonal shifts in how prominent and media figures talk about (especially mental) disabilities impact students’ willingness to disclose their disabilities? Increases in diagnoses but with less disclosure can impact students’ abilities to seek and receive important support and equity, such as accommodations in law school and on the bar exam.
- Disabled law students engaged more in their academics, frequently asking questions or contributing to classroom discussions and spending more time preparing for class than their non-disabled peers.[8] Yet academic performance can be a challenge for these law students because legal education environments were not designed with disabled or neurodivergent law students in mind. So, centering those experiences can make legal classrooms more accessible for disabled law students through practices, such as utilizing Uniform Design for Learning (UDL), more transparent learning objectives, and increasing experiential learning. Law schools have an opportunity to improve disabled students’ access to the classroom and improve their academic success.
- Disabled law students need more resources from their law schools as it concerns academic, social, and career support (down 8%, 9%, and 6%, respectively, compared to their non-disabled peers).[9] Specifically, “[w]hile law schools demand equal levels of academic rigor, they fail to provide disabled students with necessary institutional support in key areas that affect their overall wellbeing and professional development.”[10] Law schools should work to extend support and engagement with disabled and neurodivergent law students beyond the classroom by including student affairs, career services, and other key services in the conversation.
- Two places that non-disabled law students participated or planned to participate at higher rates than their disabled peers were in both law school journals and moot court.[11] Some of the academic challenges indicated above may hinder disabled law students’ ability to participate in law school journals or advocacy competitions, especially if grades are considered in the selection process. And because growing skills through advocacy experiences and law school journals can not only open doors to more career opportunities, but also better connect the classroom to legal practice for law students, this gap can further support increased academic resources for disabled and neurodivergent law students.
- Disabled law students feel more out of place in law school compared to their non-disabled peers: they feel less comfortable being themselves, less valued by their schools, and less like a part of the law school community.[12] In the case of neurodivergence, students already experience reticence to request accommodations because of stigma and prejudiced stereotypes against those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. When this extends beyond that process, these students may be less likely to disclose to peers, professors, and administrators or even ask them for assistance. Helping to reduce stigma and creating opportunities to increase understanding of neurodivergence within the law school community can help foster belonging in neurodivergent law students.
The data provided by the LSSSE Report can help law schools continue to evolve how they manage outreach to and provide resources for the whole of their student bodies through the lens of disabled students. By fostering inclusivity for disabled and neurodivergent law students, law schools can lead the way in encouraging similar change in the legal profession.
(Erica M. Lux)
[1] Jacquelyn Petzold, Meera E. Deo, & Chad Christensen, LSSSE 2025 Annual Report: Disability in Law School 6–9 (2025) [hereinafter “LSSSE Report”] (explaining that mental health and developmental disabilities, like anxiety, ADHD, depression, and autism spectrum disorder, make up 83% of the disabilities self-reported by law students in 2025).
[2] Id. at 8. It is not apparent from the data in the LSSSE Report whether anxiety as measured by the survey refers to those with diagnosed anxiety disorders, like Generalized Anxiety Disorder, or those with stress-related anxiety, as we know law students experience high rates of stress and anxiety. See id. at 7. Similar distinctions were not made with depression and Major Depressive Disorder. See id. Future LSSSE surveys could help decipher this distinction.
[3] While depression is not traditionally characterized as neurodivergence, scientific evidence exists that not only can multiple episodes of depression impact the structure and function of the brain, but so too can a person’s first episode of depression. Hauwei Zhang, et. al, Brain Gray Matter Alterations in First Episodes of Depression: A Meta-Analysis of Whole Brain Studies, 60 Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Revs. 43 (2016) (finding through a meta-analysis of studies that a first episode of depression resulted in a statistically significant reduction in the amount of gray matter of the human brain). Gray matter plays a role in information processing and supporting memory, skills important to legal education and professional practice. Grey Matter, Cleveland Clinic, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/24831-grey-matter (last visited Apr. 1, 2026).
[4] LSSSE Report, supra note 1 at 8.
[5] Id. (noting that for disabled law students, Autism spectrum disorder is prevalent among 10% and learning disabilities are prevalent among 9.4% of these students).
[6] Id. (noting a 2% climb in disabled students in annual reports dating from 2022 through 2024).
[7] Id. at 8 (showing that since 2022, law students reporting disabilities increased 2% each year, while reports decreased by 3% in 2025).
[8] Id. at 12 (explaining that disabled law students are 12% more likely to ask questions or contribute to class discussions, compared to their non-disabled peers, and disabled law students spend nearly an extra hour and a half preparing for class than their non-disabled peers).
[9] Id. at 13. Similar deficits in satisfaction with personal counseling, career advising, job help, and academic advising were noted for law students with disabilities. Id. at 16.
[10] Id.
[11] Id. at 14 (indicating that non-disabled law students participated in law journals at an 8% higher rate and moot court at an equal rate compared to their disabled peers).
[12] Id. at 15.
