Dr. Leyton Schnellert is a lifelong inclusive education teacher who believes it doesn’t have to be difficult for teachers to tailor their curriculum to the students taking the course. In fact, Leyton says that students are the curriculum, and that when teachers recognize this, inclusive education becomes a lot easier to attain. He stresses open-ended pedagogy and collaboration as important to inclusivity, as well as decolonizing and indigenizing education. Listen now to his chat with Genia Stephen about how teachers can pull this off. 

What, exactly, do parents really need to say to government officials in charge of education? When parents unify their message and demand inclusion over segregation, it’s the best way to move toward real equity for children with disabilities. This week’s podcast is the conclusion to a special two-part series with Gordon Porter and David Towell, two internationally renowned inclusive education advocates who believe that parents have the most powerful voice in the current dialogue around education. Parents’ role in effecting systemic change is an important one and can be harnessed effectively for real progress. 

What can the Canadian province of New Brunswick teach us about inclusive education? Gordon Porter and David Towell, two internationally renowned inclusive education advocates, teamed up to write Advancing Inclusive Education, using the New Brunswick system as a case study for how ministries of education can implement progressive policies that meet the needs of all students. For this episode, the first in a two-part series, they talked with Good Things in Life host Genia Stephen about the ten steps education agencies can take to rebuild truly inclusive schools from the ground up.

Inclusion is possible, but it’s hard. For episode 104, Genia was thrilled to chat with Susan Dunnigan, a social worker, mother, and advocate for inclusion. Susan’s memoir, Warrior Angel, documents her family’s ongoing pursuit of normalcy while supporting and advocating for her son Matt. Susan and Genia chatted about the importance of the two As of inclusive education: advocacy and allyship, and how the two work together to carve out a place for children with disabilities within the mainstream education system.

When you’re a parent of a child with a disability, it can be hard to recognize when it’s time to really step back and let your kid take more control of their own life. For this episode, Genia Stephen turned things over to guest host Carrie Ahrens, a member of Inclusion Academy. Carrie interviewed Hope House Foundation executive director Lynne Seagle about the ways that caregivers and professionals in the social service system can empower young adults with disabilities to take control of their own lives and transition away from group home living.

Good Things in Life host Genia Stephen and storyteller Katie Bachmeyer wrap up their three-part discussion on medical safeguarding by identifying the ways that the right mindset really makes a difference in patient advocacy, both on the part of the health care worker and the patient advocate. Genia, who’s been providing medical safeguarding services for her sister in intensive care since November 2020, talks about how any health care worker, regardless of their personality, can truly change the patient experience for the better, and how advocates can recognize that medical staff need understanding too. This was a fascinating wrap-up to a three-part series that’s all about empathy, support, and positivity. If you’ve missed the last three episodes, you may want to listen to those first. 

In Part 2 of this special interview series, storyteller Katie Bachmeyer asks Good Things host Genia Stephen about what it’s like when a hospital becomes your home. Genia notes that the some rules and systems in place around the hospital are designed primarily to protect and empower service providers, not patients. When patients in long-term inpatient care get no respite from the system—because they can’t go home, after all—there is a negative impact on the patient.

For this special 100th episode of the podcast, Good Things host Genia Stephen flips the script a bit: this time, someone else is interviewing her! Filmmaker and storyteller Katie Bachmeyer asks Genia about what medical safeguarding really means. Safeguards provide support for their loved ones with disabilities, but they also act as advocates and interpreters for vulnerable people that are too often devalued by the medical system. Sometimes safeguards even make the difference between life and death. This is the first of several episodes in which Katie is going to help Genia tell her powerful story.

Genia Stephen talks about her reflections on her sister’s experience of being an intensive care patient with a disability who needs support to be safe. Medical safeguarding of vulnerable hospital patients can make the difference between life and death. 

In Inclusion Academy, Good Things In Life’s monthly membership, we’ll be covering how to be an effective medical advocate. For more information and to join go to goodthingsinlife.org/join. 

Choice is the friend of inclusion. Now, more than ever we need to feel ready and inspired to teach all of our students, Pre-K through 12th grade. It's all about creating the most inclusive educational system possible where every person (big and small) not only survives, but thrives. In this podcast (an audio recording of a webinar with inclusive education experts Drs. Julie Causton and Kristie Pretti-Frontczak), Causton and Pretti-Frontczak share the "why's" behind inclusion and share some of their favorite (and most effective) strategies for differentiating and supporting ALL learners.