Prep for Meetings (Chronological)

For Friday, April 28 – Final miniFPLC Meeting

Hello All, 

We’re looking forward to our final miniFPLC meeting on Friday, 4/28. In our final meeting, we’ll discuss next steps for supporting and celebrating neurodiversity at UNE. 

This week’s homework: 

First, please complete this quick form by Wednesday, 4/26, to help us gain a sense for what direction to take Friday’s discussion. 

Next, imagine yourself possibly joining a subcommittee whose task it is to identify objectives, outcomes, and action steps related to supporting and celebrating neurodiversity at UNE. 🙂 Subcommittees could be structured around topics we’ve explored in our miniFPLC: ADHD, Executive Skills, Self-Advocacy, Self-Regulation and Motivation, Social Justice, Learning Disabilities, Intersectionality. Or you may have other ideas about a possible subcommittee you’d want to join. 

Choose a possible subcommittee (or more than one) and explore: 

  • What are the objectives of the subcommittee?
  • What are the outcomes (tasks to accomplish objectives)?
  • What changes do I envision around this topic within my own work, within my department, at UNE?

If you have other thoughts around next steps, please jot down your ideas!

Here are some inspiring stories to keep you motivated:

Amanda Gorman sees her speech impediment as a gift (at very least start at minute 5:15)

Molly Seidel describes ADHD as a successful component to being a marathon runner

Emei Thompson describes how she has creative study processes because of her experiences with dyslexia

See you on Friday!

Sarah and Allison 

For Friday, April 21 – Seventh Meeting

Hello All!

We are really looking forward to connecting with you again this Friday.  This week we’re going to focus on ways in which neurodiversity intersects with other marginalized identities.

To prepare for Friday, please

  • See attached for this week’s reflective questions. (See below.)

Resources to explore

Looking forward to Friday,

Sarah, Allison, Shannon and Andrea

Exploring-Neurodiversity-Worksheet-1Download

For Friday, March 31 – Sixth Meeting

Hello all,

This week we’re going to focus on social justice and LeDerick Horne’s story. 

To prepare for Friday, please

  • Watch LeDerick’s video
  • Read the toolkit pages 40-50 about social justice.  Use this notes page to capture some of your thinking as you read.  We’ll use this same document during our discussion.  The categories came from page 46 of the Toolkit. (Note: If you have trouble accessing the toolkit through our Normal Isn’t Real portal, you can also find it on the eportfolio.)
  • Help us collect your contact information so group members can reach out to you when we want to continue to collaborate outside of our Friday meetings.

Discussion questions to consider

 LeDerick’s story 

  • After watching LeDerick perform, were you surprised to hear he has LD and struggled in school? If so, why was it surprising to you? Do you have any talented students who have LD? If so, how do you help them shine? 
  • Boxing helps LeDerick keep his depression in check. What helps you manage the stresses in your life?  
  • LeDerick talks about some of his strategies for managing his life- e.g. typing letters so he can spell check before handwriting thank-you notes. What are some of the strategies you use to work around your own challenges? 
  • LeDerick wishes he knew about his powerful voice earlier in life. What can you do to help your students find power in themselves?  
  • When he was in school, LeDerick was terrified of being publicly embarrassed by having to read aloud. What do you do to make sure your students don’t experience that worry? 
  • LeDerick attributes his depression more to the way society treated him because of his LD  than to the LD itself. How can schools work against this stigma? What do you do to foster the development of self esteem in your students? What MORE can you do? 
  • LeDerick says, “I didn’t become successful in spite of having a learning disability; I think I’m a success because I have a learning disability.” How can you help your students recognize and harness the benefits of their learning differences?  
  • When he talks with the students, LeDerick models giving himself permission to make mistakes. What else can you do to encourage risk-taking within your classroom?  
  • What other questions or thoughts does LeDerick’s story raise for you? 

Social Justice 

After reading Toolkit p. 40-50, can you

• Describe the historical evolution of treatment of people with disabilities in our country 

• Identify important markers of change regarding disabilities 

• Explain the concept of ableism 

• Describe the various models of disability, including the medical and social models 

• Explain the concept of social justice as it relates to neurodiversity

Additional resources to explore

Explore LeDerick’s YouTube Channel

Social Justice

Learning Disabilities

Looking forward to seeing you on Friday,

Allison and Sarah

For Friday, March 24 – Fifth Meeting

Hello Everyone,

We hope you had a relaxing and/or productive spring break week! We look forward to continuing our conversation about neurodiversity this Friday, 3/24. This week we will focus on Nicole’s story.

To prepare for Friday, please:

  • Watch Nicole’s story. You may also wish to check out the discussion questions below – before and/or after you watch Nicole’s story.
  • Transport yourself back to when you were 18-21 years old. As your younger self, answer this brief survey on self-regulation and motivation. After you finish the survey, follow the prompts to save a PDF of (and/or print) your answers. 
  • If/when you have a little extra time, add some thoughts to the discussion in our ePortfolio (you’ll see a handful of prompts there. . .please add to any of the threads!)

Questions to consider:

Self-regulation and motivation

  • Review how you rated the self-regulation survey statements. What self-regulation skills were strengths for you as an 18-21 year old?  What skills were hard for you?
  • What self-regulation skills are strengths for you now?  How did you build them? What skills are still hard for you?
  • Do you feel comfortable talking about what you are good at? Why or why not? 
  • How do the topics of self-regulation and motivation fit into our conversations about neurodiversity? 

Thinking about Nicole’s story

  • Why does losing one’s self-confidence lead to lack of motivation? Why does this particularly affect those who are neurodivergent?
  • Why did Nicole lose her confidence?  How did she build back her self-confidence? 
  • Nicole interpreted the extra help she got at recess and at other times as signs she was a “bad kid or not smart enough.” How can you help the students you serve perceive their needs in a less negative light?  
  • At her Career Technical program, Nicole discovered that she had an unexpected gift for doing other people’s hair. How can you help students discover any gifts they might have?  
  • When Nicole decided to start her own business, she recognized she needed someone with good management skills as a partner. She also needed some help with written communication, (including proofreading her emails), as well as organization. What kind of person would you need to help you work around your challenges? 
  • Nicole notes strengths in coloring hair and creating formulas, confidence, and advocating for help. Some of Nicole’s challenges related to executive function (EF) include spelling, breaking down projects into smaller tasks (i.e., chunking), emotional regulation during challenging times, and, sometimes, initiation. To overcome her challenges, Nicole asked for support from her business partner Gia Clarke. Imagine Gia was out of the salon on vacation for a week and an issue came up that required Nicole to completely alter all schedules for the styling team. What strategies might Nicole be able to employ in order to overcome some of her challenges related to EF so that she can complete this project?   
  • Nicole says, “My mom will hug you through the obstacle; my dad will push you over the obstacle.” Which approach do you tend to take? Is it effective? 
  • Nicole felt pressure to be perfect, to make her parents proud, to be better than her peers, to be better than her siblings. What would you tell young Nicole, if you could, to lessen the pressure she was placing on herself? 
  • What other questions or thoughts does Nicole’s story raise for you?   

Optional resources to explore:

Toolkit resources

Explore learning disabilities at LD Online

Understood.org

Theories of motivation 

Understanding self-esteem 

Revisit executive skills resources in our eportfolio

See you Friday,Sarah and Allison

Spring Break! See you for our Fifth Meeting on 3/24

Hello Everyone, 

We hope you’re enjoying a wonderful week!

Sadly, we have a conflict this Friday, 3/10, so our miniFPLC will NOT meet this week. We also won’t meet the following week, as many of us will be enjoying spring break. 😎 We’ll send a calendar invite to add a meeting on 4/28. 

We have a little homework for you in the next couple weeks, so we can continue to explore neurodiversity together. 

Over the past four weeks, our group has taken a lot of notes to capture our thoughts about neurodiversity, ADHD, executive skills, and self-advocacy – and we’ve explored a ton of resources. There may be resources you’ve yet to explore, or perhaps you’ve wanted to return to our notes but haven’t yet had a chance. Here’s your opportunity! 

We’ve just added a Discussion tab to our ePortfolio. You’ll see there are four different discussion posts you might respond to, with a variety of prompts to inspire you. Please post as much as you’d like, and, if you’d like, return to respond to other folks. 

We’re hopeful that our ePortfolio becomes a dynamic space to expand our conversation, dive more deeply into some of the topics we’re exploring, and inspire planning for our celebration of neurodiversity in October. 

Let us know what questions you have. We look forward to your thoughts and reflections! 

See you on 3/24. 🙂

Sincerely, Sarah and Allison

For Friday, March 3 – Fourth Meeting

Hello Everyone, 

We hope you’re having a good week and enjoying the snow!

In our miniFPLC meeting this week, we’ll discuss Audrey’s story (the 2nd story in Normal Isn’t Real), including the broader topic of self-advocacy and how we can help all students build self-advocacy skills in college.

Required Pre-work: 

  • Watch Audrey’s story. (Optional: check out the discussion questions below ahead of time – or afterward to help jog your memory.)
  • Check out The World of Learners Wheel (Osterholt & Dennis, 2014) and reflect a bit on how you/we might use its components to teach self-advocacy skills to students at UNE.
  • If you’d like, please add to last week’s notes! We’ll keep the slides open until Friday for any additions before we add a PDF of the notes to our ePortfolio.

Optional Resources to Explore:

Exploring Neurodiversity at UNE ePortfolio

LeDerick reflects on self-advocacy (video)

The Four Domains of Learning (video -Landmark College)

Learning Project #1: Self-Advocacy (Toolkit p 53-58) 

Cultivating Self-Advocacy for All Students on College Campuses

Landmark Self-Advocacy Pamphlet 

Toolkit page 17-27: Learning Disabilities 

Types of learning disorders: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder  

Historical timeline of learning disorders: https://www.ldonline.org/ld-topics/about-ld/timeline-learning-disabilities  

Lyon, R. (1993). Why reading is not a natural process. Retrieve from http://www.ascd.org/publications/ 

educational-leadership/mar98/vol55/num06/Why-Reading-Is-Not-a-Natural-Process.aspx  

The Art of Learning Differently (video – Landmark College) 

Discussion Questions to Consider:

  • How do we support students with developing self-advocacy skills? 
  • Audrey acted out and had anxiety attacks as a result of the frustration she felt over her difficulties in school. How can you help students like Audrey keep from escalating when they become frustrated?  
  • Audrey’s teacher notes how important it is “to learn how you learn.” How do you help your students identify their learning strengths and accommodations that will help them work around their challenges?  
  • Audrey excelled at soccer, even as she struggled so painfully in school. What can you do to engage students like Audrey, who have such discrepancies in their skill sets?  
  • Audrey has learned to ask for help when she needs it, what to ask for, and whom to ask. Do you feel confident your students can self-advocate as Audrey does? If not, what more can you do to help them develop this essential skill?  
  • Audrey recognizes the accommodations that help her do her best – extra time, a separate room, a reader. “It’s like glasses- [with accommodations], I see everything just clear.” How do we at UNE support students to get the accommodations they need? 
  • Audrey says “It’s cool to be different.” What do you think happened that made a formerly angry, anxious child feel this way? 
  • What other questions or thoughts does Audrey’s story raise for you? 

Look forward to seeing you on Friday! 🙂 

Sarah and Allison

For Friday, February 24 – Third Meeting

Hello Everyone, 

We hope you’ve had a great week so far!

This week, our miniFPLC meeting will involve discussion around our own executive skills strengths and challenges, aimed toward helping us better answer the question, “What’s my normal?” – or “What do I need to be fully ME?”

Required pre-work:

So we can begin to engage this topic in a meaningful way, please take 10-15 minutes between now and Friday to complete this executive skills questionnaire created by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare, authors of Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents and the Smart but Scattered books. Please also read the authors’ definitions of the twelve executive skills assessed in the questionnaire and anything else on the page. (Part of the reason we’re directing you to this site, aside from the fact that this useful questionnaire is here, is because this is also a pretty cool advocacy site for autism.) Once you submit the questionnaire and get your results, press the blue “Download PDF” button (below your results) and save the PDF to your files. We’ll use our results for our first activity!

Optional resources to explore:

Check out our ePortfolio, Exploring Neurodiversity at UNE! 😎 – Please add to this content! We’ll cycle back to our notes to “note-make” as we go along.  

Watch other video clips, “What’s Your Normal?” 

https://www.normalisntreal.com/whats-your-normal-1

NIR Toolkit page 34 – categories of executive skills 

What is executive function and why do we need it? (video) (explore other videos from How to ADHD if you’re inspired!) 

Executive function and self-regulation 

What is executive function? 

‘Procrastination-friendly’ academe needs more deadlines (Susan D’Agostino) 

Discussion Questions to Consider: 

Questions from Peg Dawson, following the executive skills questionnaire: 

-Look at your strengths (your three highest scores). 

      How do you use them on the job? 

      Are they skills that your job requires you to use frequently? 

      Do they impact how you manage your home or tasks outside of work? 

-Look at your weaknesses (your three lowest scores). 

      Do these make some aspects of your work challenging? 

      Have you figured out coping strategies to compensate for those weaknesses? 

      Are there strategies you think might help you improve those skills? 

Relating to Dave’s Experience:

-How are you like Dave?  How are you different? 

-What executive skills challenges did Dave exhibit that you could relate to? 

 -Dave uses knitting to help him sit still.  What strategies do you use? 

 -Dave says he no longer is “in constant conflict with this invisible thing.” How do you accept your own limitations as only a PIECE of who you are? 

 -Dave has troubles with organization. What has helped him manage? What helps YOU manage your time and space? Is there a “co-pilot” in your life? 

Look forward to seeing you all on Friday!

Sarah and Allison

For Friday, February 17 – Second Meeting

Hello everyone,

We hope you’ve had a chance to watch the beginning of the film Normal Isn’t Real, including Dave’s story.  (You can access the film and toolkit here .)

Here are some additional resources and discussion questions you might want to explore before our meeting on Friday.

Resources

To explore terms and definitions related to neurodiversity

To learn more about ADHD

To explore the role of teachers and parents in higher ed

Discussion questions

  • What language do we use (or should we use) to talk about neurodiversity?
  • What language do we use (or should we use) to talk specifically about ADHD?
  • Is ADHD a superpower?
  • What have you noticed about our UNE students with ADHD?  What has concerned you?  What successes have you seen?

Reflecting on Dave’s experience:

  • Dave says he no longer is “in constant conflict with this invisible thing.” How can we help students embrace their challenges as only a PIECE of who they are? 
  • How could you find ways to capitalize on the strengths of students like Dave and work around their weaknesses?  
  • Dave has found a nontraditional organizational system that works for him. What can you do to help students organically find systems they can “own” with regard to schoolwork? Can you find a way to be an effective “co-pilot” or to provide another person who can play that role with students who struggle with organization?  
  • Dave’s dad says his son’s desire to do something with his life led him back to a productive path. Do you think this is a universal desire? If so, how can teachers help students feel they’re on that path even when faced with daily challenges in school? 
  • How did Dave’s story help you think about the relationship between neurodivergence and substance abuse / homelessness / resilience / family relationships?
  • What other questions or thoughts does Dave’s story raise for you? 
  • Have you worked with students at UNE who have similar stories to Dave’s?

Looking forward to seeing you on Friday,

Sarah and Allison

For Friday, February 10 – First Meeting

We are excited for our first miniFPLC meeting, Exploring Neurodiversity at UNE, this Friday at 12:30pm!

Our weekly meetings will center around the Normal Isn’t Real film and toolkit that we will introduce to you on Friday.  If you have time and interest ahead of the meeting, please explore any of the resources and guiding questions we’ve included below (not required as pre-work). 

We look forward to exploring neurodiversity with you!

Resources

Neurodiversity in a Nutshell (video) 

Neuroplasticity (video) 

Playing to our Strengths (TED-Talk video) 

Neurodiversity – An insider’s perspective.pdf

The Myth of the Normal Brain-Embracing Neurodiversity.pdf

Guiding questions for our discussion

  1. Why is it important for you to participate in a weekly discussion about neurodiversity?
  2. What do you need in order to be fully YOU?
  3. All people have areas of strength and areas that they can improve upon. How do you work with students to help them learn about their strengths and areas of challenge? 
  4. We regularly celebrate diversity in educational settings. Have you ever celebrated neurodiversity in an educational setting? If you have, how did you go about celebrating neurodiversity in your department? How did you celebrate neurodiversity institution-wide? How might you celebrate neurodiversity in the future? 
  5.  For some students, decoding words in math assignments may take up extra space that otherwise would have been devoted to solving equations. For other students, anxiety or trauma may be restricting their cognitive space. Think about your students. What might be restricting their cognitive space?  
  6.  What can you do to help one student be better prepared to learn in your   class?  
  7.  What do you hope to get out of the next 8 weeks of discussion about   neurodiversity?

See you on Friday!

Sarah and Allison

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