Home-educating parents, especially parents raising disabled children, are continually being watched, judged, and criticized. Everyone has an opinion. Hardly anyone keeps it to themselves. Nobody questions public school parents about their choices. When their kids...
My son and I have been on the receiving end of ableist remarks throughout his lifetime. Most of it is well-intentioned and meant to be encouraging. These seemingly-benign comments are a result of internalized ableism which is why it's hard to identify...
I am my son’s parent, but I am not a part of his culture and he is not part of mine. I have not experienced life as a disabled person and he’s never been non-disabled. I first became aware of this distinction when I heard Andrew Solomon, author of Far From the Tree:...
I learned that there is only one way to be in the world as a child. It was reinforced in my schooling and solidified in my career in the education system. There are a set of rules for behaving that are socially accepted. Anything outside of that is judged,...
Whether we homeschool or not, we are all teachers. In raising and educating my disabled son, I have struggled to find that fine line between doing school at home and doing life in the world. It's a never-ending conversation I have with myself: Teaching versus...
I was always a model student. I loved school, and I loved being a student. I still do. I love being a scholar with my pen scribbling fresh notes on innovative topics that challenge me. While teaching, I enrolled in a certificate program. It was held twice a week in...
I have internalized ableism, and deschooling is my rehab.⠀ ⠀ As children, we grow up trusting that what adults tell us is right and good and true. We absorb what we hear and what we see. We accept it as fact.⠀ When things feel a little off, we learn to suppress those...
Our world is divided even among sub-communities. From the outside, it looks like there are only two schools of thought when it comes to education: those who choose conventional schooling and those who homeschool. If we lean in, we see that there are many subgroups...
Whether we homeschool or not, we are all teachers. In raising and educating my disabled son, I have struggled to find that fine line between doing school at home and doing life in the world. It's a never-ending conversation I have with myself: Teaching versus...
I was always a model student. I loved school, and I loved being a student. I still do. I love being a scholar with my pen scribbling fresh notes on innovative topics that challenge me. While teaching, I enrolled in a certificate program. It was held twice a week in...
I have internalized ableism, and deschooling is my rehab.⠀ ⠀ As children, we grow up trusting that what adults tell us is right and good and true. We absorb what we hear and what we see. We accept it as fact.⠀ When things feel a little off, we learn to suppress those...
Our world is divided even among sub-communities. From the outside, it looks like there are only two schools of thought when it comes to education: those who choose conventional schooling and those who homeschool. If we lean in, we see that there are many subgroups...