Neurodiversity is often used as an umbrella term to describe a range of conditions such as:
Depending on how our brains are wired we think, move, process information, and communicate in different ways. Neurodiversity is about recognising those who think differently and celebrating their uniqueness.
You can’t see that someone’s brain is wired differently so sometimes responses to things or behaviours displayed can be misunderstood. What might this look like in the classroom? Sarah Hopp has written on how teachers can support neurodiverse needs, including:
A common thread through these suggestions is getting to know your pupils and finding out their talents, strengths and needs. Use the 10 tips for creating inclusive classrooms to give you some more ideas.
Autism affects how people communicate and interact with the world around them. Autism is a spectrum condition and affects people in different ways.
Sarah-Jane Critchley has written extensively on autism and explored why girls are often missed out, misdiagnosed or missing from education and what adjustments can help them in school.
She also describes how multilingual autistic children may face additional communication and social challenges in school and the support that can help them and their families. Her key points include:
Autism can be diagnosed in young children or adulthood. Young children with autism may sit on their own absorbed in their own play, struggle to play with other children or find it hard to focus on adult-led activities. It is still vital to include them and to personalise your approach where needed to suit an autistic pupil.
Including autistic learners in a mainstream setting can be helped with the whole-school saturation model, argues Gareth Morewood. The word ‘saturation’ is used to emphasise the need for autism-friendly principles and practices to permeate every aspect of school life. This can begin with improving peer awareness (and subsequently attitudes and behaviours) by providing pupils with information about autism and helping them recognise that differences are to be celebrated.
Dyslexia impacts 10% of children and manifests differently from person to person, so a 'one size fits all' approach isn't appropriate. SENCO Liz Murray offers a range of strategies to support pupils with dyslexia in the classroom, including the below.
The activities in our article on raising awareness about dyslexia were designed as assembly materials for Dyslexia Awareness Week. However, they could equally be used throughout the year to keep the importance of respecting difference at the forefront of people’s minds.
We want to ensure the good mental health and wellbeing of all pupils but for neurodiverse learners there are certain things that can prove overwhelming, such as preparing for exams. Offer these tips to your neurodiverse pupils to reduce anxiety and nerves.
When considering wellbeing, what you do matters much more than what you say. Your neurodiverse learners need you to:
Our supporting the wellbeing of autistic pupils article outlines eight ways to create a healthy environment that can be applied to all neurodiverse pupils. They include using positive role models and neurodiversity-positive fiction. These suggestions help create a school culture that values difference and builds on strengths.
Take every opportunity possible to help all pupils recognise the many talents and advantages of being neurodivergent. Tell pupils this doesn’t just stop in the classroom. Our blog on why we need neurodivergent staff explains more. In the world of work, having a neurodivergent team means you have many perspectives and a much wider understanding of problems and situations than if everyone came from the same background.
