In a single classroom, one teacher has to manage kids with diverse needs and learning styles. Acknowledging this, a draft neurodiversity policy was presented to the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education on June 11. If approved, the policy would be among the first of its kind nationwide, according to the board.
“This would be groundbreaking territory,” said board member Jason Unger. “This is something to take pride in, that we’re leading in this way.”
As a first draft of a policy that is possibly a first of its kind, there was no clear example to follow from other districts as to how this should be written, those involved said. In its current form, the document contains a list of principles and the commitments BVSD should make to address them. These include giving students more agency in their learning process, supporting differentiated learning by developing “strategies to affirm a student’s identity, rather than trying to ‘fix’ or ‘cure’ them,” and partnering with parents and students to address unique learning needs.
“BVSD values neurodiversity as a source of strength that enriches our community and contributes to its success,” the draft states.
Compared to other district policies, the writing in this one is somewhat high-level and nonspecific for now, although the neurodiversity advisory group has published detailed recommendations, such as defining educational trauma and creating a task force for mental health support.
In contrast, BVSD has a policy on supporting transgender students and staff that goes into detail about restroom and locker room accessibility, official records, privacy and the correct use of pronouns.
While the neurodiversity policy is still more of a value statement than a course of action, some board members agreed that was okay, since there is still a lot of learning to be done. Simply establishing that a policy should exist is a big step in the effort to get the district as a whole committed to addressing the issue, some suggested. And as one of the first to do so, getting it right will also mean other districts can adopt similar policies on a solid foundation.
“I’m comfortable with aspirational policies that clarify our values and communicate our commitments, especially after we’re dealing with so much community involvement and such a sense of urgency,” said board member Alex Medler.
Typically, the board would set a policy, and then the district would respond with some kind of action to address it. However, in this case, community engagement, training, advisory groups and other outreach all took place before the policy was drafted. Creating an official policy is seen as a way to affirm the work that has already begun and to secure commitment from BVSD to continue building on those efforts.
The impetus for such a policy stems from a year of work by parents and community members, along with district leadership and Director of Special Education Michelle Brenner.
Providing background on how this came together, Superintendent Rob Anderson said in the board meeting that it all started a year ago at a community engagement forum. He mentioned that a large contingent of parents with children who have autism expressed concerns about the challenges they face.
In response, leadership held a special meeting with this group to get a better picture of the challenges and frustrations they felt needed to be addressed.
“For three hours we heard story after story of just a lack of understanding from folks in our schools on what it takes to really adequately serve autistic, neurodiverse students,” Anderson said.
A parent of an autistic 10-year-old, who has been transferred by the district six times, spoke at a board meeting in May about the harmful practices in place that “coerce children to behave in ways that are convenient to the management of our schools.” She said she had received over 20 reports of physical restraint and that her son had been suspended three times. However, since enrolling in the most recent school, there have been no calls, no restraints and no escalations the entire year. She believes this is because the staff there have a deep appreciation for neurodiversity.
One student supporting the creation of a neurodiversity policy shared an example during a previous board meeting about a classmate who puts on headphones when the class gets too loud. She emphasized the importance of having these needs met without being minimized or made fun of and suggested that teachers had questioned whether the headphones were necessary.
Jenny Themer, volunteer co-lead on the district’s neurodiversity advisory team, spoke at a recent board meeting in support of the policy as well. While the issue bubbled to the surface thanks to parents of autistic children, she said that neurodiversity isn’t meant to address the needs of one particular group. Rather, it should encompass and benefit the whole BVSD community, as everyone is different. “Neurodiversity includes all of us,” she said.
In a training video for BVSD educators, the host explains the different ways people with specific neurodivergent conditions like autism, OCD or dyslexia are understood. The medical model points out their deficits, the economic model highlights their productivity in the workforce, and the social model tries to neutralize the fact that there are differences among people by defining traits as neither good nor bad, only different.
In the draft policy, this is the lens BVSD is committing to view the issue, officials have said.
The social model incorporates the idea that success can depend entirely on one’s environment and how society treats their traits. For example, a child putting on headphones might be seen as a rule-breaker, rather than someone trying to stay calm in the classroom.
The board will continue to refine the policy until they are ready to adopt it.
Clarification: This story was updated on June 21 to clarify that the district, not the parent, has transferred a student six times.
Great reporting! Appreciate you