Not every student learns the same.
This seemingly simple concept lies at the heart of the term neurodiversity, which refers to differences in the brain’s form or function that impact how people receive, process, and respond to information.
Diagnoses such as autism, attention deficity/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, dyslexia, developmental language disorder, dyspraxia, and others, which fall under the umbrella term neurodiversity, have affected people throughout the ages. But the term neurodiversity itself has been in existence for less than 30 years and is still not widely understood.
That could explain why there’s such a broad range of strategies used to motivate and engage neurodiverse students at school and in the learning process. Experts address some of the more well-known ones, and provide insight into what might work best.
What is a deficits-based approach to teaching neurodivergent students versus a strengths-based approach?
Teachers historically have taken a “deficits-based” approach to teaching students with learning diagnoses. That means they see and assess neurodivergent students based on their skill gaps as compared to their neurotypical peers, experts say.
This stands in direct contrast to a “strengths-based” approach, which embraces the concept of neurodiversity and acknowledges the positive attributes of all students—including those who struggle to learn in traditional formats.
The increasingly common catchphrase, “disability is a superpower,” takes the strengths-based concept a step further by encouraging neurodiverse students to take a favorable view of their learning differences.
Such drastically divergent approaches to neurodiversity can be confusing to classroom teachers aiming to find meaningful ways to support neurodiverse students. Many education experts advise that teachers should take a “middle-of-the-road” stance, espousing the benefits of a strengths-based approach to teaching neurodiverse students while cautioning against referring too readily to neurodiverse diagnoses as “superpowers.”
Should a learning disability be seen as a ‘superpower’?
Emma Cole, a pediatric neuropsychologist in the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s department of neuropsychology and school programs, advises adults to use caution when suggesting to children that their disability is a “superpower.”
Disabilities, she said, come with traits that can make life more difficult, and require more effort, time, and perseverance; students with dyslexia, for instance, often find reading a painstaking process.
“They [disabilities] require you to do things in a little bit of a non-traditional way,” she said.
Ben Shifrin, head of Jemicy School in Owings Mills, Md., a private school that serves students with dyslexia and other related language-based learning differences, also stops short of referring to students’ learning disabilities as their superpowers.
“FMRI [functional magnetic resonance imaging] studies have proven that these kids process information differently; thus, they see the world differently,” he told Education Week last year. “We don’t deny that reading is hard for these kids. We don’t gloss over it.”
How can educators present a balanced perspective of neurodiversity?
Cole shares Shifrin’s balanced perspective of neurodiversity.
“I really prefer to look at these differences in terms of strengths and weaknesses,” Cole said, suggesting that when a professional explains the diagnosis of a disability to a child for the first time, the explanation includes a mention of both.
Cole encourages continuing this balanced approach beyond the initial diagnosis.
“We can take a strengths-based perspective and capitalize on those strengths while also helping students to understand what their weaknesses are, and what helps them with their weaknesses,” she said.
Students’ eventual ability to identify their academic weaknesses independently and know how to ask for support puts them on a path toward self-advocacy, an important strategy throughout their education, Cole explained.
What keeps more teachers and schools from using a strengths-based approach to teaching neurodivergent students?
As a former elementary teacher who is now an assistant professor of teacher education and elementary education at Saint Louis University, Sheldon C. McAfee believes in the value of a strengths-based approach to learning. He experienced it firsthand.
As a student with dyslexia, he had a teacher in elementary school who encouraged him to give oral reports because he was a strong storyteller but a weak reader and writer. It helped him become better at both reading and writing.
Claire O’Connor and Anthony Warren, both 12th graders at Jemicy School, share similar experiences.
Bringing interactive components into a lesson, as opposed to reading from a text, has helped him engage in school work, Anthony said. Claire agrees, listing collaborative hands-on projects and oral presentations as classroom strategies that have allowed her to demonstrate her knowledge of a subject.
Several obstacles keep teachers from implementing a strengths-based approach with neurodiverse students, McAfee said. The method requires teachers to know their students individually and be aware of their weaknesses and strengths. But with often large class sizes, rigid requirements related to standardized assessments, growing safety concerns, and other challenges, most teachers now don’t have the time or training to provide the individualized attention to students that a strengths-based approach to teaching requires, he said.
He also believes that too few educators receive training on strengths-based learning, during teacher-prep programs or while on the job.
“I think we need to give teachers and other related staff more training on how to work with these students,” McAfee said. “There’s a lot of professional development now around [diversity, equity, and inclusion] as well as culture building, but we’ve got to add strengths-based education to the fray.”
How can teachers better support neurodiverse students, even with limited resources?
Kennedy Krieger’s Cole suggests that schools lean on existing district resources, such as access to speech and occupational therapists, to support classroom teachers in meeting students’ individual needs.
“As we push for greater inclusion, we need to provide our teachers with more support, and that includes collaboration among the related service providers,” Cole said.
Cole also recommends that teachers model the strengths-based approach for students by sharing a little about themselves.
“We need to really keep our empathy skills in tip-top shape, and to show students [this strength-based approach] through modeling,” Cole said. “Tell students: These are the things that I do well. These are the things that I have difficulty with, and this is how I work with it.”
