Exceptionalism
The narrative that makes exclusion feel earned. Exceptionalism tells disabled children they must outperform their diagnosis to be worthy. It tells families they must advocate perfectly to access crumbs. It tells staff that surviving harm makes them heroes, not casualties. This tag explores how stories of triumph obscure the systems that make survival so rare.
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We must start with an acknowledgement of harm
Before we talk about solutions, or even feelings, we must name what has been done. We begin in the wreckage When an institution convenes a committee to explore accessibility, equity, inclusion, or anything vaguely shaped like justice, it often opens with a bright, empty cheerfulness—a blurb about building community, a land acknowledgement read like punctuation,…