Knowing and meeting the needs of diverse learners
Navigating neurotypical spaces
Introduction & Background
I am a Specialist Tutor working with students who are neurodiverse. This term was first introduced in the late 1990s and groups together a whole range of neurological difference including dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism, ADHD and Autism, (Pollak, 2009) cited in (Damiani, 2018).
Broadly speaking students who fall under this category, though all unique, think and experience their environment differently to neurotypicals. Not least because social and learning environments are geared to satisfy societal norms. Neurodiverse students perceive and interact based on how their neurons are connected. Differences may not be apparent but can mean that these students are constantly working very hard to understand what is expected of them. They may also have heighted sensory perceptions so react more acutely to the smells, sounds, light and space around them (Damiani, 2018).
Evaluation
To ensure best practice I keep up to date with evidence-based research and training to enable me to better understand how neurodiverse students think. All Specialist tutors have a teaching qualification and complete a log of CPD for the professional body. We can apply this knowledge and skills in our tutorials with students, but it is also our responsibility to help students navigate the HE landscape and through developing their own metacognition equip them with strategies to identify barriers, triggers and mitigate to ‘rebalance’ (Damiani, 2018, P19)
The wider HE institution has some responsibility under the Equalities Act 2010 but is often driven by priorities that create conditions that make it difficult for staff to support their full cohort of students, never mind neurodiverse students in ways that promote learning and minimise stress.
Moving Forward
The UAL Disabilities service operates within the Social Model of disability and provides advice and training to the staff on the taught courses to help to remove barriers to attainment and ensure reasonable adjustments are in place for students that have a right to them. What I learn on this course will provide me with opportunities to share knowledge with my team regarding pedagogy, teaching and learning theories and assessment models that are directly relevant to equality of access for neurodiverse students across the institution. For example, I am going to replicate and share with my team, the Object Based Learning (OBL) microteaching exercise proposing a visual aid to deconstruct dissertations.
I am hoping that the focus on inclusion that underpins this course will afford me opportunities to offer advice to policy makers that might help to reduce barriers that impact neurodiverse students’ attainment levels and their overall enjoyment of university life. It’s a wonderful time if the student is equipped to become a critical thinker and feel confident to question the root causes of challenges they face. The term ‘reasonable adjustments’ is very loose, and students deserve more rigour in the application, not least recognition by institutions that they have a duty to reduce fundamental barriers related to access, teaching styles, pedagogies and assessment models. (Bhagat & O’Neill, 2011). This course is providing me with valuable communication tools to assist in this process
References
Bhagat, D. & O’neill, P. (2011) Inclusive Practices, Inclusive Pedagogies Learning from Widening Participation Research in Art and Design Higher Education. CPI Group (UK) Ltd Croydon
Damiani, L. M. (2018) On the spectrum within art and design academic practice (accessed February 2025)