Working with Neurodivergent Students

Neurodiversity is the concept that neurological differences are natural variations of the human brain. It is the diversity of ways that people experience and interact with the world and celebrates the various ways of thinking, learning and behaving. Neurodivergent students may or may not be diagnosed with various neurological and developmental conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, or learning disabilities. Contrary to common media stereotypes, neurodivergent students each have unique strengths and challenges in the classroom, making it essential to understand them as individuals.

How to work with neurodivergent students in your classroom

Formal accommodations and needs of neurodivergent students

Providing accommodation for students with disabilities is required by law. When students submit formal accommodation requests from the Student Access and Accommodation Services (SAAS), instructors must implement the listed accommodations. If you’re not sure how to implement them, you could consult SAAS staff or talk with the students. Although formal accommodations can list a variety of accommodations, research shows that some students’ needs are not met through formal accommodations (Sarrett, 2018). Asking the students what they need and addressing the requests equitably would help neurodivergent students thrive in your classroom.

Celebrate neurodivergent students’ assets

Some neurodivergent students are very creative, some have an ability for great attention to detail, and others have outstanding spatial and sensory awareness. Whatever their strengths, it is important for instructors to recognize those strengths as assets and provide learning opportunities for them to thrive. Although they have a lot of strengths, here are some supports that neurodivergent students may need:

Design a course with Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to design courses to meet the needs of all learners. Instructional adjustments you may make using this framework usually help not only the students with certain disabilities, but all students will benefit from the adjustments. In general, UDL encourages the instructors to consider multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression to design instructional activities, materials and assessments to help students demonstrate their knowledge and skills and motivate them in learning.

There are a lot of adjustments the instructors can make using UDL frameworks. One of the easy adjustments that work for neurodivergent students is to include a variety of media in teaching like video, diagrams, podcasts, blogs, etc. Having at least two types of modalities to communicate important ideas and messages (e.g. written and verbal) also helps them retain information. Additionally, providing different options for assessments that is available to all students may help neurodivergent students choose the modality to demonstrate their skills and knowledge that use their assets.

Balance flexibility and structure

Flexibility with due dates and classroom engagement demonstrates an instructor’s knowledge and ability to support neurodivergent students. However, excessive flexibility may unintentionally hinder their success. For example, if you allow late submissions of assignments but don’t provide strict deadlines or expectations, some neurodivergent students may procrastinate in doing the assignments. Or you may allow different ways to demonstrate their understanding but by not giving parameter of what it looks like, it may confuse the students. Discuss with the students what flexibility you allow them to have and find out what structure they may need to succeed. Again, each neurodivergent student is very different, so it is always good to ask what they need.

Predictability is important for some neurodivergent students, so making the structure of your course and expectations clear to the students is very important. In addition to the strategies we discussed for executive functioning support, the instructors can set certain routines in the classroom and if it’s not a routine, make it very clear about your expectations in order to help reduce the anxiety about the unknown.

Be mindful of sensory needs

Some neurodivergent students, especially, students with autism, may process external sensory stimuli differently (Autistic Self Advocacy Network). They may be sensitive to lights, noises, smells, textures, and tastes. When individuals with autism become overwhelmed by sensory stimuli and processing, they may begin to shut down or “lash out” which might lead to interpersonal communication issues and safety concerns in some situations like labs and clinical settings. Some students with autism may have formal accommodations for sensory needs but others may not. Address the student’s needs in the moment by allowing breaks, allowing them to work alone or with someone they are familiar with, or allowing alternative forms of communication until the student can ease back into the work. Don’t hesitate to follow up with the student and encourage them to request formal accommodations should they have additional sensory needs.