Workshops

Diversity—including neurodiversity—is an expected and valuable aspect of the modern post-secondary education institution. Awareness of neurodivergence, such as students with autism, learning disabilities, ADHD, and mental health concerns, is also on the rise. As such, faculty and staff are becoming more attuned to various student needs in the postsecondary environment, and many higher education professionals are eager to learn how to better support this population, particularly autistic students. This multi-workshop series is designed to answer many common questions about neurodivergence, as well as provide strategies for creating inclusive and welcoming environments. 

Diversity—including neurodiversity—is an expected and valuable aspect of the modern post-secondary education institution. To that end, students are becoming more comfortable disclosing various neurodivergent diagnoses. As such, faculty and staff are becoming more attuned to various student needs in the educational environment. One student group, autistic students, is rapidly increasing on college campuses, and many higher education professionals are eager to learn how to better support this population. This workshop is designed to answer many common questions about autism, as well as provide strategies for creating inclusive and welcoming environments for autistic students.

Neurodivergence and executive function are two topics currently receiving a lot of attention separately from one another, but have you ever thought about how they go together? In this session, we’ll explore the connections between three neurodivergent diagnoses—LD, ADHD, and Autism—to better understand how they commonly intersect with executive function within the post-secondary environment. We’ll cover two executive function models to understand how neurodivergence is connected to EF, as well as how EF can show us the “WAI” to success. The latter portion of the session will be devoted to a variety of strategies that can be suggested to students, implemented through coaching/skills programs, or used in your own life! This session is designed to be interactive, and numerous experiential activities will be interwoven throughout. Attendees will walk away with both ideas and a hard copy (or digital) artifact to add to their Disability Resource Office toolbox.

The modern classroom is more diverse than ever, and many educators are eager to understand how to support a wide variety of students on their path to independence and success as self-driven and self-motivated learners. While awareness is increasing around various specific neurodivergent diagnoses, executive function difficulties are often at the heart of observed instructor concerns regardless of formal diagnosis. This workshop will explore the intersection of Executive Function and Universal Design for Learning as a lens to both support diversity and foster expert learner behaviors that are the goal of all educators. Content will cover a combination of theory and classroom connection, followed by strategies with an emphasis on real-world application.

Regulating cognitive processes and behavior (also known as executive function) is an important aspect of living a successful life, no matter an individual’s age. While skill development in these areas is expected to vary across populations based on many factors, for children who experience chronic stress, progress around these types of executive functions is often disrupted. Compounding matters, stress may also mask skills that are truly intact, but inaccessible due to the brain’s focus on other more basic physical and emotional needs. Part 1 of this 2 half-day workshop series will aim to educate attendees on typical executive function development, the impact of stress, strategies to support age-appropriate behaviors in teens and young adults, and information related to allyship and K12 support systems/resources. Content will cover a combination of theory and its connection to observable behaviors, followed by activities focused on deeper learning with an emphasis on real-world application.

Universal Design is at the heart of a world that is inherently inclusive, accessible, and equitable. Many organizations are aware of UD and its importance but are not sure of how to move forward in its application. The task of effectively rolling out UD to an entire institution can be daunting, even for institutions already knowledgeable about UD. To help continue to propel your institution forward in its mission to implement UD at all levels, LCIRT will create a workshop that focus on both large-scale rollout and small scale real-world application. Attendees will experience facilitated work groups to set realistic goals, identify ways to assess and evaluate progress, and work backward from their goal to create a path to success. In addition to this large-concept guidance, a second workshop will include more detailed small-scale UD application that is applicable to all college personnel regardless of their specific role: communication of directions, guidelines, notifications, and expectations to/of the campus community, whether working in administration, student services, or within academics.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for creating learning experiences that are accessible to all learners. Technology can be a powerful tool for supporting UDL. There are many different technology tools available that can be used to provide multiple means of representation, action, and engagement. This workshop explores how to use technology tools to implement UDL in your teaching. We will discuss a variety of technology tools, including:

• Assistive technology tools that can help learners with disabilities access the curriculum
• Digital learning tools that can provide different ways to present information and interact with content

We will also discuss how to choose the right technology tools for your learners and how to integrate them into your teaching.

Universal Design (UD) is a critical aspect of providing an inclusive, accessible educational experience for the richly diverse learners of the modern classroom, particularly as it relates to Executive Functioning (EF) support. This workshop will introduce the concepts of both UD and EF in order to help educators better understand how to best support neurotypical and neurodivergent students, alike. Content delivery will focus on the foundational building blocks of both concepts prior to transitioning into activities focused on deeper learning with an emphasis on real-world application.

Independent application of academic strategies is a critical aspect of success in the post-secondary environment, yet many students arrive on college campuses lacking foundational academic skills knowledge. By understanding the fundamentals of learning cognition, campus partners can not only help develop these skills, but help foster strategies that are both effective and long-lasting. This workshop is designed to help education professionals understand foundations for supporting skills development in the students they work with. 

The incorporation of documentation into the accommodations-approval process is an important aspect of Disability Resource Office (DRO) work. This workshop will focus on psychoeducational evaluations, and their utility in the accommodations decision making process. Content will focus on psychoeducational evaluations’ purpose, commonly utilized tools, typical written report structure, and methodology to understand reported scores. The workshop will culminate with an application-based activity focused on a Customer-provided redacted psychoeducational evaluation.

Making accommodation decisions is a balance of art and science, though consistency in approach within multi-staffed offices and/or multi-campus institutions is critical. In this regard, this workshop will present a suggested 3-step framework approach to decision making in the post-secondary Disability Resource Office. Content will focus on the three foundational questions to consider, as well as include an overview of a values matrix followed by a facilitated completion activity. The workshop will culminate with an application-based scenario activity utilizing one or two Customer-provided scenarios (dependent on the final number of attendees).

Psychoeducational evaluations are a common sight in many Disability Resource Offices, and they come in many shapes and sizes with varying degrees of helpful interpretations and narratives. But have you ever wondered how evaluators make sense of scores in these evaluations? Or perhaps questioned how a score of 10 on one subtest and a score of 100 on a different subtest can mean the same thing? Or wished you could look at a table of scores and find basic meaning without a sense of overwhelm? If so, this session is for you! While we can’t cover years of graduate level training in an hour, you can learn the basics behind scores by utilizing a simple conversion tool to turn all scores into a number that has immediate meaning: a percentile. After learning the conversion process, we’ll practice using a percentile visualization tool to visually plot scores for further understanding.

Neurodiverse employees are a valuable asset to all organizations, though their potential is often less than maximized as an accidental result of workspaces that are not fully accessible and inclusive. This presentation will help employers understand how to support neurodiverse workers through the implementation of universal design and the cultivation of inclusive work culture. Emphasis will be placed on real-world strategies and techniques that can be immediately implemented in order to increase job satisfaction, productivity, and employee retention.