Tim, hello, inclusionists. I'm Tim Villegas. This is think inclusive. I want to start off today's episode with a little story. This was early in my career as a special education teacher. I taught in a special education classroom for students with significant support needs, kindergarten through fifth, and the word on the street was that I was receiving a student from a special education preschool program the next school year, it was towards the end of the school year, probably around April or May, and many times I would be invited to a transition IEP meeting as a way to introduce myself who would be like the next student's teacher, to the family and learn something about the student after school. One day, I got in my car, and I drove to the school where the meeting was, and I entered the room, and after some brief introductions, the family started with a short video of the student's life, let's call him Noah. And I learned that when Noah was born, there were some complications. He had difficulty breathing when he was born, and because of that, he endured a traumatic brain injury. His development was significantly delayed, and he had a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. Noah had quite a few things stacked against him, and yet his family insisted that his educators and caregivers had the highest of expectations for him. They laid out a vision in that meeting for Noah that included making friends learning grade level standards, being included in the life and community of the school, and they did not want to see people give up on their son. It was very clear to me that Noah's family had a vision for him, and by articulating that vision during the IEP meeting, everyone knew that they had a role to play in bringing that vision to life. Today on the podcast, my guest is Kelly Coleman, the author of everything no one tells you about parenting a disabled child. Kelly is a dedicated mom of two incredible boys. One of her sons has multiple disabilities, including an undiagnosed genetic syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, CVI, epilepsy and more for parents like Kelly, navigating the maze of systems, services and supports can be overwhelming. The complexity of medical, educational and social service systems often leaves parents feeling lost and alone, constantly reinventing the wheel. According to the CDC, every four and a half minutes, a baby is born with a congenital disability in the United States, that's one in 33 there's no handbook for this journey, but today, Kelly is here to share her story and insights, offering hope and guidance For other parents on similar paths. Stay tuned to hear her journey and how her book might be a good resource for you or someone you know. Before we meet Kelly, I wanted to share a little bit about our sponsor for season 12, IXL. IXL is a fantastic all in one platform designed for K 12 education, it helps boost student achievement, empowers teachers and tracks progress seamlessly. Imagine having a tool that simplifies what usually requires dozens of different resources. Well, that's IXL as students practice IXL adapts to their individual needs, ensuring they're both supported and challenged, plus each learner receives a personalized learning plan to effectively address any knowledge gaps. Interested in learning more, visit ixl.com/inclusive that's ixl.com/inclusive Okay, after a short break, my conversation with Kelly Coleman, catch you on the other side. You.
Music. Kelly Coleman, welcome to be the think inclusive podcast.
Thank you so much for having me. I was actually almost late today because I was listening to your podcast. So excited to dive in and put our brains together about all the things and just talking about education, inclusion and all of this stuff, big picture, I love that you acknowledge all the parts and the complexity and also the we need to figure this out. Oh,
wow, wow. That makes my heart feel so hesitant you actually listen to the podcast. So, you know, it's funny, hey. Oh, well, thank you. Yeah, I'm gonna screen capture that and we'll just put that on social media. Okay, done.
But it's true. It's so true. And I was thinking as I was listening to your podcast of and especially everyone needs to go back and listen to the episode talking about segregated classrooms. And I love that you're not afraid to use the word segregated, but that you're talking about special education as a service, not students as special education humans. The Language matters so much and the point of getting the administrators and the district and the big picture on board with inclusion, I'm like, That's why everyone needs to listen to your podcast and to dive into the inclusion piece, because it doesn't work unless we are getting everyone on board. And when it works, it works so well, and when it doesn't, we are just beating our heads against a brick wall, and we're not serving our kids absolutely
well. Kelly, I'm so happy that you're here. A big reason why you are here is because you wrote a book, and the book is called everything no one tells you about parenting a disabled child. And I'm gonna see if I can get my camera to focus on that. Yeah, it worked. Auto Focus worked. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'm holding up the book. It's a fantastic read, and I've got a lot of questions, but I think one of the first things to dive into our conversation is, what is the first thing a parent should know about parenting a disabled child? To get you talk in the book about this, it happens suddenly. Sometimes this is just the situation that you're in. So when you're giving advice to that, what's that first thing apparent. So the
first thing, even before I give advice or dispense any wisdom, we're just over a decade into our journey, and we will always be learning. I ask people how they're doing, and like for real, how they're doing, and start from there. Some people are genuinely good, other people, and I felt like this for months and for years, even have this feeling of like I am falling down this bottomless pit, and this is horrible, and it's hard, and it's all like, all of these awful things that aren't really based on reality, but are based on all of this messaging coming to us of like, what a tragedy it is if your child's disabled, and I'm like, oh my goodness, my kid is not a tragedy. And so I realized now I was fighting against so many things and internalized ableism and messaging that I didn't even know I was up against. So first off, validate how you are feeling. Don't shame yourself for however you are feeling, and start there, when you are ready to move forward and to serve yourself and very importantly, your child and your family, connect with other families who are going through a similar or remotely similar situation, and to the fullest extent possible, get information about disability from disabled people. I don't know how I didn't get that memo until years in, but oh my goodness, that is, it's embarrassing, and I realized so much of whether it's the language I was using or my thoughts, opinions, grim outlook, like my kid's awesome, he's not grim, all of this stuff was coming from only getting information about disability from people who aren't disabled, and even the very simple step of following people online and on social media and leaders and organizers and creators and just humans being humans, it takes away so much fear and stigma and messaging and. And replaces it with, oh, disability is just math. Like, one in four adults in this country has a disability. One in six children will be diagnosed with a developmental disability. One in 33 children are born with a birth defect. Like, it's just math, and it might be a surprise, as it was to us that your child is disabled, however, we can take the shock out of that by talking about disability, and I wish I'd had those conversations. And so for families who feel like they haven't had those conversations, the sooner you are able to have them, the sooner this becomes just part of life, even with complexity, challenge, all the extra stuff that might be brought to the table, it is part of life.
And that's great advice, and it's so relatable, because even as a teacher, I was a special education teacher for 16 years, and when I first started in the field, my experience with disabled people is actually pretty minimal. I what I learned about disability was from disability experts, but those experts weren't disabled, right? So once I got more information from disabled people, then my perception and my perspective started to change.
And I'm curious, as someone going into special education professionally, did you grow up with the view of special education classrooms and the students that inhabited them the way I did, which is just ignore them and don't stare and pretend like they're not there, because that's what I grew up with. And how horrible is that my experience
is a little different. I went to private school, so there wasn't anything like special education, and so if there were learners who had disabilities, I didn't know it, even looking back, that the kids that you know, maybe thinking back, could have had something more, no, visible or, you know, more obvious. They really weren't getting anything too different than us. We just knew that they were different, and it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like, you know, you have to treat them a particular way. It was more like, you know, it's just, it was just just part of it. So that might have contributed to my perspective, but I don't know exactly, you know, I do have some family members with with disabilities, but it, again, it wasn't anything too different. It's almost
as though, when you include all students, then it's normalized. Let's see if we can get to the bottom of this.
Kelly, why do you think we live in a society that parents aren't more prepared when they receive a diagnosis or learn you know, maybe their child has a disability? Is it just that we just don't it's just not on top of mind, the infrastructure is not there. Like, what's the deal there?
Oh, I think there's so many deals there. I think first and foremost, we need to be honest that as a society, big picture, we are so afraid of disability, and we see it as this thing that is particularly undesirable and less than and all of these really horrible things that are actually not true. And so we need to acknowledge that, oh, that is out there. And we need to stop romanticizing this, quote, unquote, normal, standard, perfect, whatever, like weird, creepy thing, that there is one path, and that is the path, and that is the best path. And if you grew off this path like too bad, good luck. If we in all the baby classes at all the hospitals when everybody's pregnant, nobody talks about disability, and people are so afraid to quote, unquote, scare the parents like we're scared of enough when we're pregnant, it's fine. Um, disability shouldn't be scary, and it is as simple as saying, in that baby class, hey, we're going to learn to diaper your baby real quick before we do here are statistics on disability, statistically speaking, that will impact somebody or multiple somebody's in this class. If that is you, come to us, we have resources. There are lots of supports out there. Now let's learn to diaper your baby, because that normalizes it, and it takes out fear. And the message is, disability exists. There are supports if you don't know what you're doing. By the way, no one knows what they're doing when they have a kid. Just. Just normalizing it from the very beginning would be really helpful.
Yes, absolutely something that popped into my mind as as you were talking just about normalizing disability. Now we're recording this interview in What month is it September? September? I'm not exactly sure when this is going to air. It's the beginning of September, and the Paralympics is on, and I don't know, maybe it's just that, or more like paying attention to what's going on, but I felt like the last, like the last Olympics and the one before I knew that they were a Paralympic, but it's never been so accessible for me to watch them. And so my daughter, she my youngest daughter, is 12, and so the last few nights, we've been turning on the Paralympic highlights on Peacock, because we have that subscription service, and it is so refreshing to watch disabled athletes and just kind of enjoy the competition and the excellence that is happening in the sport without any of This inspiration, yes, porn going on like, it is so nice, yes, to be like that. They're just like, I'm here. I'm proud to compete for my country. I'm doing amazing things. And, you know, that's it, yeah, just, I don't know. So I don't know if that's intentional or not. However it's being made accessible to us, to watch and enjoy and to just kind of Marvel just the athleticism and everything like that. I just, I'm so, so happy we know. Have you been watching any of the Paralympics?
Yeah, so we've been following highlights, and then this weekend, we're gonna binge a whole bunch, because we've had a lot of homework this week because our boys are in school. And I totally agree that it has been so much more publicized and promoted, and not only the fact that it is happening and the athletes being featured on social media, and it just made platforms and around, first of all, the broadcaster their dummy, they're like, wait a second Money. We can make money, so let's, let's give this the attention it deserves. But also they did something that feels revolutionary, but frankly, shouldn't and will be the norm moving forward, which is the broadcaster partnered with a company called Making spaces, which is a company started by and run by disabled individuals to get more disabled individuals in the media, in all jobs and professions. So the broadcasters, the the hosts who are doing the commentary and who are participating are also disabled themselves. And it, it again. It normalizes. And I love that you pointed out, like we're looking at these people, it's like, Wow, you're amazing athletes, and I absolutely could never do that. It's not the inspiration porn and good for you, because we are celebrating them for being accomplished. We're not grossly celebrating someone for going to the grocery store in a disabled body. Like, nope, that's just Tuesday. I just needed milk. It's really great to say when a disabled person is doing something like being an Olympic athlete, yeah, I can be inspired by them to like, oh, I should probably do some lunches today. But not just like, Oh, you're inspirational because you have a feeding tube. Like, no, right?
Yeah, yeah. It's really, it is amazing that they're able to strike the balance. So it sounds to me like maybe some of those choices were intentional. So I'm very happy to hear that I didn't mean for us to talk about the Paralympics in this conversation, but I think along to your point about just normalizing disability and a part of our lot, it's not tragic. There's certainly stories that can be tragic, but as far as like in general, it's a part of life that should be normalized. So thank you for engaging that with me.
Yes, the normalization piece is so key to getting everybody on board, and that's what we need. Yeah,
yeah. Well, so in the book, you talk about how you advocate for your own child, especially in school. So we have a lot of educators that listen. We do have a lot of parents as well, and a lot of that is that there's some intersectionality there too. So we have parents who have disabled children who are also educators, and something that we've. You talked a little bit in previous episodes, but about vision statements, having a vision statement and why that's important. Could you share what that looks like for you and what advice you would give for if someone wanted to create something like that for their child?
Absolutely, I love having a vision statement. It reminds us to not only have a vision, but have real expectations for our children and their future. We have two sons, one without disabilities, who's in middle school, one who has multiple disabilities, who's in fifth grade this year, who's had a really excellent public education experience. We have definitely been able to find ways to partner with our educators, related service providers and everything along the way. And for us having a vision statement, our son's communication is emerging and to the fullest extent possible, we want him self advocating. We want him part of the process. Also, he's an 11 year old boy, and so there are a lot of meetings he doesn't want to sit through because He's 11 year old, years old. And again, his communication is emerging. We are figuring out a lot of pieces as we can to best honor him. We have intellectual disability at play. We have communication we have motor challenges. So there's a lot that we are juggling to put together this future vision that ideally he will be crafting by himself one day at the beginning of every IEP meeting, we read it out loud at the beginning of every school year, we send a one page. It looks kind of like a resume, but cooler that has just vision statement. Here is what he is working on. Here are some challenges. Here are motivators to really work with our team, to just have that shorthand our IEP is as long as a phone book. Our educators have always read it, but it's a lot to remember. So having that shorthand and this future vision for our son includes that he is a fully respected and involved and contributing community member. He's graduating from high school, prepared for further education, prepared for employment as he sees fit, and really being fully literate, all of these things that when we can agree that this is what we are working towards for the future, it shapes the conversations, but teacher conferences or pickups and drop offs, and especially at those IEP meetings, when we can agree that this is the future vision we are working towards for our child, when we are talking about adaptive PE or when we are talking about inclusion, or when we are talking about the theater class that he's doing this year. How is all of that building into the self determination, the self advocacy, the independence, the communication, the meaningful relationships that we are building towards in that future vision the vision statement serves not only our child, but it serves to move the conversation forward, because we have a really strong and collaborative IEP team that involves very many people. Our sense support needs are complex. We don't always agree. That's not always. The point is for everybody to walk in with the same thoughts. We're collaborating. When we are having points of disagreements, we come back to this vision statement, and we can talk about, yeah, this is his future. How are the goals that we are crafting, even in elementary school, building us towards that future vision. How are they creating those stair steps that will allow these things to happen for him? What supports, services, goals, accommodations, do we need to put into place to work towards this future vision. And we really do feel like we are building a future together. And everyone, I think, is so differently, involved and engaged, once we started using this vision statement, which has been just the last few years that we realized that this is helpful. It changes the nature of the conversation, because we all understand big picture, what we are working towards, and that we really need and value each other in making this happen.
Yeah, it really does change the tone of an IEP meeting. You know, I've been in I don't. Know how many hundreds of IEP meeting in my career? And really only a very small percentage of those IEP meetings, the parents brought a vision statement. But when they did it, really it, everyone knew where we were going, because the family had set that vision that and then even with the older learner, really them bringing their perspective into as somebody who has been to a lot of IEP meetings in my life, I'm curious as to what's something that you wish you knew about IEPs before you started this journey.
Number one, and I think this might even be in all caps in my book. But how did I not know this up because nobody tells you that goals drive services, and whether it's me or so many people I've talked to were butting heads over services being written into an IEP, the conversation needs to back up to not you need to give my kid this because I said so, but it needs to back up to here are rock solid goals for my kid that are appropriately ambitious and achievable. What do we actually need in order to achieve this goal, and if we're talking about achieving goals that allow our children to receive the free and appropriate public education that they are entitled to under federal law, there have been times when I have even come in suggesting that we scale back on services, because I think we don't need as robust of a plan for this goal, and it gives parents the confidence to be realistic and not just feel like we're fighting, fighting, fighting, and we have to fight, depends on The day, depends on the person. It's exhausting, but we can have real and respectful and reasonable conversations when we're focused on those goals, because if there aren't goals in place to warrant those services, of course we're not going to be offered those services. It doesn't make sense.
That's a great point, and when, like talking specifically about inclusion, a strategy that was given to me a very long time ago. I can on an episode. I think it was Julie costen. This was probably maybe the first or second time I talked and Julie costen, she has own consulting business called inclusive schooling. So this was before, I think she was still at Syracuse at the time, and she said that putting in something in the goals about your learner interacting with typically developing peers, or general education peers, well, if the team agrees on the goal, then, like, how are you going to measure the goal? Well, they have to be included, or at least be in the same spot with their typically developing peers. And so just to your point, goals are so important in how you write them, and also the setting right where the learner is going to be working on this. So, yeah, thank you.
Yeah. And also, I just want to build on exactly what you just said, because building the inclusion piece into the goal, you can even get very specific. For example, our son is an AAC user. That is a device. It's an iPad for him with a communication program that he uses to communicate. He certainly has lots of other non verbal communication at his disposal, but part of the AC goals includes him being able to communicate with familiar and unfamiliar students, and so that is carrying through at recess, in the lunchroom in art class when he is with the general education population, that he will be running into new people, if he is only with a limited number of students in a special education setting, nobody's unfamiliar ever and
yes, yes. So yes,
for our son, independent communication is the goal. Not all students are able to communicate or humans are able to communicate independently. Facilitation might be required. Is the communication facilitated? Is it independent? And who are we communicating with? If someone asks him what his name is, and he can respond that is really facilitating a social interaction that we need to think about all the pieces and all the parts of the day.
Yeah, it's funny. You brought up the classroom. You. Right? And the peers being all this, like, I taught in segregated classrooms for a long time, so a lot of times they can, like, in that particular class, in the special education class, they'll be in that class for literally years. Like, if they go in in kindergarten, if it's an elementary special day class California, where, if it's this special education class or K through five, you know, they're in that class for six years. So it's the same kids over and over and over again,
yeah. And there, for many kids who are any type of learner, there can be advantages with that, there can also be disadvantages. Our son, and we've experimented with all versions of this, he spends his day split between a special education classroom and general education classroom for him and the realities of how our school district works, that is what allows him to thrive. We're in a massive School District. There are very few schools in our district that are known to be and are considered to actually be fully inclusive, because it doesn't just mean throw everybody in and see what happens in very many general education classrooms. My son would, I believe, be babysat and be managed and not actually educated, because these really amazing teachers. We've had wonderful teachers. I have many friends who are teachers. The district is pushing for inclusion because it sounds good and because it's less expensive, without preparing the teachers sufficiently, without providing training, information, support, education that the teachers need to succeed in educating all students, not just managing with all students. There are schools where it works beautifully.
It is
a challenge to really say I want my kid fully included, and what is the reality, and how much can we fight the system as parents, as teachers, who are doing really great work and want this to happen when the teachers aren't receiving the support that they need. I think for us, that split between the two is what we needed for our son to succeed, and I genuinely wish that all students had the opportunity, not just to be with my kid, and not just to be like, Oh, he's the token disabled kid, check that box, but to say there is a population of disabled individuals in our entire community, because that's how the world works. And my kid isn't the token kid. He is one of many, and the school he attends has a large population of students with high support needs, whose dis many of whom, not all of whom their disabilities are visible. And it be again, back to the normalization. It becomes no big deal. My kid isn't the weird kid, because he is squealing and dancing when the airplane comes by and needs the sensory breaks and is doing things differently, and he's just one of the kids, and it's really refreshing.
Yeah, and I want to be clear, not only to you, but anyone who's listening, while myself and our organization are promoting and hopefully trying to equip school systems to become fully inclusive, we completely know the reality that are present in schools the vast majority of schools that schools aren't run in this particular way of being, of including students with the appropriate supports.
Yes, and exactly what you just said about your organization and other organizations, properly equipping schools a full inclusion is the goal. If we again, just pull away all these supports and say, general education teachers, good luck. This kid has a one to one, so he's got a babysitter that's actually not fully equipping the schools or the teachers, and it's not. Our kids. So I really love you and your organization talking about like, what is the reality? What does it look like? Because in order to achieve this, we need these conversations to happen so that our teachers are fully supported in making this work and in them being excited about this, and in them really valuing this as part of their day in their classroom and their career.
Yeah, you know, it's a nuanced conversation. I wish it was more black and white. It's it really, especially when it comes down to individual family to say about the education of their child and where they are in the world, like in the geography, in the zip code of it. Unfortunately, that's what we know, is it has nothing to do include, like inclusive educational practices have nothing to do with the child, right? Any child can be included. It's the adults that have to make the commitment to be able to do that. I wanted to ask you about it, because not sure if you said it was your district or if it was just a general statement about districts pursuing inclusive placement because it was cheaper. Do you know like, are you familiar with the thinking of leadership pursuing at least inclusive placement, not actually inclusive education, the way that we want to talk about it, but as them pursuing that because it is cheaper,
I haven't had any on the record conversations about that. I've had many conversations with educators and school personnel at different schools where everybody's saying, well, nobody says that out loud, but yeah, it is cheaper to not have X, Y and Z, or this space where students, when they need a break and need to be alone and do the things, or, you know, whatever the segregated classroom of whatever, we know for a fact that it tends to be less expensive to do that if they were reinvesting that money into training, but they're not doing that. Again, nobody's having on the record conversations saying that I have talked to so many educators who are wonderful and who have been doing this for years, and who want that training, who have said, absolutely we are not getting that.
Okay, thank you for sharing that I haven't had success talking with people about that, yeah, so this might be one of the few conversations that of evidence that that is happening. So thank you. As far as want to I want to stick with teachers for a minute here, because it's your perspective on what do you think teachers need, right? So, based on the experience, you know, pursuing what whatever inclusion looks like for your child, you know, in your particular school, and then you know, based that the teachers feeling like they need to be more equipped, what do you think in your perspective, are the things that teachers need to feel equipped
as things are right now and certainly big picture. Teachers need the communication and the buy in from parents. They need parents to trust them as members of the team. The parent is the expert in the child. The parent needs to trust that the teacher is the expert in education. It can be hard as a parent. I know how easy it is to come in with a chip on your shoulder, how easy it is to come in being scared and nervous and ready to bust through all the walls and tell everybody how it needs to be done. That's not productive for anybody, that's exhausting for teachers, if we can start with and speaking, you know, from a parent perspective, and talking to so many parents and teachers, teachers saying, I want to communicate with you. Here is the best way to communicate with me, whether it's at pick up and drop off, whether it is text, phone calls, emails, scheduled conferences. Teachers saying, I want you to be there. I want you to participate in this. And know that when I call you, it's not to say, it's not always going to be to say, oh, here are all the horrible things we're dealing with. It might be to say, Do you know this great thing your kid did? I have to tell you this, this is so cool. Being able to really bring parents to the point where they feel like the teacher is a trusted partner. Allows the parents to step back a bit. I have been in situations with one teacher in particular a number of years ago where I really did feel like I had to micromanage, which nobody wants, like that's exhausting for everybody. And as a teacher, I know she didn't like it, but the things that she was saying about my kid and how he was being managed in the classroom were decidedly not okay. The following year, there was that level of trust in spades, and my conversation was, let me know what you guys are doing in the classroom, how I can support that at home, and do you need glue sticks? I'll bring you some glue sticks because the parents want a job. The parents want to know that they can support what their child is doing in the classroom and by teachers communicating with parents on an ongoing basis, everybody can feel good. If your one conversation year with the parents is at that IEP meeting, it will be confrontational, it will be hard, there will be tears, that's gonna be a drag, when that IEP meeting is a continuation of an ongoing conversation that has been happening all year Long. There are no surprises, and you are coming in as a team from a place of trust, instead of everyone is just coming in for a fight. Doesn't mean you're going to agree on everything. It doesn't mean you're going to have the same thoughts on everything, but it means we trust and respect each other, and so we need to facilitate that conversation and also take into consideration the parents might be coming from a place of whether it's working through their own internalized ableism, confusion, overwhelm, cultural concerns can absolutely play into this. If the parents are not fluent in the language in which the class is being taught that the teachers knew do need to say, I've got a translation app. Let's email. Let's make the communication happen, because the parents want to know how they fit in. And if, as a teacher, you can say, here's how you fit in, we got this. It builds that trust, and I think it makes everyone's job so much easier, and it serves the student,
if I can add to that, as a former public school teacher and working with families, to not assume that the family doesn't want to be involved, because, you know, they may have some barriers there. Maybe it is language, maybe the culture can be a barrier some and to not have a cynical attitude of like, oh, well, they don't care. They don't want to be involved because of whatever behavior you may observe from that family. So, yeah, that's a really important one. So thank you for that. Where can people find everything? No one tells you about parenting and disabled child or any anything else you'd like to plug on the on the episode? Yeah,
absolutely. So my book is available at all the book places, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your local, independent bookseller, everything, no one tells you about parenting a disabled child, and it's all about the services and supports, how the heck to actually do all of the paperwork and the planning and the stuff. It's weirdly not boring, I swear. And
it's not boring. No, it's true. It's true. I knew that
if it wasn't written like a conversation, then it fails because it feels like eat your broccoli and no one nobody wants to read something that feels like they have to. They want to read something because it's enjoyable. Nobody knows how to call their insurance company. Let's talk about that. And so my website, if you're looking for more about me and social media and events and all kinds of things is Kelly coleman.com and that's k, e, L, L, E, y coleman.com
anything else you want to make sure educators walk away from this conversation?
Educators, thank you for doing so much pushing boulders up hill. We see you. We appreciate you. And the parents, even the ones who are coming in with the chip on their shoulder, really do want to be a partner in the process. So. So thank you for all that you are doing to be a partner. Our kids with high support needs are not going to be the easiest kid you have in your class, and hopefully they will be the most rewarding, because you have to get creative. And education at its best is creativity, and it is joy. So thank you, educators. Please keep doing this. Please, please, please don't leave the field.
Awesome. Thank you, Kelly, are you ready to do the mystery question? I am ready, as always, before we get to the mystery question, though, I want to say that I am fascinated with your wallpaper behind for those who are listening and not watching on YouTube, can you describe what is on? What is your wallpaper? Because you have musical instruments. Do you have wooden creatures like, what's going on back there?
That is a great question. So the wall I'm in a teeny, tiny little room, and this was our COVID gift to ourselves. Was teeny, tiny room with dark brown walls, and it was a lot to be zooming in here through COVID. So we found this wallpaper. It is light purple with brown graphic designs on it of various musical instruments. We got some Badgers, some hedgehogs, some squirrels, some doves and other random woodland creatures. So that is actual real wallpaper.
That is real. Well, that is amazing. I say, All right, well, I just wanted to point that out. Love it. Well, here's our stack question cards. I'm going to pick one, and we're both, I don't know what it is, and we're going to both answer it. So here we go. This is it. Are you related to anyone famous or historical? If so, who
um so I don't know full details about this, but I vaguely know there was a movie called The horse whisperer a number of years ago, and apparently the person who was the original horse whisperer I am related to. But there you go. That's the extent that I know of that
is really interesting. And I'm so impressed that you know that, because I'm coming out completely blank. Make something up, we'll never know my on my wife's side, my mother in law, so my wife's mom is super into genealogy, and like, she goes on Ancestry and like, all of that stuff. And she actually goes to, like, the Hall of Records in different cities, you know, around the US. And like, she will be like research. And she apparently says that that side of the family is related to the Wright brothers. Yeah,
we weirdly love the Wright Brothers a lot in our house.
So again, I don't know if that's 100% Trump. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. You
should tell people your middle name is Orville, right? When
I think of Orville, I think of popcorn. You
know what? It could go either way. Maybe you're related to both. I
would love to be related to Orville, red and Bucha, and, Lord knows he, if he, if he's actual real person, but let's just say he is. And I popcorn is, like, my favorite snack that could be, like, the other mystery question is, my favorite snack is popcorn? And I learned how to make it, like, not microwave, like, actually putting the kernels in the pot and, like, you know, actually making it, and then the butter and the salt and all
that stuff. I love it.
All right, perfect. Thank you so much for being part of the mystery question. All right. Kelly Coleman, thank you so much for being on the think inclusive podcast. This was so much fun. Thank you. This
was fun as inclusive Education and everything should be you.
Music, welcome back. It's the time of the episode where I share three reflections from my conversation with our guest and two calls to action. Number one, disability is a part of life during our conversation, Kelly brought up something really important that we don't talk enough about how we need to make disability a normal part of our everyday conversation. It's interesting how society tends to shy away from discussing disability, and I think that just actually ends up creating more problems than it solves. I love what Kelly has to say about this. She pointed out that even something as simple as talking about disabilities in prenatal classes can make. Make a huge difference when we treat disability as just another part of life, which it is, rather than something unusual or scary, it helps everyone feel more comfortable, and the more we have these conversations, the more we can build inclusive communities where everyone feels welcome and valued, and I don't think this is just about parenting. It's super important for teachers as well. When we as educators create classrooms and schools where disability is seen as a natural part of human diversity, it pushes everyone from teachers to administrators to policy makers to think differently and more inclusively about how we design our education system. Okay, number two, parents sharing vision statements at IEP meetings. I love this so much. Vision Statements and IEPs are incredibly powerful tools. Kelly talked about how these statements help guide the educational journey for our learners and give us a way to measure progress. It's just beautiful how she described their family tradition. At every IEP meeting, they start by reading their vision statement out loud, and this one simple act helps everyone focus on what really matters and creates a sense of teamwork among everyone involved. I think that these vision statements do more than just look good on paper. They help create real, practical goals and shape how resources are used. And as I mentioned earlier, when families set these visions, just like Noah's family did in the story that I started the episode with, it gives everyone a clear direction. It makes sure that every decision about a student's education lines up with what the family hopes to achieve in the long run, and eventually that student will be part of that vision. Making, perhaps most importantly, these vision statements can help shift how educators think about their students, instead of focusing on what students can't do, they can start thinking and seeing all the possibilities and potential a student has, number three, strengthening Parent Teacher collaborations for better outcomes. One of the biggest takeaways from my conversation with Kelly was about how parents and teachers really need to work together. Both Kelly and I emphasize that building trust and keeping those lines of communication open are absolutely essential for helping disabled learners succeed in school. And I love how Kelly put it, teachers need the communication and the buy in from the parents. They need parents to trust them as members of the team. When everyone's on the same page like this, even those very stressful IEP meetings can become positive opportunities for collaboration and creative problem solving. Kelly shared some really interesting stories about this during our chat. She talked about situations where things started off rocky because of trust issues, but once everyone started communicating openly and regularly, the whole dynamic changed, and it just goes to show what's possible when parents and teachers coming together as partners instead of seeing each other as opponents. It's also super important to remember that every family comes from their own unique background with their own culture and way of communicating, and when educators make an effort to understand and respect those differences and really make themselves available to families. They become trusted allies, rather than just authority figures. This kind of partnership makes such a big difference. It's how I wanted to be perceived when I was in the classroom. And I hope, if you're an educator and you're listening, this is how you also want to be received. All right, that's three for me. Here's two for you. Number one, check out everything no one tells you about parenting disabled child. You can find it wherever books are sold. If you want a unique way of supporting local and independent bookstores, you can find this book on bookshop.org, I just checked you can find it there. Also check out Kelly's website, Kelly coleman.com, that's k, e, L, L, E, y, C, O, L, E, M, a n, dot C, O, M, you can find her on social media, and I'm sure she would love a message from you. To say that you heard her on the think inclusive podcast. Okay, number two, sign up to get the MCIE newsletters. Will 2025 be the year that we rely more on email communication than on social media? Well, I think it just might be that with all the changes and uncertainty of social media companies, we are going to lean into newsletters and our website to provide you with information and resources about inclusive education. So go to mcie.org scroll all the way down, type in your email and hit subscribe, or you can sign up at this direct link, B, I T, dot, l, y, slash, capital M, C, i e, dash, capital N, E, W, s, l, e, t, t, e, r, s, and I will make sure to put that link in the show notes, we have two newsletters, the weekly ish and what's up with MCIE, the weekly ish is my bi weekly update about what's going on in the world of inclusive education. And what's up is where we tell you where we've been and what we've been doing for that month. Oh, and a bonus call to action is that if you love the podcast and you want to support our work with this resource, the services we provide to school districts and the many other resources that are available on our website, please consider a monthly donation to MCIE, there's a Donate link on the Top of our website. Mcie.org We are a 501, c3, non profit organization, and your gift is tax deductible. That's it for this episode of Think inclusive. Time for the credits. Think inclusive is written, edited, design, mixed and mastered by me Tim Villegas, and is a production of the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education, Original Music by miles credit, additional music from melody. Thank you to our sponsor, IXL. Learn more at IX l.com/inclusive we appreciate each and every one of you that listens, and we'd love to hear from you about how you are using these episodes. Are you using them for a class you teach? Are you sending them to school administrators, or are you just enjoying them? Let us know what episode you really enjoyed. You can always reach out to me. AT T villegas@mcie.org. That's T, V, I, L, L, E, G, A, s@mcie.org, thanks for your time and attention and remember, inclusion always works.