Student demographics in education are changing, and our teaching practices must evolve accordingly. Educators at universities may expect that up to 11% of their students have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and that up to 2% of their students are autistic. Already one in ten students in the classroom may be neurodivergent, and this is not including the range of cognitive differences that constitute neurodiversity, like dyslexia, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and traumatic brain injury. These variations are simply part of the naturally occurring range of human thought and experience. Despite this, many students continue to encounter environments that misunderstand or even penalise the ways they learn best.

If we want classrooms to be genuinely inclusive, we must shift from reactive, individual accommodations to proactive, structural design. This is where Universal Design Learning (UDL) offers a transformative opportunity.

What Is Universal Design Learning?

UDL is a framework that encourages educators to design learning environments that are usable by as many people as possible without requiring special adjustments or case‑by‑case exceptions. This framework is derived from disability justice advocates who have long worked on building a social model of disability. Unlike the deficit model of disability, a social model contends that the human experience encompasses a range of bodies and minds, but structural decisions create a lack of access and therefore disable people. Rather than asking neurodiverse students to advocate for their needs or having educators create multiple learning plans, UDL works with a social model of disability to integrate inclusive learning from the beginning.

The rationale is straightforward: when we build systems that work for neurodiverse learners, we build systems that work better for everyone. This could mean less work for educators who are otherwise left juggling various accommodations requests and may benefit students who do not yet have formal diagnoses or who are navigating acute health challenges, like bereavement or temporary injuries.

What UDL Looks Like in Practice

Implementing UDL does not require dramatic overhauls to existing courses or teaching styles. Rather, educators can incorporate small, impactful changes that cumulatively transform the learning environment to one that is more welcoming to neurodiverse learners:

• Open communication from day one. A simple invitation in the syllabus and on the first day signals that variation is expected, not exceptional. Dr Katie Guest Pryal suggests the following phrasing, ‘If you are disabled, I welcome a conversation to discuss your learning needs. I want to make sure you succeed in our course.’
• Classroom Accessibility Check. Take a note of the classroom space. Are there bright lights? Can you hear the cafe or the class next door? Is there a lift or electronic doors into the classroom? Let students know what they might encounter on their first day or direct them to UoM’s Room Catalogue, which has photos and info on most teaching spaces.
• Transparent feedback structures. Sharing examples of past work and feedback helps students anticipate tone, format, and expectations of an educator’s unique feedback style. This can help mitigate against miscommunication before it can arise.
• Strengths‑based feedback. Provide positive comments as well as constructive feedback. All students have requested guidance on what to continue doing in their work, and explicitly naming strengths helps students who struggle to infer positive cues, like a blank page.
• Multiple means of engagement. Incorporating optional drop‑ins or peer‑review sessions in class allow students to enter the feedback process gradually. Doing these early and often can help foster an environment where feedback is part of the academic dialogue rather one event at the end of the course.

None of these practices dilute academic rigor. Rather, they create conditions where more students can meet high expectations without being hindered by inaccessible systems. This is also not an exhaustive list, but does offer some steps to get started in implementing UDL.

A Call to Reimagine Classroom Design

Traditional educational structures often rely on implicit instructions, rapid task‑switching, and unspoken social cues. Neurodiverse students—particularly those with communication differences or executive‑function challenges—may experience these systems as stressful or exclusionary. Indeed, neurodiverse students will have been reprimanded in educational settings at higher rates than their neurotypical peers. In this context, joining our University is already a significant accomplishment.

Adopting UDL is not only an act of pedagogical innovation in the face of changing student demographics—it is an act of compassion. It acknowledges that barriers to learning are often structural, not individual. It invites educators to think critically about the systems we have inherited and to rebuild them with greater empathy, clarity, and flexibility.

When we design classrooms with the full spectrum of human minds in mind, we create learning spaces where all students can thrive.

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