Often, people ask why I pursued a master's degree in special education despite never teaching in a special needs setting. My response remains consistent:
I have yet to meet a 'general ed' child.
This statement has held true across the more than 1,000 children I've worked with in over 25 years. Each child is a unique individual, a true N=1:
Each with their own allergies,
Each with their own interests,
Each with their own learning profiles,
Each with their own homes and the stories that accompany them.
Yet, when educating them they no longer become individuals. They all wear the label of “Kindergarteners” and thus get the standard kindergarten curriculum. Not because educators don't know better—we know Jimmy could benefit from more repetition and Sally needs the lesson broken into smaller chunks—but such individualized attention is virtually impossible at scale. A teacher is just one person, with one set of arms, and one voice. So, in education, there is no such thing as individuals; there are just Kindergarteners.
We all know the results of this approach. Some kids don’t learn to read while others are held back from reading more complex texts. And even worse, most leave hating school/ learning finding it “boring” or soul crushing.
But I didn’t understand the real dangers of this one size fits all approach until I witnessed it in healthcare where the stakes are even higher. In 2018 my own kindergartener was diagnosed with stage four rare cancer. Suddenly, the stakes of "group thinking" were literally life and death.
No longer was he one in a cohort of 100 Kindergartners. Due to the rarity of his cancer his new cohort equaled 6. Unlike kindergarteners grouped by age, these children had nothing in common. Their ages ranged from 8 months to 8 years and each had their original tumors in different places in the body at different stages of the disease. The only thing these kids had in common was a title, a diagnosis of neuroblastoma. This cohort was all placed on the same protocol for treatment, which included high-dose chemotherapy.
Predictably, all responded differently.
My son, Jacob, grew very sick and was deemed "chemo resistant" early on—meaning the treatment did little to halt his tumor growth. Yet, he had to continue receiving chemotherapy for over a year after that realization. He had to stay with the group. It was also the only way for Jacob to access the next drug in the trial, immunotherapy. He needed to stay in the study, even if that meant poisoning him unnecessarily and causing permanent hearing damage (which it did) to get there.
But that was the past, and we have a new equation guiding our futures.
N = 1
It’s time for medicine and education to acknowledge what their data has shown all along—there is no such thing as a standard “Kindergartener” and there is no such thing as a standard “cancer patient.” This is undebatable by both teacher and nurse.
With advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of human biology and learning styles, we can transform our healthcare and education systems to honor our unique needs. Where education and healthcare can be customized to the unique biome / cognitive profile of a patient/ learner.
We can now educate students on a 1:1 basis using AI, allowing them to learn at their own pace and in the manner that best suits their individual learning style. Additionally, this technology enables in-person instruction to focus on experiential learning opportunities including more play/ tinkering, transforming teachers into mentors and coaches rather than mere lecturers of content better taught 1:1.
Similarly, we can prescribe medicine and medical interventions with precision tailored to each individual’s unique biological makeup. We can now test and even map out a person’s DNA make-up, learning about all of their microbiomes. We are in the age of Personalized medicine!
That is why I am so excited to be the founder of the N=1 movement. A movement advancing the sciences/technology to bring precision education and medicine to every child around the world. This movement recognizes that we are in a time where personalized medicine and education are not only necessary, but POSSIBLE!
One example of this movement is the American Board of Precision Medicine. This non-profit will be training doctors around the world on this approach to patient care so you can have precision medicine in your life too.
This isn't just about personalizing learning or healthcare—it's about revolutionizing our approach to human potential. The era of one-size-fits-all solutions is over. The future is custom-fit.
You are an N=1. Your education and healthcare should be too. And it NOW can.
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