Things You Can't Say at the Playground

By Amy Lockett

When your nine-year-old daughter bites her teacher for the third time this term, everyone wants to talk about behavior management. Nobody wants to discuss the fluorescent assault, the mandatory fun, the way "sit still" feels like "stop breathing" to a nervous system drowning in input.
Cass Walsh used to write poetry about art and politics. Now she writes incident reports and accommodation requests, translating her autistic daughter Frankie's survival into language that neurotypical institutions might actually understand. But when Frankie's latest meltdown results in exclusion from mainstream education, Cass faces an impossible choice: accept that her brilliant, sensitive child is "too much trouble" for the world, or fight systems designed to crush neurodivergent children into neurotypical shapes.
Armed with forbidden maternal thoughts and a growing collection of angry poetry, Cass transforms from hiding-in-supply-cupboards teaching assistant to unlikely advocate for neurodivergent rights. Through open mic nights and uncomfortable truths, she discovers that individual battles aren't enough-loving your child sometimes means building a different world, one uncomfortable conversation at a time.
Raw, furious, and ultimately hopeful, Things You Can't Say at the Playground is the story of a mother who discovers that the most radical thing she can do is refuse to make her daughter smaller for other people's comfort-even when refusing gets her labeled a "difficult parent" by people who've never had to fight for their child's right to exist without apology.
Perfect for readers of literary fiction that tackles social issues, anyone who has navigated educational systems with a neurodivergent child, and those who believe that fiction can be both entertaining and transformative.

Strong language: Contains some profanity in context of emotional situations
Mature themes: Institutional discrimination, educational trauma, advocacy battles
No violence: Beyond brief mentions of child's behavioral responses (biting, chair throwing) in institutional contexts
No substance abuse
No sexual content

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FLKGX86Y
• ISBN13: 9798296613820
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 105 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.3" x 6.0"