By Rashida Lester
Systematic Literature Review in conjunction with the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the Westchester Institute for Human Development
Every child processes information, communicates, learns, and experiences the world in their own way. The concept of neurodiversity recognizes that differences in how people’s brains function are part of human variation.
For schools throughout the Virgin Islands, understanding neurodiversity can help educators create learning environments that recognize individual differences while providing children with the support they need to participate, learn, and develop.
This topic was explored by Rashida Lester through a systematic literature review conducted in conjunction with the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD).
Understanding Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is a broad concept used to describe variations in how people think, learn, process information, communicate, and interact with their environment.
The terms neurodivergent and neurodiverse are often encountered in discussions surrounding developmental, learning, and neurological differences. Importantly, neurodiversity itself is not a medical diagnosis.
Children described as neurodivergent may have different strengths, challenges, communication styles, sensory experiences, or approaches to learning. Rather than assuming every student should learn in exactly the same way, a neurodiversity-informed approach encourages educators to recognize these individual differences.
Examples of Conditions Associated With Neurodivergence
The term neurodivergent is commonly used in connection with several developmental and learning differences. These can include:
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Autistic children may experience differences in areas such as communication, social interaction, behavior, interests, and sensory processing. Individual experiences and support needs vary significantly.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Children with ADHD may experience differences involving attention, activity levels, organization, impulse control, and executive functioning.
Specific Learning Disabilities
Learning disabilities can affect particular areas of learning, including reading, writing, listening, oral expression, and mathematics. Federal special-education regulations recognize specific learning disabilities and establish procedures for determining whether a child qualifies for services.
Other developmental and neurological differences may also be discussed within the broader neurodiversity conversation. Because every child is different, educators and families should focus on the individual student’s strengths and needs rather than relying solely on a label.
Supporting Neurodivergent Students in Virgin Islands Schools
Creating a supportive school environment begins with understanding that different students may require different approaches to successfully access learning.
Support may involve adjusting teaching strategies, providing appropriate classroom supports, addressing communication or sensory needs, and working collaboratively with families and professionals.
For eligible students with disabilities, the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides important educational protections. IDEA makes a free appropriate public education available to eligible children with disabilities and requires special education and related services to be designed around individual needs.
Individualized Support Matters
There is no single classroom strategy that will meet the needs of every neurodivergent child.
For students eligible under IDEA, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) identifies areas such as the student’s present academic and functional performance, measurable goals, special education and related services, supplementary aids and services, and necessary accommodations.
This individualized approach is particularly important when working with neurodivergent learners. A strategy that helps one student may not be appropriate for another student with the same diagnosis.
The focus should remain on understanding the individual child.
Creating More Inclusive Classrooms
Inclusion does not simply mean placing children with different abilities in the same classroom. It also involves considering what supports are necessary for meaningful participation and learning.
IDEA’s Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) provisions state that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities should be educated alongside children without disabilities. Removal from the regular educational environment should occur only when education there cannot be achieved satisfactorily with supplementary aids and services.
For schools, this reinforces the importance of considering supports that allow students to participate in general educational environments whenever appropriate.
Practical Ways Schools Can Provide Support
A neurodiversity-informed school environment can begin with relatively straightforward practices.
Educators can provide clear instructions and predictable routines, offer information in different formats, recognize sensory and communication needs, create opportunities for breaks when appropriate, and provide students with different ways to demonstrate what they know.
Collaboration is also important. Teachers, special educators, related-service professionals, administrators, families, and students themselves can each contribute valuable perspectives.
For students receiving special education services, these decisions should be individualized through the appropriate educational process rather than based on assumptions about a diagnosis.
Building Understanding Among Educators and Families
Professional development can help educators better understand developmental disabilities, learning differences, inclusive education, and evidence-based practices.
This is an important part of the mission of the Westchester Institute for Human Development’s LEND Program. LEND is an interdisciplinary leadership training program bringing together participants from fields including psychology, special education, social work, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, public health, speech-language pathology, self-advocacy, and family perspectives.
Its curriculum emphasizes interdisciplinary and evidence-based practice, family partnerships, cultural competence, and leadership—areas that can contribute to stronger systems of support for children with disabilities and their families.
Supporting the Whole Child
Understanding neurodiversity encourages schools to look beyond a diagnosis and recognize the whole child.
A student may experience challenges in one environment while demonstrating significant strengths in another. Understanding the student’s communication preferences, interests, abilities, learning style, and support needs can help educators create more meaningful opportunities for participation and growth.
For Virgin Islands schools, increasing awareness of neurodiversity can contribute to educational environments where differences are better understood and students receive support based on their individual needs.
Moving Toward More Inclusive Virgin Islands Schools
Supporting neurodivergent children requires collaboration among schools, educators, families, disability professionals, and the wider community.
Through greater awareness, individualized support, professional development, and inclusive educational practices, Virgin Islands schools can continue strengthening environments in which children with different developmental and learning needs have opportunities to participate and succeed.
The work of programs such as LEND also demonstrates the value of bringing different professional disciplines and lived experiences together. WIHD describes its LEND program as preparing participants to become leaders working with and on behalf of children with disabilities and their families.
