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Let’s Talk About Representation:

Discussing Social Justice with Neurodivergent Young People

Jessye Herrell, Eliana Grossman, TC Waisman, Jin Delos Santos, Bella Kofner,

Sergey Shevchuk-Hill, Kyle Gravitch, Sharang Biswas, Beth Rosenberg, Patrick Dwyer, Ariana Riccio, Cristina Ulerio, Amy Hurst, Sinéad O’Brien, Catherine Messina,

& Kristen Gillespie-Lynch

Resources and

Education on

Autism as

CUNY’s

Hallmark

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Who’s Who: Authors

Jessye Herrell

Education Director

Tech Kids Unlimited

Eliana Grossman

Doctoral Student

The Graduate Center @ CUNY

Dr. TC Waisman

EdD, M.A.

Jin Delos Santos

Hunter Alum / CSI Project REACH

Skills Development Leader

Bella Kofner

CSI Grad Student

Sergey Shevchuk-Hill

CSI Grad Student

Dr. Ariana Riccio

Research Associate

Education Development Center

Kyle Gravitch

CSI Undergraduate

Cristina Ulerio

Director of Ops.& Marketing

Tech Kids Unlimited

Dr. Amy Hurst

Associate Professor, Co-PI

New York University

Beth Rosenberg

Director & Founder

Tech Kids Unlimited

Dr. Sinéad O’Brien

Postdoctoral Associate

CSI &GC

Patrick Dwyer

PhD Candidate

UC Davis

Dr. Kristen Gillespie-Lynch

Principal Investigator

CSI & GC

Catherine Messia

Project REACH Coordinator

Columbia University

Sharang Biswas

Lead Instructor

Tech Kids Unlimited

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Who’s Who: Today’s presenters

Jessye Herrell

Eliana Grossman

Dr. TC Waisman

Jin Delos Santos

Bella Kofner

Kyle Gravitch

Dr. Kristen Gillespie-Lynch

Catherine Messina

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Workshop Learning Objectives

Explore the history of inequality in higher education.

Understand how discussions about social justice can empower neurodivergent youth.

Identify potential challenges that can emerge in social justice discussions.

Collaboratively develop strategies to address challenges.

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Please share with us

Please share an example of how access to higher education has been and/or still is unequal: http://scrumblr.ca/Unequal%20higher%20education%202022

Feel free to share challenges you’ve witnessed or experienced if you are comfortable doing so.

We will share the anonymous responses.

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Please share with us

Why is it important to have social justice discussions with neurodivergent young people?

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Workshop Learning Objectives

Explore the history of inequality in higher education.

Understand how discussions about social justice can empower neurodivergent youth.

Identify potential challenges that can emerge in social justice discussions.

Collaboratively develop strategies to address challenges.

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Aims 2 & 3:

We will explore two programs for autistic young people:

An NSF-funded game design workshops for autistic youth at Tech Kids Unlimited, an award-winning NYC-based non-profit
Building Bridges Project REACH, a mentorship program for autistic university students at the College of Staten Island.

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Program 1:

An NSF-funded game design workshops for autistic youth at Tech Kids Unlimited, an award-winning NYC-based non-profit

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To support staff feeling more prepared to enter potentially sensitive conversations with students, we had a professional development session on the subject.

The session was informal and discussion-based, drawing on individual experiences from the group.

Preparing for Social Justice Discussions in Youth Development Contexts

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Bring self-awareness to the conversation.
Expect & celebrate question asking & meaning making.

Clarify why something is offensive without assuming negative intent or full understanding what has been said/shared.
Name and denounce instances of bias/discrimination swiftly when they arise.

...but recognize when a learning moment has come and gone and it’s time to clarify inappropriate words/behaviors to maintain a safer space for all.

Tips from experience:

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It’s okay to be a learner as a teacher.
Connect to and build on what students already know, and include definitions & examples when introducing new concepts.
People’s identities are never taboo, and we can model that in the way we speak about topics related to identity.
We don’t do our students favors by avoiding sensitive topics. However, sometimes it can be appropriate to redirect those conversations to happen with the social worker if the topic has potential to cause other students undue distress.

Tips from experience:

It’s okay to be a learner as a teacher. Saying, “I don’t know, what do others think?” shows your students it is okay to not be an expert, that not all adults are experts, and that it is okay to continue learning and perspective taking.
Connect to and build on what students already know, and include definitions & examples when introducing new concepts.
People’s identities are never taboo, and we can model that in the way we speak about topics like race, gender, immigration status, ability, and so on.
We don’t do our students favors by avoiding sensitive topics (especially when they bring them up). However, sometimes it can be appropriate to redirect those conversations to happen with the social worker - there is a social worker in every TKU workshop - if the topic has potential to cause other students undue distress. For instance, in Spring 2020 many students wanted to discuss covid 19 fears, which tended to send ripples of anxiety through the whole class.

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As a rule of thumb, consider if the topic is one that a family may want to discuss privately before their student learns about it in a group setting (e.g. disability disclosure).

There are a few things that are outside of our jurisdiction to cover:

We can acknowledge that sex exists in order to speak about related topics (e.g. queer tropes in games, male gaze, sexual harassment in the workplace), but it is not our role to teach sex education.
Any nonprofit receiving government funding cannot endorse specific political candidates.

Clarifications & Limitations

Note: I’m going to skip this slide today in the interest of time as it is quite specific to our role as an educational non-profit, but it will remain in our slide deck if you would like to check it out later.

Judging the appropriate setting for a conversation can be challenging. As a rule of thumb, it can be helpful to consider whether a given topic is something that a family might want to discuss individually before their student learns about it in a group setting (e.g. disability disclosure). That said, there are a few things that are outside of our jurisdiction to cover:

Sex Ed - it is okay for us to acknowledge that sex exists in order to speak about related topics (e.g. queer tropes in games, male gaze, sexual harrassment in the workplace), but it is not our role to teach sexual education.
Endorsing specific political candidates - since TKU receives some government funding, we are not allowed to endorse specific political candidates (but can still talk about the issues)!

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When working directly with students, I think one of the best responses is to ask the student what they think.
It’s okay to be open with students that we do not share their/their parent’s belief and why, but telling a young person that their parent (often the most trusted adult in their life) is wrong can cause harm, fear, and insecurity.
If needed, get admin support. It is our duty to be clear that TKU has policies against discriminatory language and behavior - even with parents.

Staff Question: How to respond when parents hold beliefs that are biased, discriminatory, and harmful?

This question was raised by staff during the session, and provides an example of challenging real-life scenario. A staff member asked: How should we respond when parents or caregivers hold beliefs that are discriminatory, biased, and harmful?

This puts educators and students in an uncomfortable and often charged position.

When we are working directly with students, I think one of the best responses is to ask the student what they think to encourage them to examine their own position.
We can be open with students in these instances that we disagree (do not share their or their caregiver’s belief) and why we don’t, but there can be harm in telling a young person that their parent (often the most trusted adult in their life) is wrong. It can cause deeply felt insecurity to hear that such a closely trusted person who cares for is wrong in this way.
While it is an imperfect way forward (a preferred way would be a full discussion with all parties), we can be clear about what TKU’s policies are on discriminatory language and behavior (they are not allowed!), and administrators can clarify that with families.

Now I’m happy to hand the virtual mic to Ellie, who will share a few examples of student-facing supports we used in facilitating these discussion.

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Social Worker Ellen cumulatively added definitions to this document (shared with students and families) as we introduced new terms throughout the workshop as a supplemental resource for students.

Student Resource: Diversity Terms Definitions

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Students were informed that the workshop would include a “Games and Society” series of videos and gameplay followed by discussion about social justice topics.

Before each activity addressing social justice topics, the teacher shared a slide with students that included:

Key terms & definitions
What the group will be doing
What individuals may be asked to do
The reason we are doing it

Student Resource: Framing & Intro Discussion

Early during the first week, students were informed that the workshop would include a series of videos and gameplay, as well as discussions about various social justice topics.

Before each activity addressing social justice topics, the teacher shared a slide with students that included:

Key terms & definitions
What the group will be doing
What individuals may be asked to do
And the reason we are doing it

On the next couple of slides, I’m going to take you through some examples of these framing tools. Note that these slides are as they were presented during the workshop, and we are continually learning and reevaluating our language.

Larger issues in game design intro slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1W4UDbUXbFzGIqPCPk1zlcEpgLMqWWJyfmrwjR_pvN3E/edit#slide=id.gea9dd5c51c_0_3

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Why discuss larger issues in game design?

Being informed about social movements and media practices will make us stronger designers.

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What will we be discussing?

Games and Cultural Sensitivity

Universal Design for Games

Designing for Players with Hearing Disabilities

Race & Games

Queer Tropes in Games

Body Language & The Male Gaze

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Key Terms:

Cultural Appropriation: When a dominant culture uses parts from a marginalized culture disrespectfully & without permission

Stereotype: A common belief about a group of people that is wrong, inappropriate, or harmful.

Why are we doing it?

Games can and should represent people from all over the world in a respectful way!

What are we doing?

Watching and discussing a video

You may be asked to:

-Summarise what you just saw/heard

-Give your thoughts!

Which games are culturally insensitive?

After, we introduced our key terms and discussed the flow of the discussion. On this day we discussed culturally insensitive tropes in games. Together, we watched a video on cultural insensitivity in games, pausing as we went along. I’ll share the link to the video in the chat: https://youtu.be/LUYAVIRgdM8

As we paused the video, our teachers and social worker asked the students whether they had any thoughts or questions and checked for things like understanding and level of comfort.

After the video, we opened the discussion up, asking students whether they had any experiences of seeing cultural appropriation in games, or conversely, whether they had learned about a culture from a game in a sensitive way. We also talked about our responsibility to cultural sensitivity as game designers.

Video we watched clips from: https://youtu.be/LUYAVIRgdM8

During video pauses:

Check for understanding
Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
Have you seen other examples of this in other games?
Does anyone have any questions about this?

Small Group Discussion Questions (from workshop):

Can you remember other examples of games where a culture is depicted weirdly? What about one where a culture is depicted well?
Have you ever learned about another culture in a game?
Have you ever felt a game COULD have taught you about another culture but didn’t take the opportunity?
The video says games have a responsibility to at least not mishandle and appropriate other cultures. But do you think games/movies/media have a responsibility to teach people about cultures?

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Key Terms:

Misogyny: prejudice against women

Feminism: the idea that women should have the same rights as other genders and be treated fairly

Why are we doing it?

Games have historically treated the representation of women weirdly!

What are we doing?

Watching and discussing a video

You may be asked to:

-Summarise what you just saw/heard

-Give your thoughts!

Body Language & the Male Gaze

→ We noticed an issue with one of our definitions when planning this talk. Do you have a suggestion for improvement?

Here’s another example of a topic slide, where we discussed body language and the male gaze. As we were prepping our talk today, we noticed an issue with our definition of feminism here on the slide. The way it’s currently written positions as women against other genders. Upon reflection, “other genders” would be more reasonably grouped with women to indicate men as the group in power. That said, we are always trying to improve how we discuss these topics. If anyone has a suggestion for how we can further improve our definition, feel free to send a note in the chat or to me directly to share with our group. With that, I will pass it on to Kyle.

Video we watched clips from: https://youtu.be/QPOla9SEdXQ

During video pauses:

Check for understanding
Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
Have you seen other examples of this in other games?
Does anyone have any questions about this?

Small Group Discussion Questions

Can you think of other examples of this “male gaze” in videogames, movies, comics, etc?
Can you think of other ways in which male and female characters are differentiated in media? Can you think of examples that break these tropes?
What effect does this have on how we look at and think of women in society? What are we telling women through media such as this?

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Please share in the chat

What are some challenges of having social justice discussions with neurodivergent youth?

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Aim 2: Understand how discussions about social justice can empower neurodivergent youth

We will explore two programs for autistic young people:

An NSF-funded game design workshops for autistic youth at Tech Kids Unlimited, an award-winning NYC-based non-profit
Building Bridges Project REACH, a mentorship program for autistic university students at the College of Staten Island.

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Program 2:

Building Bridges Project REACH, a mentorship program for autistic university students at the College of Staten Island

Resources and

Education on

Autism as

CUNY’s

Hallmark

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Bella Introduces Project REACH @ CSI

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Katie Introduces Creative Exploration Group

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GROWING COALITIONS, COMMUNITIES AND CAMPAIGNS USING INTERSECTIONALITY

Adapted for Project REACH from ASAN ACI slides for Fall 2021:

Original author: VICTORIA M. RODRÍGUEZ-ROLDÁN, J.D.

Senior Policy Manager, AIDS United

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WHAT IS INTERSECTIONALITY?

Intersectionality means that different identities intersect.

It is important to be aware of how everyone’s different identities affect their lives.

Intersectionality helps us think about how to fight all kinds of prejudice to make everyone’s lives better.

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Everyone has lots of different identities, like your race, gender, or disabilities.

All of those identities affect the way society treats you.

All of your identities intersect (come together) to create the way you experience life.

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ALL OPPRESSION IS CONNECTED

In the chat, please share some ways that ableism interacts with:

Racism
Homophobia and Transphobia
Classism
Anti-immigrant xenophobia
Fatphobia

Intersectionality means recognizing that movements towards equal rights are more powerful when we work together!

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Autism and LGBTQIA+:

A Module for Project REACH

Project REACH - Spring 2022 Module Jin Delos Santos

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What does “LGBTQ+” mean?

Type in the chat what “LGBTQ+” means to you!

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What does “LGBTQ+” mean?

LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans(gender), and Queer or Questioning. The + means that there are more identities.
There are a lot of ways to write the acronym, like LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQIA (I for intersex and A for asexual), etc.
Basically, LGBTQ+ encompasses all genders and sexualities outside of the heterosexual, cisgender norm.

We will be using “LGBTQ+” for this presentation, but we’ll be discussing intersex and asexual, too.

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Chat Bomb

What are some examples of LGBTQ+ characters you’ve seen in media?

Do you think it was good representation? Bad? Why?

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Just like autistic people, LGBTQ+ people struggle to be recognized and treated fairly.

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Community

Chat Bomb: What identity communities are you a part of?

Talents
Disability
Physical appearance
Cultural identity
Race
Sexuality
Gender identity

Sex assigned at birth
Education
Socioeconomic status
Friends and family
Employment status
Romantic relationships (e.g., married, polyamorous)

Geographic location
Citizenship status (e.g., refugee, temporary viza)
Housing status
Religion or spiritual beliefs
Age
Other _______

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Benefits of Discussing Social Justice Issues with Neurodivergent Young People

Creates spaces where students feel accepted as they are & can talk about things that concern them

Allows students to connect with diverse peers & role models

Opens doors to exploring different possible identities

Offers opportunities to see connections between ideas

Helps students understand different perspectives

Empowers students to advocate for themselves & others

Gives students tools to challenge oppression collaboratively

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Challenges Discussing Social Justice Issues with Neurodivergent Young People

Students have wildly different background knowledge & exposure- some might feel left behind & others can feel bored

Perspectives can be very polarized (e.g., about vaccines, politics, and the media)

Students sometimes reinforce viewpoints that should be questioned (i.e., anti-media rhetoric)

Students almost always try to treat one another with respect, but might sometimes be overly blunt

The insights of quieter people can be overlooked

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Please share in the chat

What are some strategies we can use to address challenges that can emerge in social justice discussions with neurodivergent youth?

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Strategies to Address Challenges

Co-create a community of mutual respect

Ask students what they are interested in learning about & tailor discussions to their interests

Neurodivergent leaders can inspire trust & empower

Use multiple ways of communicating to “hear” all voices

Help youth develop shared expectations & reflect together

Model taking time to pause, reflect, and apologize if needed

Emphasize that we are all growing and learning

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Strategies to Address Challenges

Fight misinformation, not people:
Schools do not always address social justice with nuance (or even at all)
Students may have learned prejudices from those around them
Learners shouldn’t be blamed for what they have internalised
What matters is to emphasize truth and compassion and cultivate these values in people who will be future leaders

Speak out against discrimination

Talk about privilege & intersectionality:

“Privilege” can be a difficult term when first learned.
For example, some people may disagree that they benefit from “white privilege,” struggle with understanding it, or feel bad
A way to explore this is to give different examples of privilege

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Strategies to Address Challenges

Teach students self-advocacy skills:

Discuss disclosure & that it is always a choice
Encourage advocacy for self & others
Help students understand disability laws
Create leadership opportunities & discuss why leadership is a central aspect of self-advocacy

Provide mental health resources & self-regulation strategies

Discuss burnout and setting boundaries

Don’t let anyone’s past define who they will be in the future.

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Take Home Points

We need to work together, as a society, to address discrimination that occured in history and still occurs

Neurodivergent people face discrimination

Social justice discussions can help youth understand themselves, develop communities, and fight oppression

Social justice discussions can give young people the tools they need to grow and educate others

To make our society more accepting, we must keep reflecting & learning together.

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Closing Reflection:

Please share in the chat or raise your hand

What are some strategies we can use to more effectively support social justice discussions with neurodivergent youth?

We will take notes in a google doc to share

What did you learn that surprised you?

If this workshop taught you anything you will use in the future, what was it?

Please share any questions you have.