Overview

Chances are, since you’re listening to our SENIA happy hour podcast, you are an advocate for inclusion. I’m so jazzed to bring you today’s show. I speak with Dr. Deborah Taub & Dr. Elizabeth Reyes from the TIES Center. TIES Center is the national technical assistance center on inclusive practices and policies.

Today we discuss the work TIES Center does, Universal Design for Learning, and how we can best support students with significant cognitive disabilities throughout this time of virtual instruction. If you don’t teach students with significant disabilities, trust me, you will still get so much from our discussion. These two are full of great ideas and resources and I can’t wait for you to hear it. So without further ado...onto the show.

Deborah Taub, PhD conducts research, training, and technical assistance around ensuring equitable opportunities to learn for all students, including those with significant and complex needs. She draws from her experience as a classroom teacher and has expertise in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), co-teaching and coaching, making standards-based instruction accessible and supporting sustainable change at the school, district, state and national levels.

Elizabeth Reyes, Ph.D. is a research associate at UNC Charlotte for the TIES Center: Increasing Time, Instructional Effectiveness, Engagement, and State Support for Inclusive Practices for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities. As an educator, Dr. Reyes taught students with various high-incidence and low-incidence disabilities in Title I schools in both rural and urban areas in self-contained, resource, and inclusive school settings. Her current research interests include interventionist training for use of evidence-based practice interventions in inclusive settings for students with extensive support needs.