ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE CASTLE OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION: THE MAGIC OF STORYTELLING FOR NEURODIVERSE STUDENTS

Neurodivergent engineering students face unique barriers in learning environments. To increase accessibility, reducing cognitive load is essential for people with learning and intellectual disabilities. Storytelling is a unique approach for addressing this issue as it provides structure, encourages reflection, and engages multiple sensory experiences that can enhance students' interest in learning. Especially in engineering courses where multiple abstract and difficult concepts are involved, storytelling holds the potential to engage students while facilitating knowledge transfer and application. This concept paper reviews and summarizes literature to highlight the benefits of utilizing storytelling as a pedagogical tool for neurodivergent students in engineering education. Further, it discusses subject-specific context where storytelling can be applied to improve the overall learning experience of engineering students overall, and why they may benefit neurodivergent students specifically.