Overview

Today the Vice-President of the National Council of Severe Autism, Amy Lutz  and I speak about raising children who are profoundly affected by Autism and how it looks so different from parenting our typically developing children in many ways. We discuss Amy’s books she has written on the topic and touch on some of the controversies surrounding Autism, the neurodiversity movement, and how this impacts those who are significantly affected by Autism.

Amy S.F. Lutz's writing on severe autism has appeared on many platforms, including The Atlantic, Slate, and Psychology Today. Her first book, Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children, was published in 2014; her new collection of essays, We Walk: Life with Severe Autism, was just released in October 2020. She is a founding board member of the National Council on Severe Autism and is currently completing her doctorate in the history of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and five kids.

Overview

Today Lori and Jill discuss healthy strategies for you as a parent or teacher to use on yourself or with your students/children when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed during COVID. Jill is a two-time best-selling author and speaker who is passionate about helping parents and educators understand their struggling students and the possibilities for real change. She is also the founder of the Stowell Center.

Jill Stowell is the founder and executive director of Stowell Learning Centers where she and her team have helped thousands of children and adults permanently correct their learning or attention challenges.

Jill is a two-time best-selling author and speaker who is passionate about helping parents and educators understand their struggling students and the possibilities for real change.

Introduction:

In this month's roundtable, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, and Lori Boll discuss all things Dyslexia. Dyslexia? Are we allowed to call it that anymore? Why did they change the name? What does that mean for our learners? How can we best support our learners with reading challenges? And more.

Podcast music written and performed by Madi Boll

Matt Barker

Twitter

Lori Boll

Twitter

Website

Erin Madonna

Twitter

Website

Matt Barker

Matt is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer who is a passionate advocate of inclusive practices for diverse learners. He currently works as a High School learning support teacher at International School Bangkok. He is also a workshop leader for the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Matt takes a pragmatic approach to teaching and learning and ensures that he harnesses student voice and agency in his classes.

Erin Madonna

Erin joined International School Bangkok as a K/1 Learning Support and EAL teacher this school year. Most recently, she was Upper Primary Learning Support Specialist at Shekou International School where she was part of the team developing the school’s inaugural Learning Support program.

Lori Boll

Lori is SENIA’s Executive Director after teaching for 25 years. When Lori’s son was diagnosed with profound autism in 2003, Lori changed her focus from teaching elementary to special education. Lori worked internationally for 20 years, and now finds herself back in the United States building a program for her now adult son.

Overview

Dr. Jim Delisle, and host Lori Boll discuss gifted learners. Why is there a common misconception that gifted kids don’t need help or support? What are some of the difficulties gifted kids have in school? How can teachers and parents support these learners? Lori and Dr. Delisle discuss all this and more on today’s show.

Jim Delisle has worked with and for gifted children for more than 40 years, as a teacher, professor and counselor. He has written 26 books for parents, gifted teens and educators and has presented his work in more than 20 nations on four continents. He is the father of a grown-up gifted kid and the proud grandfather of a two-year old, Wyatt, who likely follows in his father's intellectual footsteps!

Overview

March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day so we’re starting this month off with a fantastic interview with Heather Avis. Heather is an advocate and mother to three children; two of whom have Down Syndrome. Heather is on a mission to make a more inclusive world where everyone can belong. And she is doing this through her online communities she’s built on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter called The Lucky Few. She has written a book of the same name and is releasing a childrens book in June entitled “Different: A Great Thing To Be!” which I think all of us will want in our classroom libraries. I truly enjoyed Heather’s and my conversation today, and I hope you will too. And now, onto the show.

Heather Avis is a shouter of worth and narrative shifter. As an author, podcaster (theluckyfewpodcast.com), speaker, influencer (@TheLuckyFewOffical) and dedicated wife and mom she is on a mission to make a more inclusive world in which everyone can belong. You can learn more about her, her family and her mission by visiting TheLuckyFew.com

Dr. Greene’s keynote at #SENIA2020 was so popular, we wanted to bring him back to learn even more from him. Today Dr. Greene and  I discuss systematic change in schools regarding discipline and positive change seems to be moving at a glacial pace. We also learn more about Plan B and how teacher and caregiver assumptions can often hinder a student’s growth. When we bring students into our conversation about their behaviors and actions, we get results.

Ross W. Greene, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and the originator of the innovative, evidence-based approach called Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), as described in his influential books The Explosive Child, Lost at School, Lost & Found, and Raising Human Beings. He also developed and executive produced the award-winning documentary film The Kids We Lose, released in 2018. Dr. Greene was on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, and founded the non-profit Lives in the Balance in 2009. He is also adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Virginia Tech and adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia. Dr. Greene has worked with several thousand behaviorally challenging kids and their caregivers, and he and his colleagues have overseen implementation and evaluation of the CPS model in hundreds of schools, inpatient psychiatric units, and residential and juvenile detention facilities, with dramatic effect: significant reductions in recidivism, discipline referrals, detentions, suspensions, and use of restraint and seclusion. Dr. Greene lectures throughout the world and lives in Portland, Maine.

HI everyone, today I speak with children’s author, Julia Cook. Julia is a children’s author with over three million books in print. Many of us have used her books when working with our students.  With titles such as My Mouth is a Volcano, A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue, and Tease Monster, Julia’s books speak to and teach children about themselves, their learning, and their brains in fun and creative ways. Julia Cook is a former school counselor and teacher, and uses her books to support our learners through research-based ideas. She now travels the country and abroad encouraging others to follow in her footsteps. “There are so many ideas out there that need to be shared!” says Julia who takes top research and creatively translates it into “kid language” that is both entertaining and engaging. Julia has the innate ability to enter the world view of a child through storybooks, giving both children the “what to say” and the “how to say it.”

I hope you enjoy our conversation.

With approximately three million books in print, Julia Cook is a former school counselor and teacher who never dreamed she could evolve into a national award-winning children’s author, parenting expert and inspirational speaker. She now travels the country and abroad encouraging others to follow in her footsteps. “There are so many ideas out there that need to be shared!” says Julia who takes top research and creatively translates it into “kid language” that is both entertaining and engaging. Julia has the innate ability to enter the world view of a child through storybooks, giving both children the “what to say” and the “how to say it.”

Overview

On today’s podcast Toby Tomlinson Baker (soon to be Dr. Toby Tomlinson Baker) discusses her research into post-secondary education for our students with learning disabilities. Toby shares a sobering fact; that 72% of students with disabilities are dropping out of university. Why is this the case? Spoiler alert: one reason is that many university professors have zero training in working with students with varying needs. Today’s conversation is eye-opening and shows us that we have a lot of work to do to ensure our students are getting their needs met in all levels of their education.

With more than 12 years of experience as a special education teacher, Ms. Baker currently teaches with Los Angeles Unified School District. Since becoming a doctoral student at Pepperdine, she has become a Research Assistant for IC4, a global media making club. Ms. Baker began investigating the perception and academic success of postsecondary students with disabilities (SWDs) and best teaching practices for higher education faculty, her dissertation topic. She has presented her doctoral work nationally at the White House, to Congress, and the Department of Education. She has presented globally in China on College Advocacy for SWDs and families in Southeast Asia. Ms. Baker has published numerous Opinion Editorials on special education policy. She has had the honor of receiving Learning Disability Association’s National Harrison Sylvester Award for her research and CHADD’s 2018 Educator of the Year. Ms. Baker holds a Masters of Education from Cabrini University and a Bachelor’s degree from Adelphi University.

Introduction:

In this month's podcast, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, and Lori Boll discuss their takeaways from SENIA 2020. As a special treat, we also hear from SENIA participants who called in to share which strategies they left the conference with and have already tried in their practice, whether they are teachers, professionals, or parents. We hope you enjoy the show.

Podcast music written and performed by Madi Boll

Matt Barker

Twitter

Lori Boll

Twitter

Website

Erin Madonna

Twitter

Website

Matt Barker

Matt is an experienced teacher and teacher trainer who is a passionate advocate of inclusive practices for diverse learners. He currently works as a High School learning support teacher at International School Bangkok. He is also a workshop leader for the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Matt takes a pragmatic approach to virtual learning and ensures that he harnesses student voice and agency in his online classes.

Erin Madonna

Erin joined International School Bangkok as a K/1 Learning Support and EAL teacher this school year. Most recently, she was Upper Primary Learning Support Specialist at Shekou International School where she was part of the team developing the school’s inaugural Learning Support program.

Lori Boll

Lori is SENIA’s Executive Director after teaching for 25 years. When Lori’s son was diagnosed with profound autism in 2003, Lori changed her focus from teaching elementary to special education. Lori worked internationally for 20 years, and now finds herself back in the United States building a program for her now adult son.

Podcast music written and performed by Madi Boll

Overview

Today I speak with two of the co-founders of Spokle. Spokle empowers parents to support their child’s speech therapy with home-based exercises. They do this using over 400 video tutorials developed by experienced therapists, who guide both parents and therapists along each step on the path to developing spoken language. They provide simple play-based activities that can be completed in 5-10 minutes using everyday items. As a parent, this is something I certainly wish I had access to when my son was first developing language. It is a true gift to families. Enjoy today’s podcast!

Gia Kuek lived in Indonesia more than 20 years ago where services were scarce and schools were non-existent for children with disabilities. She believes that every child is special and every special needs child is a gift that makes one's journey interesting but rewarding as well. She is a mother of a child with a disability who is independent, kind and funny. She is also speech language therapist.

Andrew was the Global Rehabilitation Manager for Cochlear Ltd from 2010 to 2016 where his role was to develop and drives the rehabilitation strategy for the company to ensure candidates, recipients and professionals are well supported across the globe.

Andrew is a certified LSLS Cert. AVT and served on the Board of Directors of the A G Bell Academy for four years.

In 2016 along with his Co-founders, Elisabeth Yunarko and Gia Keuk, they created Spokle.

Andrew continues to passionately work as an Auditory Verbal Therapist at the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) supporting families whose child has a hearing loss.