Let’s face it: working in education today sometimes feels like juggling on a tightline. And if you’re
teaching children with special educational needs, someone may also be throwing alphabet soup at
you: ADHD, ASD, DSA, PDA, and more.
At JUMP, we teach the benefits of kindly stepping aside from this overly medicalized alphabet and
instead ask: “What is this child trying to tell me?” Labels might help us understand patterns, but
they rarely tell us what to do. Instead, focusing on the child’s real causes of discomfort—be it
sensory overload, low dopamine regulation (APA, 2021), or difficulty in abstract thinking (Alloway
et al., 2009)—gives us much more actionable and compassionate insight.
Take, for instance, the student who spaces out during math. Before labeling it “oppositional
behavior,” we ask: “Could they be visual thinkers? Do they struggle with working memory?” In our
training, we show that many of our “special” students actually have special strengths: heightened
sensitivity, creativity, image-based reasoning, or lightning-fast pattern recognition. Understanding
these not only helps us accommodate deficits—it helps us value brilliance in disguise.
But there’s more. We also explored the role of values in education—not just teaching values but
using them to ignite engagement. In one activity, teachers went on a “gratitude scavenger hunt,”
seeking things that made them feel good, safe, or curious. In another, we did sensory explorations
to discover how each individual experiences the world. The result? A proven method for people to
feel heard, seen, and eager to collaborate that can be transferred to students.
This brings us to Universal Design for Learning (CAST, 2018)—a framework that designs lessons
for the widest range of learners from the start. But UDL works best when paired with Value-Based
Education, which answers not just how to teach, but why each child might care.
Here’s how values can become your secret superpower in the classroom:
● Altruism: Let them help others. They’ll feel proud and connected.
● Creativity: Let them design posters, role-play stories, invent new games.
● Power: Let them be timekeepers or activity leaders. (Surprisingly efficient!)
● Tradition: Give them rituals and routines—they thrive on predictability.
● Security: Prep them ahead, offer quiet corners, ensure emotional safety.
● Achievement: Set personal bests, use visual progress trackers.
● Stimulation: Add novelty—new textures, topics, or tools.
● Self-direction: Offer choices, even simple ones: pen or pencil? Standing or sitting?
● Conformity: Set clear rules and let them help enforce them.
● Benevolence: Use pair work, class responsibilities, or buddy systems.
As Schwartz (2012) notes, values are motivational compasses. When you align learning with what
students care about, you turn “problems” into protagonists of their own educational journeys.
In the end, we don’t teach categories. We teach children—with all their quirks, values, and gifts.
The real “special need” is not a diagnosis, but our ability to listen, adapt, and trust that every child
wants to learn. Our job is to find the right doorway in.
References:
● American Psychological Association. (2021). Neurodiversity and Learning.
● Alloway, T. P., & Alloway, R. G. (2009). The working memory advantage.
● CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines.
● Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings
in Psychology and Culture, 2(1).
Author: Giuseppe Perrotti (JUMP Trainer)
