Code for All Minds: STEM Education for Neurodivergent Students

Stephanie Santoso:

Hi, I'm Stephanie Santoso and I'm the Senior Program Fellow for Infosys Foundation USA. We're here at the Foundation's Crossroads 2025 event where leaders across education, technology and social impact have come together to shape the future of learning and celebrate the Foundation's 10th anniversary.

I'm joined by Sreenidi Bala. Thanks for joining. Founder and CEO of Code for All Minds. She's leading efforts to make STEM education more accessible for neurodivergent students. She's developed the ASPIRE adaptive STEM course and researches assistive technology at the University of Calgary. Also, a White House honoree and Infosys Foundation USA advisor, she's only 18 and already making an incredible impact. Thanks so much for being here.

Sreenidi Bala:

Thank you so much for having me.

Stephanie Santoso:

Well, let's start our conversation. There's so many questions that I'd love to ask you. I wanted to just start first with just having you share a little bit more about what inspired you to start Code for All Minds.

Sreenidi Bala:

I grew up with a childhood best friend who has autism. And, you know, we spent days playing Battleship. That was kind of our tradition and what we did every day. I saw him through his genius and strategy that he played on the playing field. But that was very much not how the rest of the world saw him. I very quickly realized, you know, the education system and if you don't, if you aren't able-bodied, if you don't, aren't neurotypical, it's very hard to find opportunities and really show the world the potential you possess and sheer brilliance that you have the opportunity to give back to the world. So it just started with me playing these games with him and then creating connections with the special needs students at my school. And I was always just a kid bringing them into all of our classes, sneaking them into our science and math classes, and they'd be doing their own activity, but be in the same environment as us. And then during COVID, that kind of shifted when these kids weren't equipped to use their Chromebooks, they just, all the connections they had made in an in-person classroom, I wanted them to maintain that. So I started making these video lessons where I teach them, you know, how do you sign into your computer, how do you send an email to a teacher, how do you create a Google Meet link. So it started with these very fundamental tasks. When I realized it's never about what they're learning, it's just how you're teaching them, that completely changed the narrative in my mind. And I was committed to, you know, not only teaching them digital fundamental technologies, but exposing them to computer science because I began researching and found these students have inherent analytical skills suited for the field, very similar to what I saw with my childhood best friend when we were playing the game of Battleship. So that kind of took me on this journey with Code for All Minds and it really started at my school with Aspire and all of these things coupled together, but it's really a lifelong commitment to ensuring that all students can be exposed to this field and find what they're passionate about and find their place in the world.

Stephanie Santoso:

That's amazing. I'm curious, I'm wondering if you could dive a little bit more into sort of the response you got from your peers when you started to create these opportunities for them, especially during an especially challenging time… covid. Yeah. What was their response and what was sort of the change you saw?

Sreenidi Bala:

Totally. So I work with students all across the spectrum. So completely like nonverbal students to highly functioning students. So, very, very different in how they expressed it. But, you know, for some kids just dragging and dropping like a block on the coding environment or, you know, typing the password onto their computer, the small like claps they had or just a smile they could express. It's very different across the board, but you see their happiness and the confidence they gain when they realize they can do something independently.

Stephanie Santoso:

Could you share a little bit more about how the resources you've developed over the years are really addressing those challenges that educators are facing in the classroom, outside of the classroom, in really supporting neurodivergent learners?

Sreenidi Bala:

Totally. So, really there isn't a lot of mainstream resources out there. Like if a parent or an educator wants to teach a neurodivergent student, you know, computer science, there isn't a lot designed for the specific population. A lot of times, you know, the problem educators fall into is they have to use curriculum that's designed for a neurotypical student and kind of just figure out a way to make it fit. So Code for All Minds was designed with the idea like everything is designed not only for these students but we had a whole pilot process and they were part of the design so it was very much for them and by them.

Stephanie Santoso:

Events like the Impact Gala or the Tech Innovation Lab, how have they helped you advance your work and maybe get the word out there about what you're doing and about Code for All Minds?

Sreenidi Bala:

Totally. I think back to when I was in Charlotte during CS Ed week and one thing I saw in the Innovation Lab was amplifying human potential. And that very much encapsulates what I believe the foundation is all about and how it's so relevant to the work I'm doing and not the work I'm doing but what I strongly stand for which is we all can see someone else and uplift them and we aren't doing anything extra, we're just bringing them along in our journey.

Stephanie Santoso:

I know you're headed off to college next year and you're graduating in just a few weeks, so congratulations. And it sounds like you're already doing some amazing research at the University of Calgary, but you know, you're going to be a full-time college student, undergrad student. Can you talk a little bit about what your top goals are for Code for All Minds as you're sort of, you know, wrapping up this like pretty important part of your academic career and then you're headed off to this next phase of your academic career. What's next for you in terms of priorities for Code for All Minds?

Sreenidi Bala:

Gosh, I like have a list of things, because this is a lifelong commitment I have and something I hope to be working with the Infosys Foundation USA for as long as I can. My biggest goal is to, you know, increase the amount of resources we can provide students with, not only in coding and digital skills and digital citizenship, but exposing them to generative AI. How do they leverage it in their daily lives? Teaching them how to use Excel. Every career requires some proficiency with Microsoft tools. So, venturing into that and I think another thing I'm really really passionate about as I meet so many people from so many different places and backgrounds is internationally how we can support Autistic students. There's a huge population of kids who you know, they don't know what's out there and by just providing them the resource I want to extend curriculum efforts outside especially… I'm Indian, so I want to work with kids in India. I've met people from Mexico. I just want to support all autistic special needs students because I think again, everyone deserves a chance to be given an opportunity and once we can find what makes them excited, what makes them meaningful, whatever gives them that smile on their face, that's all we can do for our own friends. It's a lifelong commitment, but those are probably the top few things I want to do in this lifetime.

Stephanie Santoso:

You're well on your way. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Sreenidi, and best of luck as you head off to college next year.

Sreenidi Bala:

Thank you, thank you so much for having me.