The Adventures of Dysfunctional Dan

In which I discuss an absurd news story... If you are to look on the website of any right-leaning newspaper for education stories you will almost certainly find articles about schools where students are 'identifying as cats'. Yes, this is widely being reported in sources including The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Sun, LBC, Metro and many, many others. These articles say that parents of these children are demanding schools respect them, that these children are wearing ears and tails and occasionally are using litter trays in classrooms. Oh, and according to a handful of these sources some children are also identifying as horses and dinosaurs.  This week, the media was whipped into a frenzy. Because this has been reported in the media, year 8 pupils at a school in East Sussex had a discussion about whether a person can identify as a cat and one of them filmed part of the discussion and put it on TikTok. This went viral and the right-wing media jumped on it and politicians start...

In which I discuss this year's Oscar contenders... It's become something of a tradition for me to write about the films that are nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Once again I've managed to see all ten nominees so I can discuss them properly. I'll also include where you can watch each nominee in the UK should you be interested, though cinema listings for most are limited. All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix) A rare non-English language nominee, this is a German production that has proved hugely popular on Netflix. The German novel of the same name has been adapted into films several times before, including the 1930 film which itself won best picture. This version is by far the most technologically advanced with some incredible scenes depicting the life of a First World War soldier (it's not one for the squeamish). It does change some plot details from the book though which turns its purpose from a thoughtful inspection of the life of a soldier to a more ...

In which I discuss the media's views on neurodiversity... In the past month or so there have been various articles and think-pieces in the British media about the increase in diagnoses of ADHD and other neurodiverse conditions (that's things like autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia, the latter of which I myself have). Most of these have been pretty unpleasant, describing having ADHD as something which is fashionable. One Sunday Times journalist said "celebrities have convinced us that we all need an 'illness identity'". This is, to put it politely, nonsense.  Diagnosis can be and often is life-changing for many neurodiverse people. Until then, you feel like you don't quite fit in like there's something fundamentally wrong with you. It's difficult enough as an adult but usually, you've had enough life experience to manage the majority of the challenges neurodiversity brings to you. When you are at school and still trying to understand who you are and...

In which I have a breakthrough... The familiar golden arches welcome me through the door. Like thousands of other people every day I'm sitting down to enjoy a treat from McDonald's. My friend Louise and her kids are with me and I'm holding down a table whilst they organise what they are going to order. This particular McDonald's holds many memories. Here I've been drunk, hungover, poor, excited, exuberant and exhausted. But above all these, there is one moment which is particularly clear in my memories... <WISTFUL HARP MUSIC> March, 2014. I'm broken. The most challenging thing I've ever done has come to an end in the worst possible way. For the last eleven weeks I've been on teaching practice, the final one I needed to overcome after three and a half years at university to gain a teaching qualification. For the entire eleven weeks, I'd been repeatedly told how shit I was and had received helpful advice from the people that were supposed to supp...

In which I reflect on things... Hello, I hope you are well. October half term has arrived and I'm excited to have my first proper Autumnal holiday in my flat. I often find that the start of the holidays for me are a time I can slow down and reflect on things so that's really what this post is about- abstraction is the "state of being lost in thought" This time last year I had the dreaded Covid a year on I can reflect that it was one of the very worst weeks of my life. It definitely changed me in some ways, not least with the fact I haven't spent a day just sat in my flat since because I can't face that cabin fever ever again. I've also tried to avoid the isolation I left and have reconnected with old friends and regularly attended social events in a way I haven't done many years.  I'm somehow already 25% of the way through my teaching course. Whilst I'm still ultra-cautious about what lies ahead, I'm amazed at just how brilliantly things ha...

In which I have a dyspraxic discussion... Today marks the start of Dyspraxia Awareness Week 2022, a week dedicated to raising awareness of the condition I and millions of others have. Whilst most neurodivergent conditions have an awareness week it feels like this one is especially important. There's still plenty of work to be done but conditions like autism, ADHD and dyslexia are now pretty well known to the general public and even more so to those working in education. But dyspraxia has been somewhat left behind and to many remains an unknown condition.  I've discussed dyspraxia quite a bit here in the past but a quick recap feels important. Dyspraxia has been historically known as 'clumsy child syndrome' though that's not a very useful or accurate name. Essentially it is a condition which affects how a brain processes information and this is often visible in the way it affects both fine motor skills (like using a pen or sewing) and gross motor skills (like catchin...

In which I reflect on the death of the Queen... Queen Elizabeth II died this week. In principle, I would say that I am not in favour of a monarchy. It's archaic, a waste of taxpayer's money and tied in with centuries of bloodshed. I've never had much of a strong feeling about this though and I think that's mainly because the Queen was just so fantastic at her job.  It says a lot that just days before she died Her Majesty met new Prime Minister Liz Truss. Truss was, just, the fifteenth Prime Minister of the Queen's reign- she started with Churchill, Eden and Macmillan and ended with May, Johnson and Truss; it's difficult not to think that the standard of PM has declined significantly during her reign. The point is though the Queen was so dedicated to her role even in her later life when I suspect most people would have grown tired of saying "and what do you do?" and being part of the same ceremonies year after year. The moment where I really thought ...