Diverse Learning Styles and Neurodiversity in Home-Based Education
Every learner brings a unique set of strengths, and effective home-based educators know how to meet those needs with confidence and care. This course introduces homeschool educators, micro-school teachers, and learning coaches to neurodiversity as an empowering educational framework — one that shifts the focus from diagnosis to instructional design. You will explore how differences in attention, executive function, sensory processing, and communication shape learning. Using Universal Design by Learning (UDL) principles, you will learn practical strategies for adapting your instruction accordingly. You will also gain experience in developing learner summaries and other introductory strengths-based documentation — a marketable asset whether you support families one-on-one or lead a broader educational program.
| Designed For | Teachers and educators |
| Topics | Special education |
| Platform | Canvas |
| Source | Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation |
Learning outcomes
- Explain neurodiversity as a strengths-based educational framework and describe how it applies in home and alternative education settings.
- Identify how differences in executive function, sensory processing, attention, and communication affect student learning.
- Apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to design flexible, inclusive instructional tasks and learning environments.
- Use strengths-based, non-clinical language to document and communicate learner progress to families and stakeholders.
- Develop deeper skills in identifying mismatches and proposing targeted adjustments, through instructional strategies.
