Understanding and Accommodating Neurodiversity in Schools

Discover the importance of understanding and accommodating neurodiversity within teaching and learning, and how to apply adaptive approaches and strategies to support all your students.

Every student is unique, but for our neurodivergent learners, the traditional school environment can present significant challenges.Understanding and supporting neurodiversity can be transformative in reducing barriers to engagement, unlocking the door to optimal learning, and creating a sense of belonging for all students.

It’s especially crucial for identifying, supporting, and enabling students with conditions such as ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia.

In this workshop you will learn some fundamental principles and practical strategies which are easy to apply in your own context to better support your students, and reduce some of the stresses that can accompany teaching a diverse yet under-explored student demographic.

In this session, you will be introduced to key concepts of neurodiversity and how to support learners to:

• Cultivate confidence by recognising diverse strengths
• Extend engagement through inclusive teaching practices
• Optimise environments for different learning styles
• Maximise potential by adapting to individual needs
• Reinforce belonging for all students

This session is for Teachers, Teaching Assistants, School Leaders, and SENDCOs in all phases.

About the facilitator | Dr Martin Bloomfield

Dr Martin Bloomfield is one of the Fouding Directors of Beyond Inclusion Ltd and is a recognised consultant, trainer, lecturer, and speaker on applied ethics, dyslexia awareness, and neurodiversity. He has advised governments, delivered global keynotes, and led thought leadership in Special Educational Needs and inclusion since 2000.

Martin has worked nationally and internationally in neurodiversity awareness, earning a British Council Commendation for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, contributing to the UK Centre for Social Justice, and serving as a Trustee for the Accessible Learning Foundation.

He has driven Europe-wide neurodiversity projects, created the world’s most comprehensive Dyslexia Map, and lectures on Digital Ethics, Ethics and Culture, and Special Educational Needs across Germany, France, and the UK.

Accessing the online event

Following registration for this event you will receive an email from Eventbrite confirming your place. If you do not receive the email within a few minutes, please check your junk or spam folders and check that the correct email address was provided at the time of booking. If you did not create an account at the time of booking or someone else booked on your behalf, you will need to create an Eventbrite account. Open your booking confirmation email, select ‘Claim Your Order’ and then choose a password. Make a note of your email address that was used to make the booking and your new password – you will need these to access the Eventbrite page containing the link to the event.

A minimum of 48 hours before the event begins you will receive another email from Eventbrite containing a direct link to the event and to the Eventbrite Online Event page. Login to Eventbrite, using the same email and password you used to create your account. You will now have access to the online event link and any pre-event materials. This link must not be shared with other people.

Please test the link the day before the event to make sure you can connect. If you need help please email info@otsa.org.uk or call 01865 647999 in good time before the event begins. We will be unable to help during the event itself. Please note, if you unsubscribe from Eventbrite before the event takes place you will not receive any further emails from Eventbrite and therefore will not receive the email with the link to the event.

We do not provide refunds if you are unable to access the event due to technical issues that are beyond our control.

Participation in online events

In all cases, at the beginning of the session to confirm your identity please ensure that your camera is on, your username matches the name you registered with and that you register in ‘chat’ with your first name, second name and organisation. This is for security and registration purposes and we may remove, without refunds, participants who have not confirmed their identity as described above.

Our online events aim to be interactive and at times you may be expected to have your camera and microphone on during the session, although usually your microphone should be muted.

We may use ‘Raised Hands’, ‘Reactions’, ‘Chat’, ‘Polls’, shared whiteboards and shared screens during the session. We may also use ‘Breakout Rooms’ to allow you to work in a smaller group.

This event will not be recorded for copyright and privacy reasons.

Payment

Payment is required at the time of booking by credit card, debit card or Paypal. Unless otherwise stated, a ticket gives admission to one person at face-to-face and online events. In the event that you share an online event link with other people who then attend the event, including sharing your screen, or you arrive at a venue without a ticket and we are able to admit you, we will invoice you or your organisation for additional tickets retrospectively.

Refunds

No refunds will be given with less than 30 days notice.

In the event of a refund request, please note that the Eventbrite booking fee of 6.95% plus 0.59p per ticket is not refundable.

To keep our event fees as low as possible, we are not able to issue invoices for payment by cheque or bank transfer and we are not able to reserve places without payment.

We strongly recommend that you take out ‘event ticket insurance’ which may cover the cost of your fee should you be unable to attend the event.

Technical difficulties

Should an online session encounter any technical difficulties we will do our best to continue with the session, this may be on a different online platform. In the event that we are unable to do this we will rearrange the session, if you are unable to attend the new date a full refund will be given.

Restriction on AI and Automated Participation

Our online training sessions are designed for human participants only. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) bots, automated systems, or any non-human entities to attend, participate in, or interact with the training content is strictly prohibited. We reserve the right to remove any unauthorised participants and take appropriate action if this policy is violated.