Reasonable adjustments are changes that your school or family makes to remove or reduce a disadvantage because of your neurodivergent needs around routine and change. You can ask for reasonable adjustments to be made.
Provide safe and accepting environments where neurodivergent people (both children and adults) can safely and authentically be themselves. This could include understanding and embracing stimming for its benefits for neurodivergent people, educating others (adults and children) on different neurotypes, behaviours and communication styles, and providing support for sensory differences.
Support different communication styles and help children/young people advocate for their communication preferences.
Provide safe, sensory-friendly environments for children/young people who need to escape the sensory overload common in the school setting. These spaces should never be used for punishment.
Work with parents/carers/families to understand why a child/young person’s presentation might be different at home and at school, e.g. ‘the coke bottle effect’ of a child being shaken up all day and then exploding when they get home and open the lid. This pattern of behaviour is often a sign that the child does not feel safe in school to be their authentic self.
Work with the child/young person to RAG rate their school timetable and wider aspects of the day (journey, assemblies, corridors, breaktimes, etc.). The School Stress Survey is a useful tool for this. What changes can be made to things marked as red? Come up with a plan together to enable the child/young person to manage trickier times. This could include things like changes to seating plans, moving between lessons earlier to avoid busy corridors, building in breaks throughout the day to enable them to rest and recharge, supportive sensory strategies such as wearing noise-reducing earbuds, a quiet area to eat lunch, etc.
Avoid setting goals that encourage masking (on EHCs, IEPs, behaviour plans, etc.). Where possible, ask a neurodivergent adult, or someone with specific skills and training such as a school’s Autism Champion, to check any goals you write and make sure they’re not encouraging masking. If in doubt – does your goal encourage a neurodivergent child to act like a neurotypical child in ways that will make them feel uncomfortable? (this could include goals around eye contact, expecting them to tolerate painful (to them) sensory stimuli, wanting a young child to play in a specific (neurotypical) way, or forced compliance).
Remove barriers to comfort and accessibility wherever possible. This could include reasonable adjustments to school uniform (soft black trousers rather than tailored trousers, leggings rather than tights, a polo shirt rather than a formal shirt). A child who feels uncomfortable will not be able to concentrate on learning.
Provide support for people who process things differently and/or more slowly than expected. This could include providing information in writing, with visuals or using video/audio that can be replayed, reducing expectations around quantity of work if understanding can be demonstrated, and reducing the amount of verbal information given.