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scapegoating
Blaming individuals to avoid systemic accountability. Schools attribute harm to specific teachers, administrators, or families rather than examining policies, resource allocation, training gaps, or institutional culture. Scapegoating positions problems as isolated failures of bad actors rather than predictable outcomes of structural conditions. Scapegoating protects systems whilst sacrificing individuals, prevents pattern recognition, and ensures harm continues under new personnel operating within unchanged constraints.
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Why do schools say “behaviour” instead of disability?
When parents raise concerns about disability-related needs, schools sometimes respond by describing the issue as “behaviour.” A child who is overwhelmed may be described as oppositional. A child who shuts down may be described as unmotivated. A child who struggles with transitions may…
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The token parent: hoping you’ll be the lucky one
You arrive at the school believing something very specific. If you are just reasonable enough, grateful enough, cooperative enough, your child will be selected. Selected from among all the struggling disabled children. Selected as the one who deserves rescue. You see…
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When one child’s support becomes everyone else’s denial
School districts often respond to requests for accommodation with a story about scarcity. They explain that resources are limited, that they must prioritise the “most disabled,” and that providing intensive support to one child necessarily means taking it away from another.…