I wrote this in 2016 after witnessing a CHAMPS classroom. My stomach dropped when I saw CHAMPS at our elementary school. “Eyes front, knees front, closed mouth” leapt off the wall and rose from memory. I was in school in the 1970s and 80s. Some teachers were really into table readiness and proper student posture,Continue reading
There are three types of reading: eye reading, ear reading, and finger reading.The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning Most schools and... More “CHAMPS and the ComplianceNoncompliance is a social skill.Noncompliance is one of the most important social skills. Noncompliance skills make it possible to say no, even when others want your right to say no to... More Classroom”
Category Archives: Education
Youth Suicides Are Closely Tied With In-Person School Attendance
“The findings of this study suggest that youth suicides are closely tied with in-person school attendance.” In-Person Schooling and Youth Suicide: Evidence from School Calendars and Pandemic School Closures | NBER The findings of this study align with experiences in our communitiesWhat I have always been hoping to accomplish is the creation of community
What I have always been hoping to accomplish is the creation of community.Community is magic. Community is power. Community is resistance.Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century https://www.amazon.com/Disability-Visibility-First-Person-Stories-Twenty-First-ebook/dp/B082ZQBL98/ https://www.amazon.com/Disability-Visibility-Adapted-Young-Adults-ebook/dp/B08VFT4R9T/... More.Community isContinue readingThere are three types of reading: eye reading, ear reading, and finger reading.The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning Most schools and... More “Youth Suicides Are Closely Tied With In-Person School Attendance”
Six Things Educators Must Know About Neurodivergent People
Here are six things we think every educator must know about neurodivergent
Neurodivergent, sometimes abbreviated as ND, means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.”NEURODIVERSITY: SOME BASIC TERMS & DEFINITIONS Neurodivergent is quite... More people. By understanding these, we make “all means all” more meaningful.
– Spiky Profiles
There is consensus regarding some neurodevelopmental conditions being classed as neurominorities, with a ‘spiky profile’ of executive functions difficulties juxtaposed against neurocognitive strengths as a defining characteristic. Neurominorities, Spiky Profiles,... More
– Monotropism
Monotropism is a theory of autism developed by autistic people, initially by Dinah Murray and Wenn Lawson.Monotropic minds tend to have their attention pulled more strongly towards a smaller number of interests at... More
– Double Empathy Problem
The ‘double empathy problem’ refers to the mutual incomprehension that occurs between people of different dispositional outlooks and personal conceptual understandings when attempts are made to communicate meaning.From finding a... More
– Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria
Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is extreme emotional sensitivity and pain triggered by the perception that a person has been rejected or criticized by important people in their life. It may also... More
– Exposure Anxiety
Exposure anxiety (EA) is a condition identified by Donna Williams in which the child or adult feels acutely self-conscious; it leads to a persistent and overwhelming fear of interaction.Exposure anxiety... More
– Situational Mutism
I am situationally mute. For anyone that isn’t aware of what that is, it simply means that in certain situations, places or around certain people I don’t want to and... More
Driven to Meltdown, Castigated for Melting
I feel the weight of this quote from Pete Wharmby’s new book, “What I Want to Talk About How Autistic
Autistic ways of being are human neurological variants that can not be understood without the social model of disability.If you are wondering whether you are Autistic, spend time amongst Autistic people, online and offline. If... More Special Interests
I don’t know who invented the phrase “special interest.” Probably some researcher. Autistic people don’t really love the term because the term “special” has become tied so closely with terms... More Shape a Life“. The tendency to force a meltdown upon an autisticAutistic ways of being are human neurological variants that can not be understood without the social model of disabilityIn the broadest sense, the social model of disability is about nothing more complicated than a clear focus on the economic, environmental and cultural barriers encountered by people who are... More.If you are wondering whether you areContinue readingThere are three types of reading: eye reading, ear reading, and finger reading.The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning Most schools and... More “Driven to Meltdown
Meltdowns are alarm systems to protect our brains.Without meltdowns, we autistics would have nothing to protect our neurology from the very real damage that it can accumulate.I don’t melt down... More, Castigated for Melting”
Wendell & Wild: An Indictment of the School-to-Prison Pipeline with a Banging Black Punk Soundtrack
“Wendell & Wild” has a Black punkEverything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front.Punk subculture – Wikipedia The First Rule of Punk: Be Yourself Our Second Rule of Punk
Everything that was normally supposed to be hidden was brought to the front.Punk subculture - Wikipedia The First Rule of Punk: Be Yourself Our Second Rule of Punk: Reframe The... More: ReframeWhen we successfully reframe public discourse, we change the way the public sees the world. We change what counts as common sense. Because language activates frames, new language is required... More The… More soundtrack, a Black girl protagonist with a transgender friend, a critique of the school-to-prison pipeline, and Key &Continue readingThere are three types of reading: eye reading, ear reading, and finger reading.The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning Most schools and... More “Wendell & Wild: An Indictment of the School-to-Prison Pipeline with a Banging Black Punk Soundtrack”
The Sensory Hell of the Lunchroom
Needless to say, the dining hall, as well as being busy, crowded and a source of multiple odours, was also very noisy, as trays were picked up and clattered back down, cutlery jangled, and metal serving dishes clanged against metal hot plates. Meanwhile, the children, squeezed into rows of tiny seats bolted on to collapsibleContinue readingThere are three types of reading: eye reading, ear reading, and finger reading.The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan: A Blueprint for Renewing Your Child's Confidence and Love of Learning Most schools and... More “The Sensory HellSensory Hell is the opposite of something being stimmy. It is utterly and totally unbearable. Maybe you’re thinking of the classic scenario of the autistic person melting down in a busy grocery... More of the Lunchroom”
100 Seconds to Midnight: The Need for a Human-Centered Education
Our friends at Human Restoration Project released a very important documentary called “100 Seconds to Midnight: The Need for a Human-Centered Education“. In January 2020 – in what now seems like a prophetic forecast for the distressing year to come – the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists announced to the world that it was “100 SecondsContinue reading “100 Seconds to Midnight: The Need for a Human-Centered Education”
