One of the unspoken challenges of being an autistic professor is that you have to navigate the differences between neurodivergent culture and neurotypical culture in your own classroom. The challenges faced by neurodivergent professors are often “unspoken” largely because we haven’t yet fully developed a scholarly language to speak about and analyze them. Being autistic in the classroom isn’t just about a lack of eye contact (although I’m not great at eye contact) but also about fundamental differences between my life experiences, habits of thinking, and methods of communication and those of many of my neurotypical students. But the opposite side of the (all too often) unspoken challenges I face as an autistic professor is also a world of unspoken pedagogical possibilities. What does it mean to recognize and welcome diverse minds in the Shakespeare classroom? How does it change our classrooms and instructional methods when we do so? In this chapter, I explore how core values from autistic culture and the disability rights movement can impact on classroom pedagogy. Specifically, I examine the ways that a focus on accessibility, honesty, vulnerability, and identity can change the shape of the way we teach Shakespeare. In doing so, I provide some practical tips for professors who are trying to reach and welcome their neurodivergent students while simultaneously delineating and defining (and thus rendering spoken and speak-able) some of the challenges faced by neurodivergent students and faculty in the college classroom.

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Neurodiverse Pedagogy

  • Sonya Freeman Loftis

摘要

One of the unspoken challenges of being an autistic professor is that you have to navigate the differences between neurodivergent culture and neurotypical culture in your own classroom. The challenges faced by neurodivergent professors are often “unspoken” largely because we haven’t yet fully developed a scholarly language to speak about and analyze them. Being autistic in the classroom isn’t just about a lack of eye contact (although I’m not great at eye contact) but also about fundamental differences between my life experiences, habits of thinking, and methods of communication and those of many of my neurotypical students. But the opposite side of the (all too often) unspoken challenges I face as an autistic professor is also a world of unspoken pedagogical possibilities. What does it mean to recognize and welcome diverse minds in the Shakespeare classroom? How does it change our classrooms and instructional methods when we do so? In this chapter, I explore how core values from autistic culture and the disability rights movement can impact on classroom pedagogy. Specifically, I examine the ways that a focus on accessibility, honesty, vulnerability, and identity can change the shape of the way we teach Shakespeare. In doing so, I provide some practical tips for professors who are trying to reach and welcome their neurodivergent students while simultaneously delineating and defining (and thus rendering spoken and speak-able) some of the challenges faced by neurodivergent students and faculty in the college classroom.