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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@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
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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)
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•
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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 development…maybe 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 Gould’s 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
change?
who has to
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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
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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 NONLANGUAGE INDICATORS
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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
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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 SYMPTOMS
ADHD 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-saydon'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@lse.ac.uk
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ASSUMPTIONS
assume• organisational
difficulties
• low self esteem
• issues with bullyingpeer relationships
• Consider learner style
• use areas of particular
interest as motivators
• use assistive technology
what else?
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SOCIAL MODEL
:neurodiverse students will not become neurotypical students
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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'
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