Today’s episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast is about the power of partnership, specifically when supplying special needs students with equipment they need to live better, more inclusive lives. Equipment that makes it easier to go to the park, the grocery store, communicate with one another, things we take for granted every single day.

CLIU21 works with a non-profit organization from western Pennsylvania called Variety the Children’s Charity. They provide those pieces of equipment all over the state. Although there are 40 chapters across 11 countries sharing the same name and doing much of the same work, Pittsburgh is where this foundation began. We chat with them about the work they do, how they do it, and the meaning it brings them.

On this episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast, we're talking about Transdisciplinary Modeling in the classroom. That sounds like complicated term, but really it just means everyone working together knows how to do each others' job at least in some part.

We sit down with MDSB teacher Kelly Ehritz and Occupational therapist Amy Pidgeon to see how classroom educators and rotating related services itinerants help each other by learning from one another first.

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

Welcome to a new season of the Helping Children Learn Podcast! We start off with our Annie Sullivan Award Winner from the 2024-2025 school year, MDSB teacher Heather Szoke!

We sit down with her and talk about the moment she won the award at our Opening Day ceremony, what drives her to be an awesome teacher, and how the IU shaped her future in special education from the very start of her career!

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

#helpingchildrenlearn #specialeducation #anniesullivan #autism

Working in special education, or any education for that matter, is exhausting. It's rewarding work, of course, but some days you leave your classroom feeling like you gave it everything you had. Over time, this can lead to burnout if you don't take care or yourself.

On this episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast, we talk about Caring for Caregivers. We go over wellness, self-care, and overall preservation of your mind, body and spirit. We even held a professional development session about it for our people!

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

#helpingchildrenlearn #caringforcaregivers #education #selfcare #wellness #teacher #pennsylvania

Now that the weather is getting warmer, we are going to start taking our family and our children out more often! But parents of special needs children know it's not always that easy. Children with sensory perception issues can have a difficult time in places most people find routine; grocery stores, birthday parties, etc.

In the April episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast, we sit down with two of our Occupational Therapists to talk strategy! This episode is all about helping parents better prepare their special needs children to stay calm and have a positive sensory experience out in the community!

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

When a student starts their K-12 education all the way from the beginning, it's a huge step for that child and their family. For IU21 early intervention students, we give them a helping hand when they leave one of our Early Learning Centers to move on to five days a week at a district's elementary school.

In this episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast, we talk to our Transition to Kindergarten team, Kristen Onder and Katie Titano, about what they do to make sure it's a warm handoff from IU to school district. We talk about what parents and students can expect, what's involved, and some success stories that keep them inspired.

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

In this episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast, we dive into the world of our Transportation Department! We learn that intermediate unit transportation is not as easy as it looks. There's lots of hard work that goes into the pickup and drop-off of our special needs students every single day.

So what does that look like? Each bussing route is customized and designed for that specific day, and that plan will likely change for the next day. We sit in with our Transportation Director and our Transportation Manager/Safety Coordinator to talk about what makes IU transportation so unique and unlike traditional school bus routing.

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

The life of an itinerant teacher is not typical in the world of education. Where most people stay in one classroom or one building, these people travel from school to school to educate children across their region. In this episode of the HCL Podcast, we talk to two itinerant teachers in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program about the challenges, the benefits, and expectations of their position.

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook and YouTube page.

On this episode of CLIU21's Helping Children Learn Podcast, we are talking about a major investment into Early Intervention which is our youngest learners, ages three to five, in special education. CLIU21 and the Whitehall-Coplay School District have worked hard to turn the old Gockley Elementary into what is now called the Whitehall-Coplay Early Learning Center.

Bringing together 11 different classrooms from across other buildings in Lehigh County, they are now under one roof. Listen in as we talk about this major program with Rebecca DeFeo, the CLIU supervisor in charge of the transition, as well as Whitehall Superintendent Dr. Robert Steckel who played a major role in bringing these services to his campus.

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our Facebook page.

In this episode of the Helping Children Learn Podcast, we interview our other Annie Sullivan Award Winner. Olga Stepanova is a behavioral health consultant. She helps students develop skills to behave appropriately in school and home settings while she also works with families.

Joined by her colleague Joyce, we talk about Olga winning the employee of the year award, what it takes to do this work, and what drives them to keep doing this amazing work.

This podcast can be streamed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pandora, Amazon Music, and more! Just type in the search bar “Helping Children Learn” and you will find it. You can also find this video podcast with closed captioning on our YouTube and Facebook page.

#helpingchildrenlearn #behavioralhealth #mentalhealth #anniesullivan #specialeducation