Everyone wants a place they can belong and feel safe. Fostering a safe classroom can allow students to feel seen and valued for who they truly are. For a student who is neurodivergent, an inclusive environment is a critical part of creating a place of belonging within the school setting. Inclusive practices take time and intentionality to implement. Whether you are a student, teacher, or caregiver, we can all play a part in creating an environment that embraces neurodivergence in the classroom.
A healthy community can help everyone find a place to belong. Belonging is a foundational emotional need for each individual. Below are some suggestions to creating an inclusive environment:
- Embraces differences. Each student is made differently, which is what makes each person so special. An educator can take time to highlight each student’s strengths. This can be done in a creative way, such as allowing students to create a poster that highlights all their strengths. Educators can also model how to interact and engage with others, even when there may be differences. Differences make a community stronger.
- Boldy advocate. Inclusion requires advocacy for all team members. For students, this can look like learning how to utilize self-advocacy skills. When a student learns how to ask for what they need, it helps educators know how to best support them. Likewise, parents can advocate for their student during educational meetings. Caregivers have a different perspective than professionals in the classroom and can model for their student how to advocate. In addition, educators can advocate for the appropriate support for student. This might look like asking for additional testing, ensuring accommodations are being implemented, and collaborating with other coworkers to best support the student. Advocacy is a huge job that requires everyone to be an active participant.
- Take time to get to know each other. Every student brings so much into the classroom beyond academics. When there is designated time to really get to know a person, it allows safe relationships to occur. Safe relationships can develop between students and teachers, peers and students, and parents and educators. At the end of the day, everyone is wired for relationships. Positive relationships can lessen division and create an inclusive environment, where everyone belongs.
- Learn how to support each other. Everyone has needs and desires to have support. Asking for help can feel scary or inaccessible. Let’s flip the script. Instead of waiting for individual to ask for help, ask them. This can look like asking how to make the environment more sensory friendly, asking what specific supports may be helpful, and asking how they would like to receive feedback. Taking the time to learn how to support an individual helps establish autonomy and independence. No one knows an individual better than they know themselves. Take time to ask the expert how to best support them.
Neurodivergence creates stronger and more fulling classrooms. Every student is needed in the classroom. Embracing neurodivergence promotes inclusion and affirms the way each student was made. Neurodivergence is needed in the classrooms and together, the school system is stronger when differences are embraced instead of being overlooked.