Sarah E. Silverman

Please see below for the links to the slides and handout (with references and script) for my talk at The Grading Conference 2025 on June 11, 2025.

Title: Tolerance for Error: A theory of how (some) alternative grading practices can support neurodivergent students

Link to slides

Link to handout (with references and script)

Abstract: Neurodivergent people often think and communicate differently than neurotypical people, which can lead to miscommunications about expectations for assignments and assessments. This presentation is a theoretical exploration of the potential for alternative grading methods that integrate “tolerance for error,” (a principle of Universal Design) to support neurodivergent students and instructors in situations where both accommodations and Universal Design for Learning fail to reduce barriers. The motivation for this research is that there are gaps in the two main available approaches to reducing barriers for neurodivergent students and instructors: accommodations and Universal Design for Learning. Accommodations are well known to have the drawback of relying on diagnosis and disclosure of a known disability (which not every neurodivergent student has access to) but also in locating disability in the individual. Universal Design for Learning builds flexibility in learning, but rarely addresses the communication differences that often create barriers for neurodivergent people. This presentation uses two elements of neurodiversity theory to argue for alternative grading methods that integrate tolerance for error, or elements that prevent adverse consequences for unintended actions or misunderstanding. The neurodiversity paradigm, which advances the idea that there is no one superior way of thinking or communicating is used to argue for collaborative grading that includes opportunities for dissonance between instructor and student perspectives. The double empathy concept, which is a neutral framing of communication challenges between neurodivergent and neurotypical people, is extended to suggest that alternative grading methods can support neurodivergent students and instructors by building in curious tolerance for communication issues such as misunderstanding expectations. Applications to collaborative grading, complete/incomplete grading, and other methods are reviewed.