Blog: disability

I Really Don’t Care About “Normal” People

2023-01-31 by nerd teacher

Every so often, there’s a discussion in anarchist circles about how we need to tread lightly, sound more realistic, and stop dreaming about “perfect utopias” because otherwise we’ll “scare the normal people off.” If we keep talking about a world so drastically different from the one we’re in, the “normal” people won’t even want to participate! We’ll never get traction! No one will want to do it!

This sentiment is beyond infuriating, and it doesn’t make me care about “normal” people because “normal” people—or anyone who claims to be “normal”—just don’t care about people like me. Queer and disabled people are never seen as “normal,” so we’re automatically written out of this statement by virtue of existing. The world in which my neurodivergent self can happily and safely exist is not the same one that “normal” people even want to support because they’d rather pretend that everyone understands everything in the exact same way.

Every time we say that we need something, we’re told that it’s “too much” or that it’s “too hard” or “too expensive” to possibly include everyone. Read more…

The Eugenics Movement Never Ended

2021-07-26 by nerd teacher

Note: I want to make it clear that not all people with neurodevelopmental disorders see themselves as being disabled (though, I would argue that we are made disabled by society, which is explained through a social model of disability). I state this because the conversation around disability is super complex, especially within and between people who share a given disorder. So while I do see myself as disabled, I do not speak for others with neurodevelopmental disorders in how they see themselves.

Far too many people have bought into the illusion that eugenics went away after World War II and that we gave it all up. We didn’t. A lot of people, ashamed to be peddling outright eugenics, hid it behind kinder words, nicer sounding policies, and politer manners.

But they still kept doing it.

Yet, since people see “all the work” that has gone in to get things like legislation that “protects” disabled people and “gives them rights,” “providing them with opportunities they never before had,” they mistakenly believe we’ve progressed a significant amount. People see groups that seek to “cure” neurodevelopmental disorders, like autism and ADHD, as being helpful because they can speak the loudest and have the most resources.

Yet they don’t want to listen to us.  Read more…

Rethinking My Place in Schools: A Teacher with Disabilities

2020-08-20 by nerd teacher

This school year marks yet another where I start at a new school. It’s the sixth school I’ve worked at in ten years, and that… feels heavy. It feels like I’ve worked in too many places and haven’t been able to actually find a place to stay put, to be part of the community. And when I finally find a place in the community, I feel like I have to leave for some reason that’s usually related to the school’s administration: obvious mental abuse that they force the staff to endure, genuine corruption, and wilful ineptitude.

Perhaps it’s also worth mentioning that I’m a teacher who is “special needs” (a term that I loathe with every fiber of my being). I have ADHD. I’m dyslexic. I have an audio-processing disorder. I also deal with depression and anxiety. Accommodations for a range of disabilities are almost never met for any students in the building, and they’re definitely not there for teachers who require them.

So unlike neurotypical (and able-bodied) teachers, these are concerns that I often put front-and-center. What are we doing to ensure all students’ needs are met? What are we doing to improve access for all students (especially those often overlooked in the school)? Read more…