A Beginner's Guide to Ableism
By Manchester-based autistic Speech and Language Therapist (SLT), Emily Lees
This free document ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Ableism’ has been created to support settings and schools in having necessary conversations about ableism.
Emily works in a specialist setting supporting autistic children and teenagers. Emily advocates and campaigns for Autism Acceptance through public speaking, training, and education in order to transform the way professionals assess and support autistic children and young people.
On 4th November 2021 at the Tapestry Education Conference (TEC), Emily Lees spoke on the subject of ‘Understanding Neurodiversity and Combatting Ableism in CPD’. It was a powerful presentation which received enthusiastic feedback – many suggesting that they hadn’t previously considered the thought provocations that Emily provided. We recognised the need to use our platform to spread these important messages further.
It has become clear since working with Emily at the TEC, that most educators aren’t very far along their journey when it comes to understanding and tackling ableism in our nurseries and schools. In fact, many are still unfamiliar with the term. It is for this reason that we approached Emily with the idea of creating a free, downloadable guide that would enable initial discussions in education settings. Although traditionally, the Early Years has been at our core, this is not a subject that should be exclusive to any particular stage or type of establishment. Everyone needs to have a better understanding of what ableism is and why we need to combat it.
Continuing to grow as a team
There is a particular need for work to take place in our specialist schools, where there can be a level of saviourism. In his book, No More Heroes: Grassroots Challenges to the Savior Mentality, Jordan Flaherty claims the saviour mentality exists when “you want to help others but are not open to guidance from those you want to help.”
We are aware as an Education Team here at Tapestry that conversations around ableism aren’t always easy – they can make us feel uncomfortable. There is a level of realisation that our language and practices in the past haven’t always been neurodiversity affirming. Even worse, there can be heart sinking moments when we realise that strategies we have used may even have had a negative or harmful impact on the children we have worked with.
The intention of this guide is not to leave educators feeling guilty or bad about themselves. After all, we only know what we know – and until we invest time in educating ourselves, we cannot grow and evolve our practice. Initially, as you begin this journey, you may feel overwhelmed at the thought of un-learning things you have considered a given for so long. The fact is that the only way to start is to have conversations and reflections on the subject. What achievable changes can we make to our practice in the short and longer term, and why are they important? Who is providing us with guidance and strategies? Are we seeking answers and support from neurodivergent experts?
Working in education has never been more challenging than it is right now. This, however, should not be a reason for delaying or shelving discussions about the appropriateness of our practice. Please take a short amount of time from your day to read Emily’s guide and if at all possible, pass it on to someone you know who works in education – or actually, just someone you know.