Introduction
As a White, British neurodivergent cis woman, my lived experience shapes how I approach teaching, access, and inclusion. As a Specialist Technician for BA Fashion Contour, I work with students who come with a wide range of technical and learning abilities. My own experience of navigating education informs the way I view access, pace, and inclusion.
My project draws on lived experience, student feedback, and inclusive learning theory, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Context
I teach sewing workshops to first- and second-year students. We focus on developing specialist technical skills through demonstration and hands-on experimentation. Students come with varying degrees of sewing experience. My role is to support students to succeed, regardless of their starting point.
Fig.1 O’Driscoll, G (2025) Jade Gellard, far left, delivering workshop to year 1 BA Fashion Contour students.
The handout is a supplementary document, guiding students through garment construction during or after the workshop. From my perspective, and the students, these materials don’t offer enough scaffolding for independent learning, especially students who have additional learning needs, such as dyslexia, or those who may be studying in a second language.
Fig. 2 Gellard, J. (2025) Example of a hand out currently used.
I’ve observed this over the past four years. When students can’t understand the handout, they rely on 1-to-1 support. That support isn’t always quickly available, especially during busier times. This puts additional strain on students with learning barriers, and it undermines the principle of equity. Some students, not able to gain access to help in the moment, disengage. Others express anxiety about asking for help repeatedly. This can lead to non-submission, and failure.
UDL encourages us to “provide multiple means of representation,” so learners can access content in ways that suit them (Glass et al., 2013). It means anticipating difference, not reacting to it, providing options to learn and navigate the workshops in a way that best suits the student. This intervention proposes a redesign of the handouts.
My aim is to create an accessible handout that reflects the diversity of students I welcome into my sewing studio. It should help all, not just some, move confidently toward completing their technical garments independently, and retain that learned knowledge for final collections in their final year of studies.
Inclusive learning.
Specialist courses demand high levels of independence, confidence, and technical skill. Students can’t develop those qualities if they’re working with learning materials that are inconsistent, unclear, or not designed with their needs in mind.
UDL positions inclusion not as an optional add-on, but as a foundational design principle. It encourages educators to anticipate difference and create learning environments that offer multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression. “What is critical is not to make education more accessible to students with disabilities… but to ensure that UDL options and alternatives are exercised broadly across the whole range of students” (Glass et al., 2013, p.117). Being inspired by UDL, it became the foundation for my intervention.
My intervention draws directly from this. By redesigning the technical handouts used in workshops, I’m embedding inclusive practice into the curriculum. The goal isn’t to simplify the content, it’s to provide the scaffolding needed for all students to access it confidently and independently.
Orr and Shreeve (2017) highlight how art and design spaces foster creative risk-taking and autonomy. But without inclusion, these spaces risk becoming exclusive and intimidating. Graham Gibbs (2010) adds that students are more likely to persist and succeed when they have high self-efficacy; the belief that they can succeed. Clearer, student-informed handouts help build that belief, particularly for students who might otherwise feel lost, behind, or overlooked.
I want to create clear, consistent handouts that help students follow along during workshops, and supports them after. I want to make them clearer and usable for everyone, no matter their background or learning style.
Course data shows that 30% of students on BA Fashion Contour have a declared disability, including 13% with specific learning difficulties and 11% with other or multiple impairments. But many choose not to disclose or don’t yet have access to a diagnosis, as acknowledged by Gerrard and Shurville (2007) in; McAndrew, Farrow, and Cooper (2012) ‘when students should request this kind of support, some of them do not use it because they do not want to reveal their disability’
The data doesn’t include international students who may be learning in a second language and navigating similar barriers. I believe the real number of students who need inclusive resources is higher than the data available suggests.
By designing with the margins in mind, we improve access for all. Providing materials in accessible formats will help students with declared disabilities; but it will also support students who haven’t received a formal diagnosis, international students, or those who were simply not able to attend that particular day.
This work is grounded in intersectional thinking (Crenshaw, 1990), recognising how disability, neurodivergence, and language barriers intersect to shape students’ experiences.
Reflection
My decision to redesign the technical handouts was informed by both personal experience and student feedback. Being neurodivergent, I understand how inaccessible resources can hinder confidence and progress. By using clear layouts, plain language, and visual step-by-step guides, we remove the need for students to disclose their needs to get support. Reyes et al. (2022) emphasise the importance of simple, structured content in ensuring accessibility; principles equally relevant in hands-on, in-person learning. Visual formats and chunked instructions have also been shown to support comprehension for students with learning differences (Catalano, 2014; Luke, 2002, in Reyes et al., 2022).
Student feedback confirmed the need for this intervention. A questionnaire revealed that while all students use handouts, 40% didn’t feel confident working independently with them. Preferred improvements included clearer diagrams, smaller instruction chunks, and visuals like annotated photos. QR codes for video guides and accessible fonts were also popular. I’ve used the British Dyslexia Association’s Style Guide (2023) to shape the redesign.
Full questionnaire data can be found here:
After presenting to peers, several linked my intervention to differentiation, highlighting how improved handouts could support varying paces of learning. Suggestions included creating extension materials for students who want to go further—something that aligns with my aim to promote autonomy and progression.
Peers emphasised the need to respect inherited resources, while building a collaborative, consistent approach. I’ll be developing a shared template for use by technicians, allowing personalisation while maintaining clarity.
A practical challenge is time—particularly over summer, when I’m preparing for the academic year.
Another suggestion was to add a welcome page to handouts, introducing the team and reassuring students there’s more than one way to approach a task.
My course leader reminded me not to assume my knowledge is obvious to students. He also emphasised keeping co-creation central and avoiding tokenistic inclusion. His advice led me to gather feedback from the students to work in a co-creation way.
He also flagged sustainability as a potential risk. Rather than printing 70 copies per workshop, I’ll email PDFs beforehand and provide five laminated copies.
Overall, this feedback has deepened my understanding and sharpened my approach. It reminded me that inclusion isn’t about grand gestures; it’s about embedding thoughtful, responsive practice into the everyday tools we use. The support and insights from my peers has been invaluable.
Full peer feedback can be found here:
Action
To start, I’ve created a prototype that includes clearer cutting instructions and diagrams showing a revised order of assembly.
This intervention has also reminded me of the importance of collaboration. I can’t make these changes alone. My aim is to build a flexible handout template that can be used across BA Fashion Contour and its sister course, BA Fashion Sportswear. That way, we create consistency across teams, while still allowing staff to personalise how they teach.
I propose that when the students return from summer break, I will create a small focus group, with both technical staff and students on the BA Fashion Contour and BA Fashion Sportswear courses, to co-create and develop the template. When we are all satisfied with the result, I will roll out the changes to all workshop handouts, working with the wider technical team to complete the task, ready for 2026 academic year delivery. These will be tested and refined based on further student feedback.
Fig. 3 Gellard. J (2025) Intervention template
Evaluation / Conclusion
This whole process has strengthened my belief that neurodivergence can be a strength in education. My perspective has helped me spot barriers that others may not notice and helped me think creatively about how to fix them. Being neurodivergent hasn’t held me back from being an effective educator. If anything, it’s made me more determined to design learning spaces where everyone can succeed.
Looking ahead, I hope this intervention helps not just students, but staff too. I want to start conversations about inclusion that go beyond policy and become embedded in everyday practice. Inclusion is something we need to build into everything we do, from lesson plans to feedback sessions to workshop handouts. Ensuring that inclusion is part of the conversation, and by accommodating student’s needs, I hope that we can give every student a chance to learn in a way that works for them.
Reflecting on the process, I’ve realised how powerful small changes can be. Making education more inclusive doesn’t always require big innovations—sometimes it starts with fixing the basics. Handouts might seem small and irrelevant, but they shape how students interact with their learning. When done well, they support independence, reduce stress, and boost confidence. I will know if my intervention proposal has worked if students are able to complete their garments independently, the need for help in the sewing studio is reduced, and our pass/fail statistics improve. If I don’t see these results, I will continue to work to improve the scaffolding materials to ensure all learners needs are met.
Bibliography
British Dyslexia Association (2023) Dyslexia Style Guide 2023. Available at: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-friendly-workplace/dyslexia-style-guide or: https://cdn.bdadyslexia.org.uk/uploads/documents/Advice/style-guide/BDA-Style-Guide-2023.pdf?v=1680514568 (Accessed: 13 July 2025).
Crenshaw, K. (1990) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review 43 (6), pp.1241-1299
Gerrard, C. and S. Shurville. 2007. “Virtual Learning Environments: Enhancing the Learning Experience for Students with Disabilities.” Campus-Wide Information Systems 24 (3): 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650740710762239 (Accessed July 19 2025)
Glass, D. Meyer, A. and Rose, D. (2012) Universal design for learning in the classroom: practical applications. New York: Guilford Press.
Gibbs, G. (2014) Maximising Student Learning Gain. York: Higher Education Academy.
McAndrew, Patrick, Robert Farrow, and Martyn Cooper. 2012. “Adapting Online Learning Resources for All: Planning for Professionalism in Accessibility.” Research in Learning Technology 20 (4): 345–61. https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.18699. (Acccessed July 12 2025).
Orr, S. and Shreeve, A. (2017) Art and Design Pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the Creative Curriculum. Oxon: Routledge.
Reyes, J.I., Meneses, J. and Melián, E., 2022. A systematic review of academic interventions for students with disabilities in online higher education. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 37(4), pp.569–586.
Reyes, M.E., Gutiérrez, A.R. and Hernández, M. (2022) ‘Academic interventions for students with disabilities in online higher education: A systematic review’, Education and Information Technologies, 27(1), pp. 1–22.
Image bilbiography
Fig. 1. O’Driscoll, G. (2025) Jade Gellard, far left, delivering workshop to year 1 BA Fashion Contour students. [Photograph]
Fig. 2. Gellard, J. (2025) Padded plunge bra on cradle workshop handout. [PDF] Unpublished.
Fig. 3. Gellard, J (2025) New handout template. [PDF] Unpublished.