Strategies to Support Neurodivergent Learners with Jennifer Pusateri
Welcome to Episode 141 of the Think UDL podcast: Strategies to Support Neurodivergent Learners with Jennifer Pusateri. Dr. Jennifer Pusateri is a Senior Universal Design Consultant at the University of Kentucky, as well as a talented author, speaker and educational consultant with whom I love to work and with whom I have worked often! I was so excited to participate in a workshop of hers entitled “10+ UDL-Aligned Strategies for Supporting Neurodivergent students” at a recent conference and I knew I needed to bring this to my Think UDL listeners. In today’s episode we discuss neurodiversity, terminology, and multiple strategies to support neurodivergent students in areas such as focus, attention, and motivation, organization and structure, unspoken expectations, time management, emotional and sensory regulation. And what we talk about today isn’t everything in this power-packed workshop, so if you want to learn more you can find Jen’s contact information on the ThinkUDL.org website resources for this episode.
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52:59
Professional Development Programming with Saskatchewan Polytechnic
Welcome to episode 140 of the Think UDL Podcast: Professional Development Programming with Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Heather Touet, Tasha Maddison, and Myra Zubot Mitchell.
All three of my guests today work at Saskatchewan Polytechnic which is located on Treaty 4 and Treaty 6 territory and has campuses in Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Prince Albert and Regina. Tasha Maddison is an Educational Developer in the ILDC (Instructional and Leadership Development Center). Myra Zubot Mitchell is a Learning Technology Trainer with the Learning Technologies Department and, like Tasha, is in the Learning and Teaching Division. Heather Touet (pronounced “Tway”) is an Instructor with Learning Services in the Student Services Division. In today’s conversation, we discuss the programs that these fabulous multi-disciplinary folks are offering including a UDL Institute which is a yearly event in March, and the intersection of UDL, Artificial Intelligence and accessibility, and a really fun idea they have implemented called UDL mini-challenges. In addition, we discuss how UDL and indigenizing the curriculum are related at their institution among other ideas.
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Emotional Capacity and Intercultural Competence with Tara Harvey
Welcome to Ep 139 of the think UDL podcast: Emotional Capacity and Intercultural Competence with Tara Harvey. Dr. Tara Harvey is the Founder and Chief Intercultural Educator of True North Intercultural. She assists educational institutions in reaching their internationalization goals through consulting, training, and coaching and helps educators develop their capabilities to incorporate intercultural learning into their work with students. I took a course from Tara several years ago and have found so many connections between intercultural learning and UDL over the years. In today’s conversation we discuss the recently updated UDL 3.0 guidelines released in the summer of 2024 and pay particular attention to the section on emotional capacity. Quite a few changes took place in that section of the guidelines and I thought that a discussion about them through the lens of intercultural competence may help listeners to understand what those changes really mean. Even if you are not familiar with the old or new guidelines, this conversation is helpful for anyone –and not just in higher ed. It is helpful in teaching and learning, but it is also very helpful in life in general to think about how we act in the world and how different we may be from each other.
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Neuroinclusive Advising with Rachel Adams and Fred Zinn
Welcome to Ep 138: Neuroinclusive Advising with Rachel Adams and Fred Zinn. Rachel Adams is Associate Director of Education and Training, Disability Services at UMAss Amherst and a Doctoral Candidate, UMass Higher Education and Administration. She offers education and training around disability and also teaches undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Fred Zinn is Associate Director, Digital Learning in the College of Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and focuses his practice on teaching teachers how to teach and teaching with technology as well as educating others about accessibility. In today’s conversation, Rachel, Fred, and I discuss how faculty and staff in the role of an advisor can support undergraduate and graduate students, both formally and informally. We discuss best advising practices specifically with a neuro inclusive lens. You’ll hear my new favorite term in today’s conversation “unconditional positive regard” in relation to supporting neurodivergent students, but it seems appropriate to me to use in many other situations. I hope you enjoy this thoughtful conversation on the Think UDL podcast.
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Deconstructing "College Material" with Cate Weir
Welcome to Episode 137 of the Think UDL podcast: Deconstructing "College Material" with Cate Weir. Cate Weir is the Program Director for Think College for the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. She has written and managed grants to create programs for students with intellectual disabilities to attend college and continues to work with, improve and grow these programs nationwide. In today’s conversation, we talk about the history of and need for college programs for students with intellectual disabilities, what the benefits are to the students enrolled in these programs as well as the benefits to professors who teach and the general enrollment students who take classes in which students with intellectual disabilities are co-enrolled. Throughout the conversation we deconstruct what “college material” has been and how it has changed over the years and we end with thoughts on how instructors, students and universities can design environments where all students, including those with intellectual disabilities, are included.
Ireland