Aspects of neurodiversity

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• Aspects of neurodiversity

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Aim

• a brief overview of characteristics associated
  with particular labels
• an exploration of inclusive practice
• a social model perspective
• a health warning about individuality
• Contact
• n.martin_at_lse.ac.uk

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Task

• think about media portrayals of people with
  labels (e.g. in 'Super Nanny or The
  Undateables)
• characterise as positive / negative
• consider the terms 'othering' and
• 'stereotyping'
• think about this in the context
• of the media

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An exercise in empathy

• Sir John Prescott 11 plus failure

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Think about

• what is your learner style?
• what strategies does your context employ to
  ensure that every person feels included?
• how would you define inclusive practice?
• what sort of barriers do you think people
  labelled with.might
• experience?
• what is working well now?

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Autism-Leo Kanner-1943
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Symptoms

• profound lack of affective contact with other
  people
• an anxiously obsessive desire for the
  preservation of sameness
• fascination for objects, which are handled with
  skill in fine motor movements
• language use that does not seem to be for inter -
  personal communication

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Hans Asperger-1944
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Asperger

• 1944
• older children and adolescents
• odd in appearance
• clumsy
• single minded
• perturbed by the unexpected
• areas of particular interest

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• idiosyncratic expressions
• active but eccentric initiator of
• social interchanges
• Reference Asperger, H. (1944) Autistic
  psychopathy
• translated by Uta Frith in Frith, U. (1991) (ed)
  
• Autism and Asperger Syndrome. Cambridge
• Cambridge University Press

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Similarities (Wing, 1981)

• marked preponderance of males
• social isolation and lack of empathy
• impaired communication skills and use of speech
  for reciprocal conversation
• impairments in non-verbal communication
• limited flexibility in social imaginative play

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Similarities (Wing, 1981)

• repetitive and stereotyped behaviours and
  resistance to change
• unusual responses to sensory stimuli
• gross motor clumsiness and maybe abnormal gait
• disruptive behaviours
• uneven pattern of developmentmaybe particular
  skill areas

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Differences (Howlin, 1998)

• Kanner
• cognitive impairment
• little or no speech
• Avoidance of social contact
• limited independence

• Asperger
• average or above average intelligence
• well developed vocabularies, poor conversation
  skills and problems with abstract thought
• often quite disinhibited socially
• many examples of high achievement in later life

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Triad of Impairments (Wing, 1988)

• from Wing and Goulds 1979 study
• Impairment of social relationships /social
  communication /social understanding and
  imagination
• Reference Wing, L. (1988) The continuum of
  autistic characteristics in Schopler, E. and
  Mesibov, G. (eds) Diagnosis and assessment in
  autism. New York Plenum Press

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Medical vs Social Model (Oliver,1990)

• is autism a disability?
• always?
• is it always the person
• with the autism label who has to
  who has to change?
  
  

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Representations of autism
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References

• Howlin, P. (1998) Children with Autism and
  Asperger Syndrome a guide for practitioners
  and parents. Chichester Wiley
• Martin, N. (2008)REAL services to assist
  university students who have AS. NADP Technical
  briefing. (10/08)
• Martin, N.(2008) A template for improving
  provision for students with AS in FE and HE. NADP
  Technical briefing. (10/08)
• Martin, N. (2008).Empathy is a two way street.
  Pollak. Neurodiversity in HE
• Wing, L. (1996) The Autistic Spectrum. London
  Constable

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Dyslexia-Info from BDA

• Primary school age
• particular difficulty with reading and spelling
• reversal of letters / figures
• difficulty remembering tables, alphabet,
  formulae etc.
• leaves letters out of words or changes order
• occasionally confuses 'b' and 'd' and words such
  as 'no/on'
• uses fingers or marks on paper for simple
  calculations
• poor concentration
• reading comprehension problems
• takes longer than average to do written work
• slower processing speed

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Primary school age non-language indicators

• difficulty with tying shoe laces and dressing
• confusion about left - right, order of days,
  months etc.
• poor sense of direction and still confuses left
  and right
• lacks confidence and has a poor self image
  despite having obvious ability in some areas

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Aged 12 or over

• still reads inaccurately
• difficulties in spelling
• needs instructions and telephone numbers repeated
• gets 'tied up' using long words, e.g.
  'preliminary', 'philosophical'
• confuses places, times, dates
• confused with planning and writing essays
• slow processing for complex language or long
  series of instructions
• Aged 12 or over non-language indicators
• loosing self confidence and self-esteem
• despite areas of strength and ability
• developing history of negative experiences
• to coincide with adolescence
•  
• gt 

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Adulthood

• consider barriers which persist for adults with
  dyslexia-come up with a list
• consider ways forward -within person and within
  contexts (social model of disability)
• think about self esteem

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Dyspraxia-the dyspraxia foundation

• school age child
• probably still has all the difficulties
  experienced by the pre-school child with
  dyspraxia
• avoids PE and games
• does badly in class but significantly better on a
  one-to -one basis
• reacts to stimuli without discrimination and
  attention span is short
• may have trouble with maths and writing
  structured stories
• experiences great difficulty in copying from the
  blackboard
• writes laboriously and immaturely
• unable to remember /follow instructions
• generally poorly organised

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Access to Work

• how might 'Access to Work' funding help someone
  who has dyspraxia?

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ADHD. Newmours foundation SymptomsADHD used to
be known as attention deficit disorder, or ADD.
In 1994, it was renamed ADHD and broken down into
three subtypes, each with its own pattern of
behaviours

• 1. an inattentive type, with signs that include
• inability to pay attention to details or a
  tendency to make careless errors in schoolwork or
  other activities
• difficulty with sustained attention in tasks or
  play activities
• apparent listening problems
• difficulty following instructions
• problems with organization
• avoidance or dislike of tasks that require mental
  effort
• tendency to lose things like toys, notebooks, or
  homework
• distractibility
• forgetfulness in daily activities

• 2. a hyperactive-impulsive type, with signs that
  include
• fidgeting or squirming
• difficulty remaining seated
• excessive running or climbing
• difficulty playing quietly
• always seeming to be "on the go"
• excessive talking
• blurting out answers before hearing the full
  question
• difficulty waiting for a turn or in line
• problems with interrupting or intruding
• 3. a combined type, which involves a combination
  of the other two types and is the most common

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Task

• from the information you have been given, look
  for the overlaps between the symptoms
• which characteristics could you identify as
  positive?

• which areas of life do you think will prove most
  challenging for people with the labels
  identified here?
• what about the impact of the label itself?

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Top 10 tips

• think of an individual you know who carries one
  of the labels discussed here (respect
  confidentiality-make someone up if you like)

• in very positive language-come up with up to 10
  bullet points which would provide pointers for
  positive helpful interaction with that person

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Personal Statements

• look at the previous exercise and consider in the
  context of an individual writing about themselves

• my name is
• I am good at.
• I find the following situations challenging
• you could help me by
• my positive contribution

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A model

• REAL
• Reliable-make the environment as predictable as
  possible
• Empathic-empathise with the world view-experience
  of the student-'challenging behaviour is usually
  not intended to challenge'. How would you like
  the label?
• Anticipatory -plan transitions carefully, warn of
  changes, develop social opportunities, be
  explicit-say-don't imply
• Logical -rules, consequences, routines,
  consistency

• the REAL model was identified as a way of
  supporting university students who have AS
• how might it apply in your contexts with children
  who have these other labels (or more than one
  label)
• n.martin_at_lse.ac.uk

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Assumptions

• assume-
• organisational difficulties
• low self esteem
• issues with bullying-peer relationships
• what else?

• Consider learner style
• use areas of particular interest as motivators
• use assistive technology

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Social Model

• neurodiverse students will not become
  neurotypical students
• understand everyone as an individual - not a
  stereotype
• build a culture of inclusion
• conflict will make things worse inevitably
• address bruised self esteem and a long history of
  failure by providing age appropriate
  opportunities for success
• it is not about letting them off because they
  can't help it-consequences need to be made
  explicit
• identify, and empathise with what is going on for
  an individual and understand the barriers to
  their inclusion
• look beyond 'in person factors'