Background

The MASCOTS project is funded by Skills Development Scotland (SDS) within a Cyber Security Neurodiversity Skills Development Fund Grant.

It aims to provide an integrated educational framework to support neurodiversity in areas such as Cybersecurity and Computer Science related areas.

Its focus is:

Mentoring (Creation of a mentorship scheme);

Articulation; Supporting (Supportive learning environments);

Careers and Opportunities (neuro-diverse careers events);

Taster (Training and learning analytics); and Sustainment (Defining long-term plan).

The focus of this workshop is to better understand the routes between further and higher education for those with neuro-diverse conditions, and in supporting key areas such as mentorship and career advancement. The workshop is free to attend for academics from Colleges and Universities in Scotland and will be delivered on-line.

Agenda

The workshop will be held over Zoom on 14 Oct 2020 and the outline programme is:

12:30 – 12:45 Outline of the previous pilot, Basil Manoussos.

12:45 – 13:00 Neuro-diversity in academia, Prof Bill Buchanan.

13:00 – 13:20 Industry talk. (TBC)

13:20 – 14:00 Challenges for neurodiverse workers, IntoWork.

14:00 – 14:15 Structure and lessons from the pilot program.

14:15 – 14:25 Comfort break. Move to break-out rooms

14:25 – 16:00 Break-out sessions and reporting results.

16:00 – 16:10 Comfort break.

16:10 – 16:30 Group discussions on observations and next steps.

Group discussions in break-out rooms, with a moderator leading the discussion.

Topics might include:

• From college to university. What are the barriers?
• Enable neurodiversity for teaching. What can we do to improve delivery?
• Enable neurodiversity for careers. How can future and higher education better prepare neurodiverse students for the real world? How can we advise on the right career paths and environments?

If you would like to attend this workshop, please contact Basil Manoussos (v.manoussos@napier.ac.uk)

IMPORTANT NOTES:

a. The above agenda and time schedule may change

b. This event is funded and it is available for members of Scottish Colleges and Universities, charities that work with neuro diverse audiences, and members of the Scottish Government. Applications from academia and relevant charities from the rest of the UK may be considered if there are available spaces.

c. If you do not fall into one of these categories please email Basil (v.manoussos@napier.ac.uk) to express your interest.

d. Registrations with webmails (ie gmail, outlook, yahoo etc) will not be accepted. You need to provide a clear proof of your affiliation for this workshop.