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Issue 03 Articles
What All Schools Can Do to Support Neurodiverse Learners
With thanks to Pete Wharmby (Centre for Research in Autism and Education, CRAE Annual Lecture, 2023)
10 Things All Schools Can Do
- Make sure that all staff know the profile for all relevant learners.
- Have a mentor for each neurodiverse learner – one in which they have some agency.
- Educate all staff about autism – if they have knowledge, they can do a lot.
- Work with your community – employers need to understand neurodiversity, too.
- Open up the issue of difference – move it from insult to fascinating.
- Promote tolerance of and accommodation of difference.
- Accommodate idiosyncrasies (e.g. stimming, walking around, repetitive behaviours, sensitivity to noise, obsessive interests).
- Make the school sensitive to known or potential triggers “of stress or behaviours”. e.g.
- Changes to routine or schedule
- Group work
- Work deadlines
- Presentations
- Reading aloud
- Picking teams
- Prioritise positive relationships with learners and parents (e.g. regular dialogue with parents; support groups for parents) – working together is in everyone’s interests.
- Have available appropriate therapeutic strategies.
Guidance for Schools
The 10 suggestions above provide a useful checklist. They can also be used to create a workshop activity for staff that will sensitise everyone to the issue of supporting neurodiverse learners. They were stimulated by Pete Wharmby’s presentation at the 2023 CRAE Annual Lecture, and most of them were specifically referenced there. Pete is an autistic teacher, writer, speaker, advocate and author. Below are two suggestions about how “10 Things” might be used.
- The first is a simple “bright spots” activity, designed to identify the best of what is currently happening in all 10 areas. The logic of discussing bright spots is to build from the best of what currently happens. “What are the characteristics of this that could be applied more broadly?” and “What would be required to have more like this?”
- The second is an evaluative activity to identify strengths and areas for growth – what is going well (or not) and what more might be done.
Activity 1
- Pre-arrange groups so that there is a good mix of experiences and roles in each group. Prepare a facilitator for each group – someone who will advocate for the activity.
- In groups, discuss the “bright spots” in your school for each of the 10 items. What is the best of what you do? What are the key features of these bright spots?
- Then, come together with new ideas being suggested for each of the 10 items, where relevant, based on the principles or features of your bright spots.
Activity 2
- Before the activity, create sets of cards with one of the 10 suggestions on each card plus five blank cards (to add new things). One set is required for each group.
- Pre-arrange groups (as above).
- First, each group discusses whether they have additional ideas to add on the blank cards.
- They then sort out their top 10 as a group.
- Groups come together and are facilitated to create a composite or consensus top 10 across the groups (“Our school’s top 10 ideas”).
Subsidiary activity either in groups or as a whole staff:
- Arrange this top 10 into three groups – things we do well; things we need to improve on quite a lot; things we value but are not currently ready to do.
- Using post-it notes (green for positive affirmation, amber for creative improvement ideas, red for “we’re not close on this”), decorate ideas around the ten cards, starting with amber, then green, then, if time, red.
Life Skills Shopping List
Danielle Petar, Emily Bacon, Michal Geller
‘Making your own Life Skills Space’
The shopping lists below have been organised around the same themes as the article in the ‘Teaching and Learning with Neurodiverse Children’ section of this edition.
Farmington Public Schools
Grade 5
Our fifth graders took action in collaboration with the Farmington green Efforts Commission by participating in a local anti-idiling campaign. As civic-minded contributors, this was a wonderful opportunity to engage in stewardship in our town. Students have been studying how human activities impact the Earth’s sphere, and more specifically, how the burning of fossil fuels impacts the atmosphere.
As part of this project, fifth graders collected and analysed data about idiling in the west woods parking lot before and after school. They learned more about idiling from Ms. Caitlin Stern, an enivronment analyst in the Bureau of Air Management at the Department of Energy and Environmental protection.
Next, in a special appearance on the Wildcat News, Ms. Cate Grady-Benson of the Farmington Green Efforts Commission explained the charge of their committee and its campaign. She invited students to participate in a sign-making contest to promote anti-idling in our town.
In order to learn what makes an effective sign, students used several resources, including a presentation from the West Woods art teacher, Mrs. Lantange. She offered tips and suggestions on how to think like an artist while creating designs (colours that work well together, the right medium, and excellent craftsmanship).
Eight of the signs designed by students were selected by the Green Efforts Commission. Final image edits were done by a Farmington High School students under the guidance of the art teacher. The signs will be professionally printed by DEEP and posted at each of the Farmington schools and the Town Hall.
Learning Targets
As a civic-minded contributor, I can take action to protect the Earth’s atmosphere. I can promote community awareness about idling by collaborating with the Farmington Green Efforts Commission & DEEP.
Students’ Reflections
“I think it’s good to take action because there’s things in the world that we need to stand up for. Before this unit I didn’t know about idling. I’m pretty sure even my parents didn’t, but I told my parents and they haven’t been idling ever since.”
– Jahnvi
Lisa Mishriky, Laura Munafo, Elizabeth Smith, 7th Grade Language Arts
Alysson Olsen, Library Media Specialist
Trisha Irving, Humanities Specialist
Irving A. Robbins Middle School, Farmington, CT
During the Podcast Challenge, seventh graders research, script, record, and edit “podcasts with purpose” on a topic of interest. Students decide whether their podcast will inform, serve as a call to action, or entertain their listeners. Some of our topics this year included: the insulin shortage in the U.S., cryptozoology, e-waste, the importance of music education, cybersecurity, worker’s rights, and more! Students have the opportunity to conduct interviews with professionals in their field of study, attend feedback workshops facilitated by eighth graders who previously completed the project, and create their own music and sound effects. The project culminates with a Celebration of Learning where students pose questions to a panel of experts, listen to each other’s podcasts, and engage in reflective interviews with one another. Students are then invited to enter their original creations into two national competitions with National Public Radio or the New York Times.
Teacher’s Reflections
“I am most proud of how much working with students on their podcasts really deepened my relationships with them. This project truly cultivated trust. I was able to focus more on guiding from the side as a coach while watching them run away with the passion for their topic and the project. It was truly a student-driven experience.”
– Lisa Mishriky
Students’ Reflections
“I really liked the Podcast Challenge project. It was fun to research with a partner and learn about something we both really wanted to learn about. Creating the podcast from start to finish – research to editing – was really interesting and made me really proud. It didn’t feel like school to be honest.”
– Luke
“The interview with the professionals was the highlight of my project. It was really awesome to interview someone about a topic that we were all so passionate about.”
– Jonah
Sharon Becker, Beth Block, Kerry Visone, 8th Grade Science Teachers
Alysson Olsen, LIbrary Media Specialist
Irving A. Robbins Middle School, Farmington, CT
When was the last time you took a moment to educate yourself on your own well-being or on factors that could affect your future health and those of people you care about? Our 8th graders educate our IAR community about the interdependent systems of the human body as related to a medical topic of their choice. Many students chose personally meaningful areas of study related to family, friends or even their own personal medical and/or mental health situations. Students had the chance to research using databases, books and reliable websites. They even had the opportunity to interview medical experts in our community where they could ask specific questions related to their research. Students presented on topics from Parkinson’s disease to diabetes, to broken bones and selective mutism. The choice of engaging newsletters, powerful MedTalks, and captivating screencasts allowed our students to shine in their own unique ways as civic-minded contributors. They educated our community about the causes, effects, treatments, and implications of their topic. Students also raised money via school-wide pajama days – money collected that project winners, voted on by their peers, could donate to charities related to their medical moment topic.
Teacher’s Reflections
“It is incredibly rewarding to watch students go through the process from choosing a disease, disorder, or neurodiversity to becoming an expert on that topic. I continue to be in awe of how much they learn throughout the process. Medical Moment is a highlight of the school year!”
– Kerry Visone
“I am most proud of how the students become more aware and more thoughtful and understanding of how people’s daily lives are affected by the different medical conditions that are presented.”
– Beth Block
Students’ Reflections
“It helped educate people on different diseases and disorders, which I think is going to be very helpful when we grow up into adults (some of us might even go into the medical field because of this project).”
– Leena
“I think Medical Moment really helped me understand many different aspects of the medical field and what people do everyday to save lives. The project helped me become more aware and appreciative for everyone in the medical field.”
– Claire
“This project helped me be a more positive global citizen because I am now more aware of medical conditions and am less likely to judge before I know the whole story.”
– Brooke
Tim Briggs, 11th Grade Humanities
High Tech High Chula Vista
For this project, students researched, wrote, and self-published a collection of choose your own adventure stories based on U.S. History. To create their story, each student researched a historical time period and created a story map of possible choices for their character based on the significant events in their era. In writing their stories, students incorporated dialogue, sensory details, and narrative techniques to create gripping second person narratives. Each narrative was then edited by a student editorial team while other students created original art and designed a layout to format our book for publication. At our final exhibition, students presented their work to teachers, students, and community members at the Grossmont Literary Arts Festival.
Teacher’s Reflections
“This project far exceeded my expectations for the depth and complexity of the students’ narratives. What I had envisioned as a 200- 300 page book sprawled to nearly 600 pages as the students dug deeper into their historical periods and created pathways for their character to explore different events. Students were invested in the creation and publication of our book. Every narrative was reviewed and edited by a team of students for content and historical accuracy and then formatted for publication by our design team. It inspired me to see students work hard to prepare our book and take pride in completing such a large task as a team.”
– Tim Briggs
Students’ Reflections
“Being a member of various groups helped me develop new skills. As a member of the editing group, I improved my understanding of grammar and writing by reviewing the work of other students. I also learned how to use Adobe Acrobat to publish our writing in a professional format. Being a part of the leadership and exhibition crew made me step out my comfort zone and practice my communication and leadership skills. Overall, the project helped me not only to become a more creative writer, but it also let me improve how I work with other students.”
—Rafely Palacios
In the Spring term, Gefen and Rimon classes will be worked on an extended project all about journeys. We looked at journeys in the past made by famous explorers such as Ernest Shackleton, as well as journeys to Ancient Egypt and what they discovered when they arrived at their destinations. This helped the students think about their own journeys and how they need to plan for these. We also thought about the journey they took at Gesher school and what it meant to them. As part of our project we created a ‘sponsored journey’ from the old site to the new school using various modes of transport. At the end of the project, the students created their own personalised backpacks with the resources they will need for their own Pesach journeys. The project covered Geography skills such as looking at maps and planning for a journey, as well as looking at the climate and physical features of different countries. We also looked at the history of Ancient Egypt and Shackleton’s journey to the Antarctica. As part of our project we looked at the children’s emotional and social needs, and what they will need to support them and the important characteristics that are required on their own journeys.
Teacher’s Reflections
“I think the project went well and the children seemed to enjoy all the individual parts of the project ie Egypt, Antarctica and their own journeys. The children particularly enjoyed learning about Ancient Egypt and all the practical art and drama activities we did especially the mummification! They also learnt lots of information about Egypt and what it is like as a country today. Although I actually feel that the Egypt part would have been better as a separate section after the project as it was not officially a journey that they went on in Egypt. The project was also good as it covered many different curriculum area ie geography different countries, history looking at Ancient Egypt, music creating an Egyptian orchestra and art. I also feel that it was useful for the children to reflect on what they need when they go on different journeys (sensory resources). I think the exhibition was a success as well when the children were able to act as tour guides showing off all their work!”
– Stephanie Sungtong
Students’ Reflections
“My favourite part of the the project was the trip to the transport museum” – Liam
“I learnt how to wrap a mummy with linen” – Avi
“My highlight making my holiday packing list and how to plan my journey” – Ari
This term, Gevurah’s project focused on the issue of animal cruelty and ways to combat it. They asked themselves, “How can we increase awareness about animal cruelty?” and conducted extensive research on the mistreatment of animals, including sea creatures and how they are impacted by water pollution. As a final product, they presented their findings in a symposium on animal cruelty for their classmates. The project spanned across multiple subjects including English, PSHE, DT, and Science. Throughout the term, students engaged in various activities such as creating written narratives about animals, presenting on cruelty towards sea life, designing leaflets with tips for the public to help prevent animal cruelty. Additionally, their PSHE lessons focused on community and careers, where they explored different animal-related professions and emphasised the importance of community involvement in animal welfare. In Science, students learned about ecological relationships and how they contribute to animal protection. The class even had their own aquarium to learn about proper animal care. Lastly, within DT, students learned about branding and how it can be used to raise awareness and funds for a cause. Using graphic design software called Canva, they created banners to promote a charity that they established to combat animal cruelty.
Teacher’s Reflections
Overall, this project was a success, our students were fully captivated by the topic and excited to expand on their knowledge. High points of the project included our trip to Champions Wharf Play Beach, where our students demonstrated their social action skills by handing out leaflets informing the general public about ocean pollution and helping to clear the local area of dangerous rubbish that could harm the local wildlife. If I could think of one improvement for this project, I think it would have been even more effective to have been able to explore our local habitats in science more but with the weather so cold, all the organisms had started to hibernate or take shelter. I am so proud of what Gevurah has managed to accomplish with their analysis of Animal Farm, working hard to develop their skills and writing ‘Point evidence explanation’ paragraphs.
– Natasha Brandon
Students’ Reflections
“I thought the project was very good because the big question is very important to the world” – Poppy
“My favorite part was visiting Whipsnade Zoo and seeing a baby wolverine” – Rafael
