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TITLE: “What does it mean to teach about neurodiversity at school, and how can we do that? An overview of the LEANS project and resource pack.”

The Learning About Neurodiversity at School (LEANS) project is developing the first resource pack for UK primary schools to teach about neurodiversity, as an overarching concept covering many neurodevelopmental differences, including those that are not formally diagnosed.

The big-picture goal of LEANS is to increase pupil and teacher understanding of neurodiversity and its impact on school experiences, and to promote inclusive actions and attitudes in the school community.  

Supporting educators to teach about a comparably novel and contested topic like neurodiversity posed several thorny challenges, such as: “What are the facts and ideas to impart, and how do you do that in a way that engages a class of 10-year-olds? How do you get from big principles to lesson plans?”

This talk gave an overview of the LEANS project so far, including our initial participatory design process with a neurodiverse group of educators, consultation studies with teachers and community members, and the structure and contents of the final resource pack.

It concluded with a preview of the LEANS evaluation study (September-November 2021) and plans for the resource launch in 2022.

This webinar was presented by Dr Alyssa M. Alcorn, Postdoctoral fellow at the Salvesen Mindroom Research Centre, University of Edinburgh. Her research interests include participatory design of educational resources, including interactive technologies for autistic children,

It took place online on Thursday, 2nd December 2021, at 16.00-17.00 GMT.