It can be difficult to find neurodiversity-affirming and age-respectful videos for neurodivergent teenagers & adults! As a busy Special Education teacher, I have personally struggled to find appropriate videos to support my lessons. That’s why I decided to create my own videos to share on YouTube!
I have multiple “channels” or series to choose from, which I’ll describe below.
The first series is made for ANYONE who wishes to learn more about different disabilities. neurodiversity, ableism, mental health, and similar topics. While I created these to educate my own neurodivergent students, teachers all over have enjoyed using them with a variety of students, from 2nd grade to post-high school!
All of my videos use animations, decreased sensory stimuli, and diverse characters.
My second series is made specifically for those in the neurodivergent community (autism, ADHD, etc.) that have personal goals of learning how to converse with neurotypical people. Please read on as I explain!
Neurodivergent and neurotypical people have very different communication styles, and neither “way” is inherently wrong or incorrect. This is why I like to teach BOTH neurotypicals how to communicate better with neurodivergent folks, and ALSO how neurodivergent folks can communicate better with neurotypical folks.
It goes two ways.
As a fellow neurodivergent person, I feel privileged that I was able to learn the neurotypical conversation skills that allowed me to achieve a high level of independence in the ableist society we live in. While it would be fantastic if I could never mask and simply not make small talk with others, we don’t currently live in a world where I feel safe or comfortable doing that.
But, this is a double-edged sword. . .
I also feel strongly that special education teachers and specialists should never force “social skills training” on neurodivergent students, especially in an attempt to make a student mask or seem more neurotypical. That being said, if a student has a PERSONAL GOAL of learning conversation and small talk nuances, then my videos may serve as a model! It is perfectly fine to teach neurotypical conversation skills to anyone who has the desire to learn them – so long as they understand that it is a CHOICE and not a RULE.
I plan to make many more videos, but could use your support!
You can help me out with just a few clicks by subscribing to me on Youtube or sharing my channel with others! 🙂
Or, check out my lessons on my TPT store that go with each of the videos. (You can find the link in the description of every video I post.)
And if you have an idea or need for a video, let me know!