12/03/2026
Some of these are controversial, some aren’t. But they’re all based on lived experience, working with neurodivergent children, and understanding what actually supports communication.
1. Most challenging behaviours are reasonable responses to unreasonable expectations, or demands. When a child “acts out,” they’re telling us something isn’t right, not working and needs to change telling us something isn’t right, not working and needs to change. The behaviour isn’t the problem, it’s the response to the problem.
2. 4 year olds can’t actually manipulate you - manipulation requires understanding someone else’s perspective, predicting their response, and intentionally using that to get what you want. Four year olds don’t have the executive funcitioning skills to do that.
3. Turn-taking in conversation isn’t mandatory, it’s a made up “rule”. Neurodivergent people communicate differently. We may interrupt because our brain will forget or we get excited, we monologue because that’s how we process or connect, and we go silent when feeling overwhelmed. Different communication isn’t wrong communication.
4. AAC devices don’t hinder speech development, they support it. Giving a child a way to communicate now doesn’t stop them from learning to speak later. Waiting to see if they’ll talk first is denying them communication in the meantime. AAC is communication (and also - speaking isn’t the gold standard for communication anyways!).
5. If therapy only works in the therapy room, it’s not working. If the skills don’t generalise to home, school, the playground, the supermarket, then something is missing - and that might be a different therapy approach Therapy should bridge the gap between clinical settings and actual daily life, that’s the whole point.
6. The system is often the problem - not the child. When a child “fails” at school, we need to look at the environment, the expectations and the supports available, not fix the child. The system sets students up to fail, then blames them when they can’t meet impossible standards.
Which one do you agree with most? Or disagree with? Let me know in the comments 👇
