"Placing The Unplaceable"

Written by Beau, MSED, BCBA, TRLC, CCST-I, RYT 200

I’ve had my heart broken more times than I can count in my career. Sitting across from children, parents, and educators, I’ve listened to stories of pain and resilience, suffering and joy, love and loss. As a clinician walking alongside so many childhoods, I’ve felt it all—guilt, anger, heartbreak, hope.

I’ve felt the guilt of knowing a child deserved better, but the system failed them anyway. The helplessness of watching well-intended adults misunderstand, mismanage, and mislabel children.

The hurt of seeing a child withdraw or explode because their world has already decided they are too difficult. 

The charge of wanting to fight harder, advocate louder, push for change. And the hope—because I’ve also seen what happens when the right support, patience, and understanding finally break through.

"Placing The Unplaceable"

A colleague recently shared the title of a webinar she attended on the legal and civil rights of students with disabilities. The title stopped me in my tracks: Placing the Unplaceable.

It wounded me deeply—not just because of the words themselves, but because they so accurately describe what happens to so many of the children I’ve worked with. Children who have been labeled as too difficult, too disruptive, too much. Children who don’t fit neatly into existing systems, who cycle through schools, programs, and interventions that weren’t built for them.

What Does It Mean To Be "Unplaceable"?

But what does it really mean to be “unplaceable”? It means being seen as a problem rather than a person. It means adults focusing on where a child doesn’t belong rather than creating a space where they do. It means decisions being made about them, not with them.

The Truth 🗣️

🗣️ The truth is, no child is unplaceable.

The real issue isn’t the child—it’s the failure of systems to adapt, to understand, to truly see them. Because every child belongs somewhere. And it’s our responsibility to figure out how to make that happen.

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If this resonates with you—if you’ve seen a child pushed aside, labeled, or misunderstood—I'd love to hear hear from you.

Let’s work toward solutions that don’t just place children, but truly support them.

📩 Reach out. Share your story. Ask your questions. 

Together, we can rethink what’s possible.