Learning takes vulnerability

a paragraph from my book

PLEASE NOTE: This is a photo of a paragraph of my book "It's Never Just ADHD" that is being shared BEFORE its final edits. It might not read exactly as written in the final book.

This part of the book I'm sharing is taken from the chapter on Simon's story. Simon's a little white boy who has writing challenges, possibly "sluggish cognitive tempo" (my jury is still out on this diagnosis, but I've seen people that struggle with these presentations so I know it happens) and of course, suspected ADHD. Through his experiences, one thing that comes up is the importance of acknowledging the vulnerability it takes to learn and how we don't often think of that when considering why we support learning in schools.

writing a book. a vulnerable act.

I wanted this part of the book to remind people that schools aren't places that inherently support trauma, they often cause it and compound it. For the way that a neurodivergence like ADHD presents itself, it aims to protect students. Students can't learn effectively if they don't feel safe. To get to a place of learning, they need to feel safe enough to access the vulnerability necessary to engage in it.