ADCET Webinar: Neurodiversity Paradigm 101 - Lessons from the movement for higher education

Wed 19 Nov 2025 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm AEDT

Online

Event details

Over recent years, Australian universities have rapidly adopted the language of neurodiversity. Websites proclaim institutions are "neurodiversity-affirming," policies reference "neurodiverse students," and staff complete training on "neurodivergent-friendly practices." But scratch beneath the surface and the actual support model remains largely unchanged: students still require diagnoses to access support, adjustments still treat individual deficits rather than systemic barriers, and crisis responses still prioritise risk management over student autonomy.

This webinar introduces the neurodiversity paradigm as articulated by Dr Nick Walker and Sonny Jane Wise as a reframing of how we understand human cognitive diversity in universities. We'll explore core principles including neuronormativity (the invisible standard that determines whose ways of being are valued), biocertification (requiring psychiatric authority to validate needs), and biopower (using diagnoses as tools of social control).

Through comparing the clinical/pathology paradigm with the neurodiversity paradigm, we'll examine what each produces in practice: from adjustments that treat symptoms rather than barriers, to Universal Design for Learning as baseline; from "reasonable adjustment" gatekeeping to support without diagnosis requirements; from risk management approaches to harm reduction and anti-carceral care.

This session will challenge assumptions embedded in current university practice around academic integrity, crisis response, student support services, and learning design. We'll identify "paradigm-washing" - using liberation language whilst maintaining oppressive systems - and explore what genuine paradigm shift requires.

Participants will leave with conceptual tools for questioning systems, practical examples of neurodiversity-affirming approaches across different roles, and strategies for navigating the tension between paradigm ideals and institutional constraints. This is not a how-to guide or adjustment checklist - it's an invitation to examine the foundations of how we support neurodivergent students and ask whether we're ready to do more than change our language.

Expect discomfort. Expect critical reflection. Expect to question practices you thought were good. Paradigm shift work isn't comfortable: it's necessary.

This webinar is designed for higher education practitioners. Primary audiences include:

• Disability support practitioners and accessibility advisors
• Student support staff (counselling, wellbeing, equity services)
• Learning designers and educational developers
• Academic staff engaged in inclusive curriculum design
• Policy officers working on disability and equity frameworks
• Senior leaders responsible for student experience and inclusion strategy
• Professional staff involved in academic integrity, student conduct, or crisis response

This session assumes participants are committed to inclusive practice and are ready to critically examine the systems they work within. It's particularly relevant for those who feel tension between the neurodiversity language their institution uses and the actual outcomes students experience.

Not suitable for those seeking autism/ADHD awareness training, lists of adjustments, step-by-step implementation guides, or narrow definitions of who 'counts' as neurodivergent.

Presenter

Ebe Ganon is a community engagement practitioner, researcher, and advocate living on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country (Canberra, ACT). Ebe uses her lived and professional expertise to promote accessibility in education, employment, and mainstream fitness settings. Her background spans the public and higher education sectors across a range of roles and project areas relating to inclusion and accessibility. Ebe is currently a PhD candidate at UNSW Canberra focused on disability employment and job satisfaction, working under Professor Helen Dickinson and Associate Professor Fiona Buick. Ebe is also the Board Chair of Children and Young People with Disability Australia, and holds a Master of Disability and Inclusion from Deakin University. Ebe was the winner of the 2024 National Awards for Disability Leadership Change Making Award, and an Emerging Young Leader delegate to the 18th Conference of State Parties on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP18) at the United Nations in New York.

The webinar is free to attend, and it will be live-captioned.

Registrations for this webinar are now open

ADCET is hosted by the University of Tasmania

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