08/31/2026
Felt cute, might delete later š
Nah, okay, I didnāt just feel like sharing some selfies for no reasonā¦I wanted to show you a few of the different ways that I personally sit at my desk, in an office, in a professional work environment, each day.
Yes, my feet reach the floor. Yes, I have arm rests and can sit with my body at 90 degree anglesā¦but I almost never do.
(My feet are on the floor as I write this. Both of my legs are jiggling fervently. Thatās another way I self-regulate.)
Sitting at 90 degree angles ā ESPECIALLY if I were forced to stay still and not jiggle ā does. not. work for me. Not even a little bit. I would not hear what you were saying. The words would be in one ear and out the other. All of my hearing and focus would instead be on how uncomfortable I was in my body.
If Iām perched in my office chair like a bird, or typing with my hand wrapped beneath one knee, or even putting my feet on the tableā¦I can focus on what Iām writing. Or focus on what youāre telling me.
But Iām an adult. So usually nobody tells me I canāt sit that way if I donāt want to. (ā¦Well, with the exception of one grad school teacher who actually pulled me into her office for a meeting about how I wasnāt sitting professionally in classā¦I was not doing any of these things. I was sitting criss-cross applesauce in a chair in a lecture. It baffled me that this was important enough to her to have a meeting about.)
But in school, kidsā seating options are usually limited toā¦wellā¦sit quietly without wiggling in your chair at 90 degree angles for 8 hours a day. (Or, more realistically, for 30-90 minutes at a time, maybe with 1-5 minute stretch or wiggle breaksā¦which is *something* but itās not enough.)
Children ā not just ones with sensory difficulties, but literally all children, even the ones who donāt seem like theyāre having a hard time meeting the expectation to sit still ā learn better through movement and play. And on top of that very basic fact, children self-regulate through wiggling and movement and proprioception and vestibular sensory input. And on top of *that*, children who *do* struggle with sensory differences or other neurodivergences need it even more and in greater quantities.
Here are some quick ways to incorporate movement or stop policing posture in a school environment:
*Let kids stand up beside their table to work if they would prefer that to sitting down.
*Even better, let kids lie down on their tummies and work on writing, reading, etc, on the floor. (Pushing up on elbows or arms.)
*Donāt force ācriss-cross applesauceā during floor time or circle time. Allow kneeling, criss-cross, lying on tummy and pushing up, side-kneeling, sitting with legs out in front, squatting, etc.
*Donāt enforce a limit you donāt have to, when what you really mean is another one. An example of this: I donāt let my toddler stand on her chair during dinnertime. If I see her squatting in order to stand up, I tell her to sit down (and help her sit down if she needs help). But if she wants to squat quietly for the sake of squatting, thatās OK. You donāt have to enforce āonly sit with your bottom in the chairā if what you really mean is ādonāt run away from the table/room/teacherā. You can enforce the actual limit instead.
*Incorporate movement learning ā like walking around the room to see and copy different things posted different places, or interact with different centers/stations.
Yes. These things take more time than trying to enforce compliance. It always takes more time to create inclusive systems based on the needs of the people within them, than it does to imagine a quiet non-chaotic system and then punish anyone who doesnāt fall into line with that quiet and non-chaos. But these are children weāre talking about. Anything thatās actually built for children is going to take time and accommodation in the short-term.
The long term is children who learn better and understand more fully and are more at home in their bodies and minds. Itās worth it to me.
[Image description: A person in a red plaid flannel shirt with pink short hair sitting in a variety of ways at an office desk. In the first image, I am sitting perched in a squat. In the second, I am in side-kneeling on the office chair. In the third, my feet are up on the desk out to the side. In the fourth, one knee is up to my chest and the other leg is crossed over it. End description.]
