When I was a kid, I was often frustrated and something else - some other feeling I couldn’t quite name - due to a specific expectation in school: don’t be absent.
I was what folks called a “sick child” so I easily caught every cold that anyone else had and then it turned 10-20x worse due to my limited immune health and chronic asthma issues. I never got the award for no absences. I never had perfect attendance. And it was never my fault… but I was treated like it was a choice, as if I wouldn’t have been healthy if I could’ve been.
I was almost held back in 5th grade due to missing 16 and a half days of school… that was a record low number of absences for me. And I was nearly punished because I was a ‘sick child.’ Fortunately, the parent-teacher-whoever meeting to discuss me being held back (or not) went in my favor and I moved forward to 6th grade.
Recently, I think I found the words. I was being held to Ableist standards, when I was not Abled in that way. And I felt helpless.
It just hit me recently how that was (is?) an Ableist standard. I get why it’s there, why education is important and how tracking absences highlights truancy patterns which often leads to discovery of neglectful or abusive homes … and therein lies another issue, how families who are dysfunctional are more often punished than assisted BUT I digress…
It’s just Kinda Super Messed Up…Holding someone to a standard they cannot reach, and not for lack of trying, especially at such an early age.
Just some 2am thoughts pouring out ✌️
