Magazine article: LEANS in The Psychologist, December 15th 2022
In this free article for the British Psychological Society’s magazine, LEANS research team members Dinah Aitken and Sue Fletcher-Watson discuss “Neurodiversity-affirmative education: why and how?”. After introducing neurodiversity concepts, they cover myth-busting, becoming neurodiversity-affirmative in schools, and considering the potential challenges for educational practice.
Neurodiversity-affirmative education: why and how? | BPS
Magazine article: LEANS in GTCS magazine, November 2022 (issue 94)
LEANS is featured in a 2-page article as part of issue 94. This article includes interview content with Headteacher Dawn Thompson. Dawn was part of the initial LEANS evaluation in Scottish schools (2021) and reflects on why they chose to use LEANS, and its impact in class.
Download this issue for free, and find LEANS on page 40!
Talk: Annual Learnus lecture, November 16th
In her talk “Neurodiversity: acceptance and affirmation in the classroom", LEANS principal Investigator Prof. Sue Fletcher-Watson discusses the educational implications of the neurodiversity paradigm. Please note that this talk is closely related to the big picture and motivations for the LEANS project, but only has a small amount of content discussing the project itself. Learnus is an organisation focused on educational neuroscience, and engagement between researchers and educators in this area.
Video - lecture via YouTube (50 mins)
Online article: LEANS featured in Twinkl SEND digest, November 1st
This article is an interview with lead researcher Dr Alyssa Alcorn, reflecting on where LEANS came from, why it matters, and how it can support teachers and schools. Twinkl is a popular teacher website and education publisher based in the UK.
Mini-talks: LEANS at Autism Europe Congress, October 2022
View 3-minute lightning talks about the 2020 online consultation study used to inform the development of LEANS materials (Reesha Zahir), and the 2021 school-based evaluation study (Dr Alyssa Alcorn). These recorded talks were part of poster presentations at the Autism Europe Congress in Krakow.
Talk 1: “Evaluation of wider community support for LEANS, a neurodiversity teaching programme”
Academic poster via MediaHopper
Talk 2: “A school-based evaluation study of the LEANS programme”
Academic poster via MediaHopper
Event recording: Facebook Live Q&A with Charlene Tait (Scottish Autism), August 31st
An informal half-hour chat about the LEANS programme for schools, what’s coming up next, and how parents/carers can get involved.
Video - Q&A via Facebook (33 mins)
Talk: LEANS at the Autistica Research Festival, July 2022
A short recorded talk from Dr Alyssa Alcorn presenting about the LEANS evaluation study from 2021. This talk and this conference were intended for a mixed audience of community members, researchers, and professionals. This talk is part of a larger recorded session on education, and begins at 14:09.
Video - talk via YouTube (13 mins - part of larger video)
Magazine article: LEANS in nasen Connect, July 2022 edition
This three-page article is written to be accessible for educators, and talks about why it can be so important to understand and teach about neurodiversity within primary schools, and why it’s whole-class teaching that has real potential for impact. It introduces the main ideas of the LEANS resources and research project, with some information about our 2021 evaluation study.
Magazine article - nasen Connect
Note: you may need to register for a free nasen membership to access this article. If you do, you will also be presented with a paid option for “publication membership”. That’s not needed to read the magazine online!
Online article: LEANS on the National Autistic Society (NAS) website, June 16th
This short, free article is part of the National Autistic Society’s (NAS) content to support professional practice. It introduces LEANS for an autism practitioner audience, giving a compact overview of the free resource pack and the LEANS research project.
Online article - National Autistic Society
Event recording: LEANS launch event, June 14th 2022
This is a video of the online resource information session for educators and community members, held as part of our official resource launch. Members of the LEANS resource and design teams explain what the resources are, how they might be used, and why you might want to teach about neurodiversity in the first place! Recording includes the extended audience Q&A, with even more information on using LEANS.
Video - launch event via YouTube (1 hr 31 min)
TV: LEANS on Channel 5 news! March 23, 2022
LEANS was featured in a Channel 5 news segment aired on March 23rd, as part of a longer series on neurodiversity. The clip shows a sneak peek of an activity from Unit 2, Learning and Thinking Differently and some short interview content with LEANS researcher Dr Alyssa Alcorn. Many thanks to Mayflower School, Tower Hamlets for hosting us and the film crew!
Video clip - Channel 5 News via Twitter (2 m 45 sec)
Talk: CRAE annual lecture, 2022 “Neurodiversity-affirmative education for autistic learners"
This talk by LEANS principal Investigator Prof. Sue Fletcher-Watson is on topics closely related to LEANS. It has some content about the LEANS project, but covers a range of current research on neurodiversity and education.
Talk: Overview of the LEANS project, Dec 2021
Lead LEANS researcher Dr Alyssa Alcorn gave an overview talk on the LEANS project so far (including a sneak peek of some evaluation study feedback) as part of the seminar series at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education, at the UCL Institute of Education.
Video - CRAE webinar series via YouTube (1 hr 1 min)
Podcast: LEANS on the British Educational Research Association (BERA) podcast, Dec 2021
Professor Sue Fletcher-Watson, the PI of the LEANS project, discusses neurodiversity in the classroom and LEANS with Nick Johnson, Chief Executive of BERA.
Podcast - Neurodiversity in the classroom and LEANS (30 min 51 sec)
Talk: Autistica conference, July 2021
A ~15 minute talk about the LEANS project and our design process as part of the Autistica research conference (online). Presented by Professor Sue Fletcher-Watson. This talk is part of a longer recorded session. Follow the link, open the description, and click her name to jump to the start of that talk.
Conference poster: INSAR conference, May 2021
“Learning about Neurodiversity at School: Key Concepts for Communicating Neurodiversity to Primary School Children, from the Leans Project Co-Design Process”. May 2021. Poster focused on our design process, and the concepts covered in the LEANS curriculum.