2:00-3:00 PM Eastern, Thursday, April 30, 2026

Inclusive and Neurodiversity Affirming Online Course Design

Casey Woodfield

This presentation will outline a process for and examples of embedding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and neurodiversity affirming inclusive pedagogy throughout all aspects of an inclusive online courses. We share concrete strategies to foster a foundational level of access, which can then be further tailored and enhanced to individual context. This session will offer specific examples of cultivating an experience of accessibility and inclusion while also learning about related concepts. We will share examples from undergraduate, graduate and professional development courses that serve as models of innovative, inclusive pedagogy in asynchronous online courses. Attendees will engage in interaction with examples and active planning to implement strategies in their own courses or related online spaces.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Identify components of inclusivity in online course design.
• Summarize the need for inclusive, neurodiversity-affirming practices in online learning experiences.
• Design and assess online courses that draw on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a means to inclusive and neurodiversity affirming pedagogy.

Dr. Casey Woodfield’s work centers communication and inclusion as inextricably connected imperatives. Using a disability studies framework her research explores the nuances of communication support partnerships, inclusive educational practice, and transformative qualitative methods. Her research tells stories of/through lived experiences at the intersections of communicative diversity, educational practice, relationality and neurodiverse identities, specifically in the lives of nonspeaking and unreliably speaking people who use augmentative and alternative communication. Dr. Woodfield is a Professor-in-Residence in Rowan's Professional Development School network at Horace Mann Elementary School in Cherry Hill and Bowe Elementary School in Glassboro. Through these scholarly activities she works to counter socially constructed notions of competence and voice, guided by the perspectives of individuals with disabilities as critical agents of advocacy and change.