Who Is Caring for Whom? Rethinking Care Work and Disability

• By: Rhonda Cheryl Solomon, MSc, PhD (cand.) University of Toronto
• April 3rd, 2026
• autism self-advocacy, autistic identity, disability and care work, emotional labor, masking, sensory sensitivities, social expectations, Spring 2026 Issue, stigma
• 964    0

I feel literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. It’s the night of my choir performance and the choir is grouped by sections and lined up in rows in the community centre auditorium. I find myself in the centre of the soprano section: there’s one row in front of me, one row behind, and...

What is Normal?

• By: Carrie Cariello
• July 1st, 2013
• acceptance, behavioral differences, diagnosis, neurodiversity, parenting, sensory sensitivities, social expectations
• 2412    0

Nearly every day someone asks me something like, “When did you know that Jack wasn’t normal?” And then they stop themselves, stammer a bit, and apologize for saying normal. Their faces turn all red and they look away and stare at their feet. “I mean, you know, what’s normal, there is no...

A Look Inside the Hidden Curriculum

• By: Brenda Smith Myles, PhD The Ziggurat Group
• July 1st, 2011
• hidden curriculum, life skills, safety skills, self-regulation, social communication, social expectations, social skills
• 6604    0

The hidden curriculum is assumed knowledge - the expectations, rules or guidelines that are not directly taught because they are universally known (Garnet, 1984; Hemmings, 2000; Jackson, 1968; Kanpol, 1989; Myles, Trautman, & Schelvan, 2004). It also addresses the incongruities of how skills...