Here are two pictures of the same corner of my basement. The first is a fort my three kids built themselves — the crash mat, the trampoline, blankets, lights, a Star Wars sheet to top it. Nothing new was brought in. They just used what was there, the way they needed it. I was so impressed! The second is the same area, reset. I learned a lot about how spaces function by thinking about who will use the space, not just how I want it to look. Can learners reach what they need, can they safely move, can the items be used more than one way, and can they reset it? That last one took a while. We've had too much in here before. It looked like more options, but it meant the space couldn't come back without a big effort from me and my husband — and that's not sustainable. That's what I mean by what a space asks. A room like this has to work for a lot of different purposes, so we talk about what those are and how the space gets shared. So: what's your space asking of the learners in it right now? What's it asking of you? Share a photo if you want. Or just tell me one thing that's working, or one thing you'd change if you could. Home, classroom, clinic — they're all asking different things. If you share, I'll reply. Every time.

In the Thriving Together community, we'll use the term neuro-affirming to talk about supporting learners in ways that respect how their brains work. This isn't meant to be a fixed definition. It's shared language we can come back to as we learn together. I'd love to hear how you use this term– Or how you've experienced it in your own learning or work.