Topics in Classroom Inclusion: What is Neurodevelopment?

Consider a classroom where two students have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but their needs vary significantly. One benefits from visual learning aids to help them understand a lesson, while another requires one-on-one guidance from a teacher or aide.

Just as each student is a unique individual, each individual with ADHD or other neurodivergent conditions has distinct needs in the classroom. What actually shapes the way students learn, behave, and interact in school?

Learning variability comes in several forms. BOLD, an online hub for scientific information about youth development and learning, identifies three categories of learning variability:

• Learning variability within individuals acknowledges that a learner’s behavior can change across hours, days, and years.
• Learning variability within groups recognizes that each child in a group has a unique combination of characteristics, strengths, and challenges.
• Learning variability across contexts addresses the different environments that can enhance or hinder learning and development.

The human brain evolves rapidly and in complex ways throughout a child’s life, from the earliest stages of development in the womb to infancy, childhood, and adolescence. This article explores how understanding neurodevelopment can transform inclusive education. It also discusses some of the programs offered by American University and the ways AU faculty members prepare students to transform the education system and foster positive social change.

What Neurodevelopment Is and Why It Matters for Inclusive Classrooms 

Neurodevelopment is the process by which the brain grows, organizes, and adapts from early prenatal stages through adulthood. “Abundant evidence indicates that brain development begins well before birth, extends into the adult years, and is specifically designed to recruit and incorporate experience into its emerging architecture and functioning,” explains the National Academies publication From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development.

Neurodevelopment is a complex process that impacts a wide range of functions, including:

• Executive function
• Language development
• Emotional regulation
• Sensory integration

A process as complex as this, spanning such a large population, is bound to manifest developmental variability, with children progressing at different rates and some deviating from expected paths. Inclusive educators benefit from understanding that variability, not just to support students with diagnoses but also to meet the full range of learner needs in a diverse classroom.

“Building respect for diversity and developing inclusive practices in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is … essential for ensuring the well-being and positive development of all children,” according to Reducing Inequalities by Investing in Early Childhood Education and Care, a recent report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

How Neurodevelopment Shapes Behavior and Learning 

Teachers see them every day. Kids who can’t follow directions. Kids who can’t sit still through a traditional lesson. Kids who react dramatically to the slightest provocation.

Such issues can often be traced back to neurodevelopmental processes. Emily Grossnickle Peterson, an associate professor in the AU School of Education, studies the relationship between neurodevelopment and attention, self-regulation, and motivation. Peterson notes that many educators believe in the “neuromyth” of discrete learning styles (LS), the idea that students learn best in a preferred modality such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

“Although educators demonstrate greater ability to recognize neuromyths compared to the general public, they still maintain a high level of endorsement for these misconceptions,” Peterson explains in Why educators endorse a neuromyth: relationships among educational priorities, beliefs about learning styles, and instructional decisions.

Peterson and her collaborators advocate for a more scientific approach to classroom choices while praising educators’ good intentions: “The majority of teachers made instructional decisions based on a desire to support students’ success, and we hope future research explores how to leverage teachers’ desires to do so most effectively.”

Catherine Stoodley, an AU colleague of Peterson’s, has taken a close look at the role of one particular part of the brain in developmental disorders. Her article Distinct regions of the cerebellum show gray matter decreases in autism, ADHD, and developmental dyslexia explains how the cerebellum looks different in people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and developmental dyslexia.

“Understanding the convergence and divergence of cerebellar structural differences in ASD, ADHD, and dyslexia can clarify whether the role of the cerebellum in these disorders is specific to particular cerebro-cerebellar circuits or represents a more general characteristic of a developmental disorder,” she writes.

The complexities of neurodevelopment and neurodiversity make inclusive instruction vitally important for young people whose brains are still developing. Inclusive instruction requires developmental awareness, not just behavior management techniques. The American Society for the Positive Care of Children advises that “Understanding neurodiversity means more than one educational strategy; it is the pledge of the creation of a sympathetic learning environment.”

Debunking Neuromyths and Embracing Learner Variability

Let’s take a closer look at neuromyths in education—those common but inaccurate beliefs about how the brain works, such as left brain/right brain dominance and the impact of sugar on attention. Like her colleagues Peterson and Bresnahan, Alida Anderson has written about educators’ belief in neuromyths.

Teachers may devote time and resources toward misguided educational techniques driven by neuromyths, Anderson and her collaborators write in Dispelling the Myth: Training in Education or Neuroscience Decreases but Does Not Eliminate Beliefs in Neuromyths. For example, an educator who believes the myth that letter reversals cause dyslexia could make them less likely to identify students with dyslexia or provide them with appropriate services.

“Some of the most common myths, such as those related to learning styles and dyslexia, remain remarkably prevalent (~50% endorsement or higher) regardless of exposure to education or neuroscience,” Anderson and her collaborators write.

Dispelling the Myth advocates for professional development and targeted educational programs in academic neuroscience to help dispel neuromyths among educators. The goal: steer teachers toward techniques and assessments based on empirical data, not myths.

One of the techniques backed by empirical data: embracing learner variability and creativity in the classroom. Anderson collaborated on the inaugural Journal of the Arts and Special Education, which assembles four papers that “share promising ideas that offer much hope for the future in the arts and special education,” promoting:

• Collaboration among arts and special education professionals
• The use of multi-genre arts programming to support creative engagement and social and emotional learning in middle school students with autism
• Professional development resources for music educators teaching students with disabilities
• Integration practices using dramatic and visual arts to engage students with exceptionalities

The journal illustrates how arts integration and multisensory approaches can engage diverse neural pathways and support all students, especially those with learning disabilities or processing challenges.

“True ‘access’ to arts and special education relies upon a body of feasible, credible, evidence-based approaches that meaningfully engage students in and through the arts,” Anderson and a colleague write in the journal’s introduction. 

From Research to Practice — How AU Trains Inclusive Educators

Preparing educators to apply developmental science in the classroom is a crucial component of the curricula in American University’s MAT, specialized MAT in Special Education: Learning Disabilities, and Reading and Language Development Certificate program. AU’s courses bridge theory and practice: from understanding neurodevelopment to implementing Universal Design for Learning (UDL), designing trauma-informed lessons, and building routines that support executive function.

AU students learn to translate research into actionable strategies for inclusive teaching in the following classes:

• Theories of Educational Psychology and Human Development reviews research on learning and human development, highlighting the educator’s role as a decision-maker and agent of change who is informed about diversity and multicultural perspectives.
• Effective Teaching for Diverse Students emphasizes the use of action research to investigate strategies for organizing and managing classrooms that support a wide range of learners. Participants actively engage in designing and implementing curriculum, while also examining the contributions of families, communities, and other professionals in the processes of assessment and curriculum development.
• Foundations of Special Education for Exceptional Children explores the unique learning needs of students and the development of effective programs that promote equal educational opportunities. It specifically focuses on the exceptionalities related to cognitive, behavioral, and psychological or social differences among learners.

AU students’ diverse professional experiences also foster an inclusive mindset. Sheela VanHoose (MEd in EPL, ‘24) gained new insight into proposed legislation in Florida from her classmates, who included educators, administrators, and guidance counselors. “One classmate highlighted the impact this legislation could have on students with unique abilities and the need for adaptive devices—this is an example where I thought I knew every angle but realized I just didn’t,” she says. 

Takeaways for Today’s Educators 

Understanding neurodevelopment leads to more compassionate, effective, and inclusive teaching. The work of AU scholars highlights a number of strategies for educators to implement or reflect on, such as:

• The importance of offering multiple means of engagement and expression through Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A UDL curriculum takes into account the rich and varied experiences and circumstances students bring to the classroom and proactively puts in place plans for all students to succeed.
• Building in predictable classroom routines that support self-regulation. “Students notice everything teachers do, so it’s important to reflect and model throughout the day, on tone of voice, facial expression, and body language,” writes Kathy Collier, a language and literacy equity coach and elementary literacy coordinator in Wisconsin.
• Interpreting challenging behavior through a developmental lens. “Embracing diversity in the classroom not only reflects societal pluralism but also nurtures a more comprehensive and enriching learning environment,” explain the authors of Inclusive Education Practices: Fostering Diversity and Equity in the Classroom.

Conclusion: Rethinking Inclusion Starts with Understanding Development

Inclusive education isn’t just about policy or access; it starts with knowing how students develop and learn. Understanding neurodevelopment helps educators make informed, empathetic choices that support every learner.

The education leaders at AU are preparing the next generation while working to increase understanding of neurodiversity and the best classroom strategies to maximize every student’s potential. To learn more about the professional development opportunities available to you in the MAT, specialized MAT in Special Education: Learning Disabilities, and Reading and Language Development Certificate programs, connect with an enrollment advisor. If you’re ready, you can start an application to the program of your choice online today.