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Online/Webinar

Building Community and Supporting Neurodivergent Students through Study Skill Workshops

Date
Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Time
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM (NSW Time)
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (QLD Time)
Location
Online
a drawing of many arms reaching across each other in different colours to represent diversity

Categories

Hosted by:
The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET)
Event cost:
Free

ADCET Webinar: Serving as a reminder you are not alone - Building Community and Supporting Neurodivergent Students through Study Skill Workshops

Event details

Wed 30 Oct 2024 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm AEDT

Neurodivergent students have often cited feelings of isolation and loneliness when attending university. The Neurodiversity Project at the University of Adelaide has recently begun facilitating Neurodivergent Study Skill Workshops for neurodivergent students. These workshops are part of the larger aims of the Neurodiversity Project, which includes establishing a peer mentoring program. This webinar will discuss how the workshops are taught with a neuro-affirming approach. The workshops facilitator, Tiana Blazevic, is neurodivergent herself and these workshops ask students to reflect on their lived experiences as a neurodivergent learner.   

Students are given critical reflection worksheets that ask them to reflect on their academic practices and in what ways they could lean into their neurodivergent selves. The workshops often discuss some of the ways that neurodivergent conditions are situated in a cultural context and each topic shows students some practical strategies to incorporate into their studies. Students are given several alternative options to participate in the workshops so that each student can still participate without increasing social anxiety levels.   

Since these workshops began in Semester 2 of 2024, neurodivergent students have expressed how they feel a sense of community, a decrease in isolation, and at the same time, are learning practical study skills and strategies.

This webinar will present some of the feedback given by the students and explain ways to create a more neuro-affirming workshop space and will discuss why the creation of these workshops are an important step in recognising the diverse needs of neurodivergent students.

Audience: Disability Advisors, Academic Learning Advisors, Educators, Project Officers, Specialist Peer Support Coordinators, Researchers.

Visit the ADECT webpage for more information.

Presenters

Professor Terry Cumming

Professor Terry Cumming

Professor Terry Cumming (she/her) is Professor of Special Education in the School of Education, Deputy head of the School of Education at the faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, the Academic Lead Education for the UNSW Disability Innovation Institute, and a Scientia Education Fellow at UNSW Sydney.

Tiana Blazevic

Tiana Blazevic

Tiana Blazevic is the Disability Support Project Officer for Disability Support at the University of Adelaide, coordinating the Neurodiversity Project. Tiana is also an Academic Learning Advisor at the Writing Centre in the Student Academic Skills Support Unit and was formerly the South Australian State Representative for the Association for Academic Languages and Learning. Tiana is a neurodivergent educator who has been working directly with neurodivergent students since 2020.