Dr Alexander Cuthbert, University of Strathclyde. External Liaison and Committee Member for ScotHELD alexander.cuthbert@strath.ac.uk
During the summer of 2021, as part of the redevelopment of our Study Skills provision into a Learner Development Services centre, I started building a new VLE to house our learning and research resources. As part of this project, I wanted to create a space in which to collate materials that explore creative approaches as well as those that addressed neurodivergence directly.
There were three prompts for this approach, two of which relate to my experiences of working with members of the neurodiversity networks at Strathclyde and Glasgow, as well as my time spent 1-2-1 tutoring neurodivergent students (often through numerous years of their university experience). The third prompt was the discussions taking place in ALDinHE’s recently formed Neurodiversity/Inclusivity Community of Practice which offers an ‘informal, supportive environment within which professionals working in and around “Learning Development” can interact and share experiences connected to neurodiversity and inclusivity’. Although recently formed, it is already proving to be a fascinating and well-informed forum.
In contrast to a similar project I conducted for Glasgow’s Disability Service in 2013 which resulted in a text-based pack, I wanted this new resource to be more representative of the diversity of sources that are used by learners who currently engage with creative or divergent approaches. I also wanted students at Strathclyde to know that these resources are what their peers are using; I hope this will also demonstrate the value that our service places on their experiences and insights.
After speaking to the students at Glasgow and Strathclyde for advice, I received an incredible array of recommendations, including apps, software, YouTube creators and channels (inc. academics, neurodivergent learners, activists), and, of course, TED Talks.
There are three things that I’ve learned so far through the process:
It’s not all about the message
What struck me about many of the neurodivergence-specific and academic research channels (such as How to ADHD and Cecile Badenhorst’s) is that the information being shared may be very similar in nature to that elsewhere but the presentation is in forms that really resonates with some learners. Sometimes there isn’t a single definable characteristic that makes a video resource successful, but what appears clear is that differing voices speak to different learners. Diversity matters.
Students are already using very diverse resources
This is possibly the most predicable consequence of asking divergent thinkers for recommendations, but their suggestions really influenced my thinking in ways I couldn’t have foreseen, and the resultant collection is becoming far more eclectic and international in nature than I could have imagined.
Visibility has value in itself
Having had the opportunity (and time) to engage with such a large amount of online content, it has underlined something that I had long suspected, that, as there is so much great content already out there, part of my role should be as a collator, as well as a creator. I’m increasingly sceptical whether making something solely so that it carries an intuitional logo, enhances the experience of learners, and whether it benefits the university to have such resources parked behind an institutional login and buried in an increasingly expanding VLE.
The next phase of the project will be to consult colleagues through ScotHELD, ALDinHE, and ICALLD, so if upon reading this you wish to suggest a resource, please feel free to get in touch – all suggestions will be gratefully received!