As we all adjust to distance learning while seeking ways to make the environment supportive of twice-exceptional learners, we should keep in mind that this arrangement is, likely, temporary. Once we return to a more traditional in-person schooling model, we again can focus on how to best support neurodiverse students.
How has this been done?
Year after year, educational practitioners find themselves reflecting on curriculum, pacing, behavioral protocols, social-emotional learning, accommodations, and admissions criteria — all to ensure students’ needs are being met. However, there is another, often overlooked, area worthy of contemplation that greatly impacts student engagement: the learning environment.
A classroom environment shapes and directs a child’s learning experience. Sensory-friendly, progressive classrooms (spACEs) have shown positive results in student engagement and overall wellbeing. In one private school in Austin, Texas, spACE classrooms include a mixture of standing desk options, wiggle seats, natural non-fluorescent lighting, approved fidgets, weighted lap pads, noise-cancelling headphones, and other items and configurations that create an enriched learning environment for all students, especially for cognitively diverse children. Creating an environment that is effortlessly inclusive permits students and teachers to have many accommodation needs met before a difficulty arises, thus often preventing a potentially disruptive event.
The learning environment is a reverent space. Prioritizing security and comfort allows students to truly engage with material and feel vulnerable enough to take risks. If students can’t focus or be present because of the bright lights (i.e. sensory processing disorder), can’t create because of the noise level (i.e. auditory processing disorder), can’t be themselves because they are physical stifled or constrained (i.e. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), can’t write using a number two pencil on a college ruled piece of paper copying directly from the board (i.e. dysgraphia), or are forced to present in front of the class spontaneously (i.e. anxiety), then we are limiting the capacity of how deep they can take their own learning. Customizing aspects of the classroom environment allows for students to quickly find the right fit without the teacher’s direct support. For educators, spACEs eliminates the hurdles of waiting to see what is needed in order to help a student have a more effective learning experience.
With its start in 2005, ACE Academy — where the authors are head of school (Tabitha Molett) and counselor (Jessica Deimler-Hoff) — has been inspired by Joseph Renzulli’s Three Ring Model. In 2016, that inspiration transformed into a partnership with the Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development. Following that union, ACE adopted components of the Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) that supported and benefited its mission and vision (Renzulli, 2014). However, because of the 2e population that ACE serves (approxinately 35 percent officially documented) and the commonality found between giftedness and neurodevelopmental disorders, the school developed a revised model to address inclusive learning environments for all gifted students (see figures 1, 2, and 3) (Reis, Baum, & Burke, 2014).
Looking Ahead
The next steps to ensure that 2e students receive the most beneficial environmental accommodations include an evaluation via qualitative and quantitative feedback regarding the successes and growth areas of these non-negotiable programming standards. These will include an analysis of all possible academic and behavioral data from students before the programming was in place. That, coupled with surveys about spACEs distributed to teachers, will provide a baseline for how these changes can better serve and support 2e students.
It is time for schools to redefine how they view 2e students and to normalize environments that are inclusive of all gifted learners. ACE Academy has found that, overall, its students experience more academic, social, and emotional success by being part of an inclusive culture that normalizes cognitive diversities and provides a learning environment that benefits the entire community.
The school’s approach has only been in effect for three years, but already the outcomes indicate a positive trajectory with less student turnover, less somatization, more productive learning communities, heightened peer acceptance, and normalization of exceptionalities. In addition, students report experiencing a heightened sense of fortitude, patience, acceptance, and resilience; a more developed sense of self; and a stronger sense of self-advocacy.
As students, parents, and teachers become more familiar and comfortable with spACEs, the potential for setting a new normal becomes a greater possibility for all schools. Ultimately, spaACEs hopes to provide a scalable model that all schools can implement.
