Why Abnormal?
Why Abnormal?
This is our normal. If it looks abnormal to you, we are comfortable with that.
The word arrives with a history. Children who learned differently, moved differently, questioned too much or did not fit the room were sorted, measured and managed from above. Many of those children grew into people worth learning from.
Somebody drew a line and called one side normal. We want to ask who drew it, what evidence they had, and what happened to the people on the other side of it.
Who decided?
"That is not normal" can mean many things. It can describe something statistically unusual, express real concern, carry a joke, or be used to correct and embarrass someone. Meaning depends on the setting, the relationship and what follows.
When the words become a demand to conform, they deserve a question back.
Our normal
We do not set out to be abnormal. We live our normal. We learn in the way that works for us, follow curiosity, notice what others pass by, and imagine things that do not exist yet.
To someone else, that normal can look abnormal. When that happens, we can ask who decided. If they still want to call us abnormal, we are comfortable with that. It means we get to be different, curious and imaginative.
The word loses its power to correct us once we stop needing it to be untrue.
The judgement that moves inside
An outside voice can become something a person anticipates.
"People will think I'm strange."
"I should already know how to do this."
"I had better stay quiet."
"Everybody else seems to manage."
What once needed another person's warning becomes an internal instruction: keep quiet, hide that interest, change that reaction, avoid that question. A person may begin to stop themselves before anyone else has to.
We call that protection of self, and it should never be confused with the intent of whoever caused it. Responsibility stays with the person or system that applied the pressure.
The judgement written into a system
Institutions need coordination, and coordination needs rules. The question is how a rule was chosen, who it was built for, and who it leaves out.
A school day can be manageable for one pupil and exhausting for another. A short break can be enough for one child and insufficient for the next. An assessment can measure something valuable and overlook something just as important.
Where a rule removes imagination and curiosity in the name of normal, we ask what it removed and who carries the cost. That is the accountability side of this school, and it applies to us too.
No performance required
Being different should never require proof of extraordinary intelligence, talent or achievement. A person can enjoy a deep interest, a way of thinking, a preference for solitude or a creative approach to an ordinary problem, and still find parts of life hard and want support.
Enjoyment, need, strength and difficulty can exist together.
Curiosity before conclusion. People are my rockpools.