Saw a dad describe his 13-year-old kid with dyslexia so badly. He said he was “soft” and basically needs to man up because he will be 18 soon.  Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental condition, and I think his IEP may have missed something. People really don’t get it, and unfortunately, they have kids. Ugh.

I do want to clarify that dyslexia affects reading, decoding, spelling, and sometimes language. Not whether he “acts his age.”  He may be functioning at his actual current age or skill level, but the IEP suggests there are genuine disability related limitations.

I’ll say, thanks for nothing for the kid. But what dad is doing is worse than nothing. It’s harmful and I didn’t mention how he grabbed him out of frustration. However, the emotional scars from never being good enough or normal enough for his own dad will cause far more scars than any physical abuse will ever do.

These people must be stopped. Stop demanding normalcy. It’s okay to need help with schoolwork. Why can’t they see it’s not working and then eventually stop? A breakdown of the brain, perhaps.  If they can’t help it, then asking them to stop is pointless, but no “expert’ has said they can’t help it. Yet.

So I’m left to wonder. And kids and adults remain harmed. 

In this case, the kid is getting therapy. I’m not one of the people who believes therapy solves everything or even most things, but with a dad like that and an overwhelmed mom, I’m glad he’s getting something.

My issue with therapy is usually with adults dealing with real-life stuff (poverty, chronic illness, disability, discrimination) and the therapist doing CBT and talking about motivation. But with kids that age, it’s not as harmful (per the research), so I don’t object. 

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Oh god. Just saw this: “People are saying neurodivergent people are resilient,” and then he goes on to criticize it. Thank you. I would hurt someone in the worst way if they ever said that anywhere near me. What is this BS, and who is pushing it? The motivation is clear, but I would never….

I know some neurodivergent people are repeating this. I hope they are young, very young, and have no life experience, because otherwise WTF? But these people may be pro-capitalism too, so saying things like this matches that sentiment. I can’t be surprised, but I don’t want to see or hear that crap. 

This Week in Media & Other Things

Music of the Week

Books of the Week

Only one book finished this week:

^{The Last Witness by Natasha Boydell (Fiction). My rating: ★★★★ (4 stars). This book was a nice surprise. I like how the author told this story. I think saying more about that would be a spoiler. I thought I wouldn’t like it at first because it starts with a woman who can’t sleep, and I wanted to escape a little. Not another character with bad insomnia! But it ended up not being the main issue.} 

Quote of the Week