Neurodiversity/2e Learning Collaborative: School Counselors & Psychologists

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS about REEL’s Neurodiversity/2e Collaborative for School Counselors & School Psychologists

We’ve provided answers to the questions that are most frequently asked about the new Collaborative. If you have a question that is not answered here, please reach out to collaborative@reel2e.org. The FAQs are organized as follows:

About the Collaborative

ABOUT THE COLLABORATIVE

What is the Neurodiversity/Twice-Exceptional Collaborative for School Counselors and School Psychologists in Silicon Valley?
The Neurodiversity/2e Collaborative for School Counselors and School Psychologists is a community of practice that fosters a safe space for collaborative learning for a cohort of Silicon Valley school counselors and school psychologists. Collaborative participants will explore practical and research-based strategies to support neurodiversity and twice-exceptionality tackling real-world scenarios, sharing best practices and supportive suggestions, reflecting on practice, and co-creating resources, in a collegial, professional, and experiential setting. In addition to an in-person kickoff session and additional optional opportunities for casual meet-ups, the community will primarily collaborate online throughout the 2025-26 school year.

How do I express interest or apply to join?
Please fill out this application form to be part of the 2025-26 school year cohort. We are accepting application forms until the cohort of up to 40 participations is filled or through September 30, 2025.

Does it cost anything to participate in the Neurodiversity/Twice-Exceptional Collaborative for School Counselors and School Psychologists in Silicon Valley?
No. The community is free for the participating Silicon Valley school counselors and school psychologists. The program is funded by the Mary A. Crocker Trust and REEL.

Who is this community designed for?
The community is designed for school psychologists and school counselors who serve at K-12 public, private, independent, and parochial schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

What topics will be explored?
The community will explore topics related to: addressing the needs of neurodivergent and twice-exceptional students; collaborating with other educator colleagues on these topics; and working with families, and students to ensure the success of these complex learners. Community members themselves will help set the topics of the group to ensure relevance to participants’ evolving needs and concerns.

What makes this community different from other professional development opportunities?
The Neurodiversity/2e Collaborative for School Counselors and School Psychologists in Silicon Valley has been designed specifically with the unique needs of site-based mental health professionals in mind. It offers the following key differentiators from more typical professional development opportunities:

Convenient. With both live meet-ups and office hours as well as anytime discussion boards and collaboration, the community is accessible 24/7 online on both PC and mobile devices through the Google Classroom platform.
Peer to Peer. The Collaborative alleviates isolation by providing a facilitated, private online space where school counselors and school psychologists can easily connect, collaborate, and learn from one another.
Practically Engaging. Members “Learn → Do → Reflect” in ways that match their preferences. Open forum discussions, small group focused discussions, resource sharing, book reviews, collaborative problem solving, case review, outside speakers, office hours, and more opens many entry points to engage in the process of learning.
Participant-Led. The Collaborative will be guided by the interests and needs of the participants, rather than having a pre-set agenda with prescribed content.
Locally Relevant. Because all Collaborative participants will be from Silicon Valley, guidance and expertise will reflect local norms and needs.
Real-World, Results-Oriented, Research-Based. The community is driven by members’ day-to-day experiences and challenges, and it is facilitated with a focus on practical, research-based solutions

Who is REEL, the nonprofit hosting the community?
REEL is a community-based Silicon Valley nonprofit that strives to ensure Silicon Valley neurodivergent, twice-exceptional students thrive in school by raising educator and family awareness and understanding of practical, research-based strategies to address their needs successfully. REEL provides resources, events, tools, workshops, and services for school, educators, parents, and caregivers.

Do I need any special technology or software to participate? Is the platform private and secure?
Participants will not need special technology to participate. All of the online tools will be commonly used applications that can be easily accessed from any internet browser. The Collaborative’s activities will take place both online and in-person with privacy, security, and confidentiality in mind.

Impact & Outcomes

IMPACT & OUTCOMES

How will this help me support ND/2e students more effectively?
Research shows that neurodivergent and twice-exceptional learners (2e) require specialized educational approaches to reach their full potential. Although these students most often are served in general education settings, their classroom teachers, special educators, and other site-based educators receive little to no pre-service training or sustained professional development about working with them.

REEL’s annual educator surveys indicate that Silicon Valley educators are most likely to turn to their school counselors and school psychologists for guidance on strategies, accommodations, and behavioral supports for their 2e learners. This Collaborative is designed to help prepare school counselors and school psychologists for this vital role. It leverages best practices regarding professional development and communities of practice combined with research-based strategies on neurodiversity and twice-exceptionality to lay the groundwork to increase knowledge among Silicon Valley school counselors and school psychologists so that they can serve as a resource hub for their colleagues and, ultimately, help these unique students to thrive in school.

The key objective of the project is to prepare participants to plan for, respond to and collaborate with their colleagues on topics related to neurodiversity and twice-exceptionality. Participants will learn to:

Reframe work with neurodivergent and twice-exceptional students from a strength-based neurodiversity lens.
Lead REEL’s empathy, awareness-building Neurodiversity Simulation Workshop at their schools whenever it is appropriate to do so.
Provide practical, research-based strategies and guidance to educator colleagues and families.

In addition, we will survey participants about their interests, as well as remain responsive to emerging needs, to determine topics, activities, and resources needed for community members to continue their growth.

What are the intended outcomes of participating?

This initiative will foster collaboration and sustained impact among Silicon Valley school counselors and psychologists so they can serve as resource hubs for their colleagues and help neurodivergent and twice-exceptional students thrive. Ultimately, we anticipate sparking professional growth for Collaborative members leading to improved support for their general education colleagues, families of neurodivergent and twice-exceptional students, and ultimately, the students themselves.

Will I receive professional development hours, CEUs, or a certificate?

REEL will issue a certificate of membership and participation to all community members at the end of the 2025-26 school year. We are currently exploring options to offer CEUs through a state-level or regional agency. Please stay tuned – and, if you have contacts who could help with that process, please reach out to collaborative@reel2e.org.

How is the Collaborative informed by research and best practices?

REEL Co-Founder Callie Turk has developed this project as part of her doctoral program at the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. Her research synthesis informs the design of the Collaborative and can be found here.

Definitions

DEFINITIONS

What do the terms neurodiversity and neurodivergent mean?

“Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that recognizes and embraces the natural variations in human brains and the way they function. It describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in different ways” (as quoted by TestGorilla from Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School). Neurodivergence is an inclusive term that serves as an umbrella for many common learning differences, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. A person who experiences one of these conditions is considered neurodivergent.

What does the term twice-exceptional mean?

“Students who demonstrate the potential for high achievement or creative productivity in one or more domains such as math, science, technology, the social arts, the visual, spatial, or performing arts or other areas of human productivity AND who manifest one or more disabilities as defined by federal or state eligibility criteria. These disabilities include specific learning disabilities; speech and language disorders; emotional/behavioral disorders; physical disabilities; autism spectrum disorders (ASD); or other health impairments, such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These disabilities and high abilities combine to produce a unique population of students who may fail to demonstrate either high academic performance or specific disabilities. Their gifts may mask their disabilities and their disabilities may mask their gifts” (Reis et al., 2014).

APPLICATION QUESTIONS

Application Questions

Is this the only time this community will open up for participation? Will this be the only cohort?

REEL has received funding that allows up to 40 school counselors and school psychologists to participate in this initial community of practice pilot program during the 2025-26 school year. REEL and the Collaborative cohort will work together in the Spring of 2026 to determine if the initial community will open up to new members, continuously add new members, or if a different cohort with new members would be established while the initial cohort continues together.

How will you select participants?

Any school counselor or school psychologist in a Santa Clara County or San Mateo County school (public, private, parochial, or independent school) is eligible to apply. If we receive more applicants than the 40 available spots, we will prioritize based on the following criteria:

Participants serving public schools
Participants serving high needs populations
Participants who provide thoughtful, relevant responses to the two primary application questions (which are: 1) What interests you most about joining a community to dive more deeply into neurodiversity and twice-exceptionality? Is there anything specific the community could tackle or create together that would be especially meaningful to you? 2) What are the biggest challenges you’re facing at present in supporting the neurodivergent and twice-exceptional students in your work? What keeps you up at night in this regard?)
Participants who sign up in partnership with another colleague from their school (up to 2 participants/school)
Date/time order in which potential participants submit their application

We intend to continue this program in the future, either by adding new members to this community or establishing a new cohort in the 2026-27 school year, so if you are not able to be part of this year’s cohort, we will let you know when a new opportunity to participate arises.

PARTICIPATION QUESTIONS

Participation Questions

What is the expected level of participation?

We know that school counselors and school psychologists face many demands on their time. We also recognize that a community of practice cannot flourish without active participants, so we’re working to create a balance of required versus optional interaction opportunities.

Required Participation Activities:

Complete a brief self-assessment form to understand your own learning goals and interests and inform programming for the Collaborative
Attend the in-person kick-off session in the Fall of 2025
Attend four of six 1-hour per month synchronous online meetups
Attend at least one office hours session over the course of the year
Take part in the online forum once a month to exchange ideas, ask questions, and learn from peers—at whatever time works best for you

Optional - and Valuable - Participation Activities:

Join 2–3 live online events and discussions with expert speakers who offer guidance and practical tools to support your work
Take part in the online forum more regularly
Collaborate and co-create resources directly applicable to your day to day work
Become part of the core team guiding the Collaborative’s activities
End of year, in-person coffee celebration

Is there a calendar of activities and events?

We are working to develop a preliminary cadence of activities and events and plan to post that by the beginning of September. As a participant-driven Collaborative, the cadence is subject to change based on emerging needs and community-led initiatives.

Is participation synchronous, asynchronous, or both?

Community members can participate through a mix of asynchronous and synchronous activities. Most activities will take place online, with the exception of an in-person kick-off event and an end of the year celebration. The community facilitators will be responsive to any emerging needs of the community as it relates to synchronous, asynchronous, online, and in-person events that would benefit participants.

Will participants have opportunities to share our own experiences and ideas?

Absolutely! In fact, we’re counting on it. Collaborative members will shape our monthly meetups and expert office hours by bringing forward their needs and ideas. Forum and small group discussions grow richer as members share their experiences, insights, and resources. Members will actively contribute to the resources list and, together, identify tools that are useful and meaningful. Drawing on their unique experiences and expertise, our Collaborative members co-create tools to address pressing needs and/or share their learning with others.

What kind of support will participants receive?

REEL has established a dedicated team to ensure the success of the Collaborative. The Community Manager will oversee all aspects of the operation of the community. The Community Facilitator will guide the community’s activities in partnership with community members and work actively to ensure the community is fulfilling its vision and objectives. Both of these team members will be available to support participants from onboarding and throughout their participation in the Collaborative. In addition, onboarding, communication guidelines, and technical documentation will be provided.

Other

OTHER

Can I invite a colleague to join?
Yes, you can invite fellow school counselors and school psychologists serving San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties to learn about the program. If it helps, you can use this template email to let them know about the Collaborative. In addition, we encourage participants to sign up as pairs from the same school or district when possible, as this will enable additional opportunities to partner and support one another in implementing the lessons learned.

Who can I contact with questions or for help?

Please reach out to collaborative@reel2e.org with any questions or for help. This email is monitored by both the Community Manager and the Community Facilitator.