I’ve been working in Online and Distance Education for twenty years, and in that time I’ve watched online teaching take shape as a mainstream mode of distance education. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that a lot of teachers are understandably uncertain about how to make their teaching more accessible to neurodivergent students who might have a range of different – and even conflicting – needs.

So here are my top tips for neuroinclusive online teaching, drawn from two decades of trial and error – and from a lifetime of being autistic myself!

1. Offer materials in multiple formats

Realistic neuroinclusive teaching objectives recognise that one size doesn’t fit all, because every student will have different needs. So the best thing we can do as teachers is to provide lots of choice, to enable each student to engage with the material in a way that works for them.

You might consider: 

•    sending out slides with alt text for any images 
•    making a recording and transcript of live events 
•    recapping main points in an empty-room recording 
•    creating a summary hand-out 
•    providing catch-up suggestions 
•    sending out a short quiz
•    or offering follow-up links for students who want to extend their knowledge. 

You don’t have to do everything, of course – nobody would expect that! It’s fine to opt for the quickest and easiest add-ons, like turning a couple of your slides into a summary handout. Your neurodivergent students will benefit from any additional formats that you’re able to provide.

2. Avoid surprises

Neurodiversity brings a heavy weight of anxiety with it, particularly in the online classroom. Neurodivergent students worry about being asked a question, about working in groups, about not being able to keep up, and about being exposed as the impostors they feel they are.

The best thing you can do for those students is to build an awareness of anxiety into your approach – and remember to avoid surprises! 

Always tell your students in advance about what you’re going to cover and (crucially) what they’ll be expected to do, so that they won’t worry about being caught off guard. Send out advance slides or handouts whenever you can, so that they can prepare if they want to. Encourage students to contact you if they think they might not be able to take part in whatever you’ve planned – and work with those students to find an acceptable alternative.

3. Understand attention patterns

We all know that most students can’t maintain full concentration for an hour and a half without their attention wandering. That’s just not how human brains work! But for neurodivergent students, attention patterns can be much more unpredictable because they can vary day by day, or according to the student’s stress level or general health. So it’s good to plan ahead and give yourself a menu of adjustments you can deploy if the session doesn’t seem to be running smoothly for everyone.

Adjustments might include:

•    regular breaks for students to take care of their physical needs 
•    keeping cameras switched off so that students can listen while stretching or stimming 
•    or alternating activities which involve a high level of concentration with more frivolous or low-demand activities.

4. Assume neurodiversity

It’s easy to assume that the only neurodivergent people in the online room are the few who’ve officially declared a disability or an additional need. But that’s definitely not the case!

There may be a lot of students (current estimates suggest at least 1 in 7) in your online room who are neurodivergent. But they won’t all be diagnosed; and they won’t all tell you that their needs aren’t being met.

Many neurodivergent people remain undiagnosed for years. Some will never seek a diagnosis because there are too many barriers; others will be denied one due to their gender, race or ability to mask. Some of your students may pursue a diagnosis, only to be told that they’ve been put on a 10-year waiting list.

There’s an intersectional issue at play here too – because regardless of diagnosis, not everybody can admit to needing adjustments.

In your classroom and your subject area, there may be groups of students who might not be willing to admit to neurodivergent study difficulties. In a male-dominated subject, for instance, a female student may feel that she can’t risk showing weakness. Or in a subject with a reputation for elitism, a working-class student might feel like they already stand out too much. Any student who feels like an outsider is likely to be wary about asking for help.

That’s why any adjustments you make should be options open to every student, not just to those with a diagnosis, or who are willing to admit to finding things difficult. You never know which students will benefit from your advance slides, or your webcam switch-off breaks, or the transcript that you generate and send out to everyone.

5. Validate all types of learning

Neurodivergent students may have been told for many years that they’re not learning in the ‘right’ way, because their approach to learning doesn’t fit mainstream teaching. So it’s not surprising that many neurodivergent students feel deeply insecure about how they learn.

You can go a long way towards improving their situation by a simple validation of different types of learning.

Tell your quiet students that it’s ok to learn by listening, reading and reflecting. Let other students know that it’s fine to need frequent repetition of key points, because some learning is iterative. Model different ways of processing and retaining information. Show your students that a neurodiverse learning community has diverse learning methods – and that should be a strength, not a source of shame!

These are all suggestions of things that you could try – but really, neuroinclusive online teaching isn’t complicated. It doesn’t require any fancy software or new skills. All it needs is three qualities: understanding, acceptance and kindness.