I’m thinking about how I present my ideas and thoughts and realizing that I need to distill them into simple concepts because simple concepts will help people understand what I’m saying.

I usually speak to what I observe, patterns I’ve seen, and information that would support them in collaborative problem solving. After my most recent interaction I see that I made a huge mistake in the way I presented my information.

I mentioned my concerns from my perspective when I ought to have considered my audience.

I talked about the way the district has disappeared Restorative Practices and the concerns of the Autistic community about abuses in ABA.

I spoke about trauma informed practices and the HEARTS program how the district no longer partners with them.

What I should have said is that the sole focus on ABA hyper individualizes the problem and makes it seem that individual students are the problem when it’s the system that’s the problem.

I ought to have said that when a student shows distress we have an obligation to examine our community systems to see how we are alienating, isolating, shaming, and maybe even (probably) traumatizing students.

Hyper focus on individual behavior is a mistake because it obscures the larger problem. Starting with the larger problem allows us to change the environment that’s causing suffering and create a space where most students will feel safe and valued by their community. That naturally lessens bullying, truancy, and self harm.

If we were to first focus on changing how schools treat humans then the need for services like ABA would lessen and students would be better able to thrive.

Ashé.