It's Not Us, It's the System: Redesigning Education for Neurodivergent Belonging
Tracks
Jacaranda - In-Person Only
Prince Room - In-Person Only
Monarch - In-Person & OnAIR
Marquis - In-Person Only
| Tuesday, September 29, 2026 |
| 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM |
Overview
Aaron Saint-James, University of NSW
Key Learnings
1. Neurodivergent students don't need to be fixed — the systems that exclude them do. Shifting from an individual deficit model to a systemic lens is the essential first step toward genuine inclusion.
2. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is not an add-on or special accommodation — it is a proactive, evidence-based foundation for equitable education that benefits every learner.
3. Authentic co-design with neurodivergent people — grounded in "Nothing About Us, Without Us" — is the only ethical and effective path to building schools where neurodivergent students truly belong.
Speaker
Mr Aaron Saint-James
Lived-Experience Researcher, Consultant and Advocate
UNSW
It's Not Us, It's the System: Redesigning Education for Neurodivergent Belonging
Presentation Overview
For too long, neurodivergent students have been told — implicitly and explicitly — that they are the problem. That they need to work harder, sit still, ask for less, and be grateful for whatever adjustments are reluctantly offered. This keynote challenges that narrative head-on.
Drawing on his lived experience as an Au-DHD, dyslexic researcher and co-founder of UNSW's Diversified Project, Aaron Saint-James argues that it is not neurodivergent people who need to change — it is the systems built around them. When students accumulate tens of thousands of dollars in debt without completing a degree, or feel too ashamed to request the supports they are legally entitled to, that is a systemic failure — not a personal one.
Grounded in the principle of "Nothing About Us, Without Us," this keynote explores what genuine inclusion looks like beyond compliance checkboxes and tokenistic gestures. Aaron draws on his Australia-wide UDL research and co-design work with schools and educators to offer a clear-eyed, evidence-based, and deeply human account of what affirming environments actually require: real financial investment, full accessibility compliance, proactive Universal Design for Learning, and the removal of shame from seeking support.
Delegates will be invited to critically examine their own assumptions, move from reactive accommodation to proactive design, and leave equipped with practical strategies grounded in the lived expertise of neurodivergent people themselves.
This is not a talk about deficits. It is a talk about possibility — about what becomes achievable when we stop trying to fix people and start building systems worthy of them.
Key Learnings:
1. Neurodivergent students don't need to be fixed — the systems that exclude them do. Shifting from an individual deficit model to a systemic lens is the essential first step toward genuine inclusion.
2. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is not an add-on or special accommodation — it is a proactive, evidence-based foundation for equitable education that benefits every learner.
3. Authentic co-design with neurodivergent people — grounded in "Nothing About Us, Without Us" — is the only ethical and effective path to building schools where neurodivergent students truly belong.
Drawing on his lived experience as an Au-DHD, dyslexic researcher and co-founder of UNSW's Diversified Project, Aaron Saint-James argues that it is not neurodivergent people who need to change — it is the systems built around them. When students accumulate tens of thousands of dollars in debt without completing a degree, or feel too ashamed to request the supports they are legally entitled to, that is a systemic failure — not a personal one.
Grounded in the principle of "Nothing About Us, Without Us," this keynote explores what genuine inclusion looks like beyond compliance checkboxes and tokenistic gestures. Aaron draws on his Australia-wide UDL research and co-design work with schools and educators to offer a clear-eyed, evidence-based, and deeply human account of what affirming environments actually require: real financial investment, full accessibility compliance, proactive Universal Design for Learning, and the removal of shame from seeking support.
Delegates will be invited to critically examine their own assumptions, move from reactive accommodation to proactive design, and leave equipped with practical strategies grounded in the lived expertise of neurodivergent people themselves.
This is not a talk about deficits. It is a talk about possibility — about what becomes achievable when we stop trying to fix people and start building systems worthy of them.
Key Learnings:
1. Neurodivergent students don't need to be fixed — the systems that exclude them do. Shifting from an individual deficit model to a systemic lens is the essential first step toward genuine inclusion.
2. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is not an add-on or special accommodation — it is a proactive, evidence-based foundation for equitable education that benefits every learner.
3. Authentic co-design with neurodivergent people — grounded in "Nothing About Us, Without Us" — is the only ethical and effective path to building schools where neurodivergent students truly belong.
Biography
Aaron Saint-James (he/him) is an Au-DHD, dyslexic lived-experience researcher, consultant, and advocate at UNSW, and co-founder of the Diversified Project — a neurodivergent-led initiative reshaping inclusive education through co-design. Currently undertaking a Master of Research (Inclusive Education) mapping Universal Design for Learning across Australian education systems, Aaron's work bridges research, policy, and lived reality, specialising in NeuroInclusion and AI in accessible learning design. Published in Frontiers in Education, he advocates fiercely for systemic change grounded in the principle: Nothing About Us, Without Us. His mission is to build educational environments where neurodivergent people don't just survive, but truly belong.
