As classrooms grow to better meet the needs of neurodiverse learners, we have gathered a growing list of resources to help educate ourselves and our classroom communities about neurodivergent topics, terms and accommodations. While this list doesn’t cover everything under the neurodiverse umbrella, it’s a starting point to hopefully expand our understanding.
Websites:
- Neurodiversity Celebration Week is a worldwide initiative that challenges stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences. Check out their website for resources for schools and students, including a Neurodiversity Comic Book.
- ADDitude Magazine: Check out their school and learning resources here. They also have a webpage with popular FREE downloads.
- Embrace Autism is a a platform to distribute research and experience-based information on Autism. Check out their blog called Thinking Styles in Autistic People.
- CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) has a Teacher to Teacher program that offers strategies and tips to help students with ADHD succeed.
- Dr. Stephen Shore is an autistic professor of special education at Adelphi University. His website includes presentations, books, and resources that maybe be useful to teachers including TEACCH: Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children.
- AutismAcceptance.com has a resource webpage that includes information about Self-Advocacy and Being An Ally.
Videos:
- Ned Talks - Neurodiverse Experiences Discussed by Edward (Ned) Hallowell, M.D. Watch these Tik Tok videos (posted on this webpage) that cover a wide range of topics on neurodiversity symptoms, strengths and treatments.
- The Sentis Brain Animation Video Series with videos like: Neuroplasticity: Understand how our most complex organ is capable of changing throughout our lives and how we all have the ability to learn and change by rewiring our brains. Thanks for the tip, Manju. These videos are also available on Youtube.
- Child Mind Institute Youtube Channel: a national nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming mental health care for children everywhere. Check out this video: Great Minds Think Unalike: the Child Mind Institute Interviews Ali Wentworth.
- ADHD Tips Youtube Channel which includes a talk by Jonathan Mooney -- The Gift: LD/ADHD Reframed.
- How to ADHD Youtube Channel: a collection of videos with strategies for living with ADHD. The Work and School Playlist includes videos like: How to Get School Accommodations, How to Homework: Top 10 Tips for ADHD Success, and more. Also worth checking out the Definitions for Common ADHD Terms Playlist.
Podcasts:
- ADDitude Magazine Podcast. Check out episodes like:
- Top 10 IEP & 504 Plan Problems: A Troubleshooting Guide
- Shedding Labels, Shedding Shame: How to Unlock Powerful ADHD Accommodations with Acceptance, and more. - The Alie Ward Ologies Podcast features an interview with Russell Barkley, bestselling author of Taking Charge of Adult ADHD and a 2-part episode with René Brooks of BlackGirlLostKeys.com, TEDTalk speaker and How to ADHD YouTuber Jessica McCabe, and neuroscientist Jahla Osborne of University of Michigan.
- All Things ADHD and ADHD 365 are produced by CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) and address a variety of topics for anyone dealing with ADHD. Scroll the feed for podcasts for educators like, Helping African-American Students with ADHD Succeed, and Homework Tips.
- Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast offers support, tools, and community to help take control of ADHD with Nikki Kinzer & Pete Wright.
- Parenting ADHD and Autism: a weekly podcast with insights, strategies, and resources for parents raising kids with ADHD, LDs, and/or autism -- hosted by Penny Williams.
- Celebrating Neurodiversity with Dr. Manju Banerjee and Maggie Beattie Roberts on the Heinemann Podcast.
Blog Posts and Articles:
- What Every Teacher Should Know About Neurodiverse Learners by MacLean Gander on the Heinemann blog.
- Black Girl Lost Keys: René Brooks navigates life with ADHD with realistic viewpoints, a lot of acceptance, and major laughter. Check out these blogs and more: Navigating Life As A Gifted Kid With ADHD and The Challenges That Await Your ADHD Middle Schooler.
- Neurodiversity Is Diversity: How educators can support students who learn differently by Solvegi Shmulsky via AAC&U -- The American Association of Colleges and Universities
- How Teachers Can Lead on Neurodiversity by John Elder Robison, New York Times bestselling author of Look Me in the Eye
- Your “Autism Awareness Day” Might Be Excluding Autistic People
by Ludmila N. Praslova via Harvard Business Review. - 6 Strategies to Help Neurodiverse Students Fully Engage in Class by Nicholas Provenzano via Edutopia.
- 5 Creative Ways to Best Support Neurodiversity in the Classroom by Cliff Weitzman (Dyslexia & Accessibility Advocate, CEO/Founder of Speechify).
Neurodivergence in Women and Girls:
- Autism—It's Different in Girls: This Scientific American piece reports "that new research suggests the disorder often looks different in females, many of whom are being misdiagnosed and missing out on the support they need."
- Neurodiversity and Females [PDF Report] by Professor Amanda Kirby via Do-IT, an organization whose mission is to champion neurodiversity wellbeing and inclusion. More education resources here.
- Jenara Nerenberg, author of Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World that Wasn’t Designed for You, was interviewed by Maya Dusenbery of Bitch Media on how to empower neurodivergent women. Read it here.
- The Lost Girls: This Spectrum News article talks about how women with autism are misdiagnosed and misunderstood and struggle to get the help they need.
- ADHD Is Different for Women: This Atlantic article talks about how "the standard conception of the disorder is based on studies of “hyperactive young white boys.” For females, it comes on later, and has different symptoms."
Books & Resources:
- Neurodiversity in the Classroom by Thomas Armstrong, Executive Director of the American Institute for Learning and Human Development.
- The Teenage Brain: A neuroscientist's survival guide to raising adolescents and young adults by Frances E. Jensen and Amy E. Nutt.
- The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and business by Charles Duhigg
- 12 Brain-Based Learning Principles from Susan Fitzell, M.Ed
- Autism and Education by Kathleen A Flannery and Robert Wisner-Carlson via Pub.Med.gov and the National Library of Medicine.
