UC Clermont named pilot school for Autism-Inclusive Campus Designation

The AICD recognizes U.S. and Canadian colleges that foster inclusive environments for autistic and neurodivergent individuals. UC Clermont plans to work with College Autism Network (CAN) to address the designation criteria, utilizing input from trained reviewers, resources and feedback. Inspired by Ireland’s AsIAm model, the AICD promotes principles such as reducing barriers, empowering self-advocacy and ensuring neurodivergent voices are included in institutional planning.

“We don’t want to just accommodate these students, we want to welcome them,” said UC Clermont Professor Patty Goedl, who is spearheading the neuroinclusive initiative at the college, alongside fellow faculty members Kim Hunter and Meera Rastogi.

The autism-inclusive designation is just one aspect of UC Clermont’s pioneering efforts to create inclusive academic environments for neurodivergent learners through a comprehensive, evidence-based approach. The college aims to become a national leader in neurodivergent education by launching the first online degree programs next fall offered by a public university that are explicitly certified as neuroinclusive. Research shows that online environments, when designed exclusively, can reduce barriers and support diverse learning needs.

Goedl and her team believe that neuroinclusive changes to course design will help all students to access and understand material. For instance, content will be made available to students through text, video and graphics; students can take breaks when they need to; and content will be organized in smaller, more digestible formats that cater to the way modern learners interact with information in today’s online space.

“When you institute evidence-based neuroinclusive practices to course design and teaching, all students benefit,” Goedl said. “It’s a groundbreaking approach to build every course within an academic degree program from the bottom up to comply with neuroinclusive course design standards, rather than the current piecemeal approach of trying to adapt existing course content to meet student needs retroactively.”

The team is developing neuroinclusive course design standards and establishing a rigorous course design review and certification process, with the eventual goal of making the certification available to other institutions. Goedl and Rastogi are also co-editors of the forthcoming academic volume “The Handbook of Evidence-based Neuroinclusive Teaching, Course Design and Student Support in Higher Education,” accepted for publication by Elsevier in spring 2025.

Learn more about neuroinclusive efforts at UC Clermont.

Featured image at top of students walking across the UC Clermont campus.