I Don't Have Special Needs, You're Just Ignoring Your Own

Colonial concepts of 'normal' and 'abnormal' needs keep us all from having our need met.

November 30, 2023

My ‘special needs’ child. It gives me the ick when I read things like this.

This term has largely fallen out of use - but I still see it much more than I should. It has also evolved into ‘special educational needs’, a term inclusive of ‘learning problems and Disability’, and used to assess the support needs of children in schools.

Do I have a problem with assessing the support needs of children? No. I have a problem with the concept of some needs being special, and some being normal. Humans have needs, and different humans have different needs.

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