Bridge the Gap
Capstone prototype

Access is a bridge.

Help every learner show what they know.

Turn strengths, barriers, accommodations, and ethical technology supports into practical strategies for neurodivergent adolescents.

Try the assignment stepper Explore the toolkit
StudentsFamiliesEducators

Start with the barrier,
not the blame.

Help me start

Assignment stepper

What is making it hard to begin?
1Your first five actions
0 of 5 complete
5-minute startTake one small step. Momentum can begin here.

The working toolkit

Support the learner without replacing the learner.

01

Living Access Plan

Connect strengths, barriers, supports, and review dates in plain language.

02

Educator Support Guide

Reframe an observed difficulty and choose practical, UDL-aligned options.

03

Learning Trail

Record student thinking and explain how a person or tool provided support.

Tool 01 · Build a support plan

Make access visible, specific, and reviewable.

A living plan records what helps in this task and setting. It can change as the learner, environment, and demands change.

Supports to try

Tool 02 · Reframe before responding

Start with what is getting in the way.

Select an observed difficulty. The guide shifts the question from “Why won’t they?” to “What could improve access?”

Barrier-based interpretation

Task initiation may be blocked by unclear entry points, working-memory load, anxiety, fatigue, or the size of the task—not by a lack of caring.

Ask the learner

“What is the first part that feels unclear or too large right now?”

Preserve expectations

Keep the same learning goal and quality criteria; change how the learner enters the task.

Options to try
  • Name one visible first action
  • Show a completed example
  • Offer a five-minute supported start
Review pointReview if the learner still cannot begin after the entry point is clear and practiced.

Tool 03 · Document authentic learning

Show the student’s thinking—and the support around it.

The goal is transparency, not surveillance: distinguish technology supporting the process from technology replacing the learner’s thinking.

Why repeated support matters

One interaction can help. A pattern can change what happens over time.

P

Person

Strengths, executive functioning, interests, energy, and communication.

P

Process

Repeated planning, practice, feedback, and check-ins with trusted adults.

C

Context

Classroom demands, home routines, sensory conditions, and available support.

T

Time

Changes in stress, initiation, independence, and completion across weeks.