TASH Amplified

This is the first in a series of podcasts in recognition of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). TASH’s interim Executive Director, Serena Lowe talks with Alison Barkoff, the Director of Advocacy, Center for Public Representation. They have a wide-ranging discussion of employment policy and programs for people with disabilities, but Alison remains rooted throughout in her experience as a sibling to her brother with disabilities, Evan.

Season 4, Episode 2 — 14 October 2020

Alison Barkoff is the Director of Advocacy at the Center for Public Representation in Washington, D.C. She works on policy and litigation related to community integration and inclusion of people with disabilities, including Olmstead enforcement, Medicaid policy, employment, education and housing. She serves as a co-chair of the Long Term Services and Supports Task Force of the Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities and is the policy advisor to the Collaboration to Promote Self Determination. She leads the HCBS Advocacy Coalition and the Coalition to Advance Competitive Integrated Employment. Ms. Barkoff also served as an appointed member of the federal Advisory Committee for Competitive Integrated Employment of People with Disabilities. From 2010 to 2014, she served as Special Counsel for Olmstead Enforcement in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. In that position, she led the Division’s efforts to enforce the right of individuals with disabilities to live, work and receive services in the community. During her time with the federal government, Ms. Barkoff also worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on finalizing rules governing Medicaid-funded community-based services and with the Department of Labor on implementation of new fair wage rules in Medicaid-funded disability service systems. She has previously worked at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and at a number of other public interest organizations on Olmstead enforcement, disability discrimination, Medicaid, employment, and special education cases. She has an adult brother with an intellectual disability and has been involved in disability advocacy most of her life. She speaks nationally and publishes articles on disability and civil rights issues.

Serena Lowe is the founder and prime consultant at AnereS Strategies LLC and is currently serving as the Interim Executive Director of TASH. She has spent the past 23 years focused on public policies aimed at improving the wellbeing of low-income working families, individuals with disabilities, seniors, children, immigrants, refugees and populations with multiple barriers to the economic mainstream. For the past eight years, Serena has served as a Senior Policy Advisor focused on disability rights at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), and more recently at the Administration for Community Living within the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Prior to ACL, Serena worked in a variety of roles in the field of federal government relations, working for the U.S. Department of Labor, a Fortune 100 global biopharmaceutical company, a top 20 national lobbying firm, and two former Members of Congress. She is a past Executive Director of the Collaboration to Promote Self-Determination (CPSD).

Serena holds a B.A. in International & Public Affairs from Westminster College, a joint-graduate degree (M.P.H. in International Health Policy and M.A. in International Development Policy) from George Washington University, and a PhD in Public Administration from American University.

Complete transcript forthcoming

This interview was originally recorded on 6 October 2020.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 4, Episode 1 — 8 August 2019

We talk with Professors Jennifer Kurth and Andrea Ruppar, two of the six authors of the article, “Considerations in Placement Decisions for Students With Extensive Support Needs: An Analysis of LRE Statements” in the May 2019 issue of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities (vol. 44, no. 1). They have collected a library of Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and examined them to see how schools and educators decide to remove students from the general classroom, when supplementary services are offered to keep them in the classroom, and when they are withheld.

Jennifer Kurth is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of Kansas. Her academic interests include methods implementing inclusive education, including methods of embedding critical instruction within the context and routines of general education as well as methods of providing appropriate supports and services for individual learners. Dr. Kurth’s research also examines how teachers, students, and family’s interactions support and constrain learning and socialization in general education classrooms. She also studies how teacher candidates develop their dispositions and skills in inclusive practices. Dr. Kurth’s research interests in inclusive education also include examining outcomes of inclusion in terms of skill development and quality of life indicators for students with disabilities.

Andrea Ruppar is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Psychology and Special Education at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Dr. Ruppar’s scholarship focuses on building the capacity of schools and teachers to provide meaningful, evidence-based, inclusive education for students with the most significant disabilities – including multiple disabilities, intellectual disability, and autism. She earned her Ph. D. from the University of Illinois in 2011 and completed a post-doctoral traineeship at the University of Florida. In her recent work, she has examined: 1) adolescents’ access to literacy and communication; 2) the role of teachers in promoting access and involvement in the general curriculum within inclusive contexts; and 3) the development and evaluation of expertise among teachers of students with the most significant disabilities. A former K-12 special educator, Dr. Ruppar is particularly interested in the influence of the social context of teachers’ workplaces on decision-making. She is the past recipient of the Council for Exceptional Children Student Research Award in the area of qualitative methodology, the American Educational Research Association Special Education SIG Student Research Award, and the Council for Exceptional Children Teacher Education Division Early Career Publication Award.

Donald Taylor is responsible for membership and chapters at TASH and is the producer of Amplified.

Complete transcript forthcoming

This interview was originally recorded on 9 May 2019.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 3, Episode 1 — 8 October 2018

Carol Schall, Assistant Professor of Special Education and Disability Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Director of Technical Assistance for the Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence, discusses her article, “Employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder Achieving Long-Term Employment Success: A Retrospective Review of Employment Retention and Intervention”. It is one of a collection of articles in the September 2018 special issue of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities dedicated to “Critical Issues in the Employment of Persons with Severe Disabilities”.

Carol Schall is the Co-Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence, the Director of the Virginia Autism Resource Center, and the Principal Investigator in the development of the Community Based Functional Skills Assessment for Transition Aged Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders, a grant funded by Autism Speaks. She has over 30 years experience supporting adolescents and adults with ASD as a teacher, administrator, researcher, and consultant. Dr. Schall is also the co-developer and research coordinator for Project SEARCH Plus ASD Supports. Additionally, Dr. Schall has consulted nationally and internationally on issues related to adolescents and young adults with ASD.

Donald Taylor is responsible for membership and chapters at TASH and is the producer of Amplified.

Announcer: You’re listening to TASH Amplified, a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives.

Today we are talking with Carol Schall, an Assistant Professor of Special Education and Disability Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University and the Director of Technical Assistance for the Virginia Commonwealth University Autism Center for Excellence. We discuss her article, “Employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder Achieving Long-Term Employment Success: A Retrospective Review of Employment Retention and Intervention”. It is one of a collection of articles in the September 2018 special issue of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities dedicated to “Critical Issues in the Employment of Persons with Severe Disabilities”. She is a co-author, along with Valerie Brooke, Alissa Molinelli Brooke, Paul Wehman, Jennifer McDonough, Katherine Thompson and Jan Smith.

Professor Schall talks about her study, but throughout, addresses the the best practices, challenges and future direction of the broad issue of employment for people with disabilities.

Musical introduction

Complete transcript forthcoming

Announcer: You’ve been listening to TASH Amplified. For more about the series, including show notes, links to articles discussed, a complete transcript and a schedule of episodes, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/amplified. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with your friends and on your social networks.

Today we discussed research from the current special issue of Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, a special issue dedicated to “Critical Issues in the Employment of Persons with Severe Disabilities”. The current issues, as well as the complete archive of 40 years of RPSD, is one of the benefits of TASH membership. You can learn more about RPSD at the publisher website, journals.sagepub.com/home/rps. For more on TASH’s employment-related work, visit our YES! Center website at www.yestoemployment.org. You can learn more about Carol Schall and the Virginia Commonwealth University, Autism Center for Excellence at vcuautismcenter.org.

TASH is a values and research-based advocacy association with an over 40-year record advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. TASH is a coalition that unites people with disabilities, researchers, educators, service providers, family members and others in the cause of guaranteeing that people with disabilities are able participate in all aspects of life. In addition to Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, we offer a popular magazine, Connections, local chapters coving 18 states, a series of webinars and regional conferences, and our annual conference. The theme for our 2018 annual conference is “Be Creative – Innovative Solutions for an Inclusive Life”. The conference will be in Portland, Oregon, from November 28th through 30th, and will feature about a 1,000 attendees and 300 presentations by researchers, self-advocates, family members, educators, agency personnel and other experts and advocates. You can learn more and register for the conference at tashorgstg.wpengine.com/conference2018. You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

Music for TASH Amplified is an original composition and performance by Sunny Cefaratti, the Co-Director and Autistic Self Advocacy Mentor at the Musical Autist. You can learn more about the Musical Autist at www.themusicalautist.org.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

Musical coda

This interview was originally recorded on 3 October 2018.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 2, Episode 2 — 7 August 2017

In preparation for the return to school, the theme of the current issue of our membership magazine is “The Individualized Education Program as a living document”. We talk with Amy Toson, the guest editor of this issue, about what the IEP as a living document means and how to implement such a vision in your meeting or school.

This issue is free to members and non-members alike for the month of August. To read the entire issue, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/iep.

Amy L-M Toson, Ph.D. has been working both nationally and internationally for well over fifteen years in the area of inclusive community and school capacity building and systems change. She began her career as a community inclusion facilitator and K-12 inclusive education teacher. She then moved into the role of consultant and professor working with families, teachers and leaders across the globe facilitating effective inclusion for all learners, paying special attention to those who are traditionally marginalized and segregated, such as students with intensive support needs. Currently, Amy is an Assistant Professor and Special Education Ph.D. Program Chair within the College of Education and Leadership at Cardinal Stritch University. She researches and teaches doctoral courses on multi-dimensional capacity building, leading/building inclusive systems and communities, doctoral research symposium, and legal and political analysis. Amy received her Ph.D. from the University of South Florida within the Departments of Educational Leadership/Policy Studies and Special Education in 2013. She now resides in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas and is taking up action for building inclusive communities across the lifespan there.

Donald Taylor is responsible for membership and chapters at TASH and is the producer of Amplified.

Announcer: You’re listening to TASH Amplified, a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives.

TASH just released the latest issue of our quarterly member magazine, Connections, the theme of which is “The Individualized Education Program as a living document”. Today we are talking with Amy Toson, the guest editor of the special edition, about what the IEP as a living document means and how to implement such a vision.

Musical introduction

Complete transcript forthcoming

Announcer: You’ve been listening to TASH Amplified. For more about the series, including show notes, links to articles discussed, a complete transcript and a schedule of episodes, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/amplified. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with your friends and on your social networks.

Today we talked with Amy Toson, the guest editor of the latest issue of our membership magazine, Connections, on “the IEP as a living document”. We’re sufficiently excited about this issue that we are making it available to members and non-members alike, free for the month of August. To read the entire issue, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/iep. You can also read about our other IEP-related campaign there, dedicated to raising awareness of the recent Supreme Court decision concerning special education, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. The campaign takes its name from a sentence from Chief Justice John Robert’s unanimous decision, where he writes, “The IEP is not a form”. Prepare for the upcoming school year by visiting tashorgstg.wpengine.com/iep.

TASH is a values and research-based advocacy association with an over 40-year record advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. TASH is a coalition that unites people with disabilities, researchers, educators, service providers, family members and others in the cause of guaranteeing that people with disabilities are able participate in all aspects of life. In addition to this podcast series, we offer a scholarly quarterly, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, a popular magazine, Connections, local chapters coving 18 states, a series of webinars and regional conferences, and our annual conference. The theme for our 2017 annual conference is “Still We Rise for Equity, Opportunity, and Inclusion”. The conference will be in Atlanta, Georgia, from December 13th through 15th, and will feature about a 1,000 attendees and 300 presentations by researchers, self-advocates, family members, educators, agency personnel and other experts and advocates. You can learn more and register for the conference at tashorgstg.wpengine.com/conference2017. You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

Music for TASH Amplified is an original composition and performance by Sunny Cefaratti, the Co-Director and Autistic Self Advocacy Mentor at the Musical Autist. You can learn more about the Musical Autist at www.themusicalautist.org.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

Musical coda

This interview was originally recorded on 1 August 2017.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 2, Episode 1 — 22 June 2017

Today’s episode is particularly urgent. The Senate released its bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid this morning. Listen to it right away then get busy. TASH talks with Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia, a Policy Manager with The Indivisible Project, about what this bill means and how you can talk to your Senator — Republican or Democrat — to effectively convey the importance for people with disabilities of it not passing.

Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia is a contributor to The Indivisible Guide and Policy Manager with The Indivisible Project in Washington, D.C., where he helps demystify Congress for 6,000 Indivisible groups across every congressional district in the country. Previously, he advocated for the rights of workers, immigrants and survivors of human trafficking through several NGOs including the Worker Justice Center of New York, the Freedom Network, and Humanity United. Gonzalo was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He holds a BA cum laude from Cornell University.

Donald Taylor is responsible for membership and chapters at TASH and is the producer of Amplified.

Announcer: You’re listening to TASH Amplified, a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives.

Today we are talking with Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia, who is a Policy Manager with The Indivisible Project. Indivisible started as a 23-page guide on how to influence your congresspeople, written by former congressional staffers with first-hand experience of what works and what doesn’t work. The guide had been downloaded over 2 million times and Indivisible now comprises nearly 6,000 local groups. Their primary focus in recent weeks has been on preventing Congress from repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and cutting $800 billion from Medicaid — which they could do as early as next week. We talk with Gonzalo about what TASH members can do to protect these essential rights of people with disabilities.

Musical introduction

Complete transcript forthcoming

Donald Taylor: The American Health Care Act is really close to having the votes to pass in the Senate. So I think the idea is to look at specific [influenceable] Senators. Which Senators, and in which states, are the most important Congresspeople for citizens to try to influence?

Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia: Yeah, so there’s two answers to that.

You know, the first answer, of course, is we encourage people to call whoever their individual two senators happen to be in whatever state they are. And there is work to do in all in all states.

But as a national campaign, of course, we have to hone in on certain targets, especially now that we’re getting into the final stretch. You know, the House has already voted. We are now in the Senate and in we are in the final stretch of the Senate negotiations. And what the Republican caucus and leadership is trying to do as we speak is to coax and buy-off the very last couple of votes they need.

Now remember: in this particular case, they are going to use a Senate procedure known as reconciliation, so that they don’t have to meet their usual standard of having a filibuster-proof vote of sixty. They actually only are going to need fifty votes, plus Mike Pence to break the tie — if it happens to be a fifty or fifty-one votes — just to get it through without the help of the White House. And in order to get to that, they almost need every Senator in the chamber to vote — you know — every Senator in the Republican caucus to vote for the bill. So that means that they can not afford to lose more than two Senators. And there have been Senators out there within the Republican caucus that have shown deep reservations about moving forward with Trump care.

So either because of that, or because they happen to be in states that are most affected by the roll-back in health care that that that is in TrumpCare, or because they are up for reelection in the next cycle, we have honed in on ten states that include eleven senators and they are:

So, if we were able to peel off even three of those eleven, we’d be in great shape in making sure that this disastrous bill doesn’t get through.

Donald Taylor: So it’s great if you live in one of those districts, but all-too-many of us live in districts where our Congresspeople are already going to do the right thing. For example, my Senators are Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and my Representative is Donald Beyer. What can I do in a district where they’re already going to vote against the American Health Care Act?

Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia: You know, this is a very common question that we get. You know, there are 6,000 Indivisible groups, using the Indivisible strategy around the country right now. And they’re spread out in every congressional district in every state, so that means — yeah, absolutely — that plenty of folks tuning-in and wanting to do something about this policy are doing it from zip codes that are already sending folks that are on the right side of this particular fight on health care.

But I think what’s important to know about the Senate is that it doesn’t operate exactly the same way that the House operates. And what that means for Democrats is that they actually have a lot of tools at their disposal to slow down the process and draw more attention to what is in the bill. So what McConnell and the Republican caucus happen to be, you know, using as a strategy right now, this month, is to get everything done before July 4th so that they don’t really have to face their constituents and have an open and honest conversation about the way that TrumpCare would affect millions of Americans. So one way that Democrats can really, kind of put a hitch into that into that plan is to bring Senate business to a halt. You know, there are plenty of things that the Senate would like to be spending its time on — not the least of which are confirming all of the different nominations that Trump has put forward; they want to have sanctions for Russia; and they want to get to the bigger policy items of the budget, tax reform, infrastructure. So there is an inherent interest in the Senate to keep things moving along and get this bill through quickly. But if Democrats really want to protect the people that are going to be affected by TrumpCare, one thing they could do is to say that is so unacceptable to be kept in the dark about what might be in in the package that, you know, no other Senate business could move forward. They could do that by withholding consent; they could do that by what’s called filibustering by amendments — which would be to offer and endless amounts of amendments to prolong the process.

And essentially, at the end of the day, there are ways that the majority in the Senate would be able to overcome these procedural moves. But what it would accomplish is, it would create more media attention into this pivotal moment in the fight over health care and potentially get more people tuned in to what’s happening so they can finally talk to their Senators about stepping away from this really bad proposal.

Donald Taylor: So what can our members do to save Medicaid in the Affordable Care Act? How do people get involved? Where can people learn more?

Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia: So a good first step is to go to IndivisibleGuide.com or, specifically, if they happen to be in one of the ten states that I mentioned before they can go to a dedicated site that we have set up for this particular fight that’s called TrumpCareTen.org — that’s TrumpCare T-E-N dot org. And they will find daily call scripts that they can use to begin to have a conversation with their Senator about what’s happening with Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

You know, we always tell folks the most powerful thing they can do is to speak from the heart, and talk about how these proposals would affect them, and their families, and their neighbors, and their communities. So that’s really what we should be calling all of our Members of Congress about. But these call scripts provide a little bit of a framework to know how to structure a conversation like that. And honestly it takes a little bit of the mystery out of doing something that some folks might be doing for the first time, which is to show up and have a conversation with a congressional staffer.

So if we go onto IndivisibleGuide.com, there are scripts that are being uploaded daily about all the different ways that the American Health Care Act would affect things like Medicaid. But also folks with preexisting conditions; nursing homes; folks that are worried about opioid crisis — you know, there are many angles to this and there are many ways that we’re going to talk to Congress about it.

And finally there is a map that is found on there are a tab called “Act Locally” and if folks open up to the Act Locally map, they would be able to see in their zip code what Indivisible groups are already active and what town halls might be planned in their district, so they can go and show up and talk in person in their member of Congress about how they feel.

Donald Taylor: Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia, thank you for taking the time today to talk with our members about what they can do to save their health care services.

Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia: Thanks so much for having me.

Announcer: You’ve been listening to TASH Amplified. For more about the series, including show notes, links to articles discussed, a complete transcript and a schedule of episodes, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/amplified. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with your friends and on your social networks.

Today we spoke with Gonzalo Martínez de Vedia from The Indivisible Project. To learn more about Indivisible, download their constituent action guide, and find an Indivisible group in your area, visit www.indivisibleguide.com. If you live in one of the ten key states that Gonzalo listed as having a Senator who is on the fence – Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania or West Virginia – visit Indivisible’s website dedicated to constituents influencing those Senators, TrumpcareTen at www.trumpcareten.org.

TASH also has its own Save Medicaid kit on our website, which you can find at tashorgstg.wpengine.com/SaveMedicaid. But mostly you should call your Senator before Thursday next week and let them know how these cuts to critical services will impact you or the people you support.

TASH is a values and research-based advocacy association with an over 40-year record advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. TASH is a coalition that unites people with disabilities, researchers, educators, service providers, family members and others in the cause of guaranteeing that people with disabilities are able participate in all aspects of life. In addition to this podcast series, we offer a scholarly quarterly, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, a popular magazine, Connections, local chapters coving 18 states, a series of webinars and regional conferences, and our annual conference. The theme for our 2017 annual conference is “Still We Rise for Equity, Opportunity, and Inclusion”. The conference will be in Atlanta, Georgia, from December 13th through 15th, and will feature about a 1,000 attendees and 300 presentations by researchers, self-advocates, family members, educators, agency personnel and other experts and advocates. You can learn more and register for the conference at tashorgstg.wpengine.com/conference2017. You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

Music for TASH Amplified is an original composition and performance by Sunny Cefaratti, the Co-Director and Autistic Self Advocacy Mentor at the Musical Autist. You can learn more about the Musical Autist at www.themusicalautist.org.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

Musical coda

This interview was originally recorded on 15 June 2017.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Season 1, Episode 16 — 27 November 2016

Natalie Holdren discusses sessions she will be presenting at the Annual Conference addressing cultural and linguistic competency for school staff working with parents of diverse backgrounds on their students’ Individualized Education Programs, how to make your TASH chapter more inclusive and tools to help people recognize their own cultural biases.

This is a preview of the “Inclusion Means Diversity and Cultural Competency” symposium at the 2016 TASH Annual Conference.

Natalie Holdren is a fifth-year doctoral student at the Gevirtz Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She also serves as Education Specialist Credential Supervisor and Instructor for the UCSB Teacher Education Program. She has served as an educational consultant for several school districts on projects related to special education, inclusion and intervention. She has also worked for United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties for over 15 years in several capacities including Children’s Programs Coordinator, Grant Writer and Project Manager for UCP’s Accessible Housing Program. Most recently, Natalie was selected to participate in Georgetown University’s Leadership Academy for Cultural and Linguistic Competence in Networks Supporting Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Natalie is the Co-President of the California TASH chapter. In addition to her academic and professional life, Natalie is a Polynesian dancer with over 30 years of dance experience. She currently runs a dance group that performs for non-profits organizations in the Santa Barbara area.

Donald Taylor is the Membership Manager at TASH and the producer of Amplified.

Complete transcript forthcoming

This interview was originally recorded on 15 November 2016.

The audio of this interview and the transcript have been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 1, Episode 15 — 26 November 2016

Mona Fuerstenau of Bethesda Lutheran Communities and Anthony Armitage of One-Classroom discuss a breadth of ways for faith communities to become agents for greater inclusion for people with disabilities, including advocating for inclusion in parochial schools, how faith communities can be networks of natural supports, and how places of worship can leverage their networks to help people with disabilities in areas such as employment.

This is a preview of the “Faith and Inclusion: Embracing Inclusion for People with Disabilities in School and Community” Wednesday Workshop at the 2016 TASH Annual Conference.

Mona Fuerstenau worked as Speech Language Pathologist for 13 years in multiple settings; early intervention, schools and with veterans. Her passion as a disability advocate stems from the inequities witnessed in all of these arenas. She is passionate about communities of belonging and is working primarily in faith communities at this point. Her current role with Bethesda Lutheran Communities is Director of Ministry Partnerships. She is a parent of two young adults who are very diverse learners. A fan of Asset Based Community Development, she regularly encourages thinking “outside the DD bubble”. Her vision includes communities who become places of sanctuary, belonging, meaningful participation and mutual support with families experiencing disability.

Anthony Armitage and his wife LeeAnn Armitage are the founders of One Classroom, parents of two children and members of Mary Queen of Peace Parish in Webster Groves, Missouri. Their youngest child Christopher was born with Down Syndrome. After extensive research to determine the optimal educational pathway for their son LeeAnn and Anthony were inspired by inclusive education and the many Catholic schools around the country implementing inclusive programs. The opportunity of inclusive education, a strong belief in Catholic education, and the desire to educate their children together in one school created a passion to help all families of children with special needs and to serve Christ’s church by helping the St. Louis archdiocese schools offer a new option for educating children with special needs. One Classroom is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating inclusive educational opportunities for children with special needs. We believe every child deserves a Catholic education in their local parish school in full community with their peers. One Classroom creates awareness, promotes and supports inclusive education by providing funding, training, expert resources, sharing of best practices and connecting parents.

Donald Taylor is the Membership Manager at TASH and the producer of Amplified.

Complete transcript forthcoming

You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

Musical coda

This interview was originally recorded on 21 October 2016.

The audio of this interview and the transcript have been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 1, Episode 14 — 10 November 2016

We talk with Alice Wong and Andrew Pulrang about their numerous projects, most importantly #CripTheVote and the Disability Visibility Project. We discuss the election, the affordances of online collaboration and activism, intersectionality and disability, and the importance of culture, not just politics.

Be sure to check out their #WhatsNext post-election #CripTheVote twitter chat on 10 November 2016, starting at 7:00 PM Eastern. Visit the Disability Visibility Project page for the event or the twitter feed for the hashtag to find out more.

Alice Wong is a sociologist, research consultant, and disability activist based in San Francisco, California. Her areas of interest are accessible healthcare for people with disabilities, Medicaid policies and programs, advocacy-based storytelling, and social media. Currently, she is the Founder and Project Coordinator for the Disability Visibility Project (DVP), a community partnership with StoryCorps and an online community dedicated to recording, amplifying, and sharing disability stories and culture. Partnering with Andrew Pulrang and Gregg Beratan, Alice is a co-partner of an online campaign called #CripTheVote encouraging conversations about disability issues during the 2016 Presidential election. You can find her on Twitter at @SFdirewolf.

Andrew Pulrang started working at the North Country Center for Independence, a Center for Independent Living in Plattsburgh, New York while in college, rising to serve as the Executive Director from 1998 until 2012. Seeking to explore disability issues in a different way, Andrew started Disability Thinking. You can find him on twitter at @AndrewPulrang.

Donald Taylor is the Membership Manager at TASH and the producer of Amplified.

Announcer: You’re listening to TASH Amplified a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives.

Today we are talking with Alice Wong and Andrew Pulrang about their numerous projects, most importantly #CripTheVote and the Disability Visibility Project. We discuss the election, the affordances of online collaboration and activism, intersectionality and disability, and the importance of culture, not just politics.

Concerned about the implications of the election outcome for people with disabilities? Wondering where we go from here? #CripTheVote will be hosting an election discussion as one of their regular twitter chats on Thursday, November 10th 2016, starting at 7:00 PM Eastern. For more on how to participate, search for #CripTheVote on twitter or go to facebook.com/CripTheVote/.

Complete transcript forthcoming

Announcer: You’ve been listening to TASH Amplified. For more about the series, including show notes, links to articles discussed, a complete transcript and a schedule of episodes, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/amplified. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with your friends and on your social networks.

Today we talked with Alice Wong and Andrew Pulrang about #CripTheVote and the Disability Visibility Project. You can find Alice Wong on twitter at @SFdirewolf. You can find the Disability Visibility Project on twitter at @DisVisibility or on the web at disabilityvisibilityproject.com. You can find Andrew Pulrang on twitter at @AndrewPulrang. His blog and podcast are at disabilitythinking.com. You can find their third partner, Gregg Beratan, who wasn’t with us for this interview, on twitter at @GreggBeratan. You can find their twitter chats, including their November 10th post-election discussion, under their various hashtags: #CripTheVote, #CripLit, #KripHop, #IntersectionalCrips and others. You can also find these conversations archived on storify.

Music for TASH Amplified is an original composition and performance by Sunny Cefaratti, the Co-Director and Autistic Self Advocacy Mentor at the Musical Autist. You can learn more about the Musical Autist at www.themusicalautist.org.

TASH is a values and research-based advocacy association with a 40-year record working for the rights of people with disabilities.

On November 30th through December 2nd TASH will hold it’s annual conference in St. Louis, Missouri. We hope you will join us there. We will have over 20 hours of presentations on Diversity, Cultural Competency and Self Advocacy, such as the “Inclusion Means Diversity & Cultural Competency Symposium“; our board president Ralph Edwards speaking on a panel, “People of Color with Disabilities: Research and Systems Change“; and California TASH Chapter Leader Natalie Holdren speaking on “Creating a More Diverse TASH: Building Cultural Competence within TASH Chapters“. These is just a few of the 300-plus sessions, presented by self-advocates, educators, family members, researchers and service providers, covering inclusive education, self-determination, employment, sexuality, assistive technology, the Home and Community-Based Waiver and more. For a complete schedule of sessions, browsable by speaker and topic, and to register, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/conference2016.

You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

Musical coda

This interview was originally recorded on 20 October 2016.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 1, Episode 13 — 20 October 2016

Paula Wills and Michelle Phillips of Chicago’s Family Resource Center on Disabilities discuss the services that are available through the Parent Training and Information Center to parents trying to navigate the education provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Prior to being the Executive Director at the Family Resource Center on Disabilities, Michelle Phillips was a skeptical parent seeking help securing her son’s educational rights. She explains her journey from Angry Mom to Power Mom with the help of her Parent Training and Information Center.

Michelle Phillips (pictured above, second from the left) is the Executive Director of the Family Resource Center on Disabilities, the Parent Training and Information Center for the Chicago metropolitan area. She is the mother of an adult son with osteogenesis imperfecta and a recent grandmother to a grandchild, also with osteogenesis imperfecta. Prior to directing the Family Resource Center on Disabilities, she was a parent who learned to use the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act from he local Parent Training and Information Center.

Paula Wills (pictured above, right) is the Technology Outreach Coordinator for Family Resource Center on Disabilities Parent Information Center. Her interests include advocacy for parents of children with disabilities utilizing special education services, and technology and media management for non-profits.

Announcer: You’re listening to TASH Amplified, a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives.

Today we have two of our favorite regular contributors to our Annual Conference, Paula Wills and Michelle Phillips, both of whom work at the Family Resource Center on Disabilities, which is the Parent Training and Information Center for the Chicago metropolitan area.

Paula is today’s guest interviewer. She is the Technology Outreach Coordinator at Family Resource Center on Disabilities. She is also the Co-Vice President of the Illinois TASH Chapter and has been the photographer at our annual conference for two years running. Importantly for TASH Amplified, because Paula does her own interviews at BlogTalkRadio, she helped us get started when we were just trying to figure out this podcast thing.

Paula is interviewing Michelle Phillips, her boss and the Executive Director at the Family Resource Center on Disabilities. Michelle will be a panelist at one of the general sessions at our 2016 Annual Conference to be held in St. Louis from Wednesday, November 30th-Friday, December 2nd. In today’s interview they discuss the services available through the Parent Training and Information Centers and Michelle’s own experience shepherding her son through the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

The upgrades continue here at TASH Amplifed. Starting this week we now have a regular musical introduction, an original composition and performance by Sunny Cefaratti, the Co-Director and Autistic Self Advocacy Mentor at the Musical Autist.

Musical interlude

Complete transcript forthcoming

Announcer: (music playing in the background) You’ve been listening to TASH Amplified. For more about the series, including show notes, links to articles discussed, a complete transcript and past episodes, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/amplified. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with your friends and on your social networks.

Today we talked about the national Parent Technical Assistance Center network created to provide assistance to parents as they navigate the education system created by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. For help with your student’s Individualized Education Program and to access web-based information and tools right away, visit the Parent Training and Information Center in your state. To find your state’s Parent Training and Information Center, go to parentcenterhub.org, scroll down the page and click on the U.S.A. map for a directory of state offices.

Music for TASH Amplified is an original composition and performance by Sunny Cefaratti, the Co-Director and Autistic Self Advocacy Mentor at the Musical Autist. You can learn more about the Musical Autist at www.themusicalautist.org.

TASH is a values and research-based advocacy association located in Washington, D.C., with local chapters coving 18 states. In 2015 we celebrated our 40th anniversary. We offer organization, advocacy, collaboration, scholarship and education for people with disabilities, researchers, educators, service providers and family members. In addition to this podcast series, we offer a scholarly quarterly, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, a popular magazine, Connections, a series of conferences. You can learn more about TASH at tashorgstg.wpengine.com. You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

Musical coda

This interview was originally recorded on 28 March 2016.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.

Season 1, Episode 12 — 8 July 2016

Sean Gray, vocalist for the D.C. punk band Birth (Defects), talks with us on how the ethic of punk music affects his disability advocacy and his project, “Is This Venue Accessible”, a crowd-source website to document the accessibility of places to hear music, first in the Northeast, but increasingly globally.

Sean Gray is the owner and founder of the website “Is This Venue Accessible?” which catalogs accessibility information of music venues across the globe. Along with running Accidental Guest Recordings and playing in the band Birth (Defects) [Bandcamp | Facebook], he has also written for press outlets such as: Pitchfork, Washington Citypaper, and NPR’s Bandwidth.fm.

Edwin Canizalez is the Director of Operations and Change Management at TASH. He grew up in Queens in the 1970s and 1980s and his experience of New York hardcore strongly influenced his values of equal access and self-determination.

Announcer: You’re listening to Amplified, a podcast that seeks to transform research and experience concerning inclusion and equity for people with disabilities into solutions people can use in their everyday lives.

Programming note: we’re introducing a few upgrades to Amplified this week.

First, today’s episode is an interview with Sean Gray, a local punk musician. Our operations director, Edwin Canizalez, is known around the office for his earlier days in the New York hardcore scene, so when we first proposed this episode, he insisted that he get to do it. He’ll be our guest host today.

Second, content warning: befitting punk, today’s episode includes an explicit word or two, some reclaiming of ablest language and some loud noise.

Third, given the topic, this will be our first episode to include a musical introduction. So, bring the noise, Sean.

Musical interlude

Edwin Canizalez: Hardcore punk is a music style that’s been around since the 1980s, and is still around today. This genera is known for its social messaging: things like equity, school-to-prison pipeline, and autonomy. Today’s guest is a veteran of the D.C. hardcore scene, an IT expert at the United Cerebral Palsy, and the originator of a really, really cool crowd-source website called “Is This Venue Accessible“. Sean Gray, welcome to Amplified.

Sean Gray: Thank you, thank you very much.

Edwin Canizalez: Sean, tells a little bit about yourself, beyond the things we have said.

Sean Gray: Well, so, I uh, my day job — I do work for a disability advocacy nonprofit, United Cerebral Palsy National, which is literally about five minutes from here. I do that during the day and, you know, basically do music stuff when I get out of the office. And I’ve been involved in punk and hardcore and underground music — even more so — since I was probably about fifteen or sixteen, and I’m thirty-three now …

Edwin Canizalez: Right on.

Sean Gray: … so it’s been over half my life.

Edwin Canizalez: Now you have a record label too, right? Tell us about that.

Sean Gray: I do. I actually have, I’ve ran record labels since I was probably about eighteen. But the one I’m sort of known for, I guess, is this label called Fan Death Records. We’re most notably known for putting out records by bands like Roomrunner, Twin Stumps; we did a record with — that Andrew W.K. was on, called To Live and Shave in L.A. [Soundcloud sample one, two | Wikipedia article]. And we’ve done about fifty other releases: bands like Clockcleaner, Puerto Rico Flowers. So, a lot of Philadelphia bands — and some Baltimore bands too. But yeah, Fan Death is what I was running for a while, and it still is in existence, but I run a label called Accidental Guest Recordings which is more of like weird experimental punk stuff.

Edwin Canizalez: Now you also play in a band, right? Tell us about your band.

Sean Gray: I do. I’m in a band called Birth (Defects) [ |]. We’ve actually been around as an active band for the last two years or so, but the band sort of started seven or eight years ago, with the now guitar player. And we just started recording demos and they got sort of lost, and we both sort of started our lives. And [we] called back up about a couple of years ago and now the band is actually putting out records. And so we’ve been active for about two years.

Edwin Canizalez: Have you been going on tour?

Sean Gray: Yeah, actually we’ve done two tours. We’ve played in Canada. We’ve done the East Coast. We’re actually going to do the East Coast again in July. And we’re about to release — we have one seven inch out. And we’re putting out another one in July as well.

Complete transcript forthcoming

Announcer: If you would like more of Sean’s work, the new seven-inch by Birth (Defects), including Ascetic, the song featured in this episode, is out now and available through their Bandcamp page. Birth (Defects) are on tour starting in July. You can see them:

Additional dates and cities continue into the autumn. For more on their upcoming dates, follow Birth (Defects) on Facebook or twitter.

To find out about venues in your area or to contribute your intel on accessibility, visit Is This Venue Accessible at itvaccessible.com.

Musical interlude

You’ve been listening to TASH Amplified. For more about the series, including show notes, links to media discussed, a complete transcript and past episodes, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/amplified. You can subscribe through iTunes or your favorite Android podcast app to have the series delivered automatically to your device so you never miss an episode. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with your friends and on your social networks.

TASH is a values and research-based advocacy association located in Washington, D.C., with local chapters coving 18 states. In 2015 we celebrated our 40th anniversary. We offer organization, advocacy, collaboration, scholarship and education for people with disabilities, researchers, educators, service providers and family members. In addition to this podcast series, we offer a scholarly quarterly, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, a popular magazine, Connections, a series of conferences. You can learn more about TASH at tashorgstg.wpengine.com. You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet.

This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tashorgstg.wpengine.com/join.

We’ll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks.

This interview was originally recorded on 19 April 2016.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Do you have an idea for an episode? We would like to hear from you! Fill out our suggestion form and let us know.