Presenter: Andrew Marcum, PhD., Academic Director and Distinguished Lecturer for Disability Studies, CUNY School of Professional Studies

• What are some best practices for supporting neurodiversity and mental health and wellness in the online classroom?
• How can principles of Universal Design in Learning (UDL) facilitate meaningful forms of learning, engagement, and participation that challenge, rather than perpetuate, ableist standards of academic “rigor” and intellectual productivity?
• How can critical disability studies scholars and writers contribute to the creation of online learning environments and pedagogies that support neurodiversity and mental health and wellness?
• What insights from UDL and critical disability studies might be applied beyond the online classroom to include the larger university and the work, public events, and professional development spaces within it?

This presentation grapples with these questions by bringing together insights from critical disability studies and Universal Design in Learning with current understandings of the relationship between mental health and neurodiversity. Teachers, professors, course-developers, academic directors and department chairs and those in disability services interested in supporting inclusive practices would best benefit from attending this session. Anticipated benefits for attendees include: An increased understanding of disability studies and its relationship to UDL, neurodiversity, and mental health. Attainment of a basic knowledge of key UDL principles and the social model of disability. Ideas for applying UDL principles and the social model of disability in the classroom and beyond.