A More Inclusive Classroom: Considerations for the Legal Research Professor Teaching Neurodivergent Students

Abstract

AbstractLegal research professors are uniquely positioned to provide a more inclusive classroom for neurodivergent students through implementing universal design for learning practices. This begins with identifying the unique challenges of the legal research classroom and establishing best practices: predictability, strong class organization, flexibility, and working with students’ accommodations, both formal and informal.Keywords: Neurodivergentneurodiversitylegal researchlaw schoollaw studentADHDautismautisticaccommodationslaw librarian AcknowledgmentsThank you especially to Kian Pakdel for the inspiration for this article and his contributions and comments. Thank you to the participants of the DEI and Law Librarian Symposium for their thoughtful suggestions and to Jennifer Allison for her assistance.Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Judy Singer, Neurodiversity: Definition and Discussion, Reflections on https://neurodiversity2.blogspot.com/p/what.html [ https://perma.cc/QVS2-9SAN].2 Id.3 Haley Moss, Great Minds Think Differently: Neurodiversity for Lawyers and Other Professionals xvii (2021).4 See Donald H. Stone, What Law Schools Are Doing To Accommodate Students With Learning Disabilities, 42 S. Tex. L. Rev. 19 (2000) for a discussion about assessment, diagnosis, and documentation for law school accommodations.5 Leyao Qian, Investigation the Mechanism, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, 43 Special Educ. 3414, 3419-20 (2022).6 Cole G. Kingsbury et al., “Nothing About Us Without Us:” The Perspectives of Autistic Geoscientists on Inclusive Instructional Practices in Geoscience Education, 68 J. Geoscience Ed. 302, 303 (2020).7 A recent survey found that 87% of autistic adults prefer identify-first language. Amanda Taboas et al., Short Report: Preferences for Identify-First vs. Person-First Language in a U.S. Sample of Autism Stakeholders, 27 Autism 565 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221130845.8 Joy Smiley Zabala, Building on a Firm Foundation: Supporting Students with More Intensive Support Needs in UDL Environments, National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (2016) http://aem.cast.org/about/publications/2016/supporting-students-intensive-support-udl.html [ https://perma.cc/NB9B-QP9Y].9 It is also important to note that long COVID presents in some people similarly to ADHD, or what doctors are calling “brain fog,” which makes it difficult to concentrate and remember things. A Scientific American article reported that a conservative estimate of 16 million Americans suffer from long COVID but it may be up to 30 million. Stephani Sutherland, Long COVID Now Looks Like a Neurological Disease, Helping Doctors to Focus Treatments, Scientific American, Feb. 14, 2023, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/long-covid-now-looks-like-a-neurological-disease-helping-doctors-to-focus-treatments/ [ https://perma.cc/P77K-PBR4]. If we include the long COVID diagnosis under the umbrella of neurodivergence, it is clear that the number of neurodivergent students will increase.10 “Given that strategies to support neurodiverse students depends on their unique needs, the aim should be to mainstream initiatives consistent with a UD strategy, to meet individual needs that avoid segregation and isolation … and enable students to study to their strengths rather than emphasizing deficits.” Lynn Clouder et al., Neurodiversity in Higher Education: A Narrative Synthesis, 80 Higher Educ. 757, 772 (2020).11 See generally Adeen Postar, Selective Bibliography Relating to Law Students and Lawyers with Disabilities, 19 Am. U.J. Gender Soc. Pol’y & L. 1237 (2011); see also Leah M. Christensen, Law Students Who Learn Differently: A Narrative Case Study of Three Law Students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), 21 J. L. & Health 45 (2007); Leah M. Christensen, Legal Reading and Success in Law School: The Reading Strategies of Law Students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), 12 Scholar 173 (2010).12 Jennifer Kindred Mitchell, Teaching to Neurodiverse Law Students, 29 Perspectives: Teaching Legal Rsch. & Writing 49 (2022). Prof. Kindred Mitchell suggests using the strengths-based approach when working with neurodivergent students. Id. at 49.13 Susan David deMaine, From Disability to Usability in Online Instruction, 106 L. Libr. J. 531, 536 (2014).14 Importantly, deMaine noted, “Principles of good design such as logical organization, readable text, strong contrast, and proper spacing go a long way in helping students with cognitive impairments.” Id. at 536–37.15 Christensen, Case Study of Three Law Students, supra note 12, at 72.16 Dyane L. O'Leary, Flipped out, Plugged in, and Wired up: Fostering Success for Students with ADHD in the New Digital Law School, 45 Cap. U.L. Rev. 289, 309 (2017).17 Just one of the many available time-management techniques available; under the Pomodoro system, the user sets a 25-minute timer, then takes a five-minute break, then works again for 25-minutes, with a longer break after three or four 25-minute work sessions. The idea is to silence all distractions for the 25-minute period.18 Moss, supra note 4, at 51.19 Id.20 Christine Charnosky, ‘I Felt Afraid to Ask’: Law Students with Disabilities Are Often Torn Between Trying to Fit In and Seeking Accommodations, Law.com, Apr. 26, 2022, https://www.law.com/2022/04/26/i-felt-afraid-to-ask-law-students-with-disabilities-are-often-torn-between-trying-fit-in-and-seeking-accommodations/?slreturn=20220327115316 [https://perma.cc/G2KG-XRGQ].21 National Association for Law Placement, 2021 Report on Diversity in Law Firms 10 (2022), https://www.nalp.org/uploads/2021NALPReportonDiversity.pdf [https://perma.cc/7GWW-THX2].22 Moss, supra note 4, at 16–17.23 Id. at 1.24 LaToya Jones Burrell, So What’s Next—Life after the Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act of 2008 for the Learning Disabled Law Student, 41 S.U.L. Rev. 59, 75-77 (2013–2014).25 Rebecca Flanagan, Anthrogogy: Towards Inclusive Law School Learning, 19 Conn. Pub. Int. L.J. 93, 112 (2019).26 Moss, supra note 4, at 9.27 Flanagan, supra note 26, at 130.28 J. Vincent Aprile II, Countering the Bias against Autism in the Courtroom, 36 Crim Just. 40, 47 (2021).29 Moss, supra note 4, at 24–25.30 Finola Farrant et al., Celebrating Neurodiversity in Higher Education, The Psychologist (May 9, 2022), https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/celebrating-neurodiversity-higher-education [https://perma.cc/6CLY-95BL].31 Jane Ann Sedgwick et al., The Positive Aspects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Qualitative Investigation of Successful Adults with ADHD, 11 ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders 241, 242 (2019)32 Keith Albertson, Georgia Tech Duo Creates App to Link People with Autism to Jobs, ISE Magazine (March 2020), https://www.iise.org/iemagazine/2020-03/html/case-study/case-study.html [https://perma.cc/7VHU-X65X].33 American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5, at 50 (5th ed. 2013).34 Jiedi Lei & Ailsa Russell, Understanding the Role of Self-Determination in Shaping University Experiences for Autistic and Typically Developing Students in the United Kingdom, 25 Autism 1262, 1271 (2021).35 Erik Daniel Rodriguez, Time, Schedules, and the College Student with ADHD 121 (May 2020) (Ph.D. dissertation, Syracuse University) (ProQuest).36 Heidi E. Ramos-Zimmerman, The Need to Revisit Legal Education in an Era of Increased Diagnoses of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity and Autism Spectrum Disorders, 123 Dickinson L. Rev. 113, 137–47 (2018).37 Moss, supra note 5, at 14.38 Ramos-Zimmerman, supra note 35, at 142.39 “Many autistic individuals have challenges with processing verbal communication in real-time. Communication can be improved by using plain language, avoiding sarcasm or idioms, asking one question at a time, being deliberate about the types of questions (yes or no vs. open-ended) posted, and allowing additional time for students to process and formulate a response.” Kingsbury, supra note 8, at 4.40 “Most Autistics I know, including myself, desire only the freedom to meet necessary job requirements while being ourselves. In other words, we seek an accommodation to be neurologically other—quirky, overly friendly or cold at times, uniquely dressed, etc. without fear of reprimand or termination for existing as Autistic.” Brandon Stump, Allowing Autistic Academics the Freedom to Be Autistic: The ADA and a Neurodiverse Future in Pennsylvania and Beyond, 57 Duq. L. Rev. 92, 100 (2019).41 Another way to think of this is “expectation management,” Kingsbury, supra note 8, at 5.42 All law school professors should also utilize their office of student accommodations for guidance on best practices in working with students who have accommodations.43 My favorite platform for this is Canva.44 Kimberley McMahon-Coleman & Kim Draisma, Teaching University Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Guide to Developing Academic Capacity and Proficiency 99 (2016).45 Clarifying vocabulary and symbols is a building block of providing multiple means of representation, one of the three main principles of Universal Design for Learning Guidelines. CAST, Universal Design for Learning Guidelines, https://udlguidelines.cast.org/ [https://perma.cc/5EHN-ETSA].46 Amy Knight, 4 Ways to Design a Course that Supports Neurodivergent Students, Inspiring Minds (Aug. 21, 2022), https://hbsp.harvard.edu/inspiring-minds/4-ways-to-design-a-course-that-supports-neurodivergent-students [https://perma.cc/6MDZ-V45F].47 “Choose your own assessment” idea from Tanya Johnson, Research and Instruction Librarian at the University of Connecticut School of Law Library.48 An entire article could be written on the physical space, but one suggestion for increasing accessibility in your classroom includes providing a variety of seating options, including standing desks. For more on this topic, read Patrick Dwyer et al., Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education, 5 Autism in Adulthood 1 (March 2023).49 Stella Lange, Different Not Less: Neurodiversity as a Lens for Understanding Our Students Better, 11 Scope: (Learning & Teaching), 113, 117 (2022).