Mind Over Manner
Look for Connection, Find the Connection, Stay Connected, Support the Connection "Connection" and "observation" were the takeaway messages I took from our session with Sue and her team of actors, as they taught us us about neurodivesity through theatre. Sue Haldane introduced us to a kupu in te reo: takiwātanga which means "in their own time and space." This is the Māori word for autism or those who show neurodiverse ways of being. I find this word really helpful. A word that lets people be who they are. It doesn't draw a box around someone like so many labels do. These sessions with Sue and her team were emotional! Not that I cried, but I went home feeling like I had experienced all these intense emotions - because we had been experiencing what it is like to be in the shoes of a neurodiverse student and to teach neurodiverse students. Of course it also brought back a lot of memories. Hard memories. Students. Experiences of meltdowns (my own an