(upbeat music) >>I'm Darryl Owens, welcome to "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity."

A recent blog post on "TechNation" asked an intriguing and important question, "In a technology-driven world, how is it possible to improve the world for everyone without everyone's input?"

Of late, more companies are answering that question by diversifying their workforces through the abilities, insights, and talents of a wide array of different thinkers.

Rising high on the punch-list is incorporating employees who are neurodivergent, workers who think and learn differently.

That's because research and anecdotal success stories confirm that different perspectives and cognitive skills produce tangible benefits to the bottom line.

As more companies embrace the mix of neurodiversity and technology, more parents are steering their differently-abled children into tech; their hope?

To nurture the strengths and aptitudes that their learning differences may afford.

Abilities that parents hope will afford their children the kind of sustainable, stable, and independent future every parent wants for their child.

On this episode, we visit a New York program that transforms the lives of students who think and learn differently, by teaching computer-science thinking and technology skills to upgrade their education and future employment prospects.

Next, we travel to a Texas private school for students with learning differences that is training the next wave of American defenders to man the cyber front-lines.

Later, you'll meet our latest difference-maker, the neurodivergent mind behind a coding education platform designed to help school districts equip students with the computer programming skills necessary to enter the workforce, or to succeed in college.

First, what does a mom do to find ways to engage her neurodivergent son?

Launch a series of tech workshops, of course.

That was the seed that blossomed into Tech Kids Unlimited.

The Brooklyn New York program uses computer science and technology skills to empower children with attention and learning differences.

Senior Correspondent, Cindy Peterson, brings us the story.

(energetic music) >>As technology continues to intersect every area of our lives today, job-seekers increasingly will be looking to make mega-bucks in megabytes.

But where do neurodivergent individuals fit in?

The answer is everywhere.

Because the spectrum for neurodiversity is so broad, technical careers are often a better fit for the individuals with learning and attention differences.

But sadly, there are a limited amount of training programs tailored for aspiring neurodivergent tech gurus.

That's why Tech Kids Unlimited was founded, to change the paradigm for education and employment for neurodivergent students in technology fields.

>>Kids Unlimited is a 10-year-old nonprofit located in New York City, but we do in-person workshops and online workshops for Neurodiverse students who are interested in computer science principles and technology skills.

And what we've found over the course of, you know, the 10 years, is that students want to be producers and creators of digital culture, just like any other neurotypical student >>TKU offers 11 different programs, both in-person and online, for students ages 7 to 21.

These programs include coding, graphic design, video editing, music production, web design, and digital art.

>>They love it, because they're digital natives, and they grew up with technology and that's how they communicate.

And they wanna tell stories, and they're telling stories through game design, and video, and you know, through websites.

And they are, you know, excited to be with us, because it's a community of learners who are all very, very similar.

>>Beth founded Tech Kids when she was looking for training programs for her son and came up short.

>>Back in around 2009, my son, who's neurodiverse, loved technology, but there was no place for me to send him because he needed individualized and highly tutored support.

And I saw that students with disabilities were not given coding classes, were not given opportunities to learn editing, or game design, or anything like that.

And I just thought, "Okay, well, no one's doing it, like, I guess we'll start to do it."

And I never even meant to start an almost $1 million nonprofit, which is what we are now, serving over 500 kids.

I never thought that TKU would explode in this way, but it's really wonderful that students with disabilities, or neurodiverse students, or special-ed students, whatever the current lingo is that, you know, we're calling students who learn differently, that students want to be involved in creating and producing digital products.

>>I like graphic design and I like typography font.

We do editing, editing of which graphic design for digital drawing, or paper sketches, and typography font.

>>My fellow Tech Kids Unlimited students and staff have assisted me since my first class.

They provided me with educational, and social, and technological tools that have enhanced my overall learning.

>>I like to do video editing, photo editing, yeah, and other things like that.

I worked on a video with, you know, yeah, a car-racing video, and then putting a "Fast and Furious" soundtrack.

I'm even thinking of being a YouTuber and Twitch streamer.

(uplifting music) >>What we're really trying to do is to get students, with disabilities, to get a lot of tools on their resume, in terms of technology and problem-solving.

And put all of those tools on their resume, and hopefully with that, increase their chances to get future employment.

We've gotten them through school, and there are wonderful programs out there, you know, post-secondary high schools, private, public, small classes, you know, after-school programs, you know, et cetera.

But we haven't figured out how to get them employed, and that is the part that is really, really scaring me.

>>For this reason, Tech Kids has created a career-readiness program to focus on both the hard and soft skills necessary to get these kids solid employment when they graduate.

>>One program that I really love is an after-school program called The Digital Agency.

And that is a program where it's a small, little, real creative media agency inside our nonprofit, where we get students real jobs and together they work on creating a real thing.

It may be a logo, it may be a, you know, editing a video, creating a website for a client.

And they get to work together, and they get to understand what collaboration is, and what criticality is, and and what creativity is.

And there's a final project.

And then they get to put it on their resume saying, "I have had this experience, I have been, you know, a staff member of the TKU Digital Agency."

Also, we pay them.

The goal is to push as many tech skills onto their resume.

And as well, the goal is to prepare them in regard to soft skills.

And the combination of the hard skills and the soft skills is the way to be eligible for work in the 21st century.

>>Check out techkidsunlimited.org to find all the programs they have to offer.

With "A World of Difference," I'm Cindy Peterson.

(energetic music) >>Thanks, Cindy, we continue with this.

Recently "Newsweek" published an article with this scary headline: "How Hackers Outwit All Efforts To Stop Them, it's a Cyber Pandemic."

The article noted that more than 70 million Americans are victimized by cyber crimes every year.

Small wonder that the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 28% jump in the demand for information security analysts between 2016 and 2026.

At the Winston School of San Antonio, students in the school's new cybersecurity and tech curriculum are learning the ropes in a program that teachers and students alike say allows kids who learn differently to download success.

Senior Correspondent, Cindy Peterson, again, brings us the story.

(energetic music) >>At the Winston School in San Antonio, Texas, students from kindergarten through 12th grade have a place to thrive in a learning environment designed exclusively for neurodivergent kids.

The main mission of the Winston School is to give students a well-rounded education, preparing them for a life of self-advocacy and collegiate success.

>>Winston School, San Antonio is a private college preparatory day school, serving students with learning differences.

And we have a particular focus on students who have dyslexia.

So we have specialized programs for students with dyslexia, but our primary program is designed to meet the needs of all students with a variety of learning differences.

Many of our students have struggled in traditional public education for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was emerging skills in reading, not having the correct intervention, or the correct support that they needed that supported their learning difference.

But that did not mean that they didn't have high levels of interest in coursework that oftentimes they did not have a chance to get, because so much focus was on remediating or attempting to fix the problem.

Here at the Winston School of San Antonio, we teach the students where they are.

We find out where they are, we think about their passions, their interests.

We help to accelerate their learning by having highly-trained teachers.

And we teach our students the compensatory supports that are necessary for them to continue to thrive in a post-Winston experience.

>>In order to better prepare their students for careers in today's society, they recently added two popular technology courses: computer programming and cybersecurity.

>>Because we are a very small school, serving just roughly under 200 students, it's very important for us to make sure that we provide a program that allows our students to have all of the skills and access to all of the programming that they need to compete with students, their peers, who are coming from larger schools, traditional education experiences.

We look at the learning difference as their unique way that they see the world, and we use that unique way that they see the world to help provide for a wide range of experiences.

With that in mind, we have had an incredibly high interest in coding, advanced coding and programming, and thinking about the world in which we live.

We have many parents who work in the cybersecurity field.

And knowing, right here in our own community, the University of Texas at San Antonio offers the Cyber Patriots program, we became involved this summer.

So we listened to what the students were saying, "We want more opportunities for coding, we want more opportunities for programming."

And we coupled that with what we know is an emerging field that is a field where students are able to code, and program, and think critically, and evaluate information that they see.

We determined this summer that we would start and have our students enroll in the cybersecurity program, so that we could provide them with one more opportunity that aligns with the opportunities that are available to students who are in traditional-learning environments.

>>And the students are loving it.

Many students are finding out, that what was once a hindrance to their education, is now becoming their secret weapon.

>>With dyslexia and ADHD, the struggle was not being able to have enough time or help with the things I needed.

And there was always gonna be a little part of me that needed just a tiny bit more help than everybody else.

And moving here to Winston definitely helped out with that.

I have an amazing cybersecurity teacher, and he's very patient with what we need, and he definitely understands all of us, and what we need as individuals with learning disabilities.

>>I'm trying to go into aerospace engineering, so I think cybersecurity will definitely help with coding, and making sure everything can't hacked into or... >>I feel like it's something I want to do as I'm older, but I'm still undecided.

And with programming, I thought that'd be a good way to start.

My parents have wanted me to do that for a while now, and I thought it's about time I started learning it.

>>A lot of neurodivergent kids will find that they excel at it, simply because they see other paths that most people won't see.

They'll see a different way to solve a problem that isn't the standard way, and sometimes that way might be better or faster.

>>I think kids sometimes, especially our population of students, they like hands-on stuff.

They can actually build something and see it working, and I think that's what programming is.

You know, you can write a little program and actually see the results, you know, right away.

Well, some kids have strength in some area, and some other kids have strength in another area.

And you know, the kids that tend to take programming and coding, they have strengths in, you know, in high critical-thinking skills, and in are learning through mistakes.

And they're able to be more patient than, you know, than the other kids.

>>The Winston School is hoping to become a beacon for other schools to help kids who learn differently.

>>It's the the added advantage that a student with neurodiversity brings to the table.

The added advantages of being able to look at a problem from multiple perspectives, or from their unique and myopic perspective, which may not be the perspective of others.

We find that some of our students, because of their high level of interest, can remain focused for very long periods of time for problem solving, it's very similar to gaming, which we've also added, E-gaming.

So when we look at what E-gaming is asking students to do, it's a real-time, fast, critical problem-solving.

We're asking students to, as a team, bring the different way in which you look at the problem to a group as a possible solution.

We use data to drive all the decisions that we make, and we're really working on, every six weeks when we have a rotation, moving students, advancing them, and accelerating them as quickly as we can.

And we're also now integrating what we know about teaching styles, who has the best teaching style for that particular learning style?

And what is the best program for that specific learning need?

And who's got the training in that program, who's got the style for that?

And we are really moving our students around.

It's like what school should be everywhere.

>>In only their first year, the cybersecurity team made it through two competitions and on to state finals, proving success, and ensuring a future for the program.

With "A World of Difference," I'm Cindy Peterson.

(energetic music) >>Next let's reveal our latest difference-maker.

As software entrepreneur, Ness Blackbird, saw it, the way that schools taught computer science education didn't compute.

So he set out to reformat the system.

He founded Blackbird, an online coding education platform creating a simplified educational version of a programming language.

Now schools across the country, including Currey Ingram Academy in Tennessee, are using the platform to teach students to code, including neurodivergent learners like him.

Senior Correspondent, Cindy Peterson, brings us his story.

(energetic music) >>Once bullied as a kid for being autistic, Ness Blackbird is now showing the world what being different is capable of.

As a Computer Programmer, Ness has written his own programming language to better teach kids, especially those with learning differences.

The art of computer programming.

(gentle music) >>In school, I was a mess.

I mean...

I was not like the other kids.

For me, like, the great part of school was the teachers.

And the kids were like...

I always really wanted their attention, and I wanted to be friends and stuff.

But I was not good at that, I was actually very bad at that.

(laughs) >>Ness got into computer coding in high school, as he was naturally drawn to computers.

He right away noticed a disconnect between how software engineering was taught.

>>I learned programming as most people learn it, the hard way.

Learning to program in the way that we've always done it is honestly, it's misery.

It's this process of banging your head on the wall over and over and over again, until at last you smash down the wall.

That's really what programming is like, because we've always been using engineering tools to teach with.

You know, it's far, far too unfriendly for an ordinary student to get it, right?

So we have to make it much, much easier.

And to do that, you have to build something like what I've built.

>>As his own kids became older, he began teaching them his craft, realizing there wasn't a good program designed to teach kids.

So he set out to create his own.

>>I started to get into teaching them programming, and first we used the graphical tools, which are an action, they're the part of coding education that works, right?

So there's graphical tools, they're basically games, they're educational games, and they are great.

The problem with them is that they don't teach programming, they just teach the programming mindset, you know, algorithmic thinking.

And so, you know, kind of the purpose of Blackbird has been to move past that into the next thing, which is syntactical programming.

You know, real text-based programming.

It's taken a really long time to put something together where, so the student, they start to type in their program, and it has literally thousands of responses that it can give.

To say, you know, "You're making a mistake because you're trying to do this.

You're trying to do that which isn't allowed and here's why."

Here's a link to the documentation, here's a suggestion for all this stuff that it can respond to what you're trying to do.

This is not how coding gets taught.

What we're doing at Blackbird, fundamentally, is we're making a bridge between software engineering on the one hand, and education on the other.

So you have programming, you have education, those are things which do not meet.

>>But thanks to Blackbird, now they do.

Ness launched his program as a cross-curricular education coding platform used at schools across the nation for K through 12 classes.

Ness was able to visit Currey Ingram Academy in Brentwood, Tennessee, who utilizes the Blackbird program to teach kids with learning differences the coding world.

Ness surprised the computer coding class, and was able to work next to them and share some words of wisdom.

>>It's been nice to be able to see, like, how students been able to individually pace themselves and then really grow through Blackbird.

It's because we deal with the students that are learning differences.

It's nice for them to be able to then kind of, like, work through whatever their issues are, regarding code, at their pace.

And so I can see that from a teaching perspective, as the code's been written, that's different from what their perspective is.

'Cause I can manage my whole classroom, and see all the students and their progress.

>>I dunno, the whole curriculum of it it's very, like, you build up to, like, what you're doing, and you can see the progress you're making.

And I think it's very interesting, 'cause I feel like most programs, like, for learning how to code, it's, like, all videos.

And sometimes you kind of have questions.

With this, it's kind of very like, "Okay, well you figure it out, and if you don't know, then you can hit the 'show me.'"

And then it's like, "Oh, okay."

Well, then you kind of back up, and then you realize what you're doing.

>>I like that the coding program that we use, it takes you through the steps kind of incrementally, and it doesn't just give you a big task to do.

It's very gradual, and it makes sense, especially for if you are new to coding.

I think that the way the program is set up is very conducive to learning with ADHD, because it makes it more interesting, and it makes it more interactive.

Than say, hearing someone talk about it and then doing it on your own.

>>It was really great for my students who are on different learning differences, to be able to see someone who's been successful at working through his learning differences, and be able to do something that's been something that they're working on.

And actually practically are working with, and helping them succeed.

And so knowing that someone with learning differences can achieve, like, high, you know, greatness, then they too can have that the same potential.

>>To Ness, this experience was astonishing, seeing firsthand how his program is being utilized to help other kids like himself.

>>I'm so jealous of these kids here.

I'm so jealous.

I see them all together in a group, you know, and they're all... You know, they're all different.

They're all, you know, on one spectrum or another, and they're not being bullied.

They're not, you know, they're not finding themselves the odd-kid-out, because they're all, they've all had this kind of experience.

I'm so jealous.

I wanna reach the kids at Currey Ingram, and all the schools, who are not saying, "Oh, I've gotta learn to code."

You know, I wanna reach those kids, because they need this.

They need data-processing skills, they need analysis skills.

And, you know, with the kind of tools that we've developed, we can do that, we can make that happen.

>>More information about implementing this for your child or school can be found at blackbirdcode.com.

For "A World of Difference," I'm Cindy Peterson.

(energetic music) >>Thanks again, Cindy.

And congratulations, Ness Blackbird, for making a difference.

And that does it for this edition of "A World of Difference: Embracing Neurodiversity," I'm Darryl Owens., I'll see you back here next time.

(energetic music) You can watch episodes of "A World of Difference" on the Beacon College Facebook and YouTube channels, and on the show's website, AWODTV.org.

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Thank you for watching and supporting A World of Difference."

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