Advancing Inclusive Digital Well-Being Tools: How Neurodivergent Students Use Distraction Blockers

Neurodivergent students bring diverse cognitive styles and work patterns, and they are often a key audience for digital distraction blockers aimed at managing attention. However, it remains unclear whether these tools are grounded in their lived experiences, raising concerns that tool design may overlook neurodivergent practices and inadvertently reinforce neuronormative perspectives. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 post-secondary students with ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and/or Generalized Anxiety Disorder to examine how they use distraction blockers. Our thematic analysis shows how neurodivergent students adapt blockers for regulating stimulation levels, but also encounter tensions between their work rhythms and tool design rooted in fixed, linear time structures, which may exacerbate self-stigmatizing comparisons. We call for distraction blockers that empower neurodivergent strengths by normalizing and scaffolding diverse ways of working, such as hyperfocus and non-linear workflows, and help navigate known tensions between flexibility and structure towards more inclusive digital well-being tools.