Neurodiversity 

Neurodiversity is the concept that neurological differences, including autism, ADHD, and dyslexia, are natural variations of the human brain. Explore the following resources and opportunities and increase your understanding and skills to support and celebrate the unique strengths of neurodivergent students in your classrooms.

Resources at ISU

• Neurodiversity Allyship Learning Community
• Neurodiversity Information at Student Access and Accommodation Services

• Diversity and Inclusion
• Equitable and Inclusive Teaching
• Framework for Inclusive Teaching Excellence
• Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI) Consultation
• Neurodiversity
• Queer Allyship Learning Community
• Working with Diverse Students
• Back to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
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Working with Neurodivergent Students

Neurodivergent Students

Neurodiversity 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. Unlike common media stereotypes of neurodivergent people, each neurodivergent student exhibits different strengths and difficulties in the classroom so it is important to know each person individually.

How to work with neurodivergent students in your classroom

Provide formal accommodations and be open to the needs of neurodivergent students

It is a law to provide accommodation to students with disabilities. When students submit formal accommodation requests from the Student Access and Accommodation Services (SAAS), the instructors must provide 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 implement the requests equitably would help neurodivergent students thrive in your classroom.   

Work with neurodivergent students’ assets and provide them with executive functioning, group work, and social engagement support

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

• Provide executive functioning support
  Executive functioning refers to cognitive and mental processes that help individuals plan, execute, and monitor their goals. In the classroom, this means that the students may need support with organizing, prioritizing, scheduling, planning, and understanding the big picture of the tasks.
  
  Some strategies for this type of support include providing organized course sites and schedules, to-do lists, reminders, etc. Also, scaffolding, like breaking down larger projects into smaller tasks can help the students to stay on track to complete the projects. The instructors can also provide guiding questions or an overview for reading to keep the students focused on reading and increase their comprehension. As for the assessment, the instructors can provide clear instructions for the assignments, possibly using a transparent assignment design.
  
  
• Provide support for group work
  In addition to the issues that many students complain about with group work, such as social loafing and scheduling, neurodivergent students may face additional challenges with group work. It is important to have a solid structure for group work so that expectations are clear to all members of the group.
  
  The instructors may want to assign roles to each student in the group or have the students decide what role they would like to take. By assigning roles and responsibilities, the students know what to expect from each other and provide ways to negotiate the responsibilities. Having the group come up with ground rules for collaboration would make the expectations clearer to all members of the group. 
  
  Additionally, the instructors can intentionally include team-building activities for the groups to develop relationships before they work together on harder projects. Providing support on group formation would also be a good idea as some neurodivergent students may not feel comfortable asking others to work with them. Additionally, the instructor may want to think about alternative assignments to group work if that can meet the learning objectives of the course.
  
  
• Providing social engagement support
  Although group work may cause anxiety to some neurodivergent students, in-class group activities are helpful in creating a sense of community in the classroom and having students get to know each other. However, some neurodivergent students might feel it exhausting to “mask” their neurodivergent identity to fit in with the classroom dynamic, or the noise level during the group discussion may be overwhelming to some, so it is always a good idea to provide options to work themselves if necessary.
  
  The dynamic of class discussions may be difficult for some neurodivergent students because it requires understanding of unspoken social conventions and social cues. Some students may dominate the conversation, go off the topics, or refrain from participating. Additional structures to the classroom discussion such as group rules and clear goals and questions for the discussion topics may help the students successfully navigate the challenge.

  
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 & 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.  

Consider a balanced approach to flexibility and structure

Flexibility in terms of due dates and ways to engage in the classroom and demonstrate their knowledge and skills helps neurodivergent students to succeed in your classroom, but being too flexible might set them to the path of failure. 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.

As a recap, here are recommended strategies to work with neurodivergent students.

• Provide formal accommodations and be open to additional accommodations if neurodivergent students’ requests
• Work with neurodivergent students’ assets and provide them with executive functioning, group work, and social engagement support
• Design a course with Universal Design for Learning
• Consider a balanced approach to flexibility and structure
• Be mindful of sensory needs

Additional resources

Scholarly articles 

Accardo, A. L., Bomgardner, E. M., Rubinstein, M. B., & Woodruff, J. (2024). Valuing neurodiversity on campus: Perspectives and priorities of neurodivergent students, faculty, and professional staff. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education.

Bolourian, Y., Zeedyk, S. M., & Blacher, J. (2018). Autism and the university experience: Narratives from students with neurodevelopmental disorders. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 48, 3330-3343.

Clouder, L., Karakus, M., Cinotti, A., Ferreyra, M. V., Fierros, G. A., & Rojo, P. (2020). Neurodiversity in higher education: a narrative synthesis. Higher Education, 80(4), 757-778.

Hamilton, L. G., & Petty, S. (2023). Compassionate pedagogy for neurodiversity in higher education: A conceptual analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1093290. 
Kingsbury, C. G., Sibert, E. C., Killingback, Z., & Atchison, C. L. (2020). “Nothing about us without us:” The perspectives of autistic geoscientists on inclusive instructional practices in geoscience education. Journal of Geoscience Education, 68(4), 302-310.

Sarrett, J. C. (2018). Autism and accommodations in higher education: Insights from the autism community. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 48, 679-693.

Spaeth, E., & Pearson, A. (2023). A reflective analysis on how to promote a positive learning experience for neurodivergent students. Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 11, 109-120.

Other University Websites 

California State University Chico the Office of Faculty Development – Neurodiversity & Higher Education
Eastern Michigan University Faculty Development Center - Resources for Teaching Neurodiverse Students
London Global University – Supporting Neurodiversity in Education
Montana State University Library - Neurodiversity Resources
Sonoma State University Disability Services - Neurodiversity-Friendly Teaching