By Rob Spark
Neurodivergent means having a ‘neurocognitive’ experience that is different from what is considered ‘typical’. It is related to neurodiversity, which describes how all human brains are different. However, where ‘neurodiversity’ describes everyone, ‘neurodivergent’ usually refers specifically to those people who have a different neurocognitive experience. For example autistic people, people with ADHD, people with dyslexia, etc (National Autistic Society).
These recommendations are written primarily with autistic students and students with ADHD in mind, and are intended to help create a learning environment that is welcoming and predictable.
1. Make sure learning materials/resources are available ahead of time.
Unless there is a specific learning reason not to, learning materials should ideally be available a week in advance to allow neurodivergent students to properly prepare. It's important not to second guess what 'properly prepared' means for a neurodivergent student, so having materials well in advance should cover all bases.
2. Make sure instructions and expectations are surfaced and made available ahead of time.
There are often hidden or suppressed tasks related to activities that 'go without saying'. Surfacing these isn’t about telling your neurodivergent students what to do, it’s about allowing them to prepare and ask for help where and when they need it. They might start a task, discover a hidden step that they need help with, get stuck and run out of time, or feel too self-conscious to ask about it. For example, tell your students what reading they should do for the next seminar, and whether they will be required to contribute something during the seminar, but also how they will be expected to do so (e.g. speaking up and/or using text chat). Without the extra information, a neurodivergent student might be more concerned with what will happen in the seminar than engaging with learning. Don’t bury instructions in a document or hide them in a lecture recording, and make sure your students know what they are well before the seminar. Also, don’t deviate from established instructions and expectations without giving plenty of notice.
3. Invite/allow students to practice visiting teaching locations in advance.
Travelling is stressful and neurodivergent students may want to plan or rehearse their journey to teaching locations before they are required to be there. They may want to do this in a way that doesn’t draw attention to themselves and/or doesn’t involve other students. Consider suggesting your students visit teaching locations so they know it’s ok to do so, without formally inviting anyone or timetabling anything. There are a number of tools which can help to facilitate the experience of finding and visiting a building in advance such as AccessAble, and it’s worth signposting students to them. You could also make your own - the Education Development Centre building guide is a good example of what to include. However, there are elements of the journey which only the neurodivergent student can prepare for so allowing them to visit however/whenever they want is important.
4. Allow students to engage in a range of different ways.
Include a wide range of assessment types - even better, let neurodivergent students decide what format their submission takes. Include multiple means of engagement for activities during lectures, seminars and workshops. For example, seminar contributions could be made via google chat or a live google doc, even if it is an in person seminar, and the university supports a number of specialist engagement tools. Neurodivergent students may find lectures (i.e. an extended period of sitting and listening) difficult. A series of videos may be a more accessible way to present the information. Consider recording lectures and seminars to allow neurodivergent students to review information or make notes. Try to make sure that key information is available in multiple formats. Blackboard Ally can take care of some of this, but make sure you provide, for example, a diagram for the process verbally described in your previous lecture.
5. Give students time to transition between tasks.
Neurodivergent students may need time to swap between different tasks, especially when moving from a task requiring concentration. When planning a lecture, seminar or workshop, build in some transition time and/or transition activities between tasks. After activities requiring concentration, this could just be a break long enough to leave the room and move about a bit. Also, make sure you include a full session outline so students know what will be happening, when, and for how long (see below).
6. Include a session outline as well as learning objectives.
As well as describing what students will learn in a session (i.e. learning objectives), include a description of what will actually happen in the session, when it will happen and how long it will take (i.e an outline or agenda). You could also include numbering or colour coding to identify different sections. Refer to the agenda throughout the session, especially when changing topics or activities. This will help neurodivergent students to keep track of where they are and what’s going on, especially in online sessions.
7. Be careful with group work.
Neurodivergent students may need help to navigate group work, especially joining/forming groups and communicating with other group members. You should consider alerting neurodivergent students about group work ahead of time, allowing them to choose which group they are in/who else is in their group, and which role within the group they will take. You could also create some sort of group contract which outlines how the group can work effectively together. You should also stress that everyone engages in different ways and that outward appearance isn’t necessarily an indication of how engaged a person is or how much work they are doing, and you expect all students to take this into consideration.
8. Don’t make assumptions about neurodivergent students or compare them to others.
It is important not to make assumptions about how (or what) a neurodivergent student is doing by comparing observations of their behaviour/presentation with those of their peers. Differences in processing time, attention and how emotions are interpreted and expressed will likely make such comparisons impossible and risks excluding or even discriminating against the neurodivergent student. For example, a student might consistently produce high quality work, but be inwardly struggling because they might not find a parking space when required to be on campus. A student might be able to complete tasks without issue on one day, but need support with the same tasks the next day. It’s important to make sure your students understand that you won’t be making assumptions or viewing them differently because of these factors.
9. Be proactive with support.
It might be harder to tell if a neurodivergent student needs help or support. It might take them longer to raise issues with you or they might not raise them at all. They might outwardly appear fine, but be inwardly struggling. Consider employing a method which allows neurodivergent students to flag how they’re doing without needing to directly approach you for help. This could be done using a Google chat status representing categories such as ‘I’m ok’, ‘I’m struggling, be aware/give me extra time’ and ‘Please help me’.
Rob Spark is a Digital Learning Advisor in the Digital Learning Team