“Additional” Needs is CORRECT

Man, the world tries to be so PC that it is so PC that even the people it’s trying to protect from harmful words can’t keep up. One word is normal. I’ve never liked that one. I preferred typical and then read about neurotypical for those without ASD etc. BUT I’ve seen autistics wishing they could be “normal” and I am not about to give them a tongue lashing for expressing their reality.

The special needs world and its vocab changes too often. And it’s being held captive by American voices. They decide what’s wrong or right, even when others who are part of the group call themselves what they like… It’s still wrong even if in your part of the world, your neurodiverse folk use the term. One new term I dj agree with is “people with additional needs.”

Because wow, as a mum who had two children without these extra needs, I am FEELING it. Not only do they have these additional needs, but somebody – ME- has to supply the lack! Aaaahhhj!

And it matches the spiel I gave Ammy about how I too am a special needs oerosn and was as a child too. I had additional needs above and beyond all the children in my class except for one girl with horrific eczema. Too many extra chest x rays, blood tests, endoscopy, appointments, surgeries and here we are today. I’m about to print my pathology form for my blood tests tomorrow.

Additional needs.

And I’m the parent and teacher this time.

ADHD. My six year old pupil hears better if she’s fidgeting. So so what that I knew she’d not throw the pieces of cardboard she tore from the box away? So what that I knew y myself would forget to tell her too? As long as she’s learning, she can tear any old ‘going to the bin’ object.

So what if I wanted to keep some of their worksheets for record keeping? She asked to keep it so she could look at the ‘getting dressed algorithm.” PDA. When you’re dealing with a person with PDA, you take the path of least resistance. So I took a photo of the worksheet to print and put amongst my records.

Dyscalculia. Maths is extremely hands on. For pupil and teacher. Usually I laminate the necessary sheets but this was just for the lesson. Cutting strips of paper and write certain numbers using digits, and other numbers using tally marks, then fold them in half for the child to work with. For one measly Maths lesson.

Dysgraphia. Printing printing printing so they can learn how to write just a bit better. Plus it’s good practice for their little sister anyway who is still doing letter formation. Printing. Laminating. Reading instructions. Filling plastic sleeves bags with sanitiser so that the sleeve goes on top of the letter and they trace the letter through the goo. They enjoy that tactile stimulation. And play dough. Trying to find the play dough they keep taking. Playdough needed for the letters you printed and laminated. And failing to find the play dough. If it doesn’t come back to me as soon as it’s been used, ir will only come back in crumbs of dough.

Additional work. For additional needs. I had never even heard all these terms till I started researching why they couldn’t write, draw. Count.

Planning appointments. Working with four different occupational therapists for the children’s..additional needs. Trying to get my son to do the vision therapy worn needed but then he’s watching our other angel with additional needs so another day passes with no therapy exercises.

Our non speaker had a horrid day today. She attacked me, tried to eat my hair, tried to bite my hair, tried to bite my hand, my arm. She was on a mission! Above, she’s moving her bigger sister of a stretchy sensory swing. But she herself didn’t swing on it. She also did the same when her twin wanted to. No good reason. She had a giant tantrum and just as she was calming down, someone went out the gate and boom, we were right at the start of another tantrum. This time, she wanted to walk right in the middle of the road and nowhere else. Hey, it’s better than last week when she wanted to roll in the middle of the road right? Actually it’s not, both are not safe. Both refusals resulted in screaming and crying that I’m sure the whole block could hear.

It’s a life of additional needs. What do the others eat? What don’t they eat? And her? Additional thinking. Additional dietary needs.

But also typical phomeschool needs. School and crafts.

Reading and spelling . And sometimes, spelling happens just before bedtime as Twin A gets into bed. Tomorrow’s work includes typing or using letter blocks or tiles to spell certain words. On a whim I decided to ask her tell me how they are spelled verbally.

And she nailed it.

Some parts are normal for all homeschool teachers of children of a certain age.