Neurodivergent Learners: Strategies for Accessible and Attentive Teaching

Join us for a thought provoking conversation designed to enrich your teaching strategies and enhance the academic success of neurodivergent students. This session is tailored for faculty members eager to cultivate an inclusive learning environment that respects and understands neurodiversity.

In this session we focus on two common course practices that most impact neurodiverse students: group work and normative behavioural expectations (including communication styles). We will provide an overview of the diversity within neurodiversity and address the need for flexible design to support competing access needs (for example, the needs of an individual with ADHD may be different and even opposite to an individual with autism). Participants will gain some new inclusive teaching strategies, learn ways to clarify expectations and course requirements, and will deepen their understanding of neurodiversity, which can include the labor cost for neurodiverse students who are asked to perform to normative standards. Participants will:

• gain insights into the experiences and challenges faced by neurodivergent students.
• receive practical tools and adjustments that  can be immediately implemented to make their  teaching and assessment more inclusive.
• engage with colleagues in discussions to help foster a departmental culture of inclusive teaching practices that centre accessibility.
  

Presented in partnership with: Jenny Sampirisi and Rachelle Bensoussan, Learning and Inclusion Education Developers, Academic Accommodation Support