Reasonable Adjustments
Reasonable Adjustments are a legal requirement under the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Act requires organisations to make reasonable adjustments and take positive actions to remove the barriers faced by disabled people within their organisations (Citizens Advice). They cover any modifications, adaptations, or alterations that reduce these barriers.
In this section, you can find information about making your teaching and learning environments more accessible for your neurodiverse students. Anticipatory adjustments are those that consider the needs of the student or person with disabilities rather than having a reactionist approach once someone has been placed at a disadvantage (Arriving at Thriving, 2020).
While these adjustments are essential for many students with a neurodiverse condition, they will also make your teaching more inclusive for all students. There are plenty of reasons why some reasonable adjustments might be in place, so will be different depending on the individual needs of the student.
Process
The decision of what is 'reasonable' is decided on an individual basis by the Disability Team at Warwick. The requirements of the course and what is feasible are considered, however, its main aim is to not put the student at a disadvantage to others. The student is therefore entitled to these adjustments during their studies and these should be enforced. Information about Reasonable Adjustments can be found here, which are helpful to signpost your students to or if you would like more information.
| Situation | What | Why is this helpful for neurodiverse students? |
| Lectures | Lecture Capture or Recording Lectures | Attention control issues, absence, slow note-taking, sensory issues, and long-term health conditions (CFS). |
| Breaks in Lectures | Difficulty maintaining attention for long periods, sensory breaks, reduced anxiety. | |
| Use of fidget toys/headphones | Sensory needs | |
| The presence of a note taker | Support for attention control issues and slow not-taking | |
| Seminars | Clear task instruction | Need clear instructions that are succinct to understand due to slow processing speed, support for others in group work (having something to go back to). |
| Material in Advance | Preparation to concentrate fully, slow reading/processing speed. | |
| Caution with question-directing | Anxiety, struggle to communicate without prior thought, slow processing speed | |
| Assessment | Flexible Deadlines | Some students will take longer to complete assessments, have issues with meeting deadlines or may have fluctuating energy levels that affect completion |
| Extra-time in exams | Slow reading/processing speed, extreme tiredness, exam anxiety | |
| Breaks in exams | Issues with focus or attention, or need to move during exams | |
| Alternative formats | This adjustment can be particularly helpful for students who struggle with reading and writing e.g. using a different fonts types and/or sizes, or providing electronic formats. Some students may need a different format of assessment, e.g. allowing students to provide annotated slides and notes, rather than requesting they present | |
| Presentations and Group Work | Making allowances for lack of eye contact and intonations, allowing use of cue cards/aids | Eye contact may induce stress and anxiety and take away from presentation content, neurodiverse students may not have the same social interferences, short-term memory difficulties |
| Marking | Marking and adjustment for SPLD | Grammar, syntax, etc. can be heavily affected by dyslexia and communication difficulties, SPLD stickers will outline the difficulties students have and these must be acknowledged in marking. |
| Marking guidance for presentations | As eye contact and intonation may be particular areas that some neurodiverse students have difficulties, students should not be marked down for these characteristics in presentations |