Blog Posts

Don’t Let Neurodivergence Derail Your Semester

2/29/2024

Helping Struggling Learners Stay on Track

Image by Julia M Cameron

The semester is underway. Is your neurodivergent student staying on track? ADHD, autism, dyslexia and other learning differences can pose obstacles to academic consistency, but with the right guidance, struggling learners can maintain traction and achieve academic success.

Last month, we examined how neurodivergent students can use a growth mindset for goal setting. This month, we are exploring how individuals with learning differences can apply a growth mindset in order to maintain momentum.

Life’s little setbacks

I recently assisted a worried parent whose teenage son Lucas sprained his ankle just before cross country tryouts. While she was understandably upset that he might become disheartened, we discussed ways he could reframe the accident as an opportunity for personal and athletic growth.

I coached Lucas to view his injury not as a setback, but as a chance to grow both mentally and physically. The idea was for him to embrace the prescribed rehabilitation plan with patience, recognizing that progress might be gradual. During coaching sessions, I encouraged him to focus on achievable gains during recovery rather than dwelling on limitations. Adopting a growth mindset helped Lucas set realistic short-term goals, making the recovery process more manageable and providing a sense of achievement.

Despite the initial disappointment and some bumps along the healing path, with support, Lucas maintained focus on his goal of returning to competitive form. While his recovery didn't unfold as initially anticipated, Lucas did experience growth in ways he hadn't foreseen. His mother remarked that he eventually learned to navigate a slow rehabilitation with grace and cultivated resilience and perseverance. The experience became a transformative journey for him, resulting in a successful recovery and a strengthened mindset for future athletic and academic challenges.

What is growth mindset?

Dr. Carol Dweck's theory on growth mindset highlights the significance of tackling problems with grit. Unlike a fixed mindset that sees struggles as proof of built-in limitations, a growth mindset sees them as opportunities to get better. Like flexing strength-building muscles, this outlook generates endurance and gives students the confidence that they can make continuous improvement and achieve their goals.

Growth mindset is also associated with more consistency in tracking goals. A research study at Eindhoven University of Technology in Eindhoven, Netherlands has found that a growth mindset allows people who are tracking their progress to maintain both self-compassion and persistence while pursuing their goals.

Dweck's growth mindset theory can help neurodivergent individuals focus and persevere when using tracking systems in pursuit of their academic, professional and personal goals. This approach not only fosters resilience in navigating obstacles, but also helps learners develop acceptance about the path their progress takes.

How you can help

Goal-setting thrives on continuous improvement and achievement. If you are guiding someone on their educational path, you can encourage them to face challenges with a positive mindset and navigate their pursuits with determination and adaptability.

Encourage your student to write down their goals: When learners jot down their goals, they’re making them real and touchable. Writing brings clarity, helping individuals express what they are reaching for, and serves as a friendly nudge, keeping objectives in sight.

Help your learner find a way to track their goals: Keeping tabs on progress is like having a roadmap for accomplishments. It's a visual testament to how much ground a student has covered. Tracking helps students stay focused, gives room for adjustments when needed, and ensures that they stay true to their aspirations.

Teach your student to cultivate self-compassion regardless of the result: Embracing a positive mindset is key for bouncing back. Understanding that stumbling is part of the journey helps students accept imperfections, dial down the fear of failure, and face challenges with a positive spin.

Help your learner continue to persevere, even when they don't meet their goals: Many pursuits are more like marathons than sprints. Treating setbacks as stepping stones to learning and self-improvement helps students become more adaptable, ready to face whatever hurdles come their way.

Growth mindset allows people who are tracking their progress to maintain self-compassion and persistence while pursuing their goals.

Coaches and educators can support students in adopting a growth mindset to advance their academic, professional, and personal success. If neurodivergence has hindered your student’s progress and satisfaction, they can adopt these strategies and see their objectives take root and flourish.

Is your student looking to set sustainable goals and maximize their academic confidence? Schedule a complimentary information session.

As an executive function coach and academic tutor, I specialize in helping individuals with learning differences exceed their goals for academics, organization, college transition, and career development.

"I wanted to express my appreciation. I am certain that your direction and voice made a difference for our son, probably even more than he realizes. Thanks again!" - Richard, Parent

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Growth Mindset, Neurodivergence and New Year Goal Setting

1/23/2024

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Young woman ascending artificial rock climbing structure

Image by Allan Mas

Celebrating Progress, Grit and Fresh Starts

Winter is a traditional season for quiet reflection on the year that has passed. It presents an opportunity to celebrate where we took risks, navigated obstacles, persevered, acquired skills, and made gains.

It’s also a time for setting goals for the coming year. For people with learning differences, forward momentum can feel particularly evasive. They tend to find progress toward goals to be more of a “one step forward, two steps back” experience.

In this article, we’ll explore the nature of progress for neurodivergent students, how growth mindset theory can help, and concrete strategies for using that mindset as a tool for better goal setting.

Progress Is Not a Straight Line

When assessing their progress, and creating goals for the coming year, people who are wired differently need to steer clear of perfectionistic thinking, or the notion that improvement must be immediate in order to exist. If you know someone who is neurodivergent, as I am, they may at times experience progress as imperceptible growth, happening beneath the surface of understanding. They may encounter satisfying breakthroughs, followed by humdrum plateaus, followed by what appear to be disappointing setbacks. These frustrating roller coasters – fits and starts – can erode their confidence. The path may not make sense, given the sweat equity.

The journey of tackling a high school, college, or career challenge may ultimately prove to be as valuable as arriving at the destination. In setting goals for the new year, people with learning differences such as ADHD and autism benefit from giving themselves credit for the process of forward movement, not just achievement. Sustaining efforts outside their comfort zones can embolden neurodivergent individuals to stay the course and practice positive habits that eventually develop into routines.

Growth Mindset Theory

Dr. Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory highlights the importance of facing setbacks with persistence. Unlike a fixed mindset, which interprets struggles as indicators of inherent limitations, a growth mindset views them as opportunities to develop strengths. This perspective fosters stamina and empowers students with the confidence that improvement and progress are always within reach.

Embracing a growth mindset unleashes cognitive potential. A January 2023 Neuroscience article cites a Southwest University study that correlates growth mindset with greater gray matter in the part of the brain responsible for decision making and goal setting. Research at the Gene-Brain-Behavior (GBB) Project supports the notion that individuals who have a growth mindset develop critical reasoning skills that make them resilient and adaptable thinkers.

Growth Mindset and Neurodivergence

Neurodivergent individuals, whether in middle school, high school, college or beyond, can adopt a growth mindset to increase their traction with academic, professional and personal goals. However, encouraging students with learning differences via blanket positive encouragement that lacks relevant details can be baffling to them, or even backfire.

In the June 2023 Washington Post article “The growth mind-set: Why friends, family and work make a difference,” author Tara Parker-Pope describes the value of bringing attention to a person’s specific strengths and areas of growth, rather than simply praising them for doing “a good job.” The idea is that vague, but positive statements from mentors and peers can actually contribute to an individual’s anxiety because they don’t have a clear sense of which actions the praise is connected to, whereas targeted and accurate feedback helps them conceptualize what they are doing well, and focus on areas where they can still improve.

People with learning differences may benefit during goal setting by noting whether they struggle with metacognition and the ability to see how they navigate through environments, responsibilities, and achievements. Feedback from mentors can help them take a detailed and precise account of how past decisions played out, highlight specific areas of growth, realistically assess their strengths and blind spots, and plan what to work on accordingly. From there, supportive routines can be introduced and practiced.

Growth Mindset and Developing Sustainable Habits and Routines

While detailed feedback and support can empower neurodivergent individuals to set appropriate goals, and routines can keep them on track, cultivating patience and gentleness with themselves and the fruits of their efforts can help them stay in the game and bolster lagging confidence.

To be sustainable, growth is best framed as a gradual progression, not a one-off event. Rather than allowing setbacks to weigh us down, we can view them as opportunities for improvement. People who are wired differently can acknowledge previously challenging goals and the hurdles they have overcome, then take stock of growth edges, unrealized potential, and support structures they can implement to ease the process.

Achievement of long-term goals will play out differently than that of short-term objectives. Rushing to the end point of complex, incremental pursuits may be counterproductive. Multifaceted endeavors, targets and aspirations require longer time frames.

How Neurodivergent People Can Use a Growth Mindset for More Effective Goal Setting

Aim for gradual progress. Learners sometimes feel pressured to absorb new information at astronomical speed and achieve instant results. However, lasting progress can take time. It is okay to go at our own pace and trust the process. Unmet goals are not unachievable; they just have not yet been met. People with learning differences can leave room in their worldview for those aims to manifest on their own time, supported by steady effort. Desired outcomes inevitably take longer than expected to achieve.

Validate efforts, not just results. Consistency and tenacity are vital to success. Repeatedly stretching outside one’s comfort zone ultimately leads to major growth. Expectations associated with high school, college, and professional milestones can emphasize external achievement, downplaying internal and subjective gains, which are often at least as significant. It is easy to focus only on results without appreciating the learning process. Yet we benefit from identifying new skills acquired along the way, regardless of their size.

Cultivate grit. Learners can make friends with resilience by incorporating positive forward movement into their daily routines. Growth is a process, so it is necessary to be prepared to work toward goals gradually over time, even before progress becomes apparent. Challenges and obstacles do not need to deter students from tackling new tasks with courage. If they don't meet their goals today, they can take a break from the frustration and try again tomorrow. Pacing matters. People can develop new stamina by making a habit of revisiting difficult projects with greater equanimity. If routines include getting back on the proverbial horse after a setback, progress toward goals becomes a natural phenomenon.

Get effective supports in place to maintain momentum.

Solo Support: Discovery is a beautiful thing, and our life paths are nothing short of adventure. Struggling learners can visualize achieving their goals. They can commit to making significant growth toward them, and imagine taking the steps that will get them there. To concretize progress, they can then gamify positive actions and reinforce effective habits to ingrain them into routines.

Community Support: If neurodivergent individuals are not making the traction they want, they may be missing key resources and self-management tools. Skillful mentorship can expose learners to fresh perspectives and untried solutions. No one succeeds entirely alone. Asking for help and assembling a team can provide encouragement and inspiration. It is crucial to be conscientious about the environment we inhabit and the influences we absorb, as the people we interact with inform our inner dialog. If interactions are energizing and help us move forward toward goals, we are in the right company.

Observe and celebrate progress. Celebrating achievement activates the brain’s reward system by releasing oxytocin and dopamine. This can generate a feedback loop that reinforces motivation. It also reduces stress, accelerating learning and increasing memory, focus and attention. No accomplishment is too small or negligible. Learners can develop greater courage and a stronger sense of achievement by recognizing the little wins and appreciating how far they have come.

Coaches and educators can support students in adopting a growth mindset to advance their academic, professional, and personal success. If neurodivergence has hindered your student’s progress and satisfaction, they can adopt these strategies and see their objectives take root and flourish.

Is your student looking to set sustainable goals and maximize their academic confidence? Schedule a complimentary information session.

As an executive function coach and academic tutor, I specialize in helping individuals with learning differences exceed their goals for academics, organization, college transition, and career exploration.

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Guiding Your Student to Use ChatGPT to Aid Critical Thinking

8/30/2023

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Photo by Bruce Matsunaga

Leveraging AI Chatbots to Support Problem Solving Skills

According to American psychologist and philosopher John Dewey, “A society which wants to create and maintain a free and democratic social system must create responsible independence of thought among its young.” Innovation, reasoning, and personal expression are prized characteristics of contemporary culture which are ideally integrated into educational practice.

Adults can do much to encourage learners to view academic projects as platforms for meaningful reflection, theorizing, and self-expression. Essays and projects can give voice to who students are, what they think, and how they feel.

If AI chatbots are here to stay, is critical thinking for neurodivergent students at risk?

In a previous article, we provide an overview of some risks associated with using AI writers for school assignments, as well as guidelines on how to leverage them effectively as learning tools.

In a follow-up article on how to use AI text generators for research, we mention specific ways coaches and mentors can guide students who are embarking on AI-assisted academic projects.

Today, we explore the importance of helping students preserve a beneficial level of cognitive challenge, vet reference content for quality, incorporate their unique perspectives into writing assignments, and enhance their problem-solving skills while utilizing AI content generators.

No effort = no learning

In his Psychology Today article on the sweet spot for optimum learning, neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene asserts, “A passive organism learns almost nothing, because learning requires an active generation of hypotheses, with motivation and curiosity.”

Prioritizing effort and grit may feel counterintuitive to neurodivergent students. They may struggle with ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, or other learning differences that hamper executive functioning and lead to decision fatigue. However, the right amount of cognitive struggle helps them access peak learning.

AI content writers passing as college students

In a UCLA study, psychologists concluded that although its ability to solve problems contains some limitations, ChatGPT’s abstract reasoning performs comparably to that of undergraduate students on standardized tests and intelligence assessments.

Rising Harvard sophomore Maya Bodnick conducted her own research, revealing ChatGPT’s ability to take her freshman year classes, write its own essays, and satisfy her professors’ standards enough to achieve a GPA of 3.3. “I basically found that ChatGPT is a college-level writer.” In Bodnick’s test, it did well with both formulaic and creative content, but failed where it had not been trained to provide a very specific answer.

The hazards of outsourcing effort

Setting aside the ethics of “cheating,” if a task is too easy, students don’t grow. If it feels too difficult, they become overwhelmed and may give up. Stepping outside their comfort zones and applying reasonable effort to assignments, including risk taking and reworking an approach after failure, allows students opportunities to rehearse and refine cognitive skills.

Stressed learners may feel tempted to submit the immediate AI output verbatim, or at the very least, assume that it is good enough to paraphrase. The smooth content produced by AI tools may look great at first glance, and students may not recognize that initial responses always require analysis and revision. They also may not recognize how academic shortcuts will cause them harm.

Don’t let your learner circumvent opportunities to grapple with challenging problems

Academic skill building occurs when we don’t immediately know the answer, but arrive at new insight through manageable levels of effort. The impulse to lessen mental exertion in service of mere achievement is a strategy that will backfire when studentd face similar hurdles in the future.

Relying on AI to do the heavy lifting bypasses students’ critical thinking. It robs them of an opportunity to build reasoning skills that will aid them in embracing challenge. Furthermore, part of critical thinking is recognizing when a source may be biased or inaccurate.

Just because it comes from a machine doesn’t make the output high quality or factual

Travel writer Cameron Hewitt tested ChatGPT’s competence at generating a guidebook listing for Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, offering the chatbot several chances to refine its output. Hewitt then compared the results with his own listing.

He concluded that the AI generated text was lacking in personality, full of cliches, and reminiscent of advertising copy. “Even though I gave it feedback to tone down the promotional tone, the AI couldn’t resist making its listing sound like a commercial for Hillsborough Castle…It’s not surprising that AI defaults to a less nuanced, more actively promotional approach — because the vast majority of travel content out there is exactly that.”

Cameron also noted that ChatGPT incorporated outdated details into its guidebook listing, including out-of- date ticket prices and references to a living Queen Elizabeth.

Students using AI chatbots also encounter incorrect and distorted search results, but without the benefit of adult reasoning and fully developed executive functioning.

Inaccuracy, bias, and quality control proficiency

Along with the aforementioned hazards of bypassing a healthy cognitive struggle, students face additional risks when relying on the authority of skewed or nonfactual content from AI text generators:

They may not employ analysis of the output they receive.
They may not leverage research skills to vet content for quality, fact check for accuracy, or use authoritative sources for verification.
They may not bring sufficiently developed perspective to a subject or its context to recognize incorrect or biased information.

While learners may inadvertently trust faulty ideas and incorporate them into final drafts, educators can teach students to employ healthy skepticism, understand media bias, and evaluate their sources.

Your student as meaning generator

As navigators of the digital age, neurodiverse learners need to be guided in discerning the highest quality and most personally relevant ideas to include in academic projects.

Nothing can replace a student’s own opinion, perspective, and voice. These cannot be outsourced to an AI bot. Active learning occurs when a student generates meaning by synthesizing existing knowledge and constructing a unique frame to an academic inquiry. If their critical reasoning skills go untested, they can easily develop the belief that they are not capable.

AI text writers are handy for scraping the internet for factoids and providing inspiration. However, students need to scour their own memory banks and weave in what is relevant.

Educators can empower students by supporting them through problem-solving hurdles, which will foster in them the confidence needed to create solutions to life’s future challenges.

How can students leverage AI tools while maintaining optimum levels of rumination, scrutiny, and deduction in academic projects?

Solutions and Tips: Coaches and educators must help students understand how to use AI tools such as ChatGPT to aid, rather than replace critical thinking.

Teach students to use discernment in vetting all types of prose for veracity and cultural bias, including identifying the sources’ credibility, affiliations, and agendas.

Before they begin using an AI chatbot, help students pinpoint the priorities of their research, such as which facets of a topic they consider most relevant and of greatest value in light of their personal experience and observations.

Guide students to view AI writing generators as research tools, not writing prescriptives. Emphasize that initial chatbot output is a starting point and is not a reliable authority on any topic.

Help learners convert academic prompts into meaningful research inquiries.

Encourage students to apply their vetting skills in analyzing output from AI writers, recognizing relevant portions, and weeding out inaccuracies and slanted perspectives.

Teach learners to craft iterative queries and effective follow-up questions, incorporating their discoveries and pivoting their angles as needed, while using ChatGPT for research.

Get in the weeds and mentor students in navigating concrete challenges. Model your own thinking process via a research example, and then guide learners through one or more AI inquiry exercises until they demonstrate proficiency in using the tool.

Classroom teachers can invite students to design several iterative questions on a single topic using an AI chatbot, capture the resulting dialog, and present a critique of process.

Delve into the risks of AI-assisted research. Have students try to generate biased or inaccurate chatbot responses based on intentionally ineffective prompts.

Guide students in using personal challenges, strengths, and opportunities as fodder for exploration in academic projects.

Coaches and educators can help students integrate AI into their arsenal of tools, but not allow it to usurp their innate problem solving capabilities.

Is your student looking for guidance in using research technology to maximize their academic confidence? Schedule a complimentary information session.

As an executive function coach and academic tutor, I specialize in helping individuals with learning differences exceed their goals for academics, organization, and college transition.

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