Practical Tips for Teachers to Create a More Inclusive Classroom

If you are reading this, maybe you’re a parent who has a meeting with your child’s teacher and wants some accommodation ideas. Or, perhaps you’re a teacher looking to help a newly diagnosed neurodiverse student. You may even be an educator looking for ways to provide a more inclusive space for all your students.

If you look back through the years, many things in education have changed, but by the same token, many things have not.

Technology has massively improved in schools. However, the way children are taught has yet to change. By the last remark, it’s worth noting that throughout history, children were expected to sit down at a desk for long periods, learning from a teacher who usually stood at the front.

A child with a neurodiverse condition such as autism cannot be expected to thrive in an environment designed for the majority and not the minority.

How do we change this?

In 2024, so much more is now known about neurodiversity, and it’s often noted that small accommodations can make a massive difference in an autistic child’s success at school compared to making no accommodations, leading to a detriment in an autistic child’s success.

Often, an autistic child’s behavior is viewed negatively, and adults attempt to correct it in the same way as a nonautistic child’s behavior. This leads to further disruption and can cause embarrassment for the autistic child, lowering their confidence and increasing the likelihood of perceived disruption in the learning environment.

Instead, disruptions can be minimized by providing accommodations in the classroom. These accommodations should be natural so that an autistic student wouldn’t have to necessarily disclose their diagnosis to their peers if they don’t want to.

Autism affects how people interact and communicate with others. Children who are autistic find this even more difficult because even typically developing children are still learning how to interact and communicate with others. It’s part of childhood.

Accommodations for Different Sensory Profiles

One fundamental way to help an autistic child is to understand their sensory profile.

We all have eight sensory systems which work together to help us to understand our environment.

These systems are:

1. Tactile – Sense of touch
2. Vestibular – Sense of balance and movement
3. Proprioceptive – Sense of body position and movement
4. Auditory – Sense of Hearing
5. Visual – Sense of sight
6. Gustatory – Sense of Taste
7. Olfactory – Sense of smell
8. Interoception – Sense of internal body states, e.g., Hunger

Depending on an autistic child’s sensory profile will depend on how they react when they are overwhelmed by one of the eight senses.

The Dunn’s Four Quadrant Model categorizes people into one of four sensory profiles based on the person’s tolerance and response to sensory input.

The four categories are:

1. Sensory seeking
2. Sensory Avoiding
3. Sensory Sensitivity
4. Low Registration

It is important to recognize the above profiles and make accommodations if neurodiverse students fall into them.

A sensory-seeking student will struggle to sit still and may also seek out rough-and-tumble play. It is important, therefore, to incorporate movement breaks and provide clear rules and boundaries when it comes to play.

Alternatively, a sensory-avoiding student will prefer calm and quiet environments and may cover their ears if the noise becomes too much. It is important to, therefore, provide periods of quiet time or allow ear defenders when needed.

A student who has sensory sensitivity may be easily distracted by background noise and have difficulty focusing. Therefore, it is important to have quiet spaces to study so that these students can focus better and thus learn more.

Students with low registration will not respond to sensory stimuli as readily as others. Therefore, they may not respond to someone calling their name and need help knowing if there is food on their face or if their clothes are correct.

It is important to, therefore, teach students kindness and help others when needed.

Creating an Inclusive Classroom

To create an inclusive classroom, consider the acronym CLASSROOM:

C: Consistency
L: Learn
A: Aids
S: Social Skill Supports
S: Scheduled Breaks
R: Rules
O: Open Communication
O: One-on-One Support
M: Movement

Consistency

Neurodiverse children and children, in general, thrive off consistency and routine.

• Follow a consistent daily routine.
• Have an agenda or visual schedule on the board for the day and stick to it as much as possible.
• Ensure equipment, fidget toys, ear defenders, and other aids are in the correct place and easily accessible.
• Keep things simple. Start each day the same, transition into different tasks the same every time, e.g., play music when 5 minutes remain, so children know the current task will come to a close shortly and know to start finishing up.

Learn

To understand neurodiverse children, you first need to learn about neurodiversity. You then should try to collaborate with the child’s carer/parent and their therapist, if they have one.

Keep up to date with any changes, and take time to get to know and learn about all the children you teach. You can do this in the classroom. For example, do activities where children write or draw about their favorite topics and hobbies.

You’ll learn what’s important to them and can use this information to build rapport.

Aids

Provide aids that all children can access, not just autistic or neurodiverse children.

For example, have a couple of standing desks or wobble stools in the classroom and tell students they are free to choose if they need an alternative desk. Ensure the children know that some people may need it more than others, but everyone can use it if they feel they need to.

Have several ear defenders and sunglasses in the classroom, and tell children that if they need to concentrate and it is too noisy or bright, they should feel free to take/use them.

Have a quiet space or calming corner in the classroom. If a child becomes overwhelmed, let them go to the quiet space to calm down and re-regulate.

You can also wear/use these aids yourself to promote normalcy.

Social Skills Support

Autism affects how people communicate and interact with each other. Therefore, autistic children will struggle more with socializing than nonautistic children.

However, remember, all children are still learning social skills. But, it’s a skill that arguably comes much more naturally to neurotypical children. It is, therefore, essential to teach social skills with peer support via mentoring or social stories and role play.

During roleplay, also demonstrate to students that an autistic child’s way of communicating may look different, but it’s still OK. For example, someone not wanting to shake hands, or who doesn’t make eye contact when talking.

Use this as a teaching point to explain why, helping all students develop empathy and acceptance.

Scheduled Breaks

Provide frequent and structured breaks in the classroom. This allows for a refocus.

Aim for 30 minutes of work with 5-10 minutes of break time.

During breaks, you can support children’s various sensory needs by doing various brain break activities, movement activities like yoga or a kids workout, or playing a short game.

Rules

Create rules and boundaries for the classroom and be consistent with them.

Rules should be simple to understand, on display in the classroom, and presented visually so all students can remember them.

Remind children of the key rules daily. Allow time for questions and regularly reinforce positive behavior, not negative behavior.

Finish each day telling the class everything they collectively did well to promote teamwork.

One to One support

Where it is allowed and possible, provide children who need it with one-to-one support. Try to keep the support aid the same so they can build trust and children know what to expect from the person helping them.

Open Communication

Keep an open line of communication with all children and with parents/caregivers of the children. This will create a culture of trust and also provide a safe place for children to express their thoughts and feelings.

It may help to use a communication folder that travels back and forth from school and home so parents and teachers can easily share pertinent information with each other that might impact a child’s day.

As hard as it is for teachers to show they are human too, sharing your struggles and being a little bit vulnerable can help others feel able to do the same.

Movement

Movement breaks are a great way to help children meet sensory needs and stay focused.

These breaks could be a walk around the classroom, a quick game of freeze dance, some yoga, or even sending a neurodivergent student on an errand to another classroom if you see them struggling to sit still.

If a student is overwhelmed, allow them time to re-regulate using movement in the classroom or in a designated space with appropriate aids and equipment.

Conclusion

To conclude, inclusive classrooms are inherently possible, providing an environment of accommodations is created within it. The accommodations listed are simple but necessary for an autistic child to succeed in the classroom.

The main takeaway is collaboration and learning. It is about making accommodations so natural that they are not accommodations but an everyday occurrence.

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