I’m autistic and ADHD. It’s not a disease, its not a condition, it’s not a privilege, it’s not a curse. It is an identity in itself and it is who I am. It cannot be caused or cured with paracetamol anymore than any other human identity. I am only disabled when I am discriminated against.

6k this morning!

Ok

Why would you call it that?

Extended certificate. I think I’m teaching 1.5 hours a week and my department head the same, so only 6 hours a fortnight. I still haven’t got my head around my timetable though. New school after 18 years! Good to change.

Pearson. Y13 are doing the old spec and we’re bringing the new one in with Y12. We don’t have enough teaching hours to sit all three exams by May 2026 for Y12, do we’re thinking of doing course work first. This could be a very good or a very bad idea. I wish I knew which.

… haven’t worked my head around Btec level 3 yet. Any tips about whether to start with content first or coursework first on the new spec?

KS4 biology, chemistry, physics, A Level physics, Btec Applied Science

Congratulations Kate! I’m starting to teach this course next year and your post came up in my search.

Still looking … I’ll be back shortly

But I am referring specifically to the ‘social model of disability’ rather than the social context. Recommended: www.amazon.co.uk/Autism-Not-D...

Dyslexia, Dyscalcula: Give them technology that really works (overlays only if needed). Etc etc. What it all boils down to is politics and how much we value equality in our society. This government want to take it away and that means less equality of access. It’s not neuroscience it’s politics.

Autism: We are really wired differently, but it’s not a disease, it’s human diversity, it is who we are. It’s really not a problem (aside from other comorbidities). But we are not mind readers, so just say what you really mean otherwise we start to become disabled by ableism.

You give the example of ADHD. Severely undiagnosed. Having all those busy thoughts in your head constantly and for some the urge to physically move, is constant from waking up to burnout and bed time. If medication works, let us have medication if it gives us some bloody peace of mind (literally). 4

When you apply the social model, we stop focusing on the impairments of an individual as the problem but rather on how the environment is stopping that person accessing the same opportunities as a person without those impairments. #3

Disabled learners are disabled by their environments, not their impairments. So all the stuff about differentiation and adaptive teaching are sticking plasters to the real issues, that classrooms are not designed to suit all learners, and disabled learners often do not access learning equally. #2

Thanks for your article Ben. From my perspective, I don’t see two opposing paradigms: neuroscience vs denial. More the social model of disability vs medical model (and denial/neglect). What happens in the classroom or in the world outside is steered by politics. #1

According to research, apparently yes. From personal experience, hard to say what works these days other than teaching seems so much harder to get the same results, the curriculum is really boring, everyone is stressed … so no, it’s not working really.