How to Teach Your (Many) Neurodivergent Students
Katie Rose Guest Pryal is an expert in mental health and disability, and she draws on that expertise, along with her own experiences as someone diagnosed with autism as an adult, in this essay. Her distinction between accommodation and accessibility is particularly useful.
Neurodivergent (ND) students like Emma can tell when you as a faculty member care about their success and when you don’t. They can tell when you genuinely welcome them into the classroom and when you see them as a burden. Of course you don’t always know whether you have ND students in your courses. Even when you do, you don’t always know what kind of support they’re getting from academic advising and disability services. And you don’t know whether they are even seeking help — or their reasons for not doing so.
In teaching neurodivergent students, the only thing you can control is what you do in your own classroom. Hence this essay on how to make your teaching more welcoming and accessible to them. The good news: It’s easier than you may think.