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The last decade has seen an increasing shift away from deficit-based models of supporting students with disabilities. Such models focus on the weaknesses of individual students in an effort to correct the perceived weaknesses, with little attention paid to teach students how to identify and capitalize on their unique strengths. Recently , many educators have adopted more balanced approaches, including strength-based models that incorporate a student-centered approach to teaching that helps these students understand their strengths (Parsakia et al., 2022). Strength-based models highlight the importance of teaching students how to improve strong areas and capitalize on them in learning environments. In this article we share observations, particularly observations of parents about the strengths of their children, from a project at the University of Washington (UW) that aims to help neurodiverse learners prepare for and succeed in college. The project, Neuroscience for Neurodiverse Learners (NNL), provides hands-on experiences in neuroscience, networking opportunities , and resources to high school and early post-secondary students who identify as "neurodiverse" learners: those with academic challenges related to THINK TANK: Neurodiversity. 

The University of Washington’s (UW) Access to Informal STEM Learning (AccessISL) project employs a student-centered approach and potentially transformative practices that embrace the social model of dis- ability, social justice education, disability as a diversity issue, intersectionality, and universal design. A leadership team of interns—each member a UW student with a disability or a museology graduate student—along with project staff engage with the UW Museology program to identify and implement strategies for making ISL activities and courses more welcoming and accessible to individuals with disabilities. Initial outcomes of AccessISL intern engagement include specific changes within ISL programs, increased awareness and implementation of universal design principles in the Museology graduate program, and expanded skills about the accessible/universal design of informal learning within future professionals who served as interns in AccessISL.