Faculty & Staff Directory

Benjamin Kaupp's profile image

Ben Kaupp

Faculty

Building 5400, Office 5418

408.874.6380

kauppben@fhda.edu

Department

Tools for Transition & Work (TTW)

Division

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

Classes I Teach

2026 Fall

CRN Course Section Title
22322ALTW 10801COMMUNICATION FOR COLLEGE & CAREER
22323ALTW 10802COMMUNICATION FOR COLLEGE & CAREER
22324ALTW 11201YINTRODUCTION TO WORD PROCESSING
22325ALTW 11202YINTRODUCTION TO WORD PROCESSING
22326ALTW 12601YINTRODUCTION TO SPREADSHEETS
22327ALTW 12602YINTRODUCTION TO SPREADSHEETS

2026 Summer

CRN Course Section Title
10238ALTW 20301ZLEARNING STYLES & STRATEGIES
10809ALTW 20302ZLEARNING STYLES & STRATEGIES
10237ALTW 20901ZSOCIAL SKILLS
10810ALTW 20902ZSOCIAL SKILLS
10241ALTW 43101WPUBLIC TRANSIT SKILLS
10811ALTW 43102WPUBLIC TRANSIT SKILLS

No scheduled classes found for 2027 Winter.

No scheduled classes found for 2027 Spring.

About Me

My work starts from a stubbornly simple belief: neurodivergent and disabled students do not need to become someone else to deserve a future.

I am an educator, advocate, and program director focused on building learning environments where students are understood as whole people, not as collections of deficits, accommodations, or paperwork problems. My work is grounded in Critical Disability Theory, neurodiversity, and the practical reality that institutions often confuse “different” with “less capable.” I am interested in what happens when we stop asking students to prove they belong and start building systems that assume they do.

At Foothill College, I lead the Tools for Transition & Work program, a year-long college and career readiness program for neurodivergent students moving toward independent adulthood. TTW helps students build academic, social, employment, communication, and self-advocacy skills while developing a clearer sense of who they are and what kind of future they want. The goal is not to sand off every interesting edge until students look “normal.” The goal is to help them build real lives with real choices.

My interest in neurodiversity and disability education grew out of my own academic and professional path. I earned my undergraduate degree from UC Santa Cruz, then completed a Master of Arts in Teaching at the University of Southern California. I later earned a Master of Arts in Special Education with a focus on Autism Spectrum Disorder from Arizona State University, graduating with distinction. I am currently a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins University, where my research focuses on the success gap for disabled students in community college.

Across my teaching, research, and advocacy, I keep coming back to the same central question:

What would education look like if belonging was treated as a design requirement, not a reward students earn by hiding the parts of themselves that make other people uncomfortable?

Image Description

Keep Exploring

Love Your Learning at Foothill College.