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Disability and Neurodiversity: Mental and Physical Health Pillar
Resources to help broaden disability and neurodiversity representation across the mental and physical health pillar of APA’s National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula
Research summaries
Suggested instructions: Research summaries can be incorporated into a lecture or shared with students as a reading to demonstrate how psychological science explores the diversity of human experience. These resources can also be used to encourage students to identify the major components of a research study (i.e., the hypothesis or study question, sample, method, and findings). Students can be asked to identify potential limitations of the study and encouraged to discuss the implications for our understanding of human behavior. Keywords highlight how concepts within and across pillars are incorporated into a single research study.
Sample research summaries
How do adults with learning disabilities and ADHD feel about their disabilities?
What happens when people who are supposed to help someone end up hurting them instead?
Researchers examine what “autistic burnout” looks and feels like to autistic adults
Psychologist profiles
Suggested instructions: Profiles can be shared with students to enhance the visibility of psychologists of diverse backgrounds. As an additional activity, students can be asked to conduct research to learn more about the psychologist and their work. An alternative assignment could be to ask students to find other psychologists of diverse backgrounds whose work falls into this content pillar. Keywords highlight how psychological scientists study concepts within and across pillars.
Sample psychologist profiles
Psychologist and professor who advocates for accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities in public life, policy, and the field of psychology
Professor and researcher who studies the impacts of mental health-related stigma and examines how we can reduce stigma
Blind psychologist who teaches medical students how to take care of their own mental health so they can keep their patients healthy
A deaf, Indian psychologist has been awarded more than $15 million for her work towards health equity
Disabled woman, researcher, and advocate who made sure that the experiences of women with disabilities were acknowledged and respected
Additional resources
Infographic
- National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2003). Disability impacts all of us. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html
This infographic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) titled Disability Impacts All of Us would be beneficial in class to help students understand the range of different disabilities and how those with a disability are often impacted by health care access. The infographic can also be used to discuss health disparities—preventable differences in health across groups that are related to social or economic disadvantages (e.g., differences across groups in exposure to discrimination, access to health care, etc.).
The development of resources to broaden diversity and representation in the teaching of high school psychology resources is an APA Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools initiative supported by funding from the American Psychological Foundation David and Carol Myers Fund. This resource was developed by Kara Ayers, PhD; Emily Lund, PhD; Erika Sanborne; and Allison Shaver.
Date created: July 2024