11/07/2025
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People say âIn the REAL world, they wonât be able toâŠâ and then end that sentence with something that you actually, totally, can in fact do in the âreal worldâ, a surprising amount of times in my line of work.
Actual things that people have actually, literally said to me:
In the REAL world, he wonât be using a pencil gripper. (What? Literally why not? I could use any pencil gripper I wanted to to write anything I felt like.)
In the REAL world, she canât rock in her chair, so⊠(Yet I, a grown adult, sit perched like a bird and rocking wildly back and forth in my office chair while writing evaluations when I need a lot of sensory input.)
In the REAL world, the kids wonât have clipboards available to write on. (Isnât a clipboard like, two dollars? Why couldnât someone write with a clipboard?)
In the REAL world, she canât cry every time something happens that she doesnât like. (Anyone can cry whenever they want to cry. Iâve cried at all kinds of works in my life. When someone is crying, other human beings who are decent usually try to help them.)
On the flip side, you know what else doesnât happen in the real world? People typically donât have to sit silently at desks for 6+ hours a day. People typically are able to talk to their friend or coworker or text somebody in between tasks or when they feel like it. People typically can eat a snack if theyâd like to or make arrangements to. People typically arenât stuck in a room with 30 other people who are exactly their age, and nobody else. People typically donât have to navigate buildings and structures and objects that are too large and proportionally clearly not made for them. People typically can take a break when they need to. People typically arenât punished, and especially not physically, by their loved ones and close friends.
Every day, weâre *making* the real world.
I want to put all of our effort into making the real world a good place to be before I focus any of my efforts on chipping pieces off of its future inhabitants to try to make them fit some harmful imaginary mold from the past.
[Image description:
A drawn meme by NeuroWild
Around the borders are different colored pencils: purple, pink, green, red, yellow.
At the top is a cloud shape, blue, with words in it that read, âWe have to PREPARE these kids for the REAL WORLDâ
actually means:
âI am not prepared to accommodate this child now or in the future.â
âI accept that the world is going to treat them poorly and they should start getting used to that.â
âI will work hard on this child but I am not prepared to work on myself or the ableist world that we live in.â
The bottom 3 sentences are written in purple bubbles.
End description.]
