In this solo episode, Diana speaks from her heart about the distinctions she advocates for within any disability awareness endeavors, and why long-term, traditional disability awareness practices are unproductive and even harmful. She encourages listeners to reflect on their "why", and ensure that their disability awareness endeavors revolve around societal responsiveness to individual needs being met, creating spaces where everyone feels a sense of belonging. 

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Trifold Laminated Resource: Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Diana discusses the correlation between real life situations that she and other individuals and their family members find themselves in due to lack of societal commitment to their well-being, and the social paradigm focus of going Beyond Awareness vs. traditional disability awareness. She concludes with encouragement to listeners to take steps toward going Beyond Awareness so that we can begin making progress toward access to well-being for all. 

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Trifold Laminated Resource: Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Diana has a conversation with Dr. Leah Kelley, author of The Person Who Arrives: Connecting Disability Studies and Educational Practice for Teachers, Parents, and Others. They discuss the importance of creating belonging, community, and connection in the classroom, understanding the breadth of diversity when it comes to inclusion, and how the disability experience intersects with so many other lived experiences that are important to bring to the table. 

Dr. Leah Kelley

The Person Who Arrives Book

Thirty Days of Autism Blog

Hannah Arendt - Natality

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Trifold Laminated Resource: Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Diana has a conversation with Dr. Shelley Moore. Shelley is a Canadian educator and an expert on special education who also has taught in the U.S. She is the author of One Without the Other, which I've read a couple times, as well as her upcoming book, All for One, which I look forward to reading. Shelly is a teacher researcher, YouTuber and extraordinary speaker. She advocates for inclusive education and seeks to reform iep programs to better suit the needs of individual students. Shelley is so well-informed as it relates to disability diversity and educational policies related to students with disabilities, both in the US and in Canada. And she's brilliant and talented and funny, and really just a good human. Shelley and I discussed the concept of inclusion and she distinguished between mainstreaming, integration, and inclusion with a real sense of belonging in one's community. She compares the intent of LRE (least restrictive environment) with what we have been doing in public education, as well as individuals with disabilities and families as the intended beneficiaries of a continuum of services. Shelley also shares on a personal level of what her "why" is, and some fun rapid-fire questions at the end of the interview. I hope you'll enjoy this episode as much as I did!

Dr. Shelley Moore

DrShelleyMoore.com

BlogSomeMoore 

Five Moore Minutes

Five Moore Minutes YouTube

One without the Other Book

All for One Book

Dan Habib

Herb Lovett - Learning to Listen Book

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Trifold Laminated Resource: Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Diana leads listeners through guidelines for leading a disability awareness event from a social model lens. She tells the story of how she used to conduct disability awareness using traditional, outdated models. And she shares how her learnings and experiences have transformed her focus, and has taken her "beyond awareness." She includes a walkthrough of McMillin Elementary School's Beyond Awareness Celebration, and interviews leaders and participants throughout the planning, implementing, and reflection process. 

Special thanks to McMillin Elementary School in Chula Vista, California. Thank you to Andrea Galang and Liza Tuscano, for continuing our McMillin tradition with so much enthusiasm and care. Thank you to all the administration, staff, families, and students for embracing these opportunities for new learning and growth throughout the years. 

And mostly, thank you to all the guest presenters for generously sharing your time and energy with students, staff and families.

Diana's Trifold Laminated Guide, Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

"Beyond Awareness" - Diana's Digital Course

Andrea's Free Resource - Recorded Interviews with Guest Presenters

Diana's Free 5 Fundamentals Poster

Inspiration Porn Episode with Dr. Toni Saia

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Brand New Resource! Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Diana interviews Olivier Bernier, film producer of Forget Me Not, which revolves around his family's fight for inclusive schooling for their son, Emilio, who has Down Syndrome. 

Olivier Bernier Bio

Forget Me Not Film 

The Henderson Inclusion School, Boston

Tom Hehir

Sue Swensen

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Brand New Resource! Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Diana interviews Richard Rieman, founder of Imagination Storybooks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing rich and fully accessible reading experiences to children who are blind, low vision, deaf, hard-of-hearing, neurodiverse, and all children. 

Richard Rieman Bio

Imagination Storybooks 

Nancy Hinde Giving Fund

Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) free classroom resources

Storybooks Club

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Free Resource - How to Talk with Kids about Disability

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Brand New Resource! Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

In this episode, Danny Whitty and his sister, Tara, talk with Diana about the importance of spelling to communicate, communication regulation partners, and their sibling relationship. This is an emotional episode, as Diana, Tara and Danny connect and relate to one another with raw authenticity and love. If you are curious about autism, and especially non or minimally-speaking autistic communicators, then come right in and allow your world view of autism to be impacted in an irreversible way. 

Note: In this episode, Danny is typing on a laminated letter board. His sister, Tara, reads out loud the letters as he types. And at times, Danny is able to speak his own words. These moments of Danny's communication are magical. Although it may sound different than you are used to hearing in interviews and podcast episodes, I have not edited out those moments. They are authentically, Danny's communication. These letters and Danny's spoken words are also reflected in the transcript. 

Danny Whitty 

Leo in Bloom

Dawn Marie Gavin Founder of Spellers Center San Diego

Johnny Perez at Spellers Center San Diego

Elizabeth Vossler Executive Director of I-ASC

International Association for Spelling to Communicate

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Brand New Resource! Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

Qudsiya Naqui Bio

Diana interviews Qudsiya Naqui, lawyer, disability justice activist, and podcast host of Down to the Struts. In this episode, Qudsiya shares about her journey to embracing her blind identity, her disability identity, and the disability community that brought her into the fold. She speaks to the isolation felt when in her younger years, she was excluded from participation in school activities simply because people did see her need for access, nor her right to access. Finally, Qudsiya shares about many great leaders and authors who have provided a sense of community, support, and mentorship in her podcast, as well as in her personal growth and enrichment. 

Down to the Struts Website

You can follow Down to the Struts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

[email protected]

Alice Wong - Disability Visibility Project Podcast, Disability Visibility book, Year of the Tiger book

Down to the Struts Interview with Alice Wong

Thomas Reid - Reid My Mind Radio Podcast

Cheryl Green - Pigeonhole Podcast

Down to the Struts Interview with Thomas Reid and Cheryl Green

Down to the Struts Interview with Sean Collins, Vox Editor

Arielle Silverman - Just Human: The Quest for Disability Wisdom, Respect, and Inclusion

Down to the Struts Podcast Interview with Dr. Arielle Silverman

Down to the Struts Podcast Interview with Dr. Sara Acevedo

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha - The Future is Disabled, & Care Work

Jennifer Natalia Fink - All Our Families

Intersectional Insights Podcast

The Heumann Perspective Podcast

Bhavna Mehta Down to the Struts Podcast episode

Conchita Hernandez Legoretta

Melissa Lomax

Justice Shorter

Children's Book We Move Together

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Brand New Resource! Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."

So often there is a disconnect between what parents and students want and need, and what school systems offer students. In this episode, Diana talks with Shubha Bala, a parent of a pre-schooler. In spite of his young age, Shubha and her partner have already felt disappointment and frustration with their son's school experience. We discuss some of the ideological differences that have been at the heart of the embattled territory between family and school. 

My hope with providing a forum for Shubha to voice her perspectives, concerns, and successes is that my esteemed colleagues would gain a new understanding and appreciation for the love and commitment that guides families in advocating for their children. And with this new understanding, a renewed commitment to embracing the big picture in the scheme of long-term life quality for our individual students and their families.

Furthermore, may those of us in the education field recognize that we are sometimes unintentionally vilified not through any fault of our own, but by our automatic association with an education system that is often outdated and inherently ableist and oppressive, both to students and educators.

It is also my hope that this interview with Shubha will provide families hope and a sense of validation, community, and empowerment. 

Please feel free to share this episode far and wide to help me take our communities Beyond Awareness! 

Shubha Bala's Website

Shubhazine

Sins Invalid

PDF of Keira Gets a Talker

Order a paper copy of Keira Gets a Talker

Editable Canva Template of Keira Gets a Talker

Gestalt Processing

Neider Family Blog

Curious George Gets a Talker

All Neurotypes Website & Summer Camp

Diana's Website, including blog

Free Resource - 5 Keys to Going Beyond Awareness 

Beyond Awareness: Bringing Disability into Diversity in K-12 Schools & Communities - Diana's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights - Diana's Children's Book

Ed Roberts: Champion of Disability Rights Thematic Unit/ Disability History Lesson Plans

"Beyond Awareness" Digital Course

Diana's TEDx Talk

Beyond Awareness Facebook Page

Diana on Instagram

Beyond Awareness Tote Bag 

Beyond Awareness Pullover Hoodie

Beyond Awareness Raglan Baseball T-Shirt

Beyond Awareness Journal/Notebook

Diana's Teachers Pay Teachers Store - Disability as Diversity

Diana's Brand New Resource! Beyond Disability Awareness: An Educator's Guide, Published by National Professional Resources, Inc. (NPR, Inc.)

Intro and outro music courtesy of Emmanuel Castro.

Podcast cover photo by Rachel Schlesinger Photography.

Podcast cover image description: Black and white photograph of Diana, a Spanish-American woman with long, wavy, brown hair. She is wearing a flowy, white blouse and smiles at camera as she leans against wooden building. Photo is colorfully framed with gold and orange rays of seeming sunshine on top half, and with solid sage green color on bottom half. Text reads "Beyond Awareness: Disability Awareness That Matters, Diana Pastora Carson, M.Ed."