Date: Wednesday, December 11, 4:00-5:00 pm ET. Cost: Free for College Autism Network members. $50 for non-members.

Join us for a webinar led by Sarah E. Silverman, Ph.D. Neurodiversity and Universal Design for Learning are often mentioned alongside each other in higher education. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework used to design learning that is accessible to the greatest number of students with less need for individual accommodations. Neurodiversity as a framework and UDL have several major points of agreement: The first is that there is no average or standard when it comes to cognition and learning. UDL frames this in terms of there being no “average learner” and instead focusing on “learner variability.” The Neurodiversity paradigm introduced by Nick Walker suggests that “There is no ‘normal’ or ‘right’ style of human mind, any more than there is one ‘normal’ or ‘right’ ethnicity, gender, or culture,” although some cognitive styles are more marginalized in society than others. Neurodiversity theory and UDL both endeavor to break down this “myth” of normality. This webinar will clarify the areas of overlap between Neurodiversity theory and UDL, and where these two frameworks may disagree or diverge. We will discuss ways in which neurodiversity theory and activism may help to inform and shape the implementation of the UDL to support neurodivergent students, with a specific focus on how communication differences can be respected and honored using UDL.