With the term "diversity," we embrace the uniqueness of our world and advocate for awareness, consideration, and inclusion. This also applies to neurodiversity: human brains naturally function in many different ways, which inevitably impacts the learning process. In this article, we explore how you can adapt your online courses to the variety of neurodiverse learning styles.
Finally freed from the stigma
It was not that very long ago that people with unusual cognitive behaviors were placed in forced psychiatric custody, subjected to harsh treatments, and deprived of the opportunity to lead a dignified life. Unfortunately, this is not entirely over yet, especially not in all parts of the world, but thank goodness, through diligent research, it has now been established and generally accepted that different cognitive processing styles occur to a greater or lesser extent in far more people than previously thought.
What applies to many people cannot be that abnormal, and because there are almost certainly "differently thinking" people among the participants of your online courses, we are giving you a few tips here on how to recognize them and how to create learning content that is meaningful and effective for a broad, inclusive learning community.
Some people just learn differently
By definition, "neurodiversity" describes the natural diversity of neurological development and function of the human brain. A person whose brain differs in its structure and functioning from neurotypical brains is considered neurodivergent. Ah, I see.
You have certainly heard of diagnoses such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, or dyscalculia. However, these neurological profiles are not deficits or even illnesses, but simply alternative processing styles in the brain, which often bring specific strengths but also unique challenges.
This is particularly evident in learning: neurodivergent brains often process information in different ways. Especially in a digital learning environment, neurodivergent people face specific hurdles that are sometimes not easy to overcome. This directly impacts motivation, processing ability, and the overall learning experience.
To help you visualize this, here is a simplified description of the main differences compared to neurotypical learners:
Information processing: While neurotypical learners process information step-by-step and linearly, neurodivergent learners, for example in the case of ADHD, tend to think in "jumps" or pursue multiple ideas in parallel. This can make focusing on a single task more difficult.
Sensory processing: Neurodivergent individuals, especially those on the autism spectrum, often have a more intense or sensitive perception of sensory stimuli. Sounds, light, and textures can be perceived more intensely, which may lead to overstimulation. When the brain is overwhelmed by the variety of stimuli, the learner often withdraws mentally: the learning situation is perceived as unpleasant or even stressful. As a result, motivation to continue drops, and courses are abandoned.
Attention and concentration: Neurodivergent people with attention differences often have difficulty concentrating on monotonous or unengaging learning content. An online course that is too static or lengthy cannot sufficiently stimulate the brain. As a result, the learner's mind wanders or they simply drop the task.
Impairment of language processing and reading comprehension: For individuals with neurodivergent profiles like dyslexia, processing written content can be particularly exhausting. It is often described that the text "jumps" before their eyes or that letters and words blur and feel restless. Due to the difficult reading comprehension, information cannot be retained well, and learners have to exert significantly more effort to understand the same content. This is discouraging and often leads to them dropping out of learning. They benefit from having content presented visually or auditorily, or from internalizing information through repeated interactions and practical exercises.
So you can see how differently and intensely neurodivergent learners react to their environment and how the learning structure affects their well-being and performance. A supportive learning process can lead to significantly better learning outcomes here if you address these aspects in a targeted manner.
Grey cells with a grey area
Online courses mean that you might not even know what personalities are behind your course participants. With blended learning, you do meet your learners in face-to-face sessions, but with pure e-learnings, they may remain completely anonymous. To help you assess the extent to which neurodiversity is even a topic for you as a course instructor or creator, we have asked ourselves a few questions from your perspective:
1. How many neurodivergent people are there really?
The estimated dark figure of neurodivergent people is difficult to gauge, but depending on the region and diagnostic practice, it is probably very high. Studies and experts suspect that a large proportion of adults live with mild forms of ADHD, autism, or other neurodivergent traits without ever having received a diagnosis. Particularly mild expressions are rarely recognized because they can be compensated for in everyday life or are considered "personal quirks" in adulthood.
In Germany, for example, it is assumed that about 5 to 7% of the population could have undetected ADHD symptoms, while milder autistic traits are even less documented. This shows that many people could have neurodivergent traits without being aware of it, making an inclusive learning environment even more important for all learners.
2. Are there also milder forms of neurodiversity that the individuals themselves are not even aware of, but that affect their learning behavior?
Yes, neurodivergent traits occur on a wide spectrum: from highly pronounced forms to mild, almost imperceptible variations. Although many people show neurodivergent tendencies, these are not pronounced enough to be diagnosed. Such people might, for example, have slight concentration difficulties, more sensitive perception, or difficulty structuring tasks, without themselves or their environment perceiving this as neurodivergent.
However, these subtle traits can influence learning behavior, for example through rapid fatigue with long, text-based content or a preference for visual or interactive learning formats. Especially in adults, such neurodiversity often remains undetected because they have acquired individual strategies over the years to facilitate their learning process.
3. To what extent should I assume that there are neurodivergent learners in my courses?
You should generally assume that some of your learners have neurodivergent traits. Inclusive learning environments benefit all learners and create a space where everyone can feel comfortable and thrive. A flexible and diverse design of your learning content is therefore a valuable measure to also support those learners who may have minor neurodivergent traits. Even if only a few course participants are actually neurodivergent, all learners benefit from the additional accessibility and the diverse presentation and interaction possibilities.
4. What behavior of my learners in an online course can I use to recognize that they might be neurodivergent?
There are certain behaviors that can point to neurodivergent traits, even if they cannot always be clearly attributed to them. You could watch out for the following:
Irregular participation or participation in "spurts": Neurodivergent learners often show shifting patterns of intense participation followed by withdrawal or lower engagement.
Difficulty managing clear task structures: Learners might ask for additional explanations, show signs of being overwhelmed, or have difficulty organizing complex tasks.
Sensitive reaction to certain displays: Sometimes neurodivergent individuals show clear preferences or aversions to certain visual or auditory stimuli, e.g., bright colors or sounds.
Excessive note-taking or avoidance of text-heavy learning content: If learners take extensive notes or seek direct conversation about the learning content, this could be their way of coping with processing text, which is difficult for them.
Caution: These behaviors can also have other causes. Nevertheless, they can help you to react attentively and empathetically to the needs of different learners as a course instructor.
How to adapt your online courses to neurodivergent learning styles
Since studies show there is a high probability that some of your participants will have neurodivergent tendencies of varying degrees, it is worth designing your courses in a way that offers a comfortable and stress-free learning environment for all learners. With the following tips, you can create more inclusion in your e-learnings and ensure that all participants can successfully complete your courses.
If you would first like to understand what e-learning actually means, read this basic article.
1. Design your learning content in alternative formats
Offer your learning content in alternative presentation formats: For example, you could record a text as an audio or video file or present it in the form of graphics or PowerPoint presentations. A neurodivergent person might find it easier to focus on content through a visual presentation, while another learner might absorb the information better by listening to it.
In your blink.it learning platform, you can create separate learning units or chapters for each of the alternative formats. Inform your course participants that the learning material is identical in content and is just being delivered differently. Leave it up to the course participants to choose the presentation format they want to use to complete the learning units, chapters, or even the entire course.
2. Structure course elements clearly and simply
Structured content divided into manageable sections or chapters significantly helps reduce cognitive load. Use clear headings and key terms for the titles of the learning units to organize the content and make it easy to grasp. When you add preview images to individual blinks in your blink.it learning platform, make sure they are not too visually cluttered, to keep the learner's focus on the headings.
Even with text-only blinks, you should ensure clear structures, e.g., through bullet points and highlighted key terms or sentences.
3. Offer short chapters and plenty of breaks
Neurodivergent learners often benefit from an individual learning pace, which is why e-learning via a learning platform like blink.it is ideal for them. It is better to offer your learners many short chapters rather than a few very long chapters: This way, they have more opportunities to take a break or repeat a chapter.
You should also think carefully about how much time pressure you build in for completing chapters or the entire course. In blink.it, you can define when learning units or an entire course must be completed. Remember that some learners are not quite as fast as others, so you could give them as much flexibility as possible here.
4. Avoid sensory overload
Bright colors, fast animations, and loud background noises overwhelm far more people than you might think. If you want all your learners to be able to concentrate on the material, you should avoid anything in your material that distracts or causes restlessness. Instead, use a clear, neutral style, pleasant color tones, and a quiet soundscape when designing your course materials.
Pay special attention to videos to ensure that the learning content is clearly in the foreground: Let's take a video of yourself explaining a concept as an example. Now imagine standing right next to a busy road, and during video editing, you also add background music. Hardly anyone will be able to concentrate on what you are saying, right? For neurodivergent people, this can go so far that they can "hardly stand" your video and will not want to watch it. With that, they are lost to you as learners.
5. Offer group work and direct conversation
For some neurodivergent learners, it helps enormously to work in small groups or with a coach. If you offer blended learning, then incorporate group exercises and discussion rounds into your face-to-face sessions to promote exchange. In addition, this way you offer opportunities for discreet questions. Continue to encourage your course participants to capture their thoughts in notes, as this also significantly deepens what has been learned.
In your blink.it learning platform, a feedback area is available where you can discuss the learning content with your course participants: Motivate them to exchange ideas directly with one another there by starting the conversation yourself in every blink and actively inviting them to ask questions or simply leave comments on the learning content. This promotes a sense of community and reduces tension.
Conclusion: For a diverse learning community
Inclusive online courses do not happen by accident, but through deliberately designed learning environments that systematically take structure, flexibility, and different styles of perception into account.
Neurodiversity is not a niche phenomenon, but part of the natural diversity of human brains. Anyone developing digital learning offers should therefore not ask whether there are neurodivergent learners in the course, but how the course can be designed so that everyone benefits from it.
Clear structures, alternative presentation formats, reduced stimuli, and flexible learning paths do not just help individual groups, but increase quality for everyone. Inclusion in e-learning ultimately means dismantling barriers before they even arise.
When you design your online courses to keep different learning styles in mind, you create more than just accessibility: You build a learning environment where people feel taken seriously, remain motivated, and can develop their potential.
We hope we were able to provide you with some insightful information and inspiration with this article, and we wish you much success in creating inclusive online courses!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is neurodiversity relevant for online courses?
Neurodiversity influences how people perceive, process, and retain information. Neurodivergent learners, for example those with ADHD, autism, or dyslexia, often face barriers in traditional online courses such as sensory overload, confusing structures, or long blocks of text. Inclusive e-learning concepts help to break down these barriers and make the learning process more accessible for all participants.
How should online courses be designed to support neurodivergent learners?
Particularly helpful are clear structures, short learning units, reduced visual stimuli, and alternative learning formats such as audio, video, or graphics. Neurodivergent learners also benefit from flexible learning paths, easy-to-understand headings, and the ability to work through content at their own pace. This reduces cognitive load and makes concentration easier.
What problems are caused by sensory overload in e-learning?
Bright colors, fast animations, restless designs, or loud background noises can quickly overwhelm neurodivergent learners. Such sensory overload makes concentration difficult, increases stress, and often leads to learning content being processed poorly or online courses even being abandoned. Low-stimulus learning environments therefore significantly improve learning quality.
Why do alternative learning formats help with inclusive e-learning?
Neurodivergent learners often process information differently. Some participants understand content better through audio or videos, while others prefer visual representations or practical exercises. Offering learning content in multiple formats creates a more flexible and inclusive e-learning experience that better supports different learning styles.
