Group work, participation, and neurodiversity
Facilitated by Sarah Silverman
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Welcome and notes
I am excited to learn with you today!
Slides: https://tinyurl.com/Aug20Slides
Handout: https://tinyurl.com/Aug20Handout
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How to participate today and after
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About me
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About you
Please feel free to share your choice of:
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Goals and Agenda
Goals
Agenda
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Why this topic?
I often do guest talks and consulting on higher ed campuses and receive a lot of questions about highly social and or collaborative class elements, in which neurodiversity seems to pose a challenge or create friction.
Here are some questions I often get…
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“How should I structure group work to be more inclusive of neurodivergent students?”
“Some of my neurodivergent students are asking to be exempted from group work – how should I respond to this request?”
“Students with and without documented disabilities are expressing apprehension about class participation - how can I navigate this sensitively?”
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What experiences do you think inspired these questions? (You can respond in chat or on page 2 of handout)
Some definitions to work with
Neurodiversity: The naturally occurring variation in human cognition
Neurodivergent students and staff: May have a diagnosis/identity of Autism, ADHD, Learning Disability, Dyslexia, Anxiety, Depression, or another diagnosis OR may have no diagnosis. Neurodivergence is a sociological concept rather than a biomedical one.
Group work: Any class activity that requires or invites students to work and learn with other students. Sometimes referred to as collaborative learning or team-based learning
Class participation: What students do during class time to demonstrate their engagement. Often carries expectations of spontaneous verbal participation.
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Group work
Class participation
Kairotic Space
High-stakes spaces of a highly social nature - class discussions, group projects, office hours, and more. These are difficult for students with mental disabilities to navigate
Price (2011)
Talk-intensive group activities
Marginalized students can experience social exclusion in the context of group work, being positioned in negative and deficit-based ways by their fellow students
Rios (2024)
A common, but challenging framing of “participation”
“While attendance is required for this class, it is important to do more than just attend, because participation is important for learning and we need everyone to participate in order to have a lively class discussion. Please plan to speak at least 2 times during each class period. 20% of your final grade will be based on the quality of your in-class contributions.”
What about this class setup could be challenging to navigate?
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Three ideas that could help us navigate
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Feminist pedagogy
Neurodiversity Paradigm
Universal Design for Learning
Three ideas that could help us navigate
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Feminist pedagogy
One of our goals is to learn through sharing our own experiences and learning from the experiences of others
Neurodiversity Paradigm
There is no one “right” way to think, behave, or communicate
Universal Design for Learning
There is no average learner - design for variability
Feminist Pedagogy and Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL): There is no average learner - design for learning variability. This teaching framework was initially developed to encourage the design of learning experiences that would be accessible to many types of students without modifications of “retrofits”
Feminist pedagogy: A teaching approach which seeks to connect social justice concerns to the classroom, break down the student-teacher hierarchy, and draw on student experiences as a key source of knowledge.
“Foregrounding the personal aspects of learning […] can be profoundly unsettling for both students and teachers as it forces a class to develop protocols for sharing sensitive information and to practice compassionate listening and positive critique.” - Shafali Lal (2000)
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Working definition of the term “Neurodiversity”
The range of differences in individual brain function and behavioral traits, regarded as part of normal variation in the human population
Where did the term “neurodiversity” come from?
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The Neurodiversity Paradigm
Neurodiversity paradigm is a set of principles (quoted from Dr. Nick Walker’s book Neuroqueer Heresies)
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The double empathy problem
Coined by autistic psychologist Damian Milton in a 2012 article (see references).
Stereotypical understanding of autistic people
“Autistic people struggle to understand other people’s thoughts and motivations, struggle to pick up on social cues, and thus struggle overall with communication and social interactions.”
Double empathy problem
Autistic people may have difficulty understanding the thoughts, motivations, and behaviors of non-autistic people but non-autistic people also struggle to understand the thoughts, motivations, and behaviors of autistic people, and often do not feel that they are obligated to try
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A generalization of the “double empathy” problem
People have differing ways of communicating and interacting, including various strengths and challenges
Whether something is a strength or challenge is highly dependent on context and norms
Successful communication and collaboration will likely depend on learning more about how other people think, what their communication style is, and how to interpret their behavior
This process might involve some trial and error, and will definitely require humility and patience
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Teaching in the neurodiversity paradigm
The neurodiversity paradigm tells us that there is no one right way to think, behave, or communicate
Because teaching and learning involve thinking, behavior, and communication, the neurodiversity paradigm might suggest that there is no one right way to teach or learn either.
Learning from the double empathy concept, people don’t always automatically understand each other's behavior and communication - which is not a “problem.” Growing this understanding is an opportunity.
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Short break + introduction to activity
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Discussion protocols: A possible strategy
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Activity option 1: Explore and or try a discussion protocol
This activity can be completed in a group of 3 or 4, or on your own. Breakout groups will be opened and you can join one.
Read the discussion protocol on page 3 of your handout. Select one person to share their teaching/learning challenge, and then continue with the protocol as written.
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Activity option 2: Reframing some common teaching challenges
This activity can be completed in a group of 3 or 4, or on your own. Breakout groups will be opened and you can join one.
You can review some anecdotal concerns from students and instructors. Drawing on the themes we have discussed today, you are invited to share some potential reframings of these challenges.
My own potential reframings are available on page 5. Your ideas an mine may not match exactly, which is ok!
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Takeaways
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Feminist pedagogy
Neurodiversity Paradigm
Universal Design for Learning
Not just “multiple ways,” but no one right way.
Wrap up, feedback, and staying in touch
Until we meet again….
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