By Jennifer Russ
What is neurodiversity?
As teachers, we know that a diverse community is a strong community. We take time to celebrate our students’ varied cultures, languages and traditions. We make bulletin boards and plan activities for Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, and LGBTQIA+ History Month, recognizing the many contributions and achievements of marginalized people in American history.
So why don’t we have an Autistic History Month that celebrates the many contributions and achievements of autistic people?
I know what you’re thinking—we have April, Autism Awareness Month. Take a moment, however, to think about the difference between an awareness month and a history month. An awareness month suggests that autism is a malady, while a history month celebrates its existence.
In his book We’re Not Broken, autistic author Eric Garcia recounts a public service announcement he saw as a teenager in which some of his favorite musicians rallied to “put an end to autism.”
“I think about the irony of the fact that Kiss, a band that taught me that being aggressively bombastic can be a good thing, saw autism as a disease on par with cancer,” Garcia says. On the contrary, Garcia credits his neurodivergence as beneficial in his field of expertise: political journalism. He says that when he found the field, he loved “the fact that I was working … in a profession where my encyclopedic knowledge of politics was celebrated.”
Neurodiversity is a lens through which we can shift our mindset from viewing naturally occurring—and common—variations of human cognition such as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity “disorder” (ADHD) and dyslexia not as handicaps to be pitied or cured, but differences to be celebrated, just as we celebrate our diverse cultures, bodies and talents.
Neurodivergence in our students and peers is more common than you might think. The American Psychological Association (APA) estimates 8.5% of students have ADHD, the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity estimates that 10-20% of the world has dyslexia, and the CDC says that 1 in 44 children have diagnosed autism. Those numbers don’t take into consideration the many people who have yet to receive a diagnosis—and those who never will.
So, how do we, as educational professionals, participate in the movement to celebrate neurodiversity?
Step 1: Shift your mindset and help students shift theirs
A third grader calls herself an idiot for needing modifications. A middle schooler refers the kids pulled for small group instruction as “the stupid group.” A group of teenagers jokingly call each other “special ed” as a pejorative.
Have you witnessed any of these scenarios?
In his book, Neurodiversity in the Classroom, author and educator Thomas Armstrong writes that his former student, now an adult, described their experience in a special education setting like this: “They thought I was bad at something, so they tested me to find exactly how bad I was at it, and then spent the next years of my life making me do what I was bad at as much as possible.”
Armstrong points out that in special education, schools start out by identifying what’s “wrong” with a student and classify them based on their weaknesses.
The remedy? We must shift our mindsets. Before we address a students’ weaknesses, we must first know and celebrate their strengths.
Consider the benefits to being neurodiverse. In their book, The Dyslexic Advantage, Fernette and Brock Eide highlight the advantages of being dyslexic. In a 2011 interview for Wired magazine, Fernette Eide explains that dyslexic brains are especially good at processing the big picture. She says, “They establish a different pattern of connections and circuitry, creating a different kind of problem-solving apparatus,” which, Brock says makes them “more in touch with or mindful of the tasks they’re engaged in, and as a result makes them more likely to innovate and tweak and modify.”
More and more professionals are noting the advantages of having a neurodivergent brain, and powerful companies are taking note of these advantages. In the Harvard Business Review article, “Neurodiversity is a Competitive Advantage,” writers Robert D. Austin and Gary P. Pisano point out that companies like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, Ford, IBM, and JPMorgan Chase all have programs seeking neurodiverse talent. Managers say that these practices are paying off on many levels.
Sigrid May Shelton-Stiefel, a licensed practical nurse from Cape May Court House who was diagnosed with ADHD and obsessive-compulsive “disorder” (OCD), says that her neurodivergence is a gift in her workplace, an assisted living facility.
“I think some of my strengths are my attentiveness and my high energy personality,” Shelton-Stiefel says. “It really helps me with my career as a nurse. I’m never being told that I’m not productive at work. I’m a leader, and co-workers look up to me if there’s an issue.”
A word of caution: don’t assume that just because a student has a specific diagnosis they’ll fit any of the profiles of advantages above. Likewise, students shouldn’t need a diagnosis to deserve their strengths highlighted. Instead, educators should provide opportunities for all students to think about, share, and cultivate their strengths. Know your students’ strengths and take every opportunity to remind them that you know and value them as individuals.
For some ideas on some activities that highlight student strengths, check out the sidebars.
Step 2: Create welcoming spaces for the body and mind
The second step is to assess the physical and mental space of your classroom and how it might affect someone with a neurodivergent brain. This means taking the time to listen to neurodivergent people tell you what helps and hinders them.
If students know what they need, by all means, provide them with those resources; however, it’s likely that most students will need help exploring techniques. Thankfully, there are many neurodiverse adults with advice to give if you’re willing to listen.
“Meet your students where they’re at,” begs Hannah Lappin, who graduated in August from American University with her master’s degree in counterterrorism.
Lappin, always a motivated student, was diagnosed with dyscalculia in high school, but prior to that, struggled to understand the basics in math class. She remembers a teacher who became frustrated with her for not understanding simple calculations, and often chalked it up to Lappin not paying attention. On the contrary, Lappin was paying rapt attention, although she admits that a kind student sitting next to her explained it in a more helpful way, so she sometimes asked her for help.
Later, a different teacher addressed her weaknesses before and after school without shaming her. They went back to the basics. The teacher was patient and allowed Lappin the extended time she needed to learn concepts. Lappin says she wishes that more teachers tried teaching her in different ways when she didn’t understand something instead of blaming her for not paying attention.
Similarly, Ellis Jasenovic, NJEA member and high school band director at Montville Township High School, says that teachers who kindly refocused him when he was drifting off and encouraged him to hand-write his notes instead of typing them were game-changers for him.
“Later, I found the reasoning behind this, which I still share with my students today,” Jasenovic says. “It allows you to not only remember your information better, but makes you slow down and focus more intently.”
Jasenovic was diagnosed with Tourette’s, OCD, and ADHD in elementary school, and is now a professional musician in addition to being a teacher.
“We all process information differently,” he says, “and the same study strategies do not work for everyone. Try to teach the same concept in different ways and encourage your students to explore their own learning strategies. The better we know ourselves, the better chance we have at being successful learners.”
The article, “Valuing Differences: Neurodiversity in the Classroom” authored by three neurodivergent professionals and published in 2017, shares some helpful tips for teachers of students with autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Barb Rentenbach, an autistic woman who does not communicate using spoken language, urges teachers to “make room for nonverbal communication.” Her thinking, she says, is not language-based, but when she learned to type, she was able to take her time to break her thoughts down and translate them into language. Now, she is an eloquent writer.
“Listen [to your students],” she says. “If students are not talking or typing, find other ways to observe them.”
The woman who taught Rentenbach how to write, and the second author of the article, Lois Prislovsky, an educational psychologist with ADHD, says she learns best when listening to podcasts at 1.5 or two times the speed on a treadmill.
“Students with ADHD work best when their bodies are active,” says Prislovsky, “rather than assuming they ought to sit still, look for opportunities to get them moving.”
She also advises teachers to lean into the ADHD brain’s need for intense stimuli, providing students with opportunities to exercise, juggle or complete physical tasks while they complete their work.
For students with dyslexia, Prislovsky advises teachers to think critically about the texts they will assign.
“Given that it will take extra effort, skill, and courage for some students to consume printed texts independently, create reasons for reading that are truly compelling and linked to students’ goals and interests,” she writes.
Step 3: Celebrate the ‘weird’
Finally, turn “weird” into the most desirable trait in your classroom.
Many traits or behaviors common in neurodivergent people are dismissed by others as “weird.” Other students may roll their eyes at “strange” or “annoying” behavior, while well-meaning adults will try to convince students to normalize.
Take stimming, for example, referred to in the medical community as “stereotypy.” All people stim to some extent—“stim” is short for stimulation, and almost everyone taps their feet or twists their hair around their fingers—but autistic people and other neurodivergent people are more likely to stim frequently and expressively. While some stims can be harmful or disruptive, the vast majority are harmless. Many neurodivergent people will tell you that they hand-flap, spin, flick their fingers, or repeat phrases to self-soothe and express joy.
Meanwhile, a Google search for “stimming” reveals serious article titles like, “What You Need to Know About Stimming and Autism,” “Stimming: Why it Happens and How to Manage It.” In many classrooms, educational professionals will discourage and even punish stimming. Recent educational research suggests that this practice is more harmful for neurodivergent people than helpful, and that we should turn our focus away from “managing behaviors” to developing environments that accept and understand those behaviors as integral parts of what makes neurodivergent students unique and excellent.
Because of this, consider how you can turn “weird” into a compliment in your classroom. Engage students in their special interests, even if society says those interests are strange, or if you’re worried the interest is obsessive or immature.
In her article “Pressure to be ‘Age Appropriate’ Can Harm Autistic People,” Christine Motokane, an autistic woman, says, “Telling autistic people they shouldn’t like certain things because it’s not ‘age appropriate’ is one way of denying them choice and control over their own lives … a child’s happiness is more important than fitting in. They will find people who will accept them the way they are.”
Barb Rentenbach, the nonspeaking autistic author from Valuing Differences says that tapping into those unusual interests may be the key to learning for some students.
“Having discovered one interest, at least, teachers can tap into it as a source of learning opportunities and socialization,” Rentenbach says. “Favorite and familiar themes create fertile ground for us to initiate and sustain efforts to practice academic and social skills that do not come easily.”
Finally, if you really want to create an accepting, nurturing environment for neurodivergent students, you will need to assess your personal definition of the word “weird.” Challenge yourself to accept the things in students that you find unusual—and not just in the students who you know are neurodivergent. Remember that many neurodivergent people don’t receive diagnoses until later in life, and some will never be officially diagnosed.
Often, students with gender variance, or a gender identity or expression that is outside cultural norms, struggle to be accepted. They are also often neurodivergent. In We’re Not Broken, Eric Garcia points out the connection: gender variance is almost eight times more common in autistic people, and children with autism are four times more likely to experience gender dysphoria. Failing to respect students’ gender expression, identity or preferred pronouns may be what creates a hostile environment for neurodivergent students.
Regardless of diagnosis, all students benefit from an environment where differences are celebrated.
“What hindered my progress as a student was definitely the pressures of being ‘normal’ and fitting in. As you get older, you learn to accept yourself and differences,” says Shelton-Stiefel. “When you’re younger you just kinda fight them because you want to fit in.”
In the meantime, though, she has this advice for teachers: “Kind words are everything.”
Jasenovic says that if he could tell the young version of himself anything, it would be this: “It’s OK to be different! Life would be pretty boring if we all acted the same.”
If you start to feel overwhelmed, remember the adage that students may not remember what you taught but will always remember how you made them feel. Because of the world we live in, neurodivergent students need advocates who validate and support them.
“Small moments within everyday classroom interactions shape students’ understandings of school, of themselves, and of others,” the authors of “Valuing Differences” remind us. Find ways to remind your neurodiverse students that they are lovable and valuable just the way they are, and that our classrooms are stronger and better because they are in them.
Activities that highlight student strengths
Take a multiple intelligence test
You can take the test, too—share your weaknesses and find students who excel in the areas that challenge you. You can find a good one here: literacynet.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html
Encourage journaling
Journals are great opportunities to encourage kids to create time and space to think positively about themselves. You can also integrate reflection on personal strengths in formal writing assignments, as well.
Integrate career exploration, especially nonacademic careers
There are many careers outside of academic fields, but students tend to be told that if school is a struggle, they’ll never succeed. Take time to discuss and allow student exploration of these careers that would utilize their strengths and capitalize on what thrills them.
Compliment and praise
As a general rule, try to praise a student twice as often as you point out a need for improvement.
Ways to celebrate the ‘weird’
Make collages
Put out a stack of magazines and have students cut out pictures and make weird collage art out of whatever strikes their fancy. Decorate the room.
Engage in conversations
Strike up conversations about students’ special interests, even if you find them unusual or have no background in them. Ask questions. Show interest—even if you’re not interested. Assign projects that give students a chance to research their special interests.
Highlight celebrities or others who thought outside the box
Many entrepreneurs, artists and pioneers in their fields are neurodiverse. Highlight people who thought differently and excelled because of that, not in spite of it.
Model acceptance
Your students watch you for your reactions. When a student does something other kids think is weird, show your acceptance, or better yet, approval!