Key Points, Top Takeaways, and Memorable Quotes 

“School and education has been a huge part of our lives as family from the very beginning.  For me, I saw firsthand the impact that she (my mom) made on kids.  I learned from her right away the importance of education, and education for everybody.” 2:59

“I was really enthralled with the lifestyle, the commitment, the pursuit of excellence that these athletes had.” 4:14

“Coaching was really where I got my blend of teaching and working towards that high performance.” 5:26

“That really drove my passion for problem-solving for kids who needed a lot of love and a lot of support.  And understanding that all these children have so much potential and they have so much opportunity, but we have to create those opportunities, we have to open those doors, we have to give them the tools, the skills, the resources, the strategies to move forward on that path.”  6:46

“I realized that it wasn’t teaching and it wasn’t coaching necessarily that I loved, it was really helping others, helping others achieve what they thought they couldn’t, helping others achieve their highest potential.”  8:36

“Don’t get caught up in the specific career title or specific position.  It’s really about what you are looking for out of a career, what is your purpose, what is your higher level purpose.  There's a lot of different vehicles to get there, to meet that purpose, and it doesn’t have to be a specific role at a specific company.  Figure out what your purpose is first, and be open to all sorts of different vehicles to go down that path.”  9:37

“That was the moment for me when I realized it was all about creating access to opportunities.” 13:05

“Most things worth having, take a little extra effort.” - Wendy @ 14:25

“The main goal was to bring everyone together, get on the same page, and create these opportunities.” 18:30

“I just have to know how to make their program accessible.” 20:00

“High performance is not limited to, really what we see on tv.” 25:12

“Our goal is to help them achieve high performance with where they’re at.  Meet them where they’re at with their abilities, their strengths, their skill sets, and maximize those.” 25:36

“Inclusion is not just about physical proximity, it's intentional planning for the success of all students, or all children, or all adults.” - Mike @ 26:05 quoting Unknown

“It’s for the rest of society, the rest of the classroom that’s learning the perspective of something different that they would never get if it wasn’t offered to them. The way that that grows a person and it just makes the world a better place.” - Wendy @ 27:50

“We have to understand everyone has these core needs and these core desires, as human beings, and how you meet those needs is going to look different but that’s okay.  We have to embrace that.” 29:04

“I think it really starts with modeling as parents.  I want them to see myself, my wife being very actively involved in the community.  I want my kids to be involved with the programs that I’m helping, and I think that’s the very first place to start because we are setting the tone, we're setting the culture of inclusion, of acceptance, and not just acceptance, but celebration and really valuing other people and their strengths and their abilities.  And I think it also comes back to modeling, but how you talk in general, not just about individuals with diverse abilities but just any individual.” 31:34

“One, I think it’s really just bringing people together in authentic ways.” 37:04

“We just have to have more authentic, meaningful conversations that we strip away judgment, we strip away preconceived notions, and we actually listen.” 37:56

“These IEP Meetings, if the way you approach them, because that’s where they are learning, right, in school everyday, they’re really powerful.” -Wendy @ 42:14

“Putting a lot of our time and focus around providing the best opportunities possible, in school and out of school, especially as our kids transition out of high school into post secondary; what does that look like?  How do we best support them to maximize their potential for the rest of their life.” 44:27

“It comes back to helping a family renvision the potential for their child and renvision the future for their child.” 47:44

“I think one of the biggest things whether it’s in a school, it’s in the community, as a parent, as a teacher, as an individual person, building that community around you is what really helps you down your path and through your journey.” 52:14

Guest Bio - Mike Hagensick is an early intervention developmental specialist for Keystone AEA Ein Iowa. The vision for E3 Collective was sparked while he was a special education teacher working with children with complex needs. During this time, he worked with many great teachers, paraeducators, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. Through close collaboration and a shared vision of opportunity, students were able to access unique experiences and opportunities leading to an improvement of quality of life. Mike founded an adaptive swim school and has partnered with organizations like Ninja U to develop adaptive programming to meet the unique abilities of all children and adults.

Show Notes

0:00 - What I Meant to Say Podcast Intro

0:18 - Introducing Mike Haggensick

0:46 - Welcome to Mike 

2:12 - How Did You Get into Special Education?

3:28 - First Career Interest was Swim Coaching

5:00 - Love for Teaching

6:01 - Teaching as an Academic Interventionist

7:21 - Opportunity to Be a Special Education Teacher

10:26 - Started Middle School Cafe

11:10 - Most Defining Moment

13:05 - Access to Opportunities is My Purpose

14:41 - How Did You Get to E3 Collective?

16:36 - Started Adaptive Swim School

18:00 - E3 Collective is a Nonprofit Organization

19:11 - Adaptive Ninja Warrior Program

20:22 - Shoutout to Dr. P

20:56 - I Don’t Have to Do it All

22:03 - Finding Ninja U in Cedar Falls, IA

24:30 - High Performance and Inclusion

29:26 - Two Sets of Twins

30:30 - How Do You Foster Inclusion in Your Family?

33:03 - Encourage Your Kids to Get Involved and Grow Their Comfort Zone

34:22 - This Mom Wants Kids to Ask Her About Her Daughter’s Wheelchair

35:02 - Being a Special Needs Parent from Wendy’s Perspective

36:59 - Mike’s Thoughts on Authentic Conversations Bridging the Gap

39:12 - IEP Meeting Mindset

40:30 - The Importance of Self Advocacy

42:34 - Mike’s Position: Special Education Consultant

44:58 - This Summer Mike Will Be Doing Early Intervention

48:00 - Acknowledging the Grieving Period

49:15 - Life with Grayson and Parker Blog Impact on Wendy

50:41 - The Autism Spectrum is What the World Needs

52:14 - It’s About the Community 

53:47 - The Concept of Be Better Community

55:15 - Amazing Thing About Social Media and Podcasting

55:54 - How Do People Find You?

56:46 - Children’s Books

57:28 - Connect Via Email

57:53 - Subscribe to E3 Collective Podcast

58:20 - Thank You and Signing Off

58:51 - What I Meant to Say Podcast Closing

Links & Where to Find Mike

www.E3collective.com 

www.ninjau.com

Rosco the Racoon illustrated children’s book

IG - @equip.empower.encourage 

@mikehagensick 

@paws_swim