I may be running a D&D club next year for 6-8 grade.  There is a possibility I'll be working with our school's SpEd person, not sure what world.  There is a good possibility that some students with disabilities may be joining us, and we were intentionally looking to use the group to help with general social/emotional development skills and conflict management... no no, not just smaller murder-hobos (I'm old is that term still in vogue?).

Are there any homebrew species, classes, subclasses, backgrounds, feats, etc that would be particularly strong matches for this environment?

I've seen some basic recommendations but any support is appreciated.

Thanks.

I guess the issue is, what kind of disabilities are we talking about? If they struggle with maths, I'd actually suggest a different game system. D&D doesn't have complex maths, but it's used very frequently, so if they struggle... it's going to be a long game, which brings its own issues. I'd lean more for something like The One Ring, which is more visually oriented. It also supports social interaction a lot better. If they're wheelchair bound and just need some extra socialising etc, then D&D would be fine.

To be honest though, I don't think there are any things in particular that I'd direct them to. Obviously, you want more social oriented builds (so Bards are a good choice, Clerics are nice for roleplaying, Barbarians less so), but there aren't many that makes me think "Yeah, definitely". D&D more carers to specific builds rather than that kind of generalist "I just want social resolution builds".

This does feel like a topic best discussed with experts and professionals rather than strangers on the internet. DOTS is one such organisation and they even have a consultation directory

I would honestly consider running a different system. D&D 5e is inescapably a game about getting in fights; the social interaction rules are very fuzzy in the best of cases, and most adventures are published with the assumption that violence will be the PCs' main conflict resolution tool (shoutout to Wild Beyond the Witchlight for being an exception to that tendency).

There's a lot of great socially-focused games on the Powered by the Apocalypse engine; I'd recommend City of Mist for a starting point.

Thank you for your feedback.  Based on what you've said I've reached out to a consultant there and am waiting for a response.

I've brought this up with the elective when it was mostly mainstream and I think because of name and reputation, the kids were significantly in favor of D&D.  But your observations are correct which is a major reason I'm (and still researching this/the options) working to see if the Strixhaven setting may be a significantly better fit than my old modified FR campaign.  Thank you.

I'm on the official WOTC/D&D educators program and they've sent some basic stuff (as well as some decent swag) but I've not heard from them in a while, so it may be time to reach out again, especially as 5.5 is approaching and getting a bead on their intents for academic partnerships might be a good idea.

There is a lot of specialized Homebrew out there, too. First one that comes to mind for wheelchair bound people that want themselfes represented (mind you they might not want that) there is the combat wheelchair (google it, you'll find it) and I bet there is a lot of non official stuff out there, too.

Sounds like you've got things pretty well in hand to get up and running, Ah_Pouk.

All the same, if you're considering alternatives to D&D that have a strong system for social dynamics, conflict resolution and favoring characters that aren't specifically combat oriented, you might take a look at Fantasy Flight Gaming's Star Wars Roleplaying system (Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion and Force and Destiny are all cross compatible!).

If any of your students struggle with numbers and you worry about the quick math of D&D being a potential stress element, this system avoids that by having color-coded dice and symbols that cancel one another out. There's a heavy emphasis on social participation and teamwork with any given roll, too, as there's no binary succeed/failure by 'not rolling high enough' like Dungeons and Dragons. There dice have success/failure, advantage/disadvantage, triumph/dispair symbols which mostly cancel each other out and the leftover symbols determining the outcome. Advantages can be used by the players to make small, narrative changes to a scene, trigger special abilities *or* give benefits to another player's next roll. You can fail a task and still have advantages to give to other players.

Conflict resolution doesn't need to be combat - There's a strong system of social skills and talents that give vast problem-solving avenues and entire classes that focus on them. If and when combat does occur, most blasters and energy weapons have a stun setting and means of non-lethally defeating encounters.

Player classes work differently to D&D, You progress your character a little each session by spending XP to increase skills, purchase abilities or buy into other class-trees, rather than levelling up, which could make it easier for younger players to make characters they can identify with and make choices for. Support roles like mechanics, diplomats or slicers (Hackers) can absolutely shine and are just as viable as smugglers, soldiers and bounty hunters.