Because predictability is such a central need, many of the barriers below are less about the content of a session and more about how much notice, structure, and explicit framing surrounds it.
|
Setting |
What it looks like |
|
Lectures / seminars |
Unplanned changes to room, time, or format, sprung with little or no notice. |
|
Group work |
Unclear or informally negotiated roles; hidden social rules; fast-paced open discussion with no visible structure. |
|
Practical / lab sessions |
Sensory overload from noise, lighting, or crowding, which can make it genuinely difficult to focus on the task itself. |
|
Online learning |
Inconsistent page layout or navigation from week to week, forcing the student to re-learn structure repeatedly. |
|
Presentations / assessment |
Being unexpectedly asked to speak or perform without notice, which can trigger disproportionate anxiety relative to the actual task. |
|
Communication with staff |
Implicit expectations that are never stated explicitly, requiring the student to infer what is actually being asked. |