Great article. This has made me reflect back on many children I worked with in the past and how the school system is so rigid that I was prevented from just seeing the child in front of me. But this resonates most with my own experience with my daughter. When she was in school, a diagnosis/'label' felt so important. And it has been helpful in many ways. But now it isn't as necessary and what is most important is just seeing the child in front of me, her unique needs and meeting her where she is at.
I’m so glad this landed, especially with both the professional and personal experience you carry. What you’ve described really captures something important — that while labels can be helpful, there’s also a point where they can start to sit between us and the child, rather than bringing us closer.
Yes, and I also find it interesting how the label becomes less necessary outside of the school system. If my daughter was ever to go back into the school education system, her diagnosis would be really important. Outside of the system she has individual needs, as does every child, and I meet those. But even though schools are meant to meet need, not a diagnosis, this is not the reality.
Exactly. There simply isn’t the flex in the structure to truly meet need, despite most in it holding that intention. Often it’s only from being outside the system that we can see this, and then the label becomes less important as you say. It’s a total reorientation.
Great article. This has made me reflect back on many children I worked with in the past and how the school system is so rigid that I was prevented from just seeing the child in front of me. But this resonates most with my own experience with my daughter. When she was in school, a diagnosis/'label' felt so important. And it has been helpful in many ways. But now it isn't as necessary and what is most important is just seeing the child in front of me, her unique needs and meeting her where she is at.
I’m so glad this landed, especially with both the professional and personal experience you carry. What you’ve described really captures something important — that while labels can be helpful, there’s also a point where they can start to sit between us and the child, rather than bringing us closer.
Yes, and I also find it interesting how the label becomes less necessary outside of the school system. If my daughter was ever to go back into the school education system, her diagnosis would be really important. Outside of the system she has individual needs, as does every child, and I meet those. But even though schools are meant to meet need, not a diagnosis, this is not the reality.
Exactly. There simply isn’t the flex in the structure to truly meet need, despite most in it holding that intention. Often it’s only from being outside the system that we can see this, and then the label becomes less important as you say. It’s a total reorientation.