The Age of Unforeseen Outcomes | Chris Holmes | TEDxRiverfield Country Day School

A former Missouri Teacher of the Year travels roughly 6,500 miles through remote waterways and forgotten histories with his neurodivergent grandson. The two look for their place in a world that often pushes people to conform, and the talk focuses on the questions their journey raises rather than settled answers. The trip is a "road schooling" journey, part of a holistic approach to adolescent development for neurodivergent children. It is being captured in a documentary film scheduled for release in 2028. The speaker is a gifted education specialist with a background in humanities and special education.

• A 6,500-mile journey through remote waterways and forgotten histories
• A grandfather and neurodivergent grandson road-schooling together
• Themes of conformity, belonging and unanswered questions
• A documentary about the trip is scheduled for 2028

A former Teacher of the Year takes his neurodivergent grandson on a 6,500-mile journey through remote waterways and forgotten histories, as both struggle to find where they belong in a world that keeps trying to conform them. Both are left with more questions than answers... and that's a good thing. A veteran teacher with a wide range of classroom experience, Chris Holmes currently serves as a gifted education specialist, grades 8-12. A better description would be Humanities teacher, having also taught journalism, literature, government, history, psychology, and creative writing. His work includes giftedness, twice-exceptionality, autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, and dropout prevention. Most recently, it also includes a version of homeschooling, which applies a holistic approach to adolescent development for neurodivergent children. One of these "road schooling" journeys, this past July and August, is being captured in a documentary film scheduled for release in 2028. Chris is the 2015 Missouri Teacher of the Year, and the 2009 Missouri Governor's Council on Disability Educator of the Year. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx