Embracing Neurodiversity in New Zealand Schools

A Call for Neurodivergent Consideration in Discipline Practices

New Zealand's educational landscape is evolving. With a growing recognition of the importance of inclusivity and diversity, our schools must take concrete steps to embrace neurodiversity and rethink traditional disciplinary practices.

Neurodivergent students—those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, giftedness, and other neurological variations—deserve an educational environment that understands and supports their unique needs. This shift is not just a moral imperative - it is also supported by significant legislative and strategic frameworks within New Zealand.

Key Legislative and Strategic Frameworks

1. Education and Training Act 2020

The Education and Training Act 2020 is a comprehensive legislative framework that governs the education system in New Zealand. One of its primary goals is to ensure that every child has access to high-quality education in a safe and inclusive environment.

Section 127: This section is crucial for neurodivergent students as it explicitly states BOT objectives that require schools to be inclusive of students with differing needs, in addition to being physically & emotionally safe for all.

The Act mandates that schools must provide reasonable accommodations and support to ensure that all students, regardless of their abilities, can participate fully in their education. This includes adapting teaching methods, classroom environments, and assessment practices to meet the diverse needs of students.

2. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

New Zealand ratified the UNCRPD in 2008, committing to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities. The Convention emphasises several principles that are directly relevant to education:

• Full and Effective Participation
  Ensuring that persons with disabilities can participate fully and effectively in all aspects of life, including education.

• Accessibility
  Removing barriers to access, including physical, communication, and attitudinal barriers, to enable students with disabilities to fully engage in their education.

• Inclusive Education
  Promoting an inclusive education system at all levels which means that students with disabilities should be educated alongside their peers in mainstream schools wherever possible.

3. New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016 - 2026

The New Zealand Disability Strategy outlines a vision for a fully inclusive society. It focuses on several key outcomes, including:

• Education
  Ensuring that disabled people have equal access to education and lifelong learning opportunities. The strategy calls for an education system that is flexible, responsive, and supportive of the diverse needs of all students.

• Rights Protection and Justice
  Safeguarding the rights of disabled people, including the right to education, and ensuring they are protected from discrimination and exclusion.

4. Learning Support Action Plan 2020 - 2025

The Learning Support Action Plan is a strategic framework aimed at improving the support provided to students with additional learning needs. Key components include:

• Early Identification and Intervention
  Implementing systems to identify learning needs early and provide timely interventions to support students' development and learning.

• Tailored Support
  Developing individualised support plans that address the specific needs of each student, ensuring they receive the appropriate resources and assistance.

• Collaboration and Coordination
  Promoting collaboration between schools, families, and other service providers to create a cohesive support network for students.

5. National Education and Learning Priorities (NELPs) and Tertiary Education Strategy (TES) 2020

The NELPs and TES outline the government's priorities for the education system, emphasizing equity and inclusion. Key priorities include:

• Equity
  Ensuring that every learner has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background or abilities. This involves addressing systemic barriers and providing targeted support to those who need it.

• Inclusive Learning Environments
  Creating learning environments that are safe, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of all students, including those who are neurodivergent.

6. Enabling Good Lives (EGL) Principles

The EGL principles advocate for a person-centred approach to support for individuals with disabilities. Key principles include:

• Choice and Control
  Empowering individuals to have control over their lives and the support they receive. In an educational context, this means involving students and their families in decision-making processes about their learning and support needs.

• Community and Participation
  Supporting individuals to participate in their communities, including in educational settings, on an equal basis with others.

• Mainstream First
  Ensuring that mainstream services, including schools, are inclusive and responsive to the needs of individuals with disabilities.

The Need for Change in Discipline Practices

Some current teaching practices and policies can be counterproductive and even harmful, leading to increased anxiety, disengagement, and exclusion in neurodivergent students. Some examples of these are:

Excessive Standardised Testing
This can lead to heightened anxiety among students, particularly those who do not perform well on tests, and can cause disengagement from the learning process.

Zero-Tolerance Policies
Strict disciplinary policies that do not consider individual circumstances or ‘natural justice’, can lead to unfair punishments and increased rates of stand-downs or exclusion. Zero-tolerance policies clearly exclude any consideration of ‘natural justice’ and this means they put schools at risk of legal action regarding decisions made.

Rigid Curriculum
Lack of flexibility in the curriculum to accommodate different learning styles and paces can leave some students disadvantaged, causing frustration and disengagement.

Inadequate Support for Neurodivergent Students
Failing to provide appropriate accommodations (e.g. fidget tools, flexible timetabling, processing time) and teacher understanding of students with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other neurodivergent conditions can lead to increased anxiety and a sense of exclusion.

High Homework Loads
Assigning excessive amounts of homework can contribute to stress and reduce students' time for rest, extracurricular activities, and family interaction, potentially leading to burnout.

Bullying and Lack of Intervention
Not addressing bullying effectively can create a hostile environment, leading to anxiety and a sense of isolation among victims.

Inadequate Mental Health Support
Lack of access to mental health resources, support or teacher understanding of Neurodivergent social and emotional needs can exacerbate anxiety and other mental health issues, hindering students' ability to engage and succeed academically.

All of these ‘small things’ build up in our neurodivergent students, and this leads to the ‘big things’ - the overwhelm, the meltdowns - which can show up as aggression and violence towards other students or staff.

Traditional disciplinary practices in schools often fail to consider the unique challenges faced by neurodivergent students and see the ‘big thing’ as a result of the immediate antecedent of the meltdown. When, in fact, it is all those little things that we need to be addressing in our schools.

Steps to Apply 'Natural Justice'

1. Inform the Student of the Allegations:

• Clearly and promptly inform the student of the specific behaviour or issue being addressed.

• Ensure that this is explained in a way that is accessible to the child - consider social story explanations; explicit explanations rather than ‘hinting’; extra processing time between statements.

• Provide all relevant details and evidence so the student understands the nature of the allegations.

2. Give the Student an Opportunity to Respond:

• Allow the student to explain their perspective without interruption - but consider how to do this in a strengths-based approach the student. Don’t ask a dyslexic student to write it down; don’t ask a non-verbal autistic student to explain it to you.

• Ensure the environment is supportive and non-threatening, facilitating open communication - who is “their adult”? The one who “gets them”? They need to be in the room supporting the child.

• Extra processing time - some ND individuals need a lot more processing time than neurotypical people. Every time you rephrase a question, they start the processing at the beginning again. If you would expect a NT student to complete a written response in 15 minutes, you will need, at the minimum, 45 minutes for some ND students to even begin a response.

3. Consider the Student's Response:

• Carefully evaluate the student's explanation and any additional context provided.

• Take into account the student's neurodivergence and how it might have influenced their behaviour.

• Consider what the support plan is around this student and investigate if that support plan is being followed (e.g. if an ADHD student swears at a teacher but has not been allowed to move frequently or use fidgets in the classroom, the teacher must be made aware of their role in the behaviour shown to them.)

4. Impartial Decision-Making:

• Ensure that the decision-makers are unbiased and have no conflict of interest.

• Base decisions on all available evidence and consider any mitigating circumstances.

• Are you avoiding ableist thinking - that the student could have avoided this situation 'if only they tried harder?'

• Consider the external or structural factors - 100-minute periods, a teacher that tends to inflame situations rather than de-escalate, an IEP not being followed…

5. Provide Clear Reasons for Decisions:

• Clearly explain the reasoning behind any disciplinary action taken.

• Ensure the student understands the outcome and the reasons for it.

• Outline how you have taken into account the student’s neurodivergence.

• Explain what other steps are being put in place alongside this decision (e.g. teacher training in de-escalation for ND students or recognition that a 100-minute timetable is not working for ADHD students and teachers will be supported to break up these blocks into more manageable segments)

6. Allow for an Appeal:

• Provide a process for the student to appeal the decision if they believe it was unfair.

• Ensure the appeal process is accessible and transparent.

7. Set up a personalised ND RTS plan

• A neurotypical designed return-to-school (RTS) plan may not work with this student

• Likewise, there is no ND RTS plan that will work with every ND student

• Work with the student, “their adult”, and their whānau to personalise a RTS plan that also includes how the school will make adaptions to mitigate the “little things”.

To create a more inclusive educational environment, schools need to:

1. Understand Neurodiversity
   Educators need comprehensive training to understand the various neurodivergent conditions and how they affect learning and behaviour. This understanding is crucial for developing empathy and effective teaching strategies.

2. Implement Positive and Strengths Based Behaviour Support
   Instead of punitive measures, schools should adopt positive behaviour support (PBS) strategies. PBS focuses on proactive approaches, teaching appropriate behaviours, and reinforcing positive actions. Check out the Ngātea School’s Understanding and Responding to Student Behaviour Plan.

3. Personalised Learning Plans
   Develop individualised strengths-based education plans (IEPs) that cater to the specific needs of neurodivergent students. These plans should involve input from the students, their whānau, the student’s “adult”, and professionals to ensure they are effective.

4. Flexible Classroom Environments
   Create adaptable learning spaces that can accommodate various sensory and learning needs. This includes quiet zones, sensory tools, and flexible seating arrangements.

5. Collaborate with whānau
   Engaging with families of neurodivergent students ensures a holistic approach to education. Families can provide valuable insights into their child's needs and effective strategies that work at home.

Embracing neurodiversity in New Zealand schools is not just a legislative requirement but a necessary step towards a more inclusive and equitable education system.

By rethinking discipline practices and implementing supportive measures, we can create an environment where all students, regardless of their neurological differences, can thrive.