Appreciating Differences in Neurodivergent Learners with Emily Rubin

As interactive partners, we have a responsibility to understand the lived experiences of autistic and neurodivergent learners, appreciate their neurodevelopment differences, and adapt the environment to meet their needs. By constantly seeking insight and learning, interactive partners can work collaboratively to support neurodivergent children and young people. The SCERTS framework is an evidence-based framework that provides a common language, particularly around provision of support, where developmental capacities in Social Communication and Emotional Regulation are supported by our Transactional Support. When we see opportunities for our learners to increase their active engagement, our first consideration should be whether the environment is meeting our learners’ needs. SCERTS recognizes that learning is a “two-way street”… let’s start learning how we can change our interactive support and the environment for our learners to thrive.

Emily Rubin, MS, CCC-SLP, is the Director of Communication Crossroads in Southern California and is specialised in providing professional learning focused on helping educators create positive learning environments focused on relationships and an appreciation of the neurodiversity of children. She is a speech-language pathologist who is passionate about the relationship between active engagement and the development of language, learning, and well-being.

As a co-author of the SCERTS Model, she helps educational teams implement a framework for social emotional engagement and learning that is: 1) natural activity-based in that it can be embedded in everyday activities, 2) sensitive to the unique needs and preferences of autistic learners, and 3) can guide educational teams in creating learning environments to promote active engagement. She lectures internationally and provides ongoing technical assistance to school systems and other agencies that care for children and their families.