Discrimination on the Walls: The Hidden Harm of “Whole Body Listening”

At first glance, posters like Whole Body Listening look harmless, even helpful. They promise to teach children how to pay attention, using bright visuals and simple steps. But look closer. Beneath the cheerful design is a message that polices children’s bodies, pathologizes difference, and sets up a standard of “good” listening that is rooted in ableism.

When you see a poster like this in your child’s classroom, it is not just decoration. It is a statement about how the teacher will approach learning, and often a signal of the lack of accommodations they are likely to provide. It tells children that listening means looking directly at the speaker, sitting still, keeping hands quiet, feet flat, mouths silent, and bodies facing forward. This is not listening. It is compliance. And compliance is not the same as learning.

The harm is subtle but real. The autistic student who processes language more effectively while looking away, the child with ADHD who needs to move, the anxious child who regulates through fidgeting: none of these children are “bad listeners.” But under this framework, they are treated as non-compliant, as problems to be fixed, rather than learners to be respected. That is not inclusion. It is discrimination.

Setting behavioural standards or norms that cannot be achieved by disabled students is discriminatory and reinforces the idea of what is “typical” and “expected.” Expectations of behaviour must be different because the very nature of disability is that children present differently in their development. Ideas of normalcy are especially problematic in behavioural expectations because they frame non-compliance as defiance, rather than recognizing that a child may be resisting demands to act in ways that are uncomfortable or inaccessible to them.

And here is the heart of the matter: teacher autonomy does not supersede human rights. A teacher may believe this poster is a helpful tool, but personal preference cannot justify the reinforcement of discriminatory standards. The duty to accommodate students with disabilities is a legal obligation, not a choice.

Our world, including the social norms we are expected to adhere to, is based on neurotypical traditions and abilities. It is a world built by neurotypicals, created for neurotypicals. Neurodivergent people are not less than. They deserve to have the same success and access to their community and relationships as neurotypicals do. For that to happen, we need to adapt, modify, and accommodate environments and expectations for them.

We should not be focused on teaching neurodivergent individuals how to conform, fit in, or mask. We need to teach them how to advocate. We need to help them become more confident in their rights as equal human beings. At the same time, we need to focus on teaching neurotypical individuals, and the systems that center them, how to recognize and dismantle exclusionary practices.

Would you ask a physically disabled person in a wheelchair to walk upstairs? I sure hope not. You would expect that building to have accommodations like a ramp or an elevator. The same principle applies here: when we demand that neurodivergent children “listen” in ways that are impossible for them, we are effectively asking them to walk upstairs without the ramp. Instead of accommodating, we are discriminating.

That’s why parents must pay close attention to what is displayed in classrooms. If you see a poster like this, don’t assume it is harmless. Ask questions. Ask the teacher how this practice aligns with their responsibility under the Human Rights Code. Ask whether they have considered how this messaging impacts students who cannot, and should not, be forced into these narrow definitions of “listening.” And yes, don’t be afraid to ask for it to be taken down. Classroom walls send powerful messages, and parents have every right to challenge ones that undermine their child’s dignity and inclusion.

Your child’s dignity is not negotiable. Human rights are not optional. No poster, program, or personal teaching philosophy can override a child’s right to belong, to be respected, and to learn as their authentic self.

Real listening does not come from silence, stillness, or control. It comes from relationship, attunement, and genuine care for what each child has to say. That is the only message that belongs on our classroom walls.