Why Donate?
Supporting a year of investigative research into coercive behaviour within education
Who gets to decide? Who gets to question those decisions? And who pays the price?
What We Are Doing
Over the next 12 months, I am investigating coercive behaviour within schools and educational institutions across the Netherlands and the UK. The investigation will examine how decisions are made, how educational and professional frameworks are protected, who is allowed to question those decisions, and who carries their consequences.
Part of this work is informed by what is currently happening with our own son, alongside the experiences of many other children, families, teachers and adults.
We are crowdfunding to fund travel, time for investigative research, interviews, documentation and the development of education from what we learn.
Four Examples of What We Are Investigating
1. When a professional's words become the parents' position
A school professional asks parents about their "vision" for their child's education. The parents make clear that they are asking for adjustments to accommodate their child's needs, rather than describing a vision. The school then presents these adjustments as the "parents' vision" and uses that interpretation as part of the reason for rejecting the child.
Who gave the professional permission to redefine what the parents were asking for? At what point did a request for an adjustment become grounds for exclusion?
2. When a biological need becomes a disciplinary issue
A teenage girl needs longer than four minutes for a toilet break because she is menstruating. She receives detention for exceeding the limit. The following day, she stays home because she no longer feels safe at school.
Who gets to decide that four minutes is enough? What happens when a school rule takes priority over a student's biological needs, dignity and safety?
3. When equipment becomes a reason for punishment
A student receives detention for arriving without the correct pencils.
What educational purpose does this serve, and who questions the consequences of that punishment?
4. When a teacher wants to help but feels unable to
A teacher recognises that a student needs an adjustment and wants to help, but feels unable to because of expectations or requirements from higher up.
Who makes the decision, who is responsible for its consequences, and what happens when the person closest to the student cannot question the framework?
These examples are why we need to investigate the decisions, the authority behind them and who pays the price. At the moment, we are allowing the coercive behaviour of a few to influence decisions affecting the many. Sometimes protecting a framework becomes more important than asking what it is doing to the people involved. This cannot be allowed to carry on without being questioned.
How More Than 30 Years of Research Brought Me Here
My more than 30 years of research into dopamine receptors brought me into 15 years of research into burnout. That work led me into six years of investigative research into coercive behaviour, online and offline, directed against others and against self.
What is happening with our own son, alongside other families' experiences, has brought this work to the point where research is now becoming education and accountability.
The investigation explores protection of self and the protection of frameworks. It is not about neurodivergent people against neurotypical people. Yet neurodivergent students may carry a disproportionate cost when educational institutions fail to respond to their needs.
We are investigating how Theory of Mind frameworks are used in educational decisions despite developments in autism research over the last 15 years. We will also examine patterns associated with DARVO, where a concern is denied, the person raising it is attacked, or responsibility is reversed. Individual accounts and claims will require evidence and careful verification.
The Sessions: Stories From the Many
We are building TheSessions.io for stories. We want to hear from students, parents, teachers, researchers and professionals, and from adults whose lives did not fit the plans others made for them.
What are those adults creating, researching, building, teaching and contributing today?
Contributors may share their stories under their own names or anonymously. We will seek informed permission for each intended use, and treat permission to publish a story separately from permission to identify its author. Accounts involving children and identifiable third parties require particular care.
Your stories become education.
The School of Abnormal: Education and Accountability
We are building The School of Abnormal for education, research, understanding and accountability, rather than daily classroom lessons.
More than 100 years after the original School of the Abnormal, we are flipping the question: Who gets to decide what is normal, who needs to change and who is allowed to participate? We want to show what adults once likely to have been categorised by others are contributing today, and let those experiences inform new educational resources.
Its research foundations include Whole System Neuro-Endocrinology (WSNE) and my ongoing thesis, Permission Architecture. The School of Abnormal, The Sessions and Understanding Burnout form part of Brilliantly Unbalanced.
The Sessions is being built for the stories. The School of Abnormal is being built for the education.
What Your Donation Supports
Your contribution will help fund the next 12 months of:
- Travel between the Netherlands and the UK: Meeting students, families, teachers, researchers and education professionals.
- Investigative research: Examining policies, educational frameworks, documented experiences and the evidence behind decisions.
- Interviews and documentation: Recording stories from contributors who agree to take part, named or anonymous.
- The Sessions: Developing a place to share stories and interviews.
- The School of Abnormal: Turning research and experiences into accessible educational material and publications.
- Accountability: Tracing decisions through the policies, institutions and frameworks involved.
A Book as a Thank You
Donate more than €30 and choose a book.
Over the last year, I have created books through my own neuroscience research and translations of historical works by Santiago Ramón y Cajal, whose work helped establish modern understanding of neurons and the nervous system. Supporters donating more than €30 can select a book from the available collection. Available titles, formats, shipping and delivery arrangements will be explained when selecting a book.
Accountability Must Work Both Ways
Our work must remain open to the same questioning as the institutions and frameworks we investigate. The Sessions, The School of Abnormal, Understanding Burnout, WSNE, Permission Architecture and Brilliantly Unbalanced must be open to challenge, correction and further learning. Supporters do not need to agree with every conclusion.
Who gets to decide? Who gets to question? And who pays the price?
Your stories become education. Research becomes understanding. Understanding must lead to accountability.
Thank you for supporting the next year of research.
TheSessions.io | Brilliantly Unbalanced