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A review by coffeeandtea46
Scoot Over and Make Some Room: Creating a Space Where Everyone Belongs by Heather Avis
4.0
3.5 stars that I rounded up to 4. Apologies for the lengthy review ahead, but I've definitely got feelings on this book.
I've followed the Avises for a while now on social media, and I work within the DS community, so I've seen this book allll over the place. Many have recommended it to me, and so when I saw it at my local library, I decided to go for it.
There were many things that I enjoyed about this book! First, I loved Heather's honesty, and her advocacy and commitment to sharing all parts of raising children who are different (both good and bad) were evident in every page. It's clear how passionate she is about making space for others.
I also really appreciated her honest reflections about becoming more racially aware. I think her willingness to call out white privilege and explain how she is learning about systemic racism is so important, and it will help others understand too. So kudos to her there.
Finally, this was a book that had lots of important things to reflect on but was easy to read. I sat down and read it in an afternoon. I think the fact that it is so accessible will help spread its really important message to more people.
The things I didn't enjoy about this book are rooted in mostly personal experiences. First, I found the amount of "Christian-ese" in this book a little off-putting for me. I am so over the phrase "do life", and the number of times I read that in this book was more than I would have liked. (That being said, I'm definitely not the target market for this book; I'm a progressive Christian without kids, so it may not bother someone else.)
The second was her frequent references to the gen ed/special ed situation happening with Macyn's school. I want to start by saying that I understand why this needs to be an important part of the book, and I don't mind that it is a large part of the text. As an educator who specializes in Down Syndrome, I TOTALLY get that this is contentious, and I happen to agree with her that inclusion is best.
But it really got to me the way she kept explaining the situation as her vs. "all the educators who don't believe Macy can do it" (paraphrase mine). This is true in some situations, and I'm not doubting that it is her experience. But this is not true for all educators, and there were times where I felt Heather described the views of educators advocating for special education classrooms as one and the same as those who advocated for institutions 30+ years ago. They are not. Without getting into a full-blown novel about inclusive practices, I think she glosses over the possibility that many students experience non-inclusive "inclusion" at points. Giving a student an aide all day does not inclusion make. This really aggravated me, but again, since I'm not the target market (moms of kids with DS), I can mostly let this go and focus on the good.
If you're looking for easy, actionable steps on how to be more inclusive, I would say this is a good starting point. Just go into realizing that not everyone agrees that these ways are the best ways to "scoot over and make some room."
I've followed the Avises for a while now on social media, and I work within the DS community, so I've seen this book allll over the place. Many have recommended it to me, and so when I saw it at my local library, I decided to go for it.
There were many things that I enjoyed about this book! First, I loved Heather's honesty, and her advocacy and commitment to sharing all parts of raising children who are different (both good and bad) were evident in every page. It's clear how passionate she is about making space for others.
I also really appreciated her honest reflections about becoming more racially aware. I think her willingness to call out white privilege and explain how she is learning about systemic racism is so important, and it will help others understand too. So kudos to her there.
Finally, this was a book that had lots of important things to reflect on but was easy to read. I sat down and read it in an afternoon. I think the fact that it is so accessible will help spread its really important message to more people.
The things I didn't enjoy about this book are rooted in mostly personal experiences. First, I found the amount of "Christian-ese" in this book a little off-putting for me. I am so over the phrase "do life", and the number of times I read that in this book was more than I would have liked. (That being said, I'm definitely not the target market for this book; I'm a progressive Christian without kids, so it may not bother someone else.)
The second was her frequent references to the gen ed/special ed situation happening with Macyn's school. I want to start by saying that I understand why this needs to be an important part of the book, and I don't mind that it is a large part of the text. As an educator who specializes in Down Syndrome, I TOTALLY get that this is contentious, and I happen to agree with her that inclusion is best.
But it really got to me the way she kept explaining the situation as her vs. "all the educators who don't believe Macy can do it" (paraphrase mine). This is true in some situations, and I'm not doubting that it is her experience. But this is not true for all educators, and there were times where I felt Heather described the views of educators advocating for special education classrooms as one and the same as those who advocated for institutions 30+ years ago. They are not. Without getting into a full-blown novel about inclusive practices, I think she glosses over the possibility that many students experience non-inclusive "inclusion" at points. Giving a student an aide all day does not inclusion make. This really aggravated me, but again, since I'm not the target market (moms of kids with DS), I can mostly let this go and focus on the good.
If you're looking for easy, actionable steps on how to be more inclusive, I would say this is a good starting point. Just go into realizing that not everyone agrees that these ways are the best ways to "scoot over and make some room."