Date: Monday, November 17th, 2025
Time: 2:00-3:00pm (AT) / 1:00-2:00pm (ET) / 10:00-11:00am (PT)
SoTL Speaker Session Description:
Neurodiversity, or the naturally occurring variation in human cognition, is becoming a popular topic in higher education and adjacent fields as more of our students identify as “neurodivergent” and neurodiversity gains recognition as an important component of inclusive teaching efforts. But what is neurodiversity, and what is the history and political importance of this concept? This workshop will introduce educators to the basic terminology of the Neurodiversity paradigm (including the terms “neurodivergent” and “neurotypical”) as well as the history of Neurodiversity as a disability rights movement with roots in the Autism rights movement. This participatory workshop will offer attendees opportunities to reflect on their own experiences with neurodiversity in and out of the classroom and to consider what neurodiversity-informed teaching looks like in their own fields.
SoTL Speaker’s Bio:
Sarah Silverman, PhD is an independent faculty developer and instructor of Disability Studies. As an autistic educator, she has a personal stake in Neurodiversity as well as extensive college teaching and faculty development experience. Her interests include accessible and feminist pedagogy, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and disability-informed critiques of educational technology. Her writings appear in To Improve the Academy, the Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, the blog Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Online, New Directions for Teaching and Learning, and on her newsletter Beyond the Scope. Her book An Introduction to Neurodiversity for Educators is forthcoming from the University of Oklahoma Press.
Matthew Dunleavy (he/him) is an educational developer and scholarly teacher with over 10+ years’ experience. In addition to working at the CTEI, Matthew serves as the Vice-Chair of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE). Before joining the CTEI, Matthew was an Educational Developer in the Teaching Commons at York University; before entering that role, he served as the Program Director of the Online Learning and Technology Consultants (OLTC) Program at the Maple League of Universities (Acadia University; Bishop’s University; Mount Allison University; and St. Francis Xavier University). In 2022, he was awarded the D2L Innovation Award in Teaching and Learning by STLHE for this work.
