NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities (LD)/Dyslexia/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness (ADHD) Month.

By Lia Beatty, Whitman College student

My self-advocacy is a choice. Not a choice I wanted to make, but one I had to make and continue to make every day.

The journey was provoked by a defining moment in my first year of college. A psychologist told me, referring to my recently diagnosed attention deficit disorder (ADD)—and not-yet identified dyslexia—that I would “just have to settle with being less than,” a feeling I had already felt for so long.

It was from this critical juncture that I realized I could not, and would not, allow myself to be limited by how others defined my learning differences. I dedicated myself to the promise that no one should have to go through what I had gone through, and this vow led me to advocate for myself and others. My mission to advocate for and bring awareness to learning disabilities was a risk built on years of reservation and restraint.

Federal civil rights law protections allow for the identification of many students with learning disabilities. However, I have noticed in my experiences, that once diagnosed, some students may be shepherded into stigma-inducing programs based on their difference and their label. Conversely, there are students who do not get identified early enough and go years without a label and without words to describe their struggle. In my opinion, our awareness of learning disabilities is predicated on how people with learning disabilities are perceived and the conclusions drawn from those perceptions. The othering of people who learn differently advances a limited definition and in turn a myopic awareness of the true diversity of learning differences.

Though intimately aware of my learning differences since first grade, I “othered” myself. I needed to fit in. At the cost of my mental and emotional well-being in a world that favors product over process, I sought academic perfection. I denied myself the process of learning—however different my process may have been—to maintain the facade of effortless hard work. Because of the narrow perception of learning disabilities, those of us who think and learn differently often believe that we are alone in our struggles. At the same time, so many of us think we are safer when we keep these struggles to ourselves. We live in a paradox. I lived in a paradox. By the end of high school, however, my struggles overtook my ability to mask them.

Asking for help meant taking a risk. For me, that first risk was finally seeking a diagnosis. Ultimately, however, the diagnosis only gave me a vocabulary. My problems now had a name, but I still needed to ask for help. I still needed to advocate. It meant having conversations with people who disagreed with me and even some who refused to understand me. After all, that’s what advocacy is: having conversations with people who do not already agree with you.

Following that critical moment with the psychologist in my first year of college, I sought every opportunity to spread learning disability (LD) awareness on campus. I pushed myself to have more conversations with professors and peers, I joined an LD/ADHD mentoring program, and I advocated for myself, locally and nationally. I found myself speaking with reporters from the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Seattle Times and advocating on live national news. Despite the positive public attention I received for advocating for myself and others, I still doubted myself. I still held perceptions about my LD that made me question whether I belonged in the environment I chose for myself.

In my experiences and observations, people with learning disabilities have struggled silently for so long, that not talking openly about learning disabilities means more students repeat the cycle of stigmatization and internalized ableism. For me, internalized ableism manifested as feeling like the academic accommodations I received gave me an unfair advantage. I resented them but knew I needed them to have a fair chance at doing my best. Wanting to start a conversation with my professors, but mostly to ameliorate the sticky feelings I had, I chose to disclose my dyslexia. By disclosing, I risked being viewed as lesser-than. I risked tarnishing a reputation I had yet to establish for myself by adopting this label. To my surprise, however, some professors took this as an opportunity for them to share their own experiences. When they shared, they often avoided or struggled to articulate their challenges with specific language.

We now live in times where this label—learning disability—can be an advantageous unit of social transmission. I have now come to see my dyslexia and ADHD as an opportunity to educate others about my experience and bring awareness to hidden challenges people with learning disabilities face.

Sharing my experience openly is something I never imagined I would do. It is an ongoing project of self-exploration, self-knowledge, and self-awareness. I am continually learning to take ownership and pride in my differences. It is because of the advocacy, openness, and risk-taking of many before me, that we now have space and a common language to describe learning differences and our experiences. Others’ advocacy has helped me, and I hope my openness and advocacy can help others, too.

Lia Beatty is a college student studying neuroscience at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. Lia is a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council organized by the National Center for Learning Disabilities and is a chapter leader and diplomat for Eye to Eye.

Blog articles provide insights on the activities of schools, programs, grantees, and other education stakeholders to promote continuing discussion of educational innovation and reform. Articles do not endorse any educational product, service, curriculum or pedagogy.

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

From Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation

Kevin Urban has strong math and foreign language skills, earned several college credits while still in high school, and loves creating visual art. Through his participation in Nebraska VR Pre-Employment Transition Services he also learned a lot more about himself. He learned how to speak up for himself, knows he is not a fan of chaos or change, and says he is a hands-on and visual learner.

Kevin participated in group activities with Pre-Employment Transition Services Specialist Rita Meier and other Central City High School students where they discussed the employability skills required in a work environment, interviewing skills, and employer expectations. This was in preparation for several work-based learning experiences designed to explore the world of work.

At a job shadow at RBR Graphics in Central City, Kevin learned about the variety of products they make and sell ranging from signs, banners, and automobile wraps. While learning about the steps they take to begin a new project and how the equipment works, he noted he liked the independent nature of the work. He also toured the Central City Veterinary Clinic where he learned about care for companion animals like cats and dogs. He saw the corrals for keeping and treating large livestock. While he quickly understood this particular industry was not for him, he said it was nice to get insight on what happens in another field.

Kevin had an opportunity to earn a student assistant internship in the school media center at Central City High School where he developed listening skills, practiced following directions, and learned to keep on task. This helped prepare him for a paid work-based learning experience in the community that aligned with his career field interest.

The Alice M. Farr Public Library in Aurora, Nebraska was host for a work-based learning experience in the summer of 2019. Kevin appreciated the quiet environment, liked the job duties, and enjoyed helping library patrons with their resource or technology needs. He enjoyed helping with the summer reading program for children where he passed out craft supplies, cleaned up afterwards, straightened shelves, and kept reading tables tidy.

By the end of the work-based learning experience, Kevin solidified his career goal and decision to begin academic transfer program at Central Community College to obtain an associate of library science degree. He has plans to continue on to complete a bachelor’s of library science degree online through the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Kevin is not afraid to put in the work to be successful in the future. He attended a two-week Summer Transition Program held at the Nebraska VR Service Office in Grand Island. The workshop included group exercises where students were assigned a household budget and had to make choices for housing, transportation, and grocery spending. Employer expectation discussions were also among topics covered.

This post first appeared in Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation’s Transition Works newsletter.

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

By David D’Arcangelo, Commissioner, Massachusetts Commission for the Blind

As part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind (MCB) launched a new campaign emphasizing the importance of ensuring all Massachusetts residents, including those who are blind or visually impaired, have the opportunity to put their skills and talents to work, for the benefit of themselves and the Commonwealth’s employers and economy.

The centerpiece of the campaign—a public service announcement (PSA) titled “What’s Your Vision?”—features three individuals served by MCB and other agency stakeholders sharing their vision for the future as it relates to employment.

These include:

Richard Phipps, a financial and real estate advisor;
Yewellyn Sanchez, an aspiring journalist;
Charlie Richards, a student, as well as Charlie’s mother, Laura Richards;
Colleen Moran, Director of Workforce Programs at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network;
Laurie Cremmen, an educator with Brockton Public Schools, and
Nicole Ross, an optometrist with the New England College of Optometry.

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To complement the PSA, MCB also developed a series of print materials and partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to highlight them via digital billboards and other outdoor advertising channels throughout October in honor of NDEAM.

Massachusetts has a long and rich history of advancing employment for people with disabilities, and MCB, founded in 1906, is one of the oldest state blindness agencies in the U.S. It provides both vocational as well as social rehabilitation services, along with additional supporting programs to promote independence and full community participation.

This year’s marks the nation’s 75th NDEAM observance. Its origins trace to 1945, when Congress declared the first week in October each year “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” It also helps bring to a close the yearlong commemoration of the 30^th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the 100^th anniversary of the nation’s public vocational rehabilitation program.

NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities (LD)/Dyslexia/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness (ADHD) Month.

Amy Traynor, OTR, M.A., ATP, National Center for Learning Disabilities Texas Parent Advisory Council Lead

“Livvy speak” is the endearing term coined for the innocent one-off names or descriptions spoken by my daughter, Olivia, when she was in preschool. We adored it and rarely corrected her.

As a pediatric occupational therapist (OT), I recognized that all children, even siblings, develop differently. It didn’t surprise me that she has done things differently than her brother and they have approached “life” differently from the other.

When the preschool teachers mentioned to me that Olivia was having difficulty learning letters or rhyming, it didn’t really phase me. I was confident that when Olivia started kindergarten she would pick up on literacy just as quickly and easily as her brother did.

A few weeks into kindergarten came the first conference where Olivia’s teacher shared concerns and initiated response to intervention. The teacher believed that with a little help, Olivia would be successful in literacy concepts as she was in numeracy concepts. None of us knew that what we were seeing were signs of dyslexia.

Difficulty with rhyming, naming letters, the unexpected difficulty learning to read, even her “Livvy speak” were all signs that pointed to dyslexia.

Olivia and Amy Traynor

After a year and a half, Olivia was identified with a specific learning disability and dyslexia. The identification made the therapist in me ecstatic! I saw a map laid out: ‘You are here’ marked the evaluation, ‘X’ represented the goal, and evidence-based intervention provided the dashed line between the two.

I knew that by collecting data and adjusting along the way, we could keep Olivia on course, closing the gap between her current reading ability and grade-level expectation.

We have decades worth of evidence, research and proven interventions for dyslexia. I was confident that with evidence-based intervention coupled with her rights under civil rights laws, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and our state dyslexia handbook provisions, everything would be fine.

However, I soon saw that even with intervention, Olivia was frustrated.

The achievement gap was widening and affecting her self-esteem. She was following a course, but it looked different from what I had imagined.

Her teachers were not prepared to provide the evidence-based intervention she needed. Most hadn’t been taught to help students learn to read or what to do when a student struggled to read.

We know a lot about how kids learn to read, and we know the science behind how to teach them. And right now, we have an important chance to help ensure every teacher is ready to do that.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us to navigate a new map. It has presented new challenges and has simply made others more pronounced. We already know that many students in our country cannot read at levels they should, and at the same time, many are missing out on important instructional time because of remote learning.

Dyslexia does not have to be a path to disability. Dyslexia represents a different way of learning and can be remediated. Individuals with dyslexia can and should read at grade level.

As this pandemic has called us to rethink learning, we must also rethink teacher preparation and support. Every student should receive reading intervention early, and every educator should feel empowered and confident in their knowledge and skills to help struggling readers.

This recent shift in public education—the ways we’ve stretched to come up with new ideas to reach learners safely from a distance and become better partners with parents as educators—gives me hope that we can do the same for helping every struggling reader and those with dyslexia.

As we see this pandemic through and return to our school buildings, I am hopeful that we will enter through doors where parents continue to be partners, where educators have greater access to the science of reading, and where ALL children are on a path to reading at grade level.

Amy Traynor, OTR, M.A., ATP: Amy is an occupational therapist, assistive technology professional, parent advocate and most proud of her role as mom to two great kids. Amy is also the Lead for the National Center for Learning Disabilities Texas Parent Advisory Council.

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Originally posted by the South Dakota Department of Human Services Rehabilitation Services

To shed a little more light on the real people impacted by businesses championing everyone’s right to be employed regardless of their disability status, Ability for Hire is highlighting stories from South Dakotans who have benefited from the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program and who are experiencing the many benefits — both emotional and financial — of being employed.

Meet Caitlin, a Vermillion resident who is currently employed by Aramark out of University of South Dakota (USD).

What do you love most about your current job?

“Helping people,” she said. “(Students and employers) are really nice to you.” As part of the Aramark team at USD, Caitlin works in the office doing data entry and printing invoices, as well as out front as a cashier, interacting mostly with students. “It’s just really nice – everybody here is really welcoming.”

How does it make you feel to go to work each day?

“I’m pretty happy to see everybody. It’s just kind of interesting to see what my day will be like when I get sent to cashier,” she said. “I like cashiering, because I get to see the students and interact with them more — they ask me how I’m doing, say thank you — everybody’s pretty nice here.”

What do you like most about working with your VR counselor?

“They’re super supportive and always great to talk to, Caitlin said of her counselor, particularly during her time attending Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City, Iowa. “They even helped me pay for school and helped with gas.”

How has your life changed since you became employed?

Caitlin cited her time at Aramark as a great experience thus far. “I’ve got more friends to hang out with, and it’s been pretty positive,” she said. “I have a group of people who I say hi to every day, and they’re really nice. Sometimes I hang out with them (outside of work) and play video games.” This social community has been a big part of what makes employment so special for Caitlin.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

“It’s a good distraction,” Caitlin said of her love of playing piano and singing. “I get to connect with people. I take lessons and sing in community choir here at USD. It’s pretty fun — performing in concerts.” Beyond music, Caitlin also is an adept dog-trainer and an avid traveler, never missing an opportunity to patronize the Florida theme parks and having a particularly memorable time on her two visits to Australia.

What do you appreciate most about earning a paycheck?

“It’s good to give back to the community,” she said. “It’s pretty nice to have friends.” And these experiences have made her a better overall employee, by Caitlin’s estimation. “Growing responsibility, learning to get projects done on time, doing some financing and filing and remembering people and places” are all attributes she said have improved as a result of her employment at Aramark, as well as past work experience in a research office and a salon/spa. “I’m hardworking, friendly, confident, outgoing and on time.”

To find business resources on becoming an Ability for Hire employer, click here for more information.

This post first appeared on the South Dakota Department of Human Services Rehabilitation Services’ stories page.

NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities (LD)/Dyslexia/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness (ADHD) Month.

By Michaela Hearst, an advocate, writer, and a social worker.

I was diagnosed with nonverbal learning disorder (NVLD) and learning disability not otherwise specified (LD-NOS) when I was 14 years old. I share my personal story with the hope it will inspire or help others.

Every experience I’ve undergone in the past has led me to where I am now.

Educators have a responsibility to continuously educate themselves about the needs of their students.

Back in high school, I was convinced there was no future for me in academia because of my learning disability. Today, I have a master’s degree in social work, with the long-term goal of helping others like me by enacting change on a systemic level.

As a student, I inevitably had to learn how to advocate for myself even before I was diagnosed.

There have been times in school, including graduate school, where I didn’t know what accommodations I needed or what would truly help me.

One concrete accommodation I’ve had for years is extra time on exams. I had to apply for extra time for the social work master’s exam and the review board requested past documentation.

In ninth grade, my neuropsychological evaluation recommended that I receive time and a half on exams. However, my later struggles revealed that I would benefit from double time and this was indicated on my IEP.

Despite this recommendation, I was only given time and a half for my exam because the board felt that I did not need double time. This experience continues to frustrate and anger me, particularly with the knowledge that students younger than I am are undergoing similar struggles–and, on top of that, the challenges brought on by COVID-19.

When I first learned that many schools were planning to reopen for the fall, my greatest concern was that students would learn to prioritize school over health.

I hope others will take the time this fall to advocate for what they need in remote learning and be sure that others are equipped with the knowledge and tools to advocate for themselves. That is my commitment to students with LD all across the country.

Michaela Hearst is an advocate, writer, and most recently, a social worker. She recently graduated with a Master of Social Work from the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. Michaela is a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council organized by the National Center for Learning Disabilities. She is currently a project social ambassador for the NVLD Project and the first guest blogger at Friends of Quinn.

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

By Michelle Novak, Community Liaison for Tradewinds

The relationship between the vocational rehabilitation counselor, employment specialist and the job seeker are important when it comes to finding successful employment. The support and encouragement on the road to a successful employment placement can make a positive impact for everyone involved. In this case, an Employment Specialist shares her perspective on the VR client and her determination to succeed after five years on the employment search.

Michelle Novak, left, helped Destinee Smith in her job search

I can easily say Destinee is at the top of my “favorite client” list! I wanted to share some feedback with all of you because I truly feel we have found the perfect fit for her after a long 5 years of having an open case with VR!

Ever since Destinee, who has mild/moderate cerebral palsy and is deaf, was assigned to work with me, it was important for me to get to know her personally, understand her goals and barriers and ultimately, earn her trust. In speaking with her VR counselor, I knew her case had been open for a long time and I was determined to help. I was really motivated to work with her and find something where she can thrive. Destinee told me she wants an opportunity to show people that she’s smart, valuable, and deserving of an opportunity.

After meeting with management at HG Global, I took Destinee in on two different days so she could try working in different areas. She did amazing and they wanted her on board as an employee. I wish I could have had a camera those first couple days. It’s wonderful to see her utilizing her skills, talent and most importantly, her persistence show her value. She just completed her first week of working at HG Global and has managed to accomplish the following:

Learn a data entry software in less than 30 minutes of training and instruction. The supervisor stated the last 3 individuals she attempted to train couldn’t get it down after a few days of training.
She taught her coworkers “not judge a book by its cover”. A lot of people are unaware or uneducated about the abilities people with disabilities have. A few people in the area where she works approached me and questioned her ability to do certain tasks. I told them to watch this girl because she is going to teach all of us a few things. And, she absolutely did! Her supervisor, Rose, immediately became her office advocate and treated her no different than anyone else. Rose immediately picked up on Destinee’s independence and does a great job encouraging her and ensuring she is part of the team. She doesn’t even realize that she has changed people’s perception of “disability” which is so amazing to watch!
She was quiet her first day but by the third day she walked in confidentially and said good morning to everyone. She and got herself settled at her desk, put her lunch in the break room and told me “go have a seat and work on your laptop, I will let you know if I need anything”.

I’m blown away at her ability to adapt to change so quickly and I don’t think she realizes the positive impact she’s made on so many people in such a short time. I’m excited to see her grow and be successful there. Thank you to everyone for the persistence, flexibility, patience, and overall teamwork. She deserves every minute we have all invested and I am so very proud of her!

This post originally appeared on Indian’s Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services’ website.

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

After 43 years, Carl Belnap retired in August 2020, from his position at A-dec (Austin Dental Equipment Company), a Newberg, Oregon, manufacturer of dental office equipment.

Carl began his job at A-dec in May 1977. Blind since birth, Carl began as a client of Oregon Commission for the Blind (OCB) in 1973. As a high school Junior, Carl attended OCB’s Portland Training Center for the Blind, a summer job training program. After high school, he attended the Oregon Rehabilitation Center for Development at the Oregon School for the Blind for several months, receiving vocational counseling and training. Carl also attended Clackamas Community College for additional training in the machine shop.

Carl indicated that OCB identified the job opportunity at A-dec. He assisted with the development of “tester” equipment that read aloud messages such as “The valve is [good] bad,” along with an error code. Carl used JAWS (screen reader software) to operate a computer on which he recorded the results and wrote emails.

Carl worked in several departments during his tenure, first working in the DEL (Delivery Systems) Assembly Department, also working in the lighting (specialty lights used by dental offices) and electrical departments. Carl, now deaf, has been helped, through the years, by seven successive guide dogs. While he couldn’t take a dog into the machine shop, he has relied on them for both sight and, later, hearing, to navigate and avoid hazards in the workplace. His dog since 2017 is a golden lab named Amarillo.

Carl had some advice to share with young people who are blind embarking on career exploration:

Make use of education; and
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Carl looks forward to retirement as a chance to spend more time with his wife. OCB wishes Carl the best as he embarks on this next phase of his life.

This post first appeared in Oregon Commission for the Blind’s The Voice newsletter, September 2020.

IDEA Deserves our Continued Passion, Advocacy, and Support

By Michael Norman

When I began an internship at the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) in 1976, I knew little about special education and even less about state educational agencies (SEAs). I was a thirty-year-old doctoral student and former middle school principal. I had no idea that internship would change the entire trajectory of my professional life.

I walked into a flurry of activity centered on the recent passage of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. NASDSE had a Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH)-funded training grant to support SEAs in meeting their responsibilities under the legislation, which I quickly learned were considerable. The excitement of the NASDSE staff was infectious. My previous work in racial integration in public schools led me to see P.L. 94-142 as a wonderfully articulated outcome and expansion of Brown v Board of Education. I also considered the legislation as an extension of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) because I had worked with Title I, which was designed to address the inequity of educational opportunity for underprivileged children. It was the 1966 amendments to ESEA that created the BEH and the first state grant programs focused on students with disabilities.

I immediately realized how little I knew about the access to education for children and youth with disabilities. I could not recall any discussion of students with disabilities in my undergraduate or graduate training programs. Schools in which I worked had “a special education class” with very little interaction between those teachers and students with others in the school. Even as a school administrator, the special education teacher in my building was hired and supervised by the central office.

Since becoming part of the special education community in 1976, I’ve worked in several capacities to support the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). I believe IDEA continues to need and deserve our passion, advocacy, and support today.

P.L. 94-142’s passage in November 1975 was truly a cause for celebration. It was the result of coordinated and unified efforts of parents and advocacy organizations never seen before; a series of court decisions and supporting legislation (PARC, Mills, Section 504); sustained and effective strategic actions by BEH; and unbelievable Congressional investigation, testimony, and commitment. Its basis was the eloquent concept of a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), which remains the promise of IDEA today.

I have always been somewhat in awe of the interrelationships originally embodied in P.L. 94-142 and now in IDEA, all focused on the Congressionally established purposes of IDEA: availability of FAPE; assurance of rights and protections to children and youth with disabilities and their parents; assistance to SEAs and local educational agencies (LEAs) in meeting their responsibilities under IDEA; and assessment of the effectiveness of the legislation. We must continue to uphold and preserve the critical nature of these interrelationships.

While FAPE is the promise of IDEA for all children with disabilities, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) requirement is IDEA’s heart. I came to realize this as an Associate Director of NASDSE (1977–1984) spending time training SEA and LEA staff along with hearing officers across the country. I believe the IEP requirement is what made P.L. 94-142 significant and unique in federal legislation — it put students and parents at the forefront in defining FAPE for an individual child. As the key source of information shared between the school and parents or guardians, the IEP is the basis for agreement or negotiation on assessment, participation in the least restrictive environment, academic, social and emotional goals and objectives, and evaluation of student progress. After forty-five years the IEP remains the key vehicle through which the promises of IDEA are realized.

IDEA remains vital today, in large part, because of the willingness and ability of the special education community to respond to new and emerging issues and concerns. In the mid-1980s, the legislation was expanded to include infants and toddlers and transition planning and services to students approaching school exit. Issues once considered to be only “special education problems” are now often embraced by and addressed through school wide strategies. Furthermore, we recognize our continuing responsibility to deal with the causes of overrepresentation of minority students in special education.

For IDEA to fulfill the promise of FAPE for current and future generations of children and youth with disabilities and their parents, I believe it essential that we continue to champion the community that has supported the initiation, implementation, and success of IDEA. This broad and diverse community includes: the parents who have worked tirelessly first for their own children and then supported other parents and families as they interacted with the system; the SEA and LEA personnel, teachers, and providers who implement IDEA on a daily basis and the folks who prepared those professionals; the researchers who kept us honest and showed us new directions; the national, state, and local organization staff who provide support to their respective constituents; and OSEP personnel who monitor the implementation of IDEA and administer the discretionary programs that allow us to meet new challenges in fulfilling its promise.

Mike Norman a Senior Researcher at the StudyGroup and lifetime special education advocate.

Forty-Five Years of IDEA-Funded Research Supporting a
“Free Appropriate Public Education”

By Douglas Fuchs and Lynn Fuchs, Vanderbilt University

On this 45th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), we reflect on the research that IDEA legislation (and its successive reauthorizations) has facilitated. More specifically, we discuss its focus, quality, and meaningfulness for children and youth with and without disabilities.

IDEA research monies were initially part of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA)—the nation-wide law passed by Congress in 1975. The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education was responsible for investing these monies to strengthen the educational experiences of special needs children and youth, to give meaning to the part of EHA that guarantees a free appropriate public education. With IDEA’s 2004 reauthorization, OSEP research dollars were moved to the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) in the Institute of Education Sciences (IES). Regardless of where the monies reside, special education research is an enduring and vitally important component of IDEA legislation.

An Engine for Innovation

IDEA-funded research has been an engine for innovation, substantially strengthening education programs for and the outcomes of millions of struggling students with and without disabilities. The scope of this work has included infants and toddlers to young adults and has addressed the challenges of children and youth across all traditional categories of exceptionality. Because a comprehensive description of this research goes well beyond the limits of this blog, we provide three examples of the ways in which IDEA-sponsored research has transformed general education and special education.

Assessment/identification of children at risk for school failure.
IDEA monies have supported programmatic research on classroom-based assessments, including, but not limited to, the development of progress-monitoring systems. This ground-breaking research and development has provided educators in preschools and K-12 settings alike with scientifically validated procedures and materials with which to screen students for academic and behavioral difficulties. Some of these assessments have become trusted means of measuring change in learning and behavior in response to specific interventions. As a result, teachers and support staff can use data-based approaches to individualize academic and behavioral programs when students with serious academic or behavior problems do not initially respond adequately to them.
Class-wide and school-wide interventions for making general education accommodating of a greater diversity of students.
IDEA-funded research has made possible the development of a wide array of out-of-the-box important class-wide and school-wide academic interventions and curricula in reading, math, and writing (e.g., Class-Wide Peer Tutoring, Cooperative Learning, Direct Instruction, Kansas Learning Strategies) and in social studies, science, and other content areas (e.g., Mnemonics Instruction). It has spurred development of programs that effectively address students’ challenging behavior (e.g., Good Behavior Game, Positive Behavior Supports) and school engagement (e.g., Check & Connect). Teachers using these and other empirically validated academic and behavior programs are more likely to differentiate instruction and interact more positively and constructively with students, thereby making their classrooms more responsive to a greater diversity of students, including those with special needs. Whereas a primary intent of most of these class- and school-wide programs was to facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities, many have been shown to benefit numerous students with and without disabilities.
More intensive interventions.
Because many struggling students do not respond adequately to evidence-based class-wide practices, they require small-group instruction that can address multiple determinants of poor academic performance and behavior, and can be delivered in a structured and intensive, encouraging and supportive manner. IDEA-funded research has produced small-group programs for preschoolers preparing for K-12 all the way to high-schoolers preparing for the workplace.Classroom assessments and interventions, and more intensive programs, developed by IDEA-funded research has made possible the currently popular response to intervention/multi-tiered system of support (RTI/MTSS) services that can help schools be more responsive to the full spectrum of students they serve, including many students with identified disabilities.

We believe this IDEA-backed research has been truly exceptional, whether considered on its own or by the standards of education research in general. And we refer not only to the work’s innovative quality. Rather, we also refer to the methodological strength of IDEA-supported research. As one example, special education researchers were among the first education researchers to conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in schools with special and general teachers conducting the interventions. Moreover, special education research accounts for a disproportionately large proportion of the RCTs conducted as part of programmatic, field-based education research. Indirect evidence of this methodological sophistication is the frequency with which IDEA-funded researchers are published in the most respected peer-reviewed research journals.

A Model for Bridging Research and Practice

OSEP-funded special education research has been distinctive in a different way. Much of it showcases a uniquely collegial and productive researcher-practitioner relationship. Such relationships have not occurred by chance. From the start, OSEP staff understood that researchers, especially interventionists, are as dependent on practitioners as practitioners require researchers. OSEP used IDEA Part D monies:

to encourage researchers to choose issues/problems of critical interest to practitioners;
to develop/implement model demonstration projects through an iterative process with strong practitioner participation; and
to provide technical assistance in schools, preschool classrooms, and transition settings.

The connections forged between researchers and practitioners have been further strengthened by capable staff at NCSER and OSEP who collaborate with each other to ensure that the model demonstrations and technical assistance initiatives under IDEA Part D reflect knowledge produced from the research.

A Collaborative Community of Scholars

IDEA dollars have also helped establish and sustain a collaborative community of high-performing scholars. This has been accomplished in part by annual, IDEA-supported, scientific gatherings of principal investigators (PIs) of IDEA-funded grants. These meetings, begun in the 1980s and on-going under the stewardship of NCSER (and IES), have been designed to represent a “continuing education” experience for PIs:

To permit them opportunity to learn cutting-edge methods and statistical analyses;
to discuss emerging critical issues; and
to share recent findings from their own work.

In total, these meetings have fostered a culture of collegiality and a cross-fertilization of ideas.

The development of an enduring community of high-performing IDEA-funded researchers has been further strengthened through personnel preparation grants to deserving special education programs and departments. These grants enable university faculty to attract and train young researchers to become capable of conducting their own high-quality research and of preparing a next generation of teachers of children and youth with disabilities. In a similar vein, IDEA monies have supported student-initiated dissertation research and early career mentoring and training to help young special education researchers launch successful research programs and maintain special education’s research tradition of evidence-based innovation and impact.

In Sum

On this important anniversary, we celebrate IDEA’s pivotal role in ensuring a free appropriate public education to children and youth with disabilities. We take some measure of satisfaction in describing how IDEA-funded researchers have indisputably and importantly contributed to this achievement. We also know, as all knowledgeable stakeholders know, that we all have a long way to go to ensure that all special needs children and youth are prepared to assume their place in society as happy, healthy, productive, and responsible citizens.

Doug Fuchs is the Professor of Special Education and Nicholas Hobbs Chair of Special Education and Human Development and Professor Pediatrics in the Vanderbilt University Medical School, Department of Special Education.

Lynn Fuchs is the Dunn Family Professor of Psycho-educational Assessment, Special Education, and Human Development at Vanderbilt University.

A Milestone for Civil Rights: Celebrating 45 Years of IDEA

By Kanika Littleton

In the United States, over 7 million children and young adults receive special education programs and services through the Individualized Education Program (IEP). These students are entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) as outlined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA encompasses the rights of students with disabilities to have access to the general education curriculum and to the greatest extent possible, be educated with their typically developing peers.

As we celebrate the 45^th anniversary of IDEA, we must first look to the past to understand how and why this groundbreaking law came to be. At its core, IDEA is a civil rights law. It is part of a larger movement to improve equity within the institutions which engage the citizens of our nation.

Before 1975, public schools were not required to educate children with disabilities. Many students with significant disabilities were placed in institutions or separate schools, essentially segregating them from their typically developing peers. In fact, many states had laws against educating students with mental and physical disabilities.

As with many calls for equity, this movement started with a group of determined parents and advocates who organized, marched and appealed to local, state and federal leaders to draft legislation which would change the trajectory of the lives of children and youth with disabilities.

Two landmark decisions in 1972, “Mills vs. Board of Education” and “Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children (PARC) vs. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania”, set the groundwork for what would become the “Education for All Handicapped Children Act” or Public Law 94-142, enacted in 1975. This law guaranteed a Free Appropriate Public Education for students with disabilities and is the first version of what is now known as IDEA. The law would go on to be reauthorized four times. Each reauthorization served to strengthen the law, including providing supports and services to children age birth to 3, additional disability categories, discipline protections, transition services, increased accountability, and high expectations for all students with disabilities.

Since the drafting and subsequent passage of this law began with the efforts of parent advocates, it is fitting that parental involvement has been a cornerstone since its inception. The contributions parents make to greater educational and post-secondary outcomes for their children cannot be overstated. IDEA recognizes parents as equal partners and includes parent training and information dissemination as key components of the law.

First introduced in 1977, Parent Centers have assisted parents to positively impact their children’s education and post-secondary outcomes. Today, there are 94 Parent Centers across the nation, including 29 Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRCs) and 65 Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs).

These programs provide information, education, and support to help parents understand their rights under IDEA, participate on the IEP team and be involved in decision-making processes relevant to their children’s education. Parent Center staff typically include parents of students with disabilities.

It is through this lens, as a PTI Director and parent, that I reflect on the impact of IDEA. At age three, my son was diagnosed with a developmental disability. Thus, began a journey filled with ongoing learning opportunities. In the beginning, I was unfamiliar with IDEA, including the supports and services provided through the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and IEP. I was told that my son would likely remain non-verbal and need to attend a center-based program. However, through the provision of individualized instruction, access to the general education curriculum, meaningful inclusion and transition support, my son is a contributing member of his community. Today, as an active member of my now teenaged son’s education, I’ve gained first-hand knowledge, which allows me to inform other parents on every aspect of early intervention, special education, and transition to adulthood.

My story is one of many. IDEA has positively influenced the lives of countless children, young adults, and their families, by providing the necessary education, supports and services to become fully included members of society. This is important now more than ever as the country faces the most significant health crisis in over 100 years.

Undeniably, COVID-19 has negatively affected the ability to educate students. Students with disabilities may encounter even greater challenges as they attempt to navigate learning from a distance and the loss of programs, supports and services which cannot be provided through a virtual environment. Moreover, inequities in our educational system have exacerbated the loss of learning for some students. These challenges are unprecedented and require immediate attention. Educators and families working together is vital to moving forward. Nevertheless, as more needs are identified, perhaps it is time to reauthorize our federal special education law so that as a nation, we are prepared to continue supporting all learners, under any circumstance.

IDEA recognizes and celebrates the diversity of learners and calls on educators, service providers, and families to ensure that no student with a disability is denied access to FAPE. It is appropriate to celebrate the accomplishments realized by this groundbreaking law and look forward to strengthening its impact in the coming years. Our students deserve nothing less.

Kanika Littleton is the Director of the Michigan Alliance for Families and the parent of a child with disabilities.

Jane West

The Personnel Who Deliver the Promise of IDEA into the Lives of Children and Families: A Reflection on the 45^th Anniversary of IDEA

By Jane E. West, Ph.D.

I began my journey as a special educator in 1973. My first job was as a paraprofessional for students with emotional disturbance. The program was intended to transition students who had been in psychiatric hospitals back into public school. Our classroom was housed in a trailer on the playground of an elementary school in the Bronx.

Fresh out of college with a degree in literature, I was very keen on poetry. With the support of the teacher in charge of my class, I developed a curriculum on poetry. Much to my delight, the students were all in. They wrote some magnificent poems. Shortly after we finished the unit, the principal announced a school wide poetry contest. Elated, I met with him and provided the students’ work for submission to the contest. After looking at the poems briefly, he returned them to me saying, “There is no way those students could have written those poems.” I was devastated.

This was the moment that began my career in special education in earnest. Such a bald declaration of low expectations was beyond my imagination. Today we would call it implicit bias. I knew then I had found my calling.

If the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) had been in force in 1973, that principal would not have made such a statement — or if he did, outrage and consequences would have followed. Today it is easy to take for granted that all students with disabilities are welcome in public school — because they are entitled to it as a matter of civil rights – and that all students are expected to thrive. We have come a long way.

Even before Congress enacted Public Law (P.L.) 94-142 in 1975, which we now call IDEA, there was an acknowledgement by the federal government that personnel with specialized training and skills were needed to deliver services to students with disabilities. For example, a 1958 law (P.L. 84-926) authorized funds to prepare personnel to work with children with mental retardation. When P.L. 94-142 was enacted 17 years later, it built on that foundation and called for the creation of a coordinated infrastructure to develop the personnel to deliver the services newly required by law. At that time, it was estimated that approximately 2 million children were denied the right to an education. A significant influx of students was on the horizon. The law could not deliver on its promise without the personnel in schools providing mandated services.

Today, we know this investment in a coordinated infrastructure as Personnel Preparation under Part D of IDEA. Every year, the Congress invests millions of dollars in the program and the Office of Special Education Programs diligently manages competitions among special education preparation programs to ensure high quality. In 1970, that program was funded at $36.6 million dollars. Today, it is a $90 million set of competitions.

The grants fund higher education preparation programs to prepare tomorrow’s workforce — special education teachers in low-incidence and high-incidence fields, special education administrators, specialized instructional support personnel, early intervention personnel, paraprofessionals, and more. The grants ensure that the latest research-based practices, such as multi-tiered systems of support and universal design for learning, will be infused into the curriculum — thus moving research into practice. The grants also support general educators to enable them to work effectively with special educators and students with disabilities.

A key component of the Personnel Preparation program is the ongoing investment in leadership personnel at the doctoral level. Doctoral programs in special education are the small but mighty engine that enables the development of all other personnel. These programs prepare special education teacher educators who go on to populate the special education preparation programs across the country. They prepare tomorrow’s researchers who will push the envelope to develop new instructional strategies. They prepare tomorrow’s special education leaders at the school, district, and state levels.

During the frequent gatherings of special educators in higher education, I often ask the assembled group how many of them were supported by federal funding in their special education preparation. Time after time, virtually every hand is raised. My hand is one of those. From the principal’s office in the Bronx public school, I went on to Teachers College at Columbia University to receive my master’s degree in special education. After teaching for several years, I went to the University of Maryland for my doctoral degree in special education. I was supported by Personnel Preparation funds to complete both of those programs. Without that support, I can’t imagine I would have been able to complete my degrees. And I am just one of thousands of special educators who are in the field today, working day after day, to make the promise of IDEA a reality. It is not an overstatement to say that the field of special education was built, and is sustained, by the federal government. For that we can be very proud.

Jane West is President of JaneWestConsulting and has led policy work for numerous professional organizations to improve personnel preparation.

IDEA-45 logo. IDEA 45. #IDEA45 Years. 1975-2020. Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.

Happy Birthday, IDEA!

By George Sugai
Professor Emeritus, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The 45^th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is particularly meaningful to me and to students with disabilities for four main reasons.

First, my career as a special educator began in Aurora, Colorado in the Fall of 1974. Although we were definitely “attempting to figure things out,” we developed the district’s first IDEA-shaped resource rooms for elementary, middle, and high school students with emotional and behavioral disorders; we wrote many of the first IEPs; and we created and implemented some of the first behavior intervention plans. IDEA gave us the vision, expectation, accountability, and responsibility to greatly enhance our special education efforts. For the first time, the education of students with disabilities and their families became a protected right and a reality rather than an informal afterthought. In addition, special education became an integral component and priority in general education.

Second, IDEA gave me and others the focus and opportunities to shape our own knowledge and skills, to conduct research to improve our practice, and to prepare future special education teachers and leaders. After being an on-the-ground special educator and learning directly from my students, IDEA also gave me the research and leadership training opportunity to return to graduate school. I learned how to use scientifically based research methodologies to study everyday classroom challenges and questions, and I developed an appreciation of the importance of preparing highly skilled special educators. Teaching students with disabilities required the heart; however, knowledge, skills, and expertise were required to harness and focus that passion. Now, 45 years later, we do better special education because of the research, demonstration, and preparation of personnel opportunities and priorities emphasized and enabled in IDEA.

Third, over the last 45 years, we have learned that individual student benefit is integrally intertwined with how all students are academically, socially, and behaviorally supported. This resulted in implementation efforts that focus on formal systems and practices of multi-tiered support, team-driven leadership and implementation, data-based decision making related to student progress and implementation fidelity, prioritization of best-fit empirically supported practices, and overt consideration of equity, justice, diversity, and individual differences. The multi-tiered framework, and in particular, the logic of responsiveness-to-intervention have refined whole school and classroom implementation of best practices so that all students benefit as specific and individualized supports are provided to students with disabilities and/or risk for academic, social, and behavioral failure.

Finally, like the beginning of my career in special education and the initiation of IDEA, my retirement in May 2019 aligns with the 45th anniversary of IDEA. In my case, I retired hopeful and confident that current and future special educators will have the opportunity to celebrate the 50^th, 75^th, and 100^th anniversary of IDEA. More importantly, I retire with great satisfaction that the education of students with disabilities has been and will continue to be supported and prioritized by highly competent generations of young researchers, teachers, and leaders today and in coming decades. In my 45 years as a special educator, I am gratified by what has been accomplished in our public schools; however, my hope is that research, demonstrations, and personnel preparation will continue to advance successful learning opportunities for students with disabilities.

In sum, as we celebrate and applaud our past and present accomplishments, I encourage us to give even greater consideration for what we want to be proud of and recognize one, five, ten, 25, 50…years from now. The coronavirus pandemic, scientific and medical advancements, social and political unrest, technological innovations, environmental challenges, cultural refinements, and continual shaping of the family and community represent examples of what students, educators, and families will experience in the future. We can use our successes and accomplishments from the last 45 years of IDEA to improve further our funding, implementation, advocacy, and priority for students with disabilities and individuals who experience restricted and marginalized educational opportunities.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IDEA. I am proud, privileged, and enthusiastic about where we together have been and what lays ahead.

George Sugai is a Professor Emeritus Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut.

ED: How did you begin your career in early childhood?

During my undergraduate work, I completed an internship at the University of North Carolina’s TEACCH Autism Program. From this experience, I knew I wanted to work with individuals with autism. I began my career as an inclusive preschool and kindergarten public school teacher. As a teacher, I was unaware of many specific interventions or resources used to support the social, language, and behavioral skills of students with autism. Fueled by my desire to support students with autism in classrooms, as well as the teachers serving those students, I began my doctoral program in 2008 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. I was fortunate to be funded through an Office of Special Education Program leadership grant: Interdisciplinary Preparation in Teaching, Research, and Service focused on Young Children with Autism and Their Families. When I graduated, I accepted a postdoctoral research position at 3C Institute, a small business that focuses on research and development. After completing my postdoctoral work, I returned to the University of North Carolina as a Research Scientist at Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute. At FPG, my work focuses on supporting the use of evidence-based practices for children with autism using a variety of professional development approaches including coaching and interactive, online modules.

ED: What efforts have you been involved in to improve the quality of early childhood programs and services?

My efforts to improve the quality of early childhood programs and services are grounded in the challenges I faced as an early childhood teacher. I struggled to find information about what strategies or interventions I should use for my students with disabilities. With funding from the Office of Special Education Programs and the Institute of Education Sciences, our team developed the Autism Focused Intervention and Modules (AFIRM). This free, publicly available website provides information on evidence-based practices identified through systematic reviews of the literature (see the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence & Practice (NCAEP)). The information is specifically designed for teachers, paraprofessionals, and other practitioners to learn how to plan for, use, and monitor evidence-based practices. Providing information on evidence-based practices is a first step in implementing these practices in classrooms.

ED: What are some of the challenges you have experienced in your work and what strategies have you tried to overcome them?

One challenge we face is working with teachers and practitioners who are overwhelmed with all the demands placed on them. Adding or enhancing the use of evidence-based practices can feel like an additional burden for staff with limited time for professional development and support for implementation. One strategy we suggest is first selecting foundational practices for use with students. Once learned, these practices can be used to address many different skills and behaviors for students. Additionally, foundational practices are embedded in more complex practices so once they have learned the foundational practices, these more complex practices are much easier to learn. Starting small and adding additional practices with the support of a team can have a huge impact for children.

ED: What suggestions do you have for others interested in improving early childhood services and programs?

Retaining quality teachers in the early childhood field is key to building and sustaining strong programs. One way to keep teachers is to help them feel supported and connected to each other and to a larger community of professionals. In our work, and in the work of many in the field, we emphasize creating resources and training/coaching opportunities that tap the expertise teachers already have, support them in learning new skills, and encourage them to be part of a larger learning community. It is important to focus efforts on helping teachers feel empowered and confident that they have what they need to be successful in the classroom.

Ann Sam is an advanced research scientist at Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was sparked by her teaching experiences in public schools. Ann’s work is centered around ensuring that providers from underserved communities have access to technology and research to successfully implement evidence-based practices.

Cross posted from ED’s Homeroom Blog

Posted by Timothy Lawson, May 13, 2021

Announcing the 8th Annual ED Games Expo: June 1 to 5, 2021

A Free All-Virtual Showcase of Game-Changing Innovations in EdTech
developed through ED and Programs Across Government

The ED Games Expo is an annual showcase of game-changing innovations in education technology (EdTech) developed through programs at the Department of Education (ED) and across the federal government. Since 2013, the Expo has been an in-person event at venues across Washington, D.C. Because of the COVID-19 national emergency, the 2021 ED Games Expo is moving online, from June 1 – 5, for an entirely virtual experience. Hosting virtually provides the unique opportunity to engage a national audience and to present content mindful of the pandemic and useful for educational programming in the summer and going forward.

ED Games Expo: Featured Resources
A new set of YouTube playlists and an accompanying PDF guide will be released on June 1 to present video trailers for more than 150 participating government-supported learning games and technologies. These learning games and technologies are appropriate for children and students in early childhood to post-secondary education and special education, and cover a range of topics across STEM, reading, social studies, civics, healthy development, and others. Nearly all the resources are research-based – meaning studies demonstrate the usability, feasibility, and promise of leading to the intended outcomes. Many of the education technologies at ED Games Expo will be available to students and educators who are learning in-person or remotely at no cost during June 2021. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage in virtual Q&A with developers during and after the Expo to learn more.

ED Games Expo: A Range of Online Events
The 2021 ED Games Expo Agenda presents the lineup for 35 online events to be broadcast during the weeklong Expo. The events are designed for a wide audience across the education technology ecosystem, including educators, students, parents and caregivers, developers, researchers, and other stakeholders.

Events include:

Master Classes for Educators: Eight Expo developers present use-case examples and guidance for implementing innovative education technology interventions to support in-person or remote learning across many different topics.
How the Learning Game was Made: Five teams of learning game developers inspire and prompt students to think about the many skills and careers involved in creating a learning game.
Showcase Events: More than 20 government agencies and offices that invest in education technology are broadcasting events to showcase their projects and initiatives. Just a few highlights from the week include events on: innovations in early learning and special education, learning games to combat disinformation, models to support remote tutoring, a live kick-off for a new NASA national student challenge, an esports competition with students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and forums where government leaders, experts, and practitioners reflect on the role of education technology during the era of COVID-19.
A Unique Kick Off Show: This year’s Expo will kick off on June 1, 2021 at 8pm ET with a unique virtual event featuring a few of our favorite children’s TV characters and puppet friends created through ED funded projects.

All Expo events are free and accessible to the public to watch online. Content from all events will be archived and available to watch on demand via YouTube after the event. Follow the ED Games Expo on social media @USEdGov and by using the #EDGamesExpo hashtag.

We hope you will join us in June!

Edward Metz is the Program Manager for the Small Business Innovation Research Program at the Institute of Education Sciences in the US Department of Education.

OSERS is proud to support National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

Held each October, NDEAM aims to educate about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.

To recognize NDEAM, the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) will publish a series of blogs throughout the month. The series will celebrate the career successes of individuals with disabilities who received vocational rehabilitation (VR) services and highlight some of the partnerships state VR agencies have established with businesses across the country.

For more information about NDEAM, visit our partners at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.

NOTA: Octubre es el mes de concientización sobre el síndrome de Down

Una publicación del blog invitado de OSERS por Eliana Tardio, una madre con dos hijos con síndrome de Down. También escribió un blog invitado sobre ella y sus hijos en octubre de 2016.

Read in English.

Hace 17 años, tuve la suerte de dar a luz a mi primer hijo, Emir. Le diagnosticaron síndrome de Down en el útero, pero no fue hasta el momento en que lo sostuve en mis brazos que me di cuenta de una de las verdades más poderosas que comparto con los nuevos padres de niños con síndrome de Down: era simplemente perfecto. Y aunque me esforcé mucho por ver el síndrome, todo lo que pude ver fue al niño más hermoso del mundo: mi hijo.

La vida es un viaje inesperado para todos, pero para algunos de nosotros es aún más impredecible. Tres años después y con la esperanza de tener la experiencia habitual de esperar un hijo sin dudas ni ansiedad, mi ex – marido y yo decidimos embarazarnos otra vez. Hicimos todo bien y según lo sugerido por los médicos. La prueba genética predijo un muy bajo 5% de probabilidad de tener un segundo hijo con la misma condición, por lo que decidimos que era hora de darle a Emir un hermano o una hermana.

En 2007 nació mi hija Ayelén. Fuerte, hermosa y con los ojos bien abiertos. Lo único inesperado fue que ella también nació con síndrome de Down. No puedo mentir al respecto. Estaba completamente destrozada en ese momento y no podía evitar la típica pregunta: ¿por qué yo, y peor aún, por qué yo de nuevo? ¿Por qué mis hijos?

Han pasado 17 y 14 años respectivamente y no solo me he respondido esa pregunta, sino que he crecido junto con mis hijos para ayudar a muchas familias a encontrar sus propias respuestas. La mía está vinculada a una misión que he aprendido a aceptar y celebrar: un compromiso de recordarle a la gente que un diagnóstico no define a una persona y que una persona es una persona primero y siempre. Teniendo dos hijos con la misma condición, todo lo que puedo decir sobre el síndrome de Down es que es una parte indudable de quiénes son que no los define. Crío a un caballero dulce y carismático y a una joven poderosa y fuerte. Ambos son completamente diferentes como individuos, increíbles por igual y diferentes como todos los demás.

Inspirada en todos estos años, a continuación te ofrezco 17 lecciones año tras año:

Acepta con amor y paciencia tus sentimientos como padre a medida que creces junto con tu hijo.
Su propio tiempo es perfecto. Deja ir las expectativas y los estándares absurdos. ¡Disfruta!
Es hora de prepararse para la primera transición de tu hijo. Asegúrate de enviar a la escuela la mejor versión posible de tu hijo a medida que aprendes y comprendes cómo ser tu mejor versión en tu papel de padre y defensor.
No estás solo. Aprovecha los recursos disponibles para ti y tu familia. Entusiásmate por aprender más sobre el derecho de tu hijo a una educación gratuita adecuada.
Sueña en grande y comienza a aprender sobre inclusión. ¡Sí, la inclusión es posible y necesaria!
Tu hijo no necesita ser como los demás para ser asombroso. Concéntrate en tu hijo como individuo y aprende a comunicarte de manera efectiva para que todos lo recuerden.
¡Concéntrate en el progreso! Está bien sentirse ansioso y confundido a veces, pero es necesario ponerse de pie y seguir luchando por amor.
Rodéate de personas positivas que puedan ver la habilidad en la discapacidad. La discapacidad siempre va a ser parte de la ecuación, pero la habilidad es la pieza más importante y está ahí, esperando a ser descubierta y fortalecida.
A medida que la vida avanza, las cosas no se vuelven más fáciles, pero tú te harás más fuerte.
Cuando empieces a sentirte cómodo, una nueva transición sacudirá tu barco. Es hora de concentrarse mientras sigues aprendiendo sobre la escuela intermedia.
Esa escuela gigante parece un monstruo. ¡Lo sé! He estado allí dos veces y todo lo que puedo decir es que con los aliados adecuados, ese monstruo se convertirá en otra oportunidad para que tu hijo crezca y conquiste.
Capacita a tus hijos para que usen sus propias voces. Independientemente de la capacidad de tu hijo para hablar o expresar sus ideas, tu hijo tiene derecho a tener voz. Trabaja con su equipo para encontrar formas de hacerlo realidad.
¿Ha llegado ya tu hijo a la adolescencia? El tiempo vuela. Asegúrate de tratar a tu hijo como la persona que es, un adolescente con necesidades, confusión y pasando por un momento difícil como cualquier otro niño de su edad.
La adolescencia conlleva sus propios desafíos y es posible que te encuentres perdido o desesperado por algunos de ellos. Confía en la sabiduría de otras familias que han pasado por lo mismo. Se honesto, haz preguntas y busca apoyo.
¿Cómo estás? ¡Sí tú! Aplica desde el primer día, pero es solo un recordatorio de que eres importante y mereces amor, compasión y paciencia.
Los niños no piden permiso para crecer. Asegúrate de disfrutar todos los días. Ya no son niños pequeños.
Es simplemente asombroso mirar hacia atrás para darse cuenta de cómo el miedo se convirtió en contención, fuerza y pasión por la inclusión y la diversidad.

La mejor parte de esto. ¡Tú también puedes hacerlo!

Los artículos del blog brindan información sobre las actividades de las escuelas, los programas, los beneficiarios y otras partes interesadas en la educación para promover el debate continuo sobre la innovación y la reforma educativas. Los artículos no respaldan ningún producto, servicio, plan de estudios o pedagogía educativos.

NOTE: October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

An OSERS Guest Blog post by Eliana Tardio, a mother with two children with Down syndrome. She also wrote a Guest Blog about her and her children in October 2016.

Leer en español.

17 years ago, I was blessed to give birth to my first child, Emir. He was diagnosed in utero with Down syndrome but it was not until the moment that I held him in my arms that I realized one of the most powerful truths I share with new parents of kids with Down syndrome: He was simply perfect, and even though, I tried really hard to see the syndrome, all I was able to see was the most beautiful child of the world: my child.

Life is an unexpected ride for everyone but for some of us, it is even more unpredictable. Three years later and hoping to have the regular experience of expecting a child without doubt and anxiety, my ex-husband and I committed to a new pregnancy. We did everything right and as suggested by the doctors. The genetic test predicted a very low 5% of probability of having a second child with the same condition, and so we decided it was time to give Emir a brother or sister.

In 2007, my daughter Ayelen was born. Strong, beautiful, and with her eyes wide open. The only unexpected thing was that she was also born with Down syndrome. I can’t lie about it. I was completely destroyed at the moment, and I couldn’t avoid the typical question: why me, and even worse, why me again? Why my children?

It’s been 17 and 14 years respectively and I have not only have answered that question to myself but I have grown along with my children to help many families find their own answers. Mine is attached to a mission that I have learned to embrace and celebrate: a commitment to remind people that a diagnosis doesn’t define a person and that a person is a person first and always. Having two children with the same condition, all that I can say about Down syndrome is that it is undoubtedly a part of who they are that doesn’t define them. I raise a sweet and charismatic gentleman and a powerful and strong young girl. Both are completely different as individuals, both incredible alike and different like everyone else.

Inspired in all these years, below are 17 lessons year by year:

Accept with love and patience your feelings as a parent as you grow along with your child.
Their own time is perfect. Let go of absurd expectations and standards. Enjoy!
Time to get ready for your child’s first transition. Be sure to send to school the best possible version of your child as you learn and understand how to be your own best version in your role as a parent and advocate.
You are not alone. Take advantage of the resources available for you and your family. Get excited about learning more about your child’s right to a free appropriate education.
Dream big and start learning about inclusion. Yes, inclusion is possible and necessary!
Your child doesn’t need to be like anyone else to be amazing. Focus on your child as an individual and learn to communicate effectively so everybody remembers that.
Focus on progress! It’s ok to feel anxious and get confused sometimes, but it’s necessary to stand up and keep fighting out of love.
Surround yourself with positive people that can see the ability in the disability. Disability is always going to be a part of the equation, but the ability is the biggest piece and is right there, waiting to be uncovered and strengthened.
As life keeps advancing, things don’t get easier but you will get stronger.
When you start to feel comfortable, a new transition shakes your boat. Time to focus as you keep learning about middle school.
That giant school looks like a monster. I know! I have been there twice, and all I can say is that with the right allies, that monster is going to become another opportunity for your child to grow and conquer.
Empower your children to use their own voices. Regardless of your child’s ability to talk or express his or her ideas, your child has a right to have a voice. Work with your team on finding ways to make it happen.
Is your child a teenager already? Time flies. Be sure to treat your child as the person he or she is, a teenager with needs, confusion, and going through a difficult time like any other child his or her age.
Teenage years bring their own challenges and you may find yourself lost or desperate about some of them. Rely on the wisdom of other families who have gone through the same experience. Be honest, ask questions, and look for support.
How are you doing? Yes, you! It applies since day one but is just a reminder that you are important, and you deserve love, compassion, and patience.
Children don’t ask for permission to grow. Be sure you enjoy every single day. They are not small children anymore.
It’s simply amazing to look back to realize how fear turned into contentment, strength, and passion for inclusion and diversity.

The best part of this. You can do it too!

NOTE: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Original News item posted at Mathematica.

This blog is a cross-post from Mathematica and the Vermont Linking Learning to Careers project, which was made possible by a Disability Innovation Fund grant from OSERS’ Rehabilitation Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Education.

Youth with disabilities face many challenges as they transition from high school to adulthood. Compared with their nondisabled peers, a greater share of youth with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty, health issues, service needs, dependence on benefits, and poorer academic performance, and they face lower expectations for their education and employment achievements. More inclusive attitudes and policies, such as those promoted in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, recognize the value of continued education and work experience for youth with disabilities, and evidence has shown that they can succeed in the workforce with proper supports. As a result, federal and state agencies have bolstered their efforts to better serve youth with disabilities during this critical transition.

One of these initiatives is the Vermont Linking Learning to Careers project, which was made possible by a Disability Innovation Fund grant from the Rehabilitation Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Education. A newly released impact evaluation of Linking Learning to Careers conducted by Mathematica showed the project had significant improvements on services, education, and, for some students, employment.

The Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation sought to improve the college and career readiness of roughly 400 high school students with disabilities by providing a more individualized and targeted approach to help them gain confidence and strategically plan for their futures. Students participating in Linking Learning to Careers received unpaid and paid work-based learning experiences aligned with their individual plans, opportunities for college exploration and coursework at the Community College of Vermont, transportation assistance, and access to assistive technology. The program added staff so that each student had a team providing transition support. The program also coincided with a shift at the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation that extended the time frame staff work with participants to go beyond high school graduation into young adulthood and reoriented its service delivery toward a long-term career perspective rather than short-term job placement.

“Through Linking Learning to Careers, the Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation offered a comprehensive approach to work-based learning tied to other supports, and the evaluation provides strong, promising evidence on the early effects of their model,” said Todd Honeycutt, a Mathematica principal researcher and project director of the evaluation.

Mathematica conducted an implementation evaluation to determine whether Linking Learning to Careers was implemented as intended and an impact evaluation to track students’ outcomes for up to two years after they enrolled in the program. Some of the key findings highlighted in the impact report include the following:

Linking Learning to Careers had a large impact on service use. It led to a 16 percentage point increase in the share of students having two work-based learning experiences, including one paid, and was associated with a 41 percentage point increase in the share of students that had at least one work-based learning experience.
There was a large positive impact on enrollment in postsecondary education. The program increased participation in postsecondary education by 8 percentage points.
The program affected employment outcomes for later enrollees but not all participants. Later enrollees in the program were 11 percentage points more likely to have paid employment within 24 months, but the program did not affect employment outcomes for all participants when compared with the control group. The report discusses several reasons for the lack of impact on all participants, including that most youth had not graduated high school by 24 months after enrollment.

Vermont’s ability to design and pilot this program and employ the lessons learned from the evaluation supported the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation’s decision to refine its transition program practices for youth with disabilities. Hear more about the insights and lessons from Linking Learning to Careers in a video podcast about how Vermont went beyond work-based learning experiences in its transition services for youth with disabilities. Also available is a blog that offers a road map to other state vocational rehabilitation agencies looking to improve their youth programs. Finally, check out a recording of a webinar in which project leaders, evaluation and technical assistance staff, transition team members, and a student participant discuss their experiences with Linking Learning to Careers.

NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

By Kayla Queen, a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council of the National Center for Learning Disabilities

When attempting to draw conclusions as to why I have been spared from many of the unfavorable statistics encountered by large percentages of people with learning disabilities, I have been able to explain it in part by the self-worth I was taught to have for myself and the times I have felt valued in school.

Navigating formal schooling hasn’t been an easy task for me. I’ve had several hits to my self-esteem when I’ve underperformed, and I have had a disproportionate amount of stress and anxiety regarding passing classes and scoring well enough on important tests. It often felt like I never was really standing on solid ground or like I was living in a world not made for me.

Early on in my first semester of college, I had a professor hold me back after class to instruct me that I should start using the reading and writing center as he found my writing skills not on par with what they needed to be to succeed in college. I had barely passed the writing proficiency needed to graduate high school, and I started to break down when I told him of my learning disability. Thinking of all the snags I had hid that had beaten down on me over the last 18 years, all I could think was “this is where my dyslexia catches up to me.” His response, however, was surprising and exactly what I needed.

He told me that while the other students were more proficient writers, I had a deep way of thinking that was unteachable and that I should not get caught up on that. His comment and others like it helped pull me through hundreds of hours of writing papers that were often marked down due to grammar and organization or because I couldn’t articulate an idea clearly. When critiques were mingled with words of praise, when educators showed an interest in me, who I was and what I had to offer, it engaged me and challenged me to push myself to further my contributions both in written thought and through my participation on projects.

I did not feel like learning disabilities and the experiences of people with dyslexia were completely understood by my teachers and professors, but it made a difference when they would take an interest in me. As a person with dyslexia in this society, I run a higher risk of dropping out of high school or college, struggling with mental health issues, enduring law enforcement actions, experiencing poverty, and more. All of those are statistics that show the grim reality faced by people with learning disabilities. But I have been spared the worst of it in part due to my sense of self-worth, even in discouraging times. I would not have been as well off as I am if it was not for the supportive words and actions of some of my educators.

There will always be more we can do to promote the welfare of people with learning disabilities. We need more research to be done, better teaching practices to be implemented, and to devise strategies that can address the social issues we face. Making these changes can lift up students with disabilities and change their lives, and the lives of all students. Caring educators enhance and improve the experiences of students. If it weren’t for the educators who taught me, the life experiences that prepared me, and the self-worth I developed throughout my life, I might not be here today to write this blog and to fight for systemic change for students with learning disabilities.

NOTE: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

By Rachelle Johnson, a member of the Young Adult Leadership Council of the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

As a child I was diagnosed with dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Adults told me I was “differently abled” and to not categorize myself negatively, as in “disabled.” This introduced me to a societal view of “the disabled” and how to navigate an ableist society by distancing from the term disabled. The adults wanted this so I would not be treated in the negative ways people with disabilities often were.

I quickly learned how society viewed children with disabilities. I saw differences in how my “disabled versus non-disabled” peers were treated. Other kids made mean remarks because I was pulled out of the room for reading instruction and for the way I read, for which I was embarrassed. I remember a girl teasingly asked, “Why can’t you read?” I explained I had dyslexia, a learning disability that made it hard for me to read. She responded laughing, “So you are stupid and disabled?” I tried to repeat what adults had told me: “No, I am `differently abled,’ not disabled like other disabled people,” but this explanation failed to make sense to me or the girl teasing me.

I did distance myself from disability. I am thankful that I grew up with other learning-disabled peers — the one space where I did fit in. This played a big part in maintaining my positive identity of being learning disabled. In having this community, I was able to find joy in that part of myself that was dyslexic with ADHD. I was solid in my identity as a dyslexic with ADHD, which I knew were disabilities, but I didn’t see myself as disabled, at least not like other people with disabilities. But I knew this was incongruent.

While dyslexia can be a hidden disability and I usually passed as non-disabled, that was not always the case. When people perceived me as disabled, they interacted with me differently. When I was 16, a girl my age talked to me in a baby voice: raising her pitch, elongating her sounds, and lowering her vocabulary. This confused me before realizing she had perceived me as disabled and was thus infantilizing me. My knee-jerk reaction was to distance myself from disability and remind her I was in the same classes as her. She then changed her tone, turned red, and apologized. This wasn’t the only time I had been perceived as disabled and was infantilized, but this experience stuck with me. Why, when infantilized, did I distance myself from disability instead of questioning why any disabled person would be treated this way? Additionally, if she had been so embarrassed to treat a non-disabled person in that way, why did she think it was okay to do this to people with disabilities? This was around the start of the true deconstruction of my disability identity, or lack thereof.

How could I ignore my identity as a disabled person when disabled is literally in the name “learning disabled”? Dyslexia is listed as a disability in the DSM and is covered as a disability under IDEA and ADA. I was even in special education for my dyslexia. But did I personally identify as disabled? The question of whether a person is disabled can be complex. For many, a diagnosis does not automatically lead to identifying as disabled. Instead, disability can be a chosen identity.

Being told I was “differently abled” was to make me fit in better, but it did the opposite. As I grew older, I felt like I fit in nowhere. I was neither disabled nor non-disabled; I was learning disabled, disabled but with the qualifier of learning disabled.

It was not until I was 18 — 11 years into being diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD — that I would identify as disabled without hesitation. To get there I had to deconstruct how I saw disability and how I saw myself within it. Was I really not “disabled” or did I see disability negatively and did not want others putting their perception of “disabled” on me? I worried I wasn’t disabled enough to call myself disabled, and that I was in some way invalidating the experiences of other people with disabilities if I identified as disabled.

I deconstructed by learning about disability from other people with disabilities, instead of people without disabilities. I read their perspectives and learned about disability history and culture. I questioned the views I held. This work radicalized the way I saw disability and myself as a person with a disability. I learned there is a diverse, expansive community of people with disabilities, one with history and belonging. Disability is neither fully positive nor negative, but dynamic. I grew to self-identify as disabled with pride. In doing so, I gained self-confidence to be myself and felt validated in my experiences. I continue to learn and grow.

I recognize my experiences as a dyslexic with ADHD are not going to be the same as all others with disabilities. I recognize a privilege in the ability to “pass” as non-disabled given the invisible nature of my disability and a privilege in having support and access needs different than other people with disabilities. But by acknowledging these differences, we can create one unified community. When those of us who are learning disabled distance ourselves from other people with disabilities, we further marginalize their community and push the idea that disability is negative and to be avoided.

When we stand together, we as people with disabilities make up a large part of the population. Yes, we can further categorize ourselves into our specific disabilities, but we must also come together as a community. Today, I am dyslexic with ADHD, I am disabled, and I maintain no reservations in the pride I hold in these identities.

by Meriah Nichols

I really thought I knew disability. I thought I knew what it feels like to have a disability; I thought I knew how it is to navigate a world that often does not understand or appreciate the presence of disability. I thought I knew the feelings that a disability can bring with it: the hurt, the pain, the joy, and the delight. I really thought I knew it all.

I had gone through the windshield of a car when I was four years old, you see. My brain sustained injury from the impact. My face, shredded by the glass, was stitched back together in time for me to start school. The red scars laced over my face, brilliantly visible against my pale skin—quite the delight for the other children of the early 80s! Later I received my glasses with lenses so thick, they looked like they were the bottom of Coke bottles. A few years later and I was found to be profoundly deaf. Enormous hearing aids were added.

The layering of these experiences became the pavement upon which I navigated my world. Disability is an intrinsic component to who I am, affecting every element of my being in that it affects my hearing, my sight, and my very perception of the world around me. It affects how others see me, and quite literally affects how I see them.

You would think then, that having a child with Down syndrome, an intellectual disability, would be easy, right? Because I thought I understood disability, from the marrow on out.

What I did not understand is that while I understood disability, I understood my disabilities. I know what it’s like to navigate a world that speaks the “language” of the able-bodied, but I don’t understand the cultures that exist within the Disability community. The d/Deaf, Blind, and Autistic communities and the Down syndrome community each have their own culture based on shared experiences.

Even within these respective communities lies the difference held within the individual experience. My daughter is not the same as others with Down syndrome, just as I am not the same as others in the d/Deaf community, and none of us in the human family are the same as one another. We are all unique, just as all flowers, stars, leaves, and blades of grass are unique.

I thought I knew disability. I thought I knew how my daughter’s trajectory would unfold. People said all these things about “special” and “enjoying going slower.” I don’t appreciate sentiments, however well meaning, that end up feeling like they separate us from them. “Special” is one of those, as it creates a space, an “other,” but there is no other. We’re all here, we’re all ultimately one family, we’re all going through this life, aren’t we? In a similar vein, I was confounded on the mystery of this “slower” that seemed to be equated with Down syndrome and intellectual disability.

Having an intellectual disability, as I have learned through my daughter, does not equal “slower” but rather, “own pace.” “Own pace,” however, is not synonymous with slower. There are some things that she learns swiftly, and others she just does not care about and will probably never learn.

To be honest, I deeply admire that about her. I think too many people, myself included, spend far too much time in this precious, short life of ours learning things that mainstream culture tells us is important, but to what end? Is it really important to us, for us? Are these pieces of information going to enhance the quality of our life? I have seen time and again my daughter reach for what is important to her, absorb it swiftly, and move on. I’ve seen her just as swiftly reject what isn’t important to her and move on. She doesn’t spend time on what she deems useless.

Another thing that I deeply admire about my daughter is her presence in the here and now. Mindfulness is becoming a buzzword, a hot topic and key concept. My daughter was born with mindfulness: her entire being is squarely in the present, with only quick glances to the future or the past. This is a skill, and it’s one that comes naturally to her. Perhaps it’s the same or similar in others with Down syndrome? I suspect it is, but just as we would not lump everyone who is Latinx into one group because of Spanish spoken, we shouldn’t lump everyone who has Down syndrome together, simply because of their intellectual disability.

I really thought I knew disability. I thought I knew what it feels like to have a disability, but it turns out that I only knew what it felt like to have my disabilities. I thought I knew how it is to navigate a world that often does not understand or appreciate the presence of disability, but it turns out I only understand what it’s like to navigate the world with my own disabilities. I thought I knew the feelings that a disability can bring with it, but I only knew the feelings that my disabilities bring with it. My daughter’s life and the trajectory of her experience upon the platform of her intellectual disability are her own; I just appreciate being a part of it.

Meriah Nichols was raised in the Pacific and Asia, Meriah Nichols is deaf (with traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), a single parent to three children, one on the Autism spectrum, one with Down syndrome, and one typically developing. Meriah is also a career counselor, plant nerd, and professional Lego picker-upper. You can connect with her at Unpacking Disability with Meriah Nichols, https://www.meriahnichols.com

NOTE: October is Blindness Awareness Month

NIMAC Project Director, Nicole Gaines

When typical textbooks don’t meet the needs of students with reading disabilities, visual impairments, or physical disabilities, the OSEP-funded National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) helps ensure that these students can obtain the accessible formats they need to engage and contribute alongside their peers.

The NIMAC, located at the American Printing House for the Blind, was created by IDEA to serve as the national repository for digital source files for use in the production of accessible formats for K–12 instructional materials. The files the NIMAC receives from publishers are in a special format (called “NIMAS”) which is not distributed directly to students but is used to produce formats like braille, digital audio, large print, and digital text. These formats are then distributed by states and the agencies they designate to qualifying students in elementary and secondary schools.

Bookshare, also an OSEP-funded project, is the most widely used provider of accessible digital formats produced from NIMAS files. They convert files from the NIMAC into a range of accessible digital formats and make these available free of charge to eligible students through Bookshare’s online library.

Recent changes have simplified the process of determining student eligibility for accessible materials produced from the NIMAC’s files. The list of professionals who can certify student eligibility now includes medical professionals, teachers, counselors, librarians, and school administrators. This expansion means that qualifying students can be certified as NIMAS-eligible more quickly, helping ensure they receive the accessible formats they need to participate and succeed in school. For more about these changes, review the NIMAC’s New NLS Guidelines PowerPoint.

Another recent change for the NIMAC is the 2020 Notice of Interpretation which clarifies that the Center can accept from publishers — and provide to states — source files for digital textbooks as well as hard copy textbooks. This change provides an alternative for schools to obtain accessible formats for digital instructional materials if the standard digital textbooks are not fully accessible.

To read more about NIMAS and these recent changes, review OSEP’s recently updated NIMAS Q&A, or visit the NIMAC at https://nimac.us.

Stay tuned for our next blog in this series, “Hands on” Reading in Florida.

NOTE: October is National Blindness Awareness Month

In recognition of Blindness Awareness Month the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) is pleased to share experiences of students with visual impairments and their parents and teachers, highlighting how we are expanding access to reading and learning for students across the United States.

Recently, we spoke with a team of braillists and teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) in Hillsborough, Florida. These professionals know braille is a powerful tool that allows students to actively engage and take ownership in their learning experiences. As one TVI describes, “if you’re always just listening instead of actively seeking your own information, that’s not active learning. If you’re saying, ‘let me use the glossary, and table of contents’ that’s active learning.”

Having access to materials in braille also facilitates student independence. A Florida student, now in college, describes the experience of receiving braille materials in school, explaining, “I didn’t have to have anybody read anything to me, which is awesome…[braille] helped me in a lot of ways as far as me being able to learn independently and grasp concepts.” Conversely, not having materials at the same time as sighted peers puts braille readers at a disadvantage, as another student relates: “It’s a stressful thing if you don’t have what you need to do your homework. You basically can’t do the assignment and you have to tell the teacher. It’s so demeaning. That doesn’t feel good.”

For students who read braille, the NIMAC supports the efficient production and delivery of braille textbooks and related core materials. The expanding number of files available in the NIMAC (now over 67,000!) means that states can hit the ground running when there is a need to produce braille and other accessible formats. Additionally, now that the NIMAC can accept files for digital instructional materials, we can further level the playing field for braille readers, especially for younger students who may not yet have the keyboard navigation skills for interacting with an online curriculum.

While advances in technology like refreshable electronic braille displays allow many students to access content digitally, embossed braille is still essential for education, and TVIs don’t expect braille books to disappear any time soon. Books for subjects like math and science require students to explore an entire page (or more) of material at once, rather than the single line of text available on a refreshable braille display. Says one TVI, “I’d never give the math book on a device…. For me an actual textbook, braille printed on paper, is the only way to go.”

Stay tuned for our next blog in this series, “Ella.”

Student, teacher, and parent quotes and experiences excerpted from: Perkinson, L., Mueller, P., Russell, A., & Schroeder, K. (2020). NIMAC/NIMAS Impact Report. Evergreen Evaluation & Consulting, Inc.

NOTE: October is Blindness Awareness Month as well as Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

Ella and Beth Johnson

My name is Ella, and I’m a junior at Irondale High School in Minnesota. This school year, I’m busy studying for advanced placement courses, playing percussion and coordinating audio equipment in my school’s band, and making time to read book recommendations from friends. I was diagnosed with dyslexia in fifth grade, and reading print books has always been challenging for me compared with most of my classmates. However, accessible digital books from Bookshare give me the same opportunities to learn, engage, and show what I know.

Bookshare has made an enormous difference for me and has changed how I feel about reading. Prior to getting started with Bookshare in fifth grade, I think I had only ever read three books (with help) in my entire school experience; within the first year after enrolling in Bookshare, I’d read over 100 books, including the Harry Potter series!

I use a range of tools and formats to access my textbooks, including a “text grabber” app on my phone which scans and reads text using the phone’s camera, as well as a hand-held, pen-like reading tool which reads aloud when I point to a word or line of text. Recently, I get more of my textbooks through Bookshare—especially for Advanced Placement courses. Bookshare lets me download digital versions of my textbooks, which give me instant, independent access to listen and read along in an app on my smartphone. Often, I set up the printed textbook on my desk next to my phone so I can listen to the text while also being able to review the images, charts, and graphs in the printed book. There was a learning curve when I first got access to Bookshare, but I figured it out mostly on my own.

My mom and I were pleased to learn about recent changes to eligibility requirements for students who need accessible textbooks (see this blog post from the National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) for more info). These changes will make it easier to confirm if a student is eligible for accessible textbooks. We hope that more schools and families will consider Bookshare and other accessibility options for students. My mom encourages parents of students with reading disabilities to ask about resources like Bookshare. In our experience, schools have been open to supporting whatever tools meet my needs. For example, my teachers allow me to have my phone out to read my textbooks, although other students have to put their phones away during class.

I am glad to be able to access digital textbooks in Bookshare, versus the all the different, less accessible formats on the websites of digital textbook providers. In my experience, online textbooks sometimes crash and can be less user friendly, while with Bookshare, I can depend on a consistent system as well as the customized settings in my phone app.

With the credits I’m earning in high school, I’ll graduate next year having already earned an associate’s degree, ready to enter college and study for a career in innovation and design.

OSEP funding enables Bookshare membership to be free not only to eligible K-12 students, but also to students enrolled in colleges in the U.S., and I look forward to continuing to use Bookshare to access my university textbooks.

Want to learn more? Listen to Ella and other students share their experiences with accessible materials and technologies in this Game Changing Technology video from the 2021 Ed Games Expo.

Also, check out the other two blog posts in this series, What’s New at the National Instructional Materials Access Center and “Hands on” Reading in Florida.

NOTE: May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

By Donia Shirley, Vice President of the National Family Association for Deaf-Blind and parent of Jaxson, a child who is deaf-blind.

When a baby is added to a family, invisible bonds often quickly form with others who have children the same age. For families who have children with complex support needs, that community can seem out of reach, especially when they have a child with a low incidence disability such as deaf-blindness.

A few days after our 6-week-old son Jaxson was transferred to our local children’s hospital, we started receiving diagnoses. We learned he was deaf-blind; he was profoundly Deaf and had colobomas (an eye condition that cannot be completely corrected). The medical team eventually informed us that Jaxson had CHARGE Syndrome.

We did not know anyone who had a child with a disability and felt lost. The community we had built when we had our older son, people we could call on about changing diapers and warming milk, didn’t understand our new situation. We now had a child with a tracheostomy and medical issues who was deaf-blind, and we didn’t have anyone to turn to.

We decided to look for information about CHARGE and immediately found the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation. Within a few hours of registering, I received an email from one of the staff members. This was an incredible moment and one of the first times I realized that having connections with other families would be vital for our family’s survival.

After connecting with the foundation staff member, I looked on social media and found another family who had a child with CHARGE. Connecting with a mom who had a young child with CHARGE who was thriving gave me hope for Jaxson. Seeing a child with CHARGE who was walking, communicating, and doing all the things his doctors told us he might never do was a big moment and motivated us to keep going in those early days.

Jaxson spent his first six months in the hospital, and during that time, he received inpatient therapy services. Early on, there was a moment when I recognized that our role in his care was critical. We were working on having him hold his head up, and when he finally met this huge milestone, the occupational therapist acknowledged his hard work and what we were doing with him daily to help him develop.

The more I learned about how to support Jaxon’s growth and development, the more I realized that our family would be his biggest champions, working to advocate for his future. If we didn’t join him in his hard work and connect with other families and professionals who could help us, he wouldn’t be able to reach his full potential.

At 6 months old, Jaxson was released from the hospital, and we started working with the early intervention system. Unfortunately, none of the personnel we encountered had experience with a child who was deaf-blind. I set out to find resources, such as a teacher of the visually impaired, a teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing, and the state deaf-blind project—the Florida and Virgin Islands Deaf-Blind Collaborative. The project helped us find the resources and services Jaxson needed.

Without support, it’s hard to find your footing. Making connections with families is like a snowball effect: You start to feel more connected the more you build relationships. Suddenly, you have a community, and those supports and relationships are vital to helping the whole family thrive.

I learned the most about deaf-blindness once I found and began networking with the National Family Association for Deaf-Blind (NFADB). NFADB educated us about the services that Jaxson would need and provided access to professionals who helped us learn about effective strategies for children who are deaf-blind and showed us ways we could replicate them in our work with Jaxson.

Over the years, we have encountered a lack of qualified professionals and, as a result, decided to withdraw Jaxson from the public school system and create a learning environment for him at home. Thanks to support from the Family Empowerment Scholarship, we put together a terrific educational team of therapists, teachers, and individuals who work with Jaxson. They see him as an individual and not a specific diagnosis. Since starting his homeschooling two years ago, Jaxson has made tremendous progress. He can now write, identify, and spell about 80 words, communicate using sign language, and recently taught himself Braille (without explicit instruction). He has an amazing speech-language pathologist. She’s taught herself braille and sign language to support Jaxson more effectively. He is thriving, our family is thriving, and we have found our footing.

We wouldn’t have been able to come this far without the support, knowledge, and connections we found through family organizations, our state of Florida’s deaf-blind project, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired’s online resources, and the National Center on Deaf-Blindness. No one prepares you to have a child who is deaf-blind or who has CHARGE. We knew nothing before we connected and engaged with other families and the people at these organizations. Thanks to those connections, we are now confident in our ability to be strong advocates for Jaxson. It truly is all about the connections—for us and for Jaxson.

October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

By Athena Hallberg

My learning disabilities and anxiety have always gone hand in hand; however, while I was diagnosed at a very young age with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and an auditory processing delay, my anxiety disorder went undiagnosed for years. My anxiety disorder was my biggest secret — the worst kept secret, but a secret all the same.

From a young age, I felt like a failure because of how I thought others perceived me for having learning disabilities, which contributed to my anxiety disorder. I had my first panic attack in kindergarten after filling out a worksheet backwards. I didn’t know why I wasn’t learning to read or write like my classmates. Why couldn’t I tell the difference between a “b” and a “d” or my right from my left? I knew something was wrong with me. I became very withdrawn, barely spoke and sat by myself on a bench at recess because it was all too much.

That year, I was diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and an auditory processing delay. My parents moved me to a school for first grade that specialized in learning disabilities. Over the years, I learned to read and write. I eventually excelled at school, but the fear that everyone would see me as a failure never went away. I feared it was only a matter of time before people realized I was worthless. The more I succeeded, the worse the anxiety became because the more I felt like I was going to let everyone down.

When I’m having a panic attack, I feel like I’m being chased by a monster in a deep dark hole. The monster is screaming at me, “Failure, Failure!” while I try to run away but can’t because I can’t run away from myself. I knew this level of fear wasn’t normal, but I remained undiagnosed despite the obvious signs of my disorder.

I was able to hide the panic attacks mostly as they usually happened at home when I had time to think about school and all the ways I could fail. I also didn’t want the stigma of an anxiety disorder, and I was ashamed. I told myself my anxiety was just weakness, and I was selfish for not being able to handle everything on my own. Even if I wanted to, I didn’t know how to go about asking for help. In high school, I feared that if I revealed how much I was struggling with anxiety, I would be pulled from the Advanced Placement and honors classes that I worked so hard to stay in despite my learning disabilities. Still, the fear was growing worse.

When I went to the University of Chicago, my anxiety didn’t go away. I feared that a former teacher was right about me when she said that not every child can succeed or go to college even as I succeeded at a top-tier university. I was more terrified than ever to admit that I was struggling. I heard horror stories of peers’ colleges forcing them out or asking them to leave school when they admitted they were struggling with their mental health. Having been counseled out of a school before due to my disability, I was fearful that if I admitted I was struggling with anxiety, I would be pushed out even though I had not heard of UChicago doing this to its students.

I finally accepted I needed help when the fear grew so bad at the start of my junior year of college that my grades started to slip, and I couldn’t focus due to exhaustion from multiple panic attacks a week. It was only then, crying and shaking, I dragged myself into a therapist’s office.

Through cognitive behavioral therapy and a very light dose of medication, I no longer believe the lies. While my anxiety disorder is much better—I haven’t had a single panic attack in about a year—it shouldn’t have been such a struggle to seek help and find a diagnosis. It’s absurd that I spent so many years suffering due to fear and stigma.

My story isn’t unique. Studies suggest that LD individuals are twice as likely to struggle with mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, as the general public[1]. Much of this correlation, I suppose, likely stems from the lasting impacts of educational trauma in a system that all too often fails LD children and repeatedly tells them that they are worthless from a young age.

I could have benefited from teachers better trained to help LD children. We need to recognize LD individuals as not just having reading issues or a processing delay. We need to see the whole person, including our other conditions often associated with learning disabilities. We need to provide support for those conditions as well. Together, we can eradicate stigma and help students get the support and resources they need.

Athena is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago. She is now pursuing her master’s degree in public policy at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She is a member of the National Center for Learning Disabilities’ Young Adult Leadership Council.

[1] Wilson et al 2009: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19103798/

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

by Terri Leyton

Seventeen and a half years ago, our world was rocked when Kelsey was born.

Everything changed when she was whisked away to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for observation. The obstetrician and NICU pediatrician came back to tell my husband and me that Kelsey had a pretty significant heart defect, and they suspected she had Down syndrome. Many questions swirled in our heads: Could her heart be repaired? Will she survive? What will our life be like raising a child with Down syndrome?

What will her life be like?

In time, we received some answers. Yes, she would survive heart surgery. Thankfully, it was fully repaired with just one surgery when she was still a tiny 4-month-old infant. Other than that scariest day of our lives — when we handed our baby off and trusted complete strangers to open her up and put her back together — our life has been kind of typical. Sure, there have been some extras: more doctors’ visits, early intervention when she was younger, and now individualized education programs and transition planning. Over time, I began to notice that just about every family carries something extra. It’s the only life we’ve known, so it’s just what we do.

Some answers we are still figuring out. What will her life be like? Our lives are shaped by our experiences, and we’ve tried to give Kelsey as many of the experiences that we would provide for any other child.

One of the best pieces of advice we ever received about raising Kelsey came from her cardiologist before her heart was ever repaired. He said, “do not spoil this child; treat her like you would any other child. Have expectations.”

We might have figured that out on our own, but what he said helped to shape Kelsey’s life more than he will ever know.

Since academics and sports are important to my husband and me, we incorporated a lot of reading and developmental learning games early on and then sought the schools and programs that would set high expectations.

We signed Kelsey up for our local park and recreation soccer league when she was 5, and my husband volunteered to be an assistant coach to keep her on task. A couple years later, he was head coach and led Kelsey’s teams into championship games. As the girls got older, it became clear that the ability gap widened, and Kelsey needed to be in a different sports environment to remain safe and competitive.

Off to Special Olympics we went!

Special Olympics has been a wonderful experience for Kelsey and us. She has played softball, soccer and participates in athletics (also known as track and field). This past June Kelsey represented North Carolina when she competed in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando, Florida. Not only did she receive a bronze medal for her 100-meter dash and a seventh-place ribbon for her mini-javelin throw, she made lasting memories, made friends with athletes from across the state and met people from many other states. I don’t know many 17-year-olds who can say they competed at a national level!

This was the summer of Kelsey. As if the Special Olympics USA Games wasn’t enough, Kelsey also met her sports hero, Alex Morgan, a player for the San Diego Wave in the National Women’s Soccer League and on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Morgan helped the U.S. win their 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup titles. This epic meeting was made possible by peers in her high school who were part of a Junior Dream Team with an organization called Dream on 3. Dream on 3 grants sports wishes (similar to Make-A-Wish) to kids experiencing life altering conditions. If Kelsey had not been included with her typically developing peers as much as possible through eighth grade, she would never have known these students who chose her for this experience.

Of course, these events are part of the highlight reel. Parents don’t always reveal the hard stuff. We certainly never envisioned living through a global pandemic when asking, “What will her life be like?”

During Kelsey’s eighth grade year, the world shut down. Those were dark times for many of us and a lot of people found the light on the other side by leaning into their friendships and staying connected through texting, email and phone calls. That’s difficult for a person who has some expressive communication challenges. It’s also difficult when most of your friendships are school-based. Kelsey makes friends pretty easily because she’s outgoing, funny and into the same things her classmates follow like video games, music and sports. Translating school friendships into authentic social friendships in which she’s included outside of school has not been as easy. Those were some rather lonely times.

Again, we are grateful to the organizations we were involved like Special Olympics, Dream on 3, and the local Down Syndrome Association, who provided whatever virtual programming they could and then gradually phased into in-person events. We are thankful for the parents who have raised their kids to see past Kelsey’s communication challenges and to include her.

Will she be included in social circles after graduation? What will her life be like?

We are now well into transition planning for adult life, and we are faced with these questions even more. Kelsey is enrolled in the occupational course of study diploma track. She’s a junior and two evenings per week since March she has been employed in an ice cream shop that she says is the “best job ever!” She arranged her job through Vocational Rehabilitation Youth Transition Services. This year she’ll go out to job sites for employment training as part of the school program. We know she will be ready to work when she graduates. Will the work be ready for Kelsey?

If only we had a crystal ball to see into the future, but, alas, we do not. We will continue to rely on the experiences we have shared to shape the future. We will lean into our family, friends, and community, including local and statewide organizations that support families raising a child with a disability. We will answer the questions one at a time.

What will her life be like? We are all working on that one!

Terri Leyton is the Technical Assistance Coordinator for Region B Parent Technical Assistance Center and Early Intervention Project Manager with Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Meteorology from Penn State and an MBA from UNC-Charlotte. Terri has worked with Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center since October 2017. Before that, she worked for the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte for seven years. Terri is originally from Northeast Pennsylvania and now resides in Harrisburg, North Carolina with her husband, Steve, and two children (Kelsey, 17, and Tyler, 11). She proudly wears the moniker of Soccer Mom, loves the beach and girls’ trips disguised as 5K races!

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This year’s theme is “Disability: Part of the Equity Equation.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month | DISABILITY: Part of the Equity Equation | #NDEAM | DOL.GOV/ODEP

By Bridgeway Community Employment Services

The following story originally appeared in the January 2022 edition of the RSA NCRTM Newsletter.

What is IPS?

According to IPS Employment Services:

Individual Placement and Support (IPS) is a model of supported employment for people with serious mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar, depression).

IPS supported employment helps people living with behavioral health conditions work at regular jobs of their choosing. Although variations of supported employment exist, IPS refers to the evidence-based practice of supported employment. Mainstream education and technical training are included as ways to advance career paths.

Meet Nate

Nate is a great example of an IPS success story. Prior to obtaining employment, Nate struggled with his mental health diagnosis and his diabetes. With these two health challenges, Nate felt bleak regarding his employment outlook.

Nate was uncertain about his financial future, so he decided to apply for Social Security benefits because he felt this was the only manner to receive financial stability. He wanted to work and pressed on in his journey to employment.

Nate began receiving services from Community Employment Services in Illinois to help him with preparing and finding employment. Community Employment Services helped Nate prepare for employment and encouraged him on his journey to employment. On March 12, 2021, Nate accepted a full-time custodian position with the Par-a-dice Casino.

Nate transitioned effortlessly to being employed. He has worked full-time for the last two years. For many weeks, Nate has volunteered to work overtime (40-50 hours a week) to cover unfilled shifts for call-ins while having perfect attendance himself. Nate has been recognized by his employer for doing an outstanding job and was nominated for “Employee of the Month.” In addition, Nate has been approached about training for a supervisor role.

Nate’s work success has also brought on many other positive life changes. Employment has assisted Nate with financial independence. He was able to purchase a new car. His employment has also helped him improve his physical health. Nate reports being in his best physical shape of his life. Nate’s confidence and independence has healed and improved his relationships with family members. Nate recently met his 90-days successful employment milestone and continues to grow and thrive in his job.

Congratulations to Nate, and best wishes as you continue your journey!

More about IPS

To learn more about IPS please visit IPS Employment Center. If you are interested in participating in the IPS program in your local area, please check with your local VR agency to see if this service is available.

About author: Bridgeway Inc. is a 501(c)3 organization providing community-based health and human services to a wide range of individuals in need.

October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month

By Bridget Brown

I have never let the fact that I have Down Syndrome stop me from dreaming about what I want to do in my life.

I was the first person with a disability included in general education classes in my school district, and I have continued on my inclusion adventure throughout my life.

I am very excited because recently I started a new chapter in my life. I am a college student at the University of Illinois Chicago, UIC Co-Operative Experience Certificate program, also called the Co-Op program. This is a two-year inclusive program that has both an academic and a career focus. For me this is a dream come true!

You might be wondering what my college experience is like. I would like to share a little about my new college experience. Maybe some of you are self-advocates and thinking about college, or some of you might already be in college and would like to know more about my experience.

I have always wanted to go to college. Before I went to the UIC Co-Op program, I started out attending my local community college for a number of years. They have lots of exciting classes there, but I was hoping for something more inclusive. I also did an online summer college program during the pandemic at another community college. That was fun!

When I started with the UIC Co-Op program, my first class was called Radical Inclusion. This was a perfect class for me because I am an inclusion advocate, and it gave me information about the history of inclusion and disabilities. Now I know how to be a better advocate for people with disabilities. It was very interesting. During that time, I even made friends because I worked with a team of my peers who were also in the Co-Op program.

I also took a class called Career Building. This helped me prepare to get a paid internship and employment. I made a cover page and fixed up my resume. I learned interviewing skills and the difference between formal vs informal questions. I also learned how to get a paid internship.

Being part of this class, I learned the importance of being professional in my work relationships. I now have a paid internship at the nursing simulation lab in the nursing department at UIC.

I love my new internship at the nursing department working in the simulation lab. This is a lab where students learn how to work with patients by practicing on amazing mannequins. They also work with patients who are actors. I am one of the actors who plays the part of a patient with a disability so the students can learn about how to work with individuals with disabilities in a health care setting. It is very exciting and a new program for the nursing department. I love it! We are working as team that includes nurses, dentists and pharmacists.

This fall, I am studying Disability in American Film. I am learning how people with disabilities are portrayed in movies and how that describes their life to people in the world. The way movies portray people with disabilities can be positive or negative. It is important to hear the real voices of people with disabilities so they can share their own stories about their lives.

For me, college life is wonderful, but it is hard! I have to be very organized and speak up for myself. I have a letter of accommodations so I can get a lot of accommodations in my college classes. This is very helpful!! Being part of a college and being included in general education classes is fantastic. I love working with other students who are also in the program and some who are college students without disabilities. I want to get to know more students and professionals.

Life as a college student is different, but I am learning the ropes of being safe and using self-determination by speaking up for myself and for helping others. I also learned that classmates are very kind and respectful, and that I can trust them. I have an app on my phone that helps me get around this very big campus. I also need transportation because I don’t drive. I am glad I have some support people to help me.

As part of my program, I went to Washington, D.C. in June as a Think College Policy Advocate with my teacher Jordyn Jensen. I advocated for college opportunities for people with disabilities and more inclusive opportunities in education and employment for people with intellectual disability. We encouraged lawmakers to open their minds and break down barriers that prevent people with disabilities from going to college. College should be accessible to everyone with and without a disability.

I told them that:

Everyone deserves the right to live in their home and in their community where they belong.
Everyone deserves the right to learn in a FULLY inclusive environment.
Everyone deserves the right to access higher education and be a lifelong learner.
Everyone deserves the right to have a career, be employed, and be paid a competitive salary.

I hope that they listened and that they will open some more doors for disabled people.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts about my college experience. If you are a self-advocate and thinking about college, I encourage you to check it out and see what is available in your area and throughout the country. There are lots of great programs! If you are in high school, I encourage you to think ahead and take classes that will help you be successful in college.

Remember to ALWAYS DWELL IN THE POSSIBILITIES!

Bridget Brown is a self-advocate who is a national public speaker and a champion for inclusion in school and in our communities.

By Rebecca Sheffield, Education Program Specialist

From educational games to online libraries to our school lunch menus, everything has gone digital, and everyone should have access to these digital educational materials and experiences. On May 18, the world recognizes Global Accessibility Awareness Day to draw attention to innovations, expertise, changes, and change-makers in digital accessibility.

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights defines accessibility as “when a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally integrated and equally effective manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use.” To learn more, visit What is Accessibility? from the Office of Special Education Programs’ (OSEP’s) National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM Center).

In the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), we strive for accessibility in all we do. Additionally, we support numerous projects, centers, and resources to help agencies, schools, educators, administrators, families, and students meet and exceed standards and best practices for digital accessibility. Here are just a few highlights of resources and centers funded by OSERS!

Tools for Your Toolbox

With the increased use of technology in all areas of education, we’ve become accustomed to using our computers to create and read educational content. We’ve learned the ins and outs of word processing, spreadsheets, email, and presentation software, and we’ve gotten creative in our use of multimedia content including videos and websites. Unfortunately, just because something is a digital product, it doesn’t mean it’s accessible, and many haven’t learned the steps to take to make content accessible for everyone.

Never fear! It’s not too late to learn to create accessible digital materials and to fix inaccessible materials so that everyone has access. These resources from OSEP-funded centers are just what you need to get started!

Designing for Accessibility
OSEP’s AEM Center provides quick guides to making accessible documents, publications with EPUB (an e-book file format), videos, STEM materials, websites, and social media posts.

Captioning Key and Description Key
OSEP’s Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) developed guidelines for vendors who create captioning and audio description for DCMP; this useful information is available for everyone to use in creating captions and audio description.

We Describe the World
DCMP, in cooperation with national broadcasters, launched this national campaign to increase awareness of audio description.

Authoring Accessible OER
OSEP’s Center on Inclusive Software for Learning (CISL) collaborates with Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education to provide free tools to support building accessible and open educational resources for all learners.

Let’s All Learn

Our increasingly digital world means that we no longer have to carry as many heavy books in our backpacks, and we aren’t limited to just the books and media in our own classrooms and libraries.

Textbooks, video collections, and even entire libraries are now instantly available through our tablets, smart phones, and laptops. Students with visual and hearing disabilities and with print-access disabilities (e.g., learning disabilities, visual impairments, or physical disabilities preventing them from using traditional books) have additional access to online libraries and repositories of accessible instructional materials.

The following collections and resources are supported by OSERS:

Bookshare Reader
This free reader from the OSEP-funded Bookshare project is available on web browsers, iOS and Android devices, and Alexa-enabled smart speakers. Eligible students can customize their access millions of eBooks for school and leisure reading.

Louis
The American Printing House for the Blind (APH), an OSERS Special Institution, hosts the Louis Database of Accessible Materials, which is named in honor of Louis Braille. Louis contains information on accessible educational materials (braille, large print, audio, and electronic file formats) produced by more than 75 organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

Clusive
OSEP’s Center on Inclusive Software for Learning (CISL) is home to this free, flexible, adaptive, and customizable digital learning environment. All software for the Clusive Learning Environment is free and available on GitHub for open-source download, development, and improvement.

DCMP Media Center
Through DCMP families and educators who have at least one eligible student can access thousands of educational videos with high-quality audio description and captions, and many with American Sign Language, including teaching tools and videos for educators and interpreters in training.

All4Access
Dicapta Corporation, an OSEP Television Access grantee, is the home of All4Access, a universal clearinghouse of accessibility assets that facilitates exchange of captions, audio description, subtitles, and sign language while protecting the rights of media creators.

Access in the Classroom and Beyond

From accessible learning for our youngest learners, to equitable participation in online assessments, to resources for post-secondary students, OSEP centers have a wealth of resources!

Accessible Learning Across the Lifespan
OSEP’s National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (AEM Center) developed a four-part, fully accessible video series designed to start conversations about the importance of accessibility and accessible materials.

My S.T.E.M. Adventure
Even the littlest learners can go exploring with this accessible mobile and web-based app for developing early skills connected with science, technology, engineering, and math. This app is an innovation from OSEP’s STEM Innovation for Inclusion in Early Education (STEMI²E²) Center.

Accommodating Deaf Students in Online Classes
OSEP’s National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes (NDC) compiles tips and resources for ensuring deaf students have equitable access in a variety of online courses.

Assessment in Inclusive Technology Systems
OSEP’s Center on Inclusive Technology and Education Systems (CITES) supports schools and districts in procuring, designing, collaborating, and analyzing to provide inclusive, accessible assessment systems.

Accessible Games for Learning
Bridge Multimedia, an OSEP Television Access grantee, collaborates with PBS Kids and other partners to break new ground in the accessibility of entertaining digital games for learning. Their new game Cyberchase: Duck Dash received an 2023 Kidscreen “Best Learning App, Branded Content” Award.

Rhonda Weiss Center for Accessible IDEA Data
OSEP’s new Rhonda Weiss Center for Accessible IDEA Data helps states share their Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-authorized data in dynamic and highly accessible digital formats.

The Accessible Learning Experience Podcast
Check out this informative podcast from OSEP’s AEM Center and enjoy listening via the center’s ultra-accessible podcast player, built with CAST’s open-source Figuration framework for creating accessible, cross-device, interactive websites.

Looking to learn about even more digital accessibility resources? Check out this GAAD blog post from the Office of Educational Technology

This Teacher Appreciation Week, a few Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Scholars who completed their degree programs with support from a Personnel Development to Improve Services for Children with Disabilities (ALN 84.325) discretionary grant administered by the Office of Special Education Programs shared “Why I Teach.”

By: Stacy Kelly, Ed.D., TVI, COMS, CATIS

I always knew with the highest degree of certainty from a very early age that I wanted to be a teacher. In 2005, I was living this dream working full-time as a teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI) in the public schools. I received a flyer from my colleague with boldface type font advertising across the top of the page “The Opportunity of a Lifetime.” Those words enticed me to read further.

The Pennsylvania College of Optometry, now Salus University, announced in the flyer that they established the National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment (NCLVI), a collaborative agreement funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The flyer also provided a description of the NCLVI Fellowship.

The opportunity provided full tuition and a living stipend to NCLVI Fellows for up to four years of full-time study while they earned their doctorate at any one of 14 Consortium Member Universities. The program was going to select two national cohorts of qualified individuals committed to the education of children who are blind or visually impaired. The first cohort would start in the fall of 2005 and second would start in the fall of 2006.

I read the NCLVI Fellowship description and contacted Dr. Gaylen Kapperman at Northern Illinois University (NIU). NIU was one of the 14 NCLVI Consortium Member Universities listed on the flyer, and it was also located in my geographic area. I applied for and was accepted into the first NCLVI cohort, which provided a unique doctoral study experience for more than 20 fellows.

Doctoral Program Plus an Enrichment Program

The magic and everlasting positive impact of the NCLVI for me was the structured added-value enrichment program in addition to the university doctoral program in special education that each NCLVI Fellow experienced.

The enrichment program was designed by the NCLVI University Consortium with input from a Public Advisory Council (PAC) that included national professional, consumer and parent organizations in the field of blindness, and other relevant professional organizations in higher education and special education.

The enrichment program included face-to-face research and issue-based seminars; online discussions; cohort listservs; opportunities for short and long-term field-work experiences and internships that included housing provided by members of the PAC and the organizations they represent; and funds for travel and registration at national conferences and meetings.

The NCLVI University Consortium and PAC connected NCLVI Fellows with each other regardless of geographic location of an individual NCLVI Fellow’s doctoral training program, and all benefited from this high degree of networking and innovative partnership. In fact, NCLVI Fellows spread out across the United States at the various NCLVI Consortium Member Universities worked together regularly because of the NCLVI enrichment program. NCLVI Fellows also worked together in-person during national conferences and meetings and during in-person NCLVI Consortium meetings with the PAC and the university faculty involved in this consortium.

First of Its Kind Program

The NCLVI enrichment activities provided OSEP Scholars with opportunities never before enjoyed by doctoral students either individually or as a group. The NCLVI was the first OSEP Scholar training program of its kind.

It was amazing to be an OSEP Scholar and be a part of a project that was advancing not only a particular field of study but OSEP Scholar training for the long term. The NCLVI has served as a model and as a blueprint for other OSEP doctoral and scholar training programs for many years now.

The NCLVI expanded beyond the field of visual impairments to include sensory disabilities and was renamed the National Leadership Center for Sensory Disabilities (NLCSD) in future iterations. The NLCSD was also an OSEP-funded collaborative agreement and based upon the NCLVI conceptual framework.

When I think back to 2005 and about “The Opportunity of a Lifetime” from NCLVI, I wholeheartedly agree with that messaging. The NCLVI was the opportunity of a lifetime in large part because more people worked together during the NCLVI and the NLCSD than possibly any other projects in the history of the fields of sensory disabilities. The two projects worked to address the longstanding shortages of leadership personnel in the visual impairment and sensory disabilities fields.

In many ways, things have come full circle for many OSEP Scholars because of the NCLVI and NLCSD.

I graduated in 2008 from NIU having completed my doctorate degree in educational psychology with an emphasis in visual impairments. Today, I am a full professor at NIU. Dr. Kapperman who recruited me to apply for the NCLVI now holds the status of professor emeritus at NIU.

Many of the NCLVI Fellows from the 2005 and 2006 cohorts have since completed the NCLVI doctoral fellowship more than a decade ago. Many members of these cohorts are now established in leadership positions throughout the field of visual impairments, including at institutions of higher education where we actively recruit OSEP Scholars. Others have served on the NLCSD University Consortium as faculty members and have also recruited NLCSD Fellows to study at their universities.

When NLCSD Fellows complete their programs, they go on to meet the needs for personnel in leadership positions and participate in recruitment of their own now. This OSEP Scholar personnel preparation cycle continues in this way as we continue to learn, grow, and work together.

Stacy Kelly, Ed.D., is a professor and coordinator, Visual Disabilities Program, at Northern Illinois University. She is a teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI), Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), and Certified Assistive Technology Instructional Specialist for People with Visual Impairments (CATIS). Kelly completed her doctoral degree in educational psychology with an emphasis in visual disabilities at Northern Illinois University in 2008. She was an OSEP Personnel Development Program grant, National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment (NCLVI) Doctoral Fellow and OSEP Scholar.

About OSEP Scholars and Personnel Development Program Grants

The U.S. Department of Education funds discretionary grants used for professional development to improve services results for children with disabilities. Individuals interested in finding a Personnel Development Program that meets their needs can visit the OSEP IDEAs That Work’s Discretionary Grants Database, select the “Program” filter “Personnel Development” and then use additional search options such as “State,” “Disability,” “Age of Children,” or “Type of Competition.”

Organizations interested in open grant competitions for Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (84.325) can learn more on the Applicant Information page.

By: Lauren Zepp, Ph.D.

I teach because I believe that reading is a human right.

I am passionate about ensuring that all people, including those with disabilities, are taught the skills they need to become readers.

My teaching initially centered on providing high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction for students with disabilities. Since completing my Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with funding from a Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (325D) grant, I now prepare future special educators to ensure all children learn to read at school. I teach because I make a difference every day, in the lives of my students and in the lives that they will touch as educators.

Students are always at the center of my work, and my relationships with them have sustained me through challenging times in the profession. There is so much joy to be found in building those relationships. I feel very grateful that so many students have stayed in touch with me after they graduated. They share their college experiences and career decisions, and even life events, and it means so much to me to be part of their lives.

These relationships I build with students are my favorite part of teaching. Each student brings something so unique to the classroom, and even as I have transitioned from working in pre-K–12 settings to higher education, keeping students at the center fuels my passion for teaching. I love being able to teach them valuable skills, helping them find those “a-ha” moments of understanding, and providing them with a safe person they can rely on.

After teaching special education for 12 years, I have so many treasured memories, but graduation was always a special time as a high school teacher. My favorite memories, the ones I look back on most when I need a lift, are celebrating graduation with students. I loved seeing them don their caps and gowns with pride, beaming as their families cheered them on. It was always deeply moving to know that I played a part in their journey – especially supporting students who were the first in their families to graduate high school and those with disabilities who wondered if they would ever earn a diploma.

Every young person deserves to have folks cheering for them, celebrating their successes, and knowing that there are people in their corner. The magic of teaching is getting so many opportunities to be one of those people.

Since leaving the pre-K–12 setting, I’ve had new professional development experience. I primarily taught reading intervention, so I loved continuing my education to learn about new research in literacy instruction. My most meaningful professional development experience, however, was completing Developmental Designs training. What I loved most about Developmental Designs was that it focused on students as human beings and highlighted the power that teachers have to honor students’ humanity. It was an intense professional development course, but I left with so many tools to help me build relationships with students and create a safe community for them.

I hope that more people who are committed to justice and equity join the teaching field, especially as special educators. We have an incredible opportunity to work toward disrupting the dual systems of racism and ableism to creating more inclusive schools and communities. Although this is challenging work, it is incredibly meaningful, and in the words of television’s Parks and Recreation’s Leslie Knope, “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

There is so much joy to be found in teaching, especially — in my experience — in teaching the students most marginalized by systemic inequality to read and see themselves as powerful agents of change.

Lauren Zepp, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of special education at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She is an OSEP Scholar, Preparation of Special Education, Early Intervention, and Related Services Leadership Personnel (84.325D), who completed her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in December 2022.

About OSEP Scholars and Personnel Development Program Grants

By Meghan Whittaker, OSERS Special Assistant

Today, more than 60% of students with disabilities spend at least 80% of their day in general classes. This wouldn’t be possible without special educators who help to customize curriculum that is accessible to all and ensure the individual needs of students with disabilities are met.

Special educators serve a critical role in our nation’s public school, yet 45% of schools reported vacancies in special education roles, and 78% reported difficulty in hiring special education staff. Special education teacher shortages have been a longstanding challenging in most states and have only worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid a dramatic teacher shortage nationwide, states and districts have faced the tension between the difficulties in recruiting and retaining special educators and the qualification requirements special educators must meet. States have found innovative solutions to meet these requirements in the face of a worsening educator shortage and are using federal funds to support them.

Indiana and Tennessee provide examples of how states are creatively addressing educator shortages. Additionally, the states’ programs leverage state and local partnerships to create sustainable pathways that maintain high standards while also improving the preparation and retention of special educators.

IDEA’s Special Educator Qualification Requirements

In October 2022, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) issued a memo reminding states of the requirements within the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for special education teachers and related service providers. IDEA requires that every special education teacher:

hold at least a bachelor’s degree; and
obtain full certification in their state or pass the state special education teacher licensing exam.

States may not waive special education certification or licensure on an emergency, temporary, or provisional basis.

Alternative Pathways in Indiana

Recognizing that it could no longer rely on emergency licenses to fill special educator positions, Indiana sought feedback from local administrators, advocacy groups, parents, and students. Together, they evaluated existing alternative pathways to licensure for special educators and created new ones.

The goal of alternate pathways is to provide a way for educators to meet full licensure requirements over a specified period (up to a few years) while gaining work experience and training specific to special education.

One new program, Indiana Special Education Assisted Licensure (I-SEAL) was created in November 2021 and has enrolled more than 700 participants. This program was funded with federal COVID-19 grants and IDEA funds.

Another Indiana program funded using federal COVID-19 funds, the Aspiring Statewide Special Education Teacher (ASSET) program allows licensed educators to obtain an additional special education credential.

These pathways offer customized approaches to supporting educators interested in entering the special education field.

Tennessee’s Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Program

Another promising model is the registered apprenticeship, which typically consist of partnerships between educator preparation programs (EPP) and public school districts.

In this type of program, teacher candidates enroll in the EPP to earn their degree or teaching requirements while also working for the school district and gaining classroom experience. This model combines on-the-job experience with high-quality training and preparation. Research has demonstrated high retention rates, with 92% of apprentices retaining employment after completing a registered apprenticeship program.

Tennessee has developed the first federally recognized registered teacher apprenticeship program for K–12 educators. The Tennessee program was approved by the U.S. Department of Labor and established a permanent Grow Your Own model, with Clarksville-Montgomery County School System and Austin Peay State University’s Teacher Residency. This is the first registered apprenticeship program for teaching in the country and uses federal and state workforce funds to provide a no-cost pathway for teacher candidates.

For states interested in improving special educator preparation strategies and systems, visit the OSEP-funded CEEDAR Center. For more information on how federal funds can be and have been used to address the teacher shortage, see the Department of Education’s Fact Sheet.

This Teacher Appreciation Week, a few Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Scholars who completed their degree programs with support from a Personnel Development to Improve Services for Children with Disabilities (ALN 84.325) discretionary grant administered by the Office of Special Education Programs shared “Why I Teach.”

By: Joanna Alvarez

I teach because my commitment to students in special education is my purpose of being a lifelong learner.

When my little brother was diagnosed with a disability six years ago, I was committed to learning how to support him in navigating his academic journey. I share the same commitment with my students in the classroom today.

As a middle school special education teacher and doctoral candidate, I want to provide a space for students to feel safe and have the self-determination skills to be the drivers of their life.

The Department of Education’s Office of Special Education’s 325K program grant I received while doing my credential program gave me the practical skills to support students transitioning from high school to living independent lives, obtaining employment, and enrolling in a post-secondary school. My interest in transition caused transition to be topic of my dissertation.

Being a recipient of the grant taught me the value of individuals with disabilities needing self-determination skills to navigate life after high school. As my students’ teacher, I can contribute to guiding them to apply their self-determination skills in planning for after high school and beyond.

In the future, I would like to collaboratively help shape a vision of academic success for the inclusion of all students as a special education director for the district. Furthermore, I would like to collaborate with school personnel to improve and cultivate leadership in others.

My ultimate goal as an educator is to create sustainable schools where teachers and staff collaborate to develop curricula, share best instructional practices, problem-solve, and revisit teaching pedagogy.

Joanna Alvarez currently teaches grades 6,7, and 8 for students in the mild-moderate special education setting in the areas of math and science. She graduated from California State University, Long Beach with an Education Specialist Credential in 2019. Alvarez was an OSEP Scholar at CSULB from 2015–2017 for an interdisciplinary project to promote culturally responsive transition for students in special education. The grant addressed Preparation of Early Intervention and Special Education Personnel Serving Children with Disabilities Who Have High-Intensity Needs (84.325K).

About OSEP Scholars and Personnel Development Program Grants

The U.S. Department of Education funds discretionary grants used for professional development to improve services results for children with disabilities. Individuals interested in finding a Personnel Development Program that meets their needs can visit the OSEP IDEAs That Work’s Discretionary Grants Database, select the “Program” filter “Personnel Development” and then use additional search options such as “State,” “Disability,” “Age of Children,” or “Type of Competition.”

Organizations interested in open grant competitions for Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (84.325) can learn more on the Applicant Information page.

By: Elaine Smolen, Ph.D., CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd

I teach to ensure that every child who is deaf or hard of hearing can achieve their goals through language and literacy. I am hard of hearing, and I was proud to serve as a role model for my students when I worked as a classroom and itinerant teacher of the deaf. Now a Columbia University faculty member, I train the next generation of educators and scholars who will continue to revolutionize the field of deaf and hard of hearing education.

I completed my Ph.D. as an OSEP Scholar in the National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities (NLCSD). My OSEP scholarship provided valuable tuition and other financial support, without which my doctoral studies would not have been possible. Just as valuable were the interdisciplinary connections that NLCSD facilitated with other OSEP Scholars in sensory disabilities across the country. My approaches to research, teacher training, and outreach continue to be shaped by long-term collaborations with scholars in deafness, deadblindness, and visual impairment that began in NLCSD.

My favorite part of teaching now is mentoring preservice teachers of the deaf in our master’s program as they start to serve children and families for the first time. Our field is dynamic and highly interdisciplinary, weaving principles of language acquisition, developmental psychology, adult learning, cultural studies, and special education.

My students, many of whom are OSEP Scholars in our COlumbia COllaborate project (325K), must master both challenging coursework and specialized clinical skills. What keeps us going is an enduring belief in the potential of each child and family to achieve their dreams. I am grateful for OSEP’s support as we work to facilitate those dreams.

Elaine Smolen, Ph.D., CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, is a visiting assistant professor in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education at Columbia and working with the COlumbia COllaborate grant project that is supporting OSEP Scholars who completing our master’s program with interdisciplinary preparation for preservice teachers of the deaf and speech-language pathologists.

Smolen was an OSEP Scholar as part of the OSEP Leadership Consortia in Sensory Disabilities and Disabilities Associated with Intensive Service Needs grant (84.325H). She graduated from Columbia University in 2020 with a Ph.D. in Physical Disabilities (Deaf and Hard of Hearing) from Teachers College, Columbia University.

About OSEP Scholars and Personnel Development Program Grants

By: Dana Page, Ph.D.

I began my career in special education in 2006 as a long-term paraeducator. I was hired full time the following school year and worked as a paraeducator for many years before becoming a certified teacher. I taught students with emotional/behavioral disorders and loved it!

I also noticed how there weren’t many teachers who looked like me in the school building let alone the district. I wanted that to change as well as the disparities within special education related to the intersectionality of disability and race/ethnicity. This prompted me to pursue my doctoral degree at the University of Louisville where I received an OSEP Leadership Grant.

Without funding from the OSEP Leadership Grant, I wouldn’t have been able to pursue my doctoral studies. A lack of funding is often a factor when trying to address the issue of teacher workforce diversity. This funding allowed me the opportunity to explore my main research interests and scholarly activities that are rooted in using anti-racist, culturally relevant and sustaining practices to address the academic, behavior, and disciplinary disparities of marginalized students receiving special education services.

Now, I get to apply my research and knowledge in new ways to help teachers in the field provide quality instruction and experiences for their students, and I get to show people who look like me that they can do it too.

Education has always and will continue to be an effective tool for social change, and we need to be the change we want to see. Representation really does matter.

I wholeheartedly believe that if we (educators) are going to talk-the-talk about providing diverse, inclusive, and equitable classrooms and safe spaces to learn and engage then that means we must walk-the-walk. There needs to be action behind those words!

Dana Page, Ph.D., is an interagency coordination specialist for the Minnesota Department of Education. Page started in the classroom as a paraeductor before becoming a certified teacher. Page was an OSEP Scholar under the OSEP Grant for the Preparation of Special Education, Early Intervention and Related Services Leadership Personnel (84.325D). She graduates with her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Louisville in this month.

About OSEP Scholars and Personnel Development Program Grants

By: Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

Last week, we celebrated teachers during Teacher Appreciation Week, May 8–12.

In case you missed it, OSERS highlighted two states working to address the special education teacher shortage. Additionally, 10 dedicated teachers and professors shared why they teach.

Meet the Teachers

Joanna Alvarez

6-8th Grade Special Education Teacher
OSEP Scholar, California State University — Long Beach, 2019

“I teach because my commitment to students in special education is my purpose of being a lifelong learner.

“The Department of Education’s Office of Special Education’s 325K program grant I received while doing my credential program gave me the practical skills to support students transitioning from high school to living independent lives, obtaining employment, and enrolling in a post-secondary school.

“As my students’ teacher, I can contribute to guiding them to apply their self-determination skills in planning for after high school and beyond.”

Katelin Blevins

K–5 Special Educator
Towson University, Class of 2025, OSEP Scholar, Pursuing a Master’s in Special Education, Teachers as Leaders in Autism Graduate Program

“I teach because every child deserves the opportunity to feel valued, safe, and connected, to be seen, heard, included, accepted, and understood. Every child deserves a champion — someone who sees their worth, applauds their strengths and successes, advocates for their needs.

“Every family deserves a partner who is committed to their child’s education. I teach because every child deserves to be seen as more than their challenges. This is more than a job; it is life-changing.”

Robert Bergren

K–7 Special Education Teacher
Rocky Boy Elementary School, Montana

“Growing up, I used to think about some of the complicated or abstract ways my teachers delivered instruction.

“As I got older, I thought I could contribute to the field by becoming a teacher and delivering ‘no nonsense’ instruction to students to help foster their learning experiences. Although the field (and special education) has humbled me in years since those thoughts, I still try to do it justice.

“I teach for the student who doesn’t learn like everyone else. I teach for the student who doesn’t have the best homelife. I teach for the students who are motivated and those who aren’t.

“Most importantly, I teach because I love kids and young adults, and I want to help them become academically and emotionally successful when they are older.”

Benjamin Gallegos, Ph.D.

Academic Program Coordinator, University of Central Florida
OSEP Scholar, University of Central Florida, 2016

“I have been empowered to teach because of students, families, communities, and hope.

“I have taught students of all amazing abilities from preschool to doctoral level students, in-person and remote. Each incredible student I have served, of all backgrounds and identities, have shared their spirit of inspiration, inquiry, creativeness, and wonder.

“Why I teach is to let every student know that they are enough and don’t let me or anyone else slow you down.”

Stacy Kelly, Ph.D.

Professor Northern Illinois University
OSEP Scholar, Northern Illinois University, 2008

“It was amazing to be an OSEP Scholar and be a part of a project that was advancing not only a particular field of study but OSEP Scholar training for the long term. The National Center for Leadership in Visual Impairment has served as a model and as a blueprint for other OSEP doctoral and scholar training programs for many years now.”

Read more about Stacy Kelly’s experience as an NCLVI Fellow and OSEP Scholar.

Dana Page, Ph.D.

Interagency Coordination Specialist, Minnesota Department of Education
OSEP Scholar, University of Louisville, May 2023

“I teach because there weren’t many teachers who looked like me in the school building let alone the district. I wanted that to change as well as the disparities within special education related to the intersectionality of disability and race/ethnicity. This prompted me to pursue my doctoral degree… Now, I get to apply my research and knowledge in new ways to help teachers in the field provide quality instruction and experiences for their students, and I get to show people who look like me that they can do it too.”

Elaine Smolen, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor, Columbia University
OSEP Scholar, Columbia University, 2020

“I teach to ensure that every child who is deaf or hard of hearing can achieve their goals through language and literacy. I am hard of hearing, and I was proud to serve as a role model for my students when I worked as a classroom and itinerant teacher of the deaf.

“Now a university faculty member, I train the next generation of educators and scholars who will continue to revolutionize the field of deaf and hard of hearing education.”

Read more about Elaine Smolen’s experience as a teacher of students who are deaf or hard of hearing, an OSEP Scholar and a visiting assistant professor.

Khadine Solomon

6–7th Grade Special Education Teacher
Towson University, Class of 2025, OSEP Scholar, Pursuing a Master’s in Special Education, Teachers as Leaders in Autism Graduate Program

“I teach because I want to be a representation to my community, to be a voice for the voiceless and to inspire. I need students and families to know I am an advocate for their success. I am vital to the frontlines of marginalized communities. When I see my students masterfully execute a task, communicate their needs, discover an ability they previously felt inept to do, it brings me great joy.”

Lea Tirantafillou

Preschool and Pre-K Special Educator
Towson University, Class of 2025, OSEP Scholar, Pursuing a Master’s in Special Education, Teachers as Leaders in Autism Graduate Program

“I teach because my mission has always been to positively make a difference in as many lives as possible. My classroom composition is reflective of the recent increase in prevalence rate of Autism. I am pursuing continued education concentrated in Autism to ensure my teaching is intentional. I teach to build social engagement so my students can connect with the world and the people who love them.

“I teach to advocate for inclusion, acceptance, and education of Autism.”

Lauren Zepp, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Special Education, University of Wisconsin-White Water
OSEP Scholar, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2022

“I believe that reading is a human right.

“My teaching initially centered on providing high-quality, evidence-based reading instruction for students with disabilities. Since completing my Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with funding from a Personnel Development to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities (325D) grant, I now prepare future special educators to ensure all children learn to read at school.

“I teach because I make a difference every day—in the lives of my students and in the lives that they will touch as educators.”

About OSEP Scholars and Personnel Development Program Grants

By: Emily Frake, Office of Special Education Programs

July is Disability Pride Month, and in celebration, the Office of Special Education Programs will highlight work being done in the field of special education and voices that celebrate disability pride and promotes positive disability identity for students.

Did you know that July is Disability Pride Month?

July 26 marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which became law in 1990. Because this ground-breaking legislation was signed in July, disability advocates around the country established July as Disability Pride Month.

Over the past 33 years there have been various Disability Pride celebrations across the country, with Boston boasting the very first Disability Pride Day in 1990 and Chicago hosting the first Disability Pride Parade in 2004.

This Disability Pride Month, disabled students from across the U.S. shared with me what Disability Pride Month means to them and why it is important that their school celebrates Disability Pride Month.

While their responses naturally varied, all students agreed there is great value in celebrating Disability Pride Month.

For some, Disability Pride Month is an opportunity to outwardly acknowledge and celebrate disability. A disabled university student noted:

Disability Pride Month is important to me to encourage the visibility of disability as a natural part of the human experience and as an opportunity to celebrate the community and organize action.

For others, Disability Pride Month is about reflecting on one’s own beliefs and thoughts around disability. A student at San Jose State University in California shared:

The month is important to me because disabilities are so stigmatized still. I struggle with internalized shame. I struggle with feeling like I won’t be accepted by employers, professors, acquaintances [and] sometimes even friends. Disability Pride Month helps me be less ashamed of my disabilities. It helps me accept and love myself more.

Similarly, another disabled student spoke to the significance of Disability Pride Month on their personal beliefs about their self:

Disability Pride Month is important to me because it feels like a time where I can be proud of myself and how far I’ve come despite all the challenges I’ve faced.

While many schools around the country are acknowledging or celebrating Disability Pride Month, such as the University of South Florida and the University of Tennessee, the majority are not.

Although their school isn’t celebrating Disability Pride Month this year, another disabled university student in California has hope for the future:

Recognizing Disability Pride Month will hopefully decrease stigma and grow support and community for disabled students and staff.

To close out, we’re going to leave you with a few questions to reflect on:

What does Disability Pride Month mean to you?
What does your school or place of work do to celebrate Disability Pride Month?
How do you plan to acknowledge and celebrate Disability Pride Month?

Emily Frake is in a joint doctoral program in special education at Cal State University, Los Angeles, and the University of California, Los Angeles. This summer, she is interning at OSEP in the Research to Practice Division.

By Sarah DeAngelo, Office of Special Education Programs

July is Disability Pride Month, and in celebration, the Office of Special Education Programs will highlight work being done in the field of special education that celebrates disability pride and promotes positive disability identity for students. Additionally, this July marks the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Dr. Jessica Bacon Assistant Professor, Montclair State University’s Department of Teaching and Learning

Dr. Jessica Bacon, an assistant professor in Montclair State University’s Department of Teaching and Learning, has spent her career advancing the ideas of the importance of disability identity for students in the field of special education. Disability identity is important for students as it can have positive impacts on their self-esteem and coping strategies in the long term (Bogart et al., 2018).

The conviction that underlies her research and teaching is that people with disabilities deserve to have their desires and hopes used to guide professional decision-making, especially in the field of special education.

Bacon’s passion for working alongside self-advocates to improve special education systems began with working at a summer camp run by The Arc where she had her first experience supporting adults with “significant disability” labels.

After graduating with bachelor’s degrees in sociology and early childhood education, her passion took her to Syracuse University where she graduated with her master’s in Cultural Foundations of Education & Disability Studies and Ph.D. in special education.

While at Syracuse, Bacon began working with Dr. Steve Taylor at The Center for Human Policy, an organization that focuses its work on disability justice issues including community and educational inclusion, accessible transportation and integrated employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Bacon attributes her passion for this work to her experiences learning from self-advocates.

Bacon’s continued work promotes robust and critical education around disability for both students and teachers. This means promoting practices that foster inclusion and positive disability identity, such as teaching disability history in school s. This also includes promoting practices that work to improve teacher attitudes and critical understanding of disability, like introducing disability studies topics into teacher education programming. Bacon has also conducted research on friendship alongside autistic individuals.

People working in all levels of special education and rehabilitation can foster disability pride.

“The first place we have to start is to just even think about disability as more than a deficit and more than a medical problem. I don’t think we are there for the most part, but there is movement and momentum, and these conversations are starting to happen,” Bacon said.

Bacon also suggested that teachers and schools think critically about the portrayals of disability they are showing to students, and how those portrayals are addressed. She discussed that as the world’s knowledge about disability evolves towards one that deemphasizes medical model and deficit perspectives, there is an increasing need for more resources for teaching concepts related to disability history, pride, and identity in schools, especially ones that show teachers how these concepts can be integrated into what they are already doing in their classrooms.

“Understanding that disability is a minority group that has pride and helping all kids, with and without disabilities, learn these ideals is essential,” Bacon said. “Additionally, it is important to honor that young people with disabilities may have thoughts and opinions about their disability or life that might be different than their parents and teachers.”

Sarah DeAngelo is a Ph.D. student studying special education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Their professional interests focus on neurodiversity affirming social supports for individuals with autism and intellectual disabilities and fostering disability identity and community in schools.

By the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 29, 2023) — Last week the U.S. Department of Education held its 9th annual ED Games Expo, Sept. 19-22. The annual event showcased game-changing education technology (EdTech) created through more than 50 programs across the government to the public.

During the Special Education & Technology Showcase, speakers emphasized the need for accessibility and inclusion considerations at the beginning of product development and discussed available tools and products used to help ensure accessibility.

OSERS Deputy Assistant Secretary Katy Neas speaks to people demonstrating their organization’s technology during the Special Education & Technology Showcase at the ED Games Expo 2023.

“Technology and education can be the game changer that truly levels the playing field and helps all students show who they are and what they can achieve,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Katy Neas, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS).

Neas also referenced the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which celebrated its 50th anniversary Sept. 26.

“The Rebab Act provides the framework for how people with disabilities access the fundamentals of American life,” said Neas. “Over the last 50 years, the Rehab Act has empowered millions of people with disabilities to plan and create their own destinies by ensuring that services are individualized to meet their unique needs and by guaranteeing the opportunity to exercise informed choice in all aspects of their life. What you [technology developers] are doing is making that even more real for more people in ways we could have never imagined. Technology really is the factor that contributes to the success.”

A young girl stands at a demonstration table speaking to a woman during the ED Games Expo 2023.

In addition to speakers, developers were onsite to provide demonstrations of their products, including developers and centers to which OSERS provides funding support. The following includes the centers and technologies present at this year’s ED Games Expo:

Accessible Education Materials (AEM) Pilot.
The AEM Pilot, from CAST, Inc., is a self-assessment and progress monitoring tool for states and districts to use in the implementation of the Quality Indicators for Providing AEM and Technologies.

Accessible Media Platform.
The Accessible Media Platform, from Described and Captioned Media Program, is a niche video-on-demand platform designed for PreK-12th grade students with sensory disabilities. Comprised of over 13,000 educational videos from hundreds of the world’s leading producers and made accessible via captions, audio description and American Sign Language.

American Printing House for the Blind.
The Monarch, from the American Printing House for the Blind, provides students with 10 lines of braille and the capacity to show tactile images on a single display surface. The Monarch will also support other modern applications to support access to STEM content. Video

A young boy tries out a virtual reality headset during the ED Games Expo 2023.

Bookshare.
Bookshare, from Benetech, is a free repository of accessible education materials for students with print disabilities. People with dyslexia, blindness, cerebral palsy and other reading barriers can customize their experience to suit their learning style and find virtually any book they need for school, work or the joy of reading. Video

Bridge Multimedia
Bridge Multimedia, a New York City-based accessibility enterprise, works with commercial, education, entertainment, government and corporate sectors to make the 21st century media (and social) landscape equally available to all people.

Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems.
CITES, from CAST, Inc., offers professional learning kits (with videos, guides, slide decks, materials) that share specifics on how to engage with district leaders and staff on inclusive practices for students with disabilities.

Clusive.
Clusive, from CAST, Inc., is a free, customizable flexible and adaptive digital learning environment to support middle school students in building and expanding their reading skills. The tool adapts over time, making recommendations and adjustments based on the activity and choices learners make. Video

Two women stand at a demonstration table and ask another woman behind the table questions about the items on display during the Special Education & Technology Showcase at the ED Games Expo 2023.

Corgi.
Corgi, from CAST, Inc., a suite of graphic organizers that supports students to develop content-specific practices and habits of mind. By engaging with Corgi, students develop patterns of thinking and reasoning in a format that is accessible for all.

DeafVerse.
DeafVerse, from the National Deaf Center, is a choose-your-own-adventure online game created just for deaf teenagers, where they can learn important skills for success in high school and beyond. Players get to make their own choices, stand up for themselves, and build confidence and skills they can use in real life. Video

Future Quest Island-Explorations.
Future Quest Island-Explorations, from the Institute for Community Inclusion at the University of Massachusetts – Boston, is an online accessible college and career awareness curriculum. It uses gaming strategies to motivate and support improved self-concept, social and emotional competence, and early college and career awareness for upper elementary students with and without disability in grades 3-5.

Gallaudet University.
Gallaudet University and SignAll have formed a partnership to develop an automatic sign language translation software. Video

ibestt.
ibestt (Integrating Behavior Support and Team Technology) is an online coaching and collaboration system that guides school-based teams in the implementation of individual-student behavior support strategies in elementary and early childhood settings. Video

Two young boys play education video games on tablets at a demonstration table during the ED Games Expo 2023.

My STEM Adventure.
My STEM Adventure, from STEMIE and Bridge Multimedia, join Leila Diaz in this accessible app as she guides young children and their families or other caregivers to explore the world of STEM both indoors and outdoors and create a storybook that details their investigation. Video in English. Video in Spanish.

National Technical Institute for the Deaf Center on Access Technology.
The NTID Center on Access Technology investigates, evaluates and reports on the most effective and efficient use of access technologies and train individuals in their use in order to accelerate the widespread implementation of best practices within deaf education at the post-secondary level. Video

National Technical Institute for the Deaf Regional STEM Center.
The NTID Regional STEM Center, a collaboration between Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind (AIDB) and the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) housed on the AIDB campus in Talladega, Alabama, promotes STEM educational initiatives and career awareness for students who are deaf or hard of hearing in primary and secondary grades. Video

A girl plays an educational video game on a laptop during the ED Games Expo 2023.

Numbershire.
Numbershire is an internet-based, educational game with an intensive focus on critical whole number concepts and skills for students with or at risk for mathematics difficulties in kindergarten through second grade. Video

SNUDLE.
The digital Science Notebook and a Universal Design for Learning Environment (SNUDLE), from CAST, Inc., focuses on the science inquiry process and is grounded in the framework of UDL.

A women stands behind a demonstration table holding a virtual reality headset as another woman asks her questions during the Special Education & Technology Showcase at the ED Games Expo 2023.

VOISS.
Virtual Reality Opportunities to Implement Social Skills (VOISS) from the University of Kansas, is a virtual reality experience that uses social situations and scenarios to effectively teach social skills. (Video)

WEGO-RIITE.
WEGO-RIITE is a technology-based graphic organizer that aims to promote an effective integration of a technology-based graphic organizer. WEGO-RIITE integrates embedded evidence-based strategies and universal design learning supports, video models, and opportunities for data-driven decision making. The graphic organizer works to improve the quantity and quality of persuasive essay writing by students with and without high-incidence disabilities struggling with writing in elementary, middle, and high school grades.

Check out the Special Education & Technology Showcase agenda and overview to learn about other accessible education-related technologies at ED Games Expo who received funding from other ED and federal government agencies.

Note: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

By Lucia, Colorado Youth Advisory Community Member

I am a 17-year-old senior in high school, and I have dyslexia and ADHD.

I received my diagnosis at the age of nine. I cannot recall the details of that day, except that I was ecstatic to be missing school, to be free of the seclusion and loneliness.

The diagnosis solved nothing; it just created a thousand more questions. Every day, I confronted many assumptions about my failure to meet educational standards in reading and writing. Every day, I struggled to comprehend and focus in school. With all my heart, I desired to be “normal.” Yet daily, I encountered the reality I was not.

The school attempted to help me by pulling me out of class for “special education classes.” But usually, I was just treated as a kid who wasn’t trying hard enough. These classes isolated me from my peers both physically and academically.

Even as I moved schools, hoping for a better education, these negative stereotypes followed me. Over time, I became convinced I couldn’t excel at anything. These stereotypes took a toll on my self-esteem, and I started to believe in them: I wasn’t enough and wouldn’t be successful.

Fortunately, at the time, my mother believed that I deserved better and sought external help by getting me a tutor. At first, I was so beaten down by the negative stereotypes I encountered my entire life that I resisted her instruction. I accepted the stereotypes and let them define me.

But my tutor met me with so much compassion, kindness and patience that eventually helped me to try. Through hard work, I started to learn how to read and write. Over time, I bridged, sometimes surpassing, the gap between me and my classmates. I realized that the negative stereotypes weren’t my fault but rather the fault of other people’s poor expectations about dyslexia and ADHD.

It’s been over seven years since my diagnosis, and I have worked hard to improve my reading and writing skills. I have come to a place where I am doing fantastic, excelling in school and taking challenging classes. However, as I became more successful, I was confronted with the other side of the stereotypes. The school thought I was doing too well for someone with dyslexia and ADHD, wondering if I still had them, if I’d been misdiagnosed or if I still needed the accommodations that had helped me thus far. Essentially, I was confronted again with poor expectations and stereotypes for people with dyslexia and ADHD.

Now, this is where I would love to tell you that I’ve overcome all of the stereotypes associated with dyslexia and ADHD, but I haven’t. These stereotypes are still deeply rooted in me. I still can’t tell most people in my life that I have dyslexia or ADHD. It’s a shame that keeps me from speaking out. I still believe people will think less of me because of my dyslexia and ADHD. Even though I know they’re wrong.

So, if there was one idea I could leave you with other than these stereotypes are wrong, it is that people with dyslexia, people with ADHD or people in general should not be subjected to stereotypes and low expectations. We should not put anyone down or label them because of something we believe. Therefore, I urge you to avoid putting people in boxes and to treat everyone with kindness and compassion. A world where I can proudly say that I have dyslexia and ADHD without being subject to negative stereotypes or biases is a world I would like to live in.

By: Dianna Hansen, Central Oregon Disability Support Network Director

Growing up in a remote part of Oregon, my high school had small graduating classes, averaging about 20 students, with no special provisions or rooms for students with unique challenges. We were like a closely-knit family, with many of my classmates being with me throughout my K-12 journey. We all meshed effortlessly, our individual differences and abilities blending seamlessly. Post-high school, I moved to a more urban Oregon setting, attended college, and started working. Over time, I gravitated towards a location reminiscent of my roots, which was more rural.

The year 2003 marked a pivotal moment in my life. My husband and I welcomed our beautiful daughter, Victoria, the perfect addition to our family, which already included two boys. However, within a couple of hours of her birth, we received life changing news. Our daughter was diagnosed with Down syndrome, atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect and transient leukemia, now known as transient abnormal myelopoiesis. The only source of information we received from the hospital was six outdated photocopied sheets, with a copyright date from 1966, filled with disheartening predictions and information about institutions.

But life had other plans. The ensuing years were transformative as we came across uplifting concepts like high expectations, presuming competence, dignity of risk, trusting in humanity and self-determination. Meeting other individuals with similar challenges, thriving in their communities, radically changed our outlook. We realized Victoria’s life was full of endless possibilities, contrary to the bleak prognosis we had initially been handed.

As I grew up in an inclusive community with inclusive schools, I cared deeply about Victoria’s full inclusion alongside her typical peers throughout her school years. This inclusive education not only enriched her academically but also played a crucial role in her social development. Her peers and educators respected our vision, and together they formed a cohesive community where every student, regardless of their abilities, was valued.

Guided by the principle of setting high expectations, just as we did for our boys, our daughter’s educational journey began. Her educators respected our vision, and, in turn, Victoria set high aspirations for herself.

At 13, Victoria declared her ambition to become a chef. At 15, she found herself a job at a restaurant. In June 2022, she graduated high school, not only with a four-year culinary certificate and 10 credits more than the graduation requirement but also as a member of the National Honor Society.

Victoria’s involvement in 4-H, raising pigs for three years, enabled her to amass $40,000 earmarked for her college fees and future home. Her passions extend to skiing every Sunday in winter, indulging in yoga and riding her beloved horse.

In September 2022, Victoria embarked on a journey at our local community college, pursuing a degree in culinary arts. Now, as she begins her second year, both our family and the college have had much to learn. Yet, Victoria’s excelling, fueled by her dream of owning a restaurant. And, of course, purchasing her dream red Tesla and a home where she can share her space with a friend.

None of this would have been conceivable without the unwavering support of countless individuals who believed in her, assumed her competence and enabled her to **DREAM BIG**!

Note: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

By Kayla Helm-Queen

The Young Adult Leadership Council, a community of young adults aged 18-30 with learning disabilities and attention issues, unite their experiences and voices to advocate for the learning rights community.

My biggest leadership journey has been learning to let go of the idea that there is an archetype of a leader. I’ve had leadership opportunities in my life, from working in my university’s student government, to being an ambassador on National Center for Learning Disabilities’ Young Adult Leadership Council. I’ve learned that honoring yourself and discovering your own leadership style comes before influencing others; you don’t have to be a certain type of leader to be effective.

I’ve always had this independent mind, but I really struggled with thinking perfectionism was the way to raise my aptitude as a leader, especially when trying to reconcile the tradeoffs brought by my learning disability. But realistically leadership isn’t about titles or being the most competent. It’s about identifying your values and determining what you can do about it. Sometimes this is even in opposition to what is expected of you by others.

Magic happens when leaning into who you are and what you care about. Being your authentic self attracts like-minded people. Those who share your values emerge, and suddenly you are able to create teams and movements. With them come complementary strengths to your cause and community. You do not have to do it all alone. It’s been empowering to make change and build a cultural identity as people with learning disabilities together with my fellow advocates. From an advocacy standpoint, sway is secondary to cause and community. When we know who we are and what we stand on, we can use our presence to put pressure on power brokers to address power imbalances in society.

More than any other teacher, my U.S. history and U.S. government teacher emphasized independent thought and discussion. He would tell us, “don’t blindly follow others off a cliff like sheep do,” but just as importantly, he helped us identify our values and helped us practice turning our insights into arguments.

This was very integral to helping me put a voice behind my actions as I didn’t always follow along with what everyone else was doing. This helped me be independent without isolating myself, especially since I don’t learn or work the same way that is expected a lot of the time. When I was recruited into my university’s Student Advisory Council as a freshman, I got to exercise my critical thinking and utilize my voice as a liaison between student and the university. I’ve continued to love dissecting issues and inspiring others to join me in taking a vested interest in addressing them.

As a leader in the learning disability movement, I know if I am persistent in the risks I take, more than just our advocacy group will reap the reward. This summer I had the privilege to attend LD Day of Action in Washington, D.C. to lobby for change.

While facilitating a meeting with a guest from the U.S. Department of Education, I went out on a limb and brought up a new issue I had been looking into on course accessibility. I didn’t know if others would share my same experience and support me in dissecting the issue and brainstorming, but they did! I now know more about the lived experience of others and what alternatives are likely to address the problem because I was willing to voice a value and explore potential solutions. This is a long way from where I started, when I thought I had to be perfect or know it all to lead, which had left me feeling lonely from the pressure to fit in.

There is so much potential in diverse leaders, and while there are definitely ineffective and inhumane ways to lead, there is no universally correct way to lead. Some leadership styles may not be for you, and you may find yourself drawing upon different tactics at different times.

You don’t have to lead a certain way to be a leader. You add value by showing up and doing what you can in community with others.

This is the first of three posts in a White Cane Safety Day 2023 series.
View all the posts in the series.

In the fall of 2023, the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) awarded grants to universities to support a record number of new scholars in the field of orientation and mobility (O&M). This is a high-demand profession that provides important instruction and support for learners who are blind/visually impaired in early childhood settings, schools and beyond.

O&M specialists prepare learners with visual impairments to move, engage and travel in a range of environments with safety, confidence, and independence. A Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) is an “expert who specializes in working with individuals who are blind, low vision or who have functional visual limitations, and empowers them to achieve their life goals for education, employment, avocation and independence,” according to the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals.

Two university faculty members who are leaders in preparation of O&M scholars share how universities prepare O&M scholars, how individuals can pursue this dynamic career field, and how schools, states, and districts can “grow their own” O&M specialists in partnership with universities.

Amy Parker		Molly Pasley
Dr. Amy Parker is an associate professor and coordinator of the Orientation and Mobility Program in the Special Education Department at Portland State University. She earned her doctorate through an OSEP-funded fellowship for doctoral scholars and is also an internationally Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist. Her research interests include orientation and mobility for individuals with complex disabilities, communication interventions, participatory action research with people with disabilities and their families, and community-based partnerships to create social change.		Dr. Molly Pasley is an assistant professor in the Special and Early Education Department at Northern Illinois University and teaches O&M coursework including Basic Orientation and Mobility for Teachers of People with Visual Impairments and Internship in Orientation and Mobility Instruction of Persons with Visual Impairments. She is a former Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments and is an internationally Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist. Her research involves understanding the experiences of people with low vision/blindness as they navigate the built environment as well as understanding the ways in which people with disabilities are “othered” because of others’ perception of their capacity.

How did you get started on your paths to O&M personnel preparation?

Molly

I was working in Springfield, Illinois, as a teacher of students with visual impairments (TVI), serving as a cooperating teacher for new TVIs entering that profession. I really enjoyed working with university students, so I jumped at the opportunity to work as a supervising COMS at a summer residential program in St. Louis, at the Lighthouse for the Blind. Around the same time, I graduated with my doctorate, and a job opened at Northern Illinois University. Currently, I teach Basic Orientation and Mobility, and my hope is that this spring, I’m going to get to teach the second stage, Advanced Orientation and Mobility, including use of the long white cane to navigate in the built environment and public transportation.

Amy

My path into the field began with working with individuals who are Deaf and through people who are DeafBlind becoming influencers and teachers in my life. Working as a job coach and a social worker, I saw how integral mobility is for all aspects of life, and so it’s always been something I’ve been very passionate about. At Texas Tech University, when I was studying for a doctorate, I decided to pursue O&M and to become a COMS. Like Molly, I embraced the opportunity to supervise O&M specialists in training who were earning their practicum hours.

Later, a position became open at Portland State University, which is situated in a region that serves remote communities in Hawaii and Alaska. I was especially interested in the opportunity to serve those communities well, and they needed someone who could think strategically about hybrid types of preparation and maybe even hybrid types of service delivery.

What are you looking for in candidates for your program? What makes a good O&M instructor?

Amy

Innovation — that’s something we hear a lot in the field of O&M. Students must stay open to constantly learning about technology and about people. What I love to see in our O&M candidates is they come with different strategies in their toolbox, but they always, always start with the person and the individual, and they think flexibly. I also would say that a person really needs to be out there in the community and open to sharing their work with others. I have a candidate from the Big Island of Hawaii, and she is very good at what she calls “talking story,” which is a phrase that they use in Hawaii. It means chatting, chatting with people, sharing ideas, sharing your work and being open.

Molly

I would echo all of that, especially flexibility and the commitment to the profession, to the person who’s being served, and to having that person at the center of their decision making. Lead with kindness, collaborate and understand how much this job requires us to collaborate, even though it feels like we can be our own islands a lot of times. We must be responsible for our own growth and being self-directed learners.

A popular path into the O&M profession is for states and school districts to “grow their own” professionals. What do you think states, districts and future professionals should consider when partnering with university preparation programs?

Amy

We love working with invested administrators to help them creatively prepare personnel who are committed to that community. Local professionals have real knowledge of the geography, of the culture, and of the ways people travel that may be different. They have connections with community partners and families. Some examples that come to mind are scholars who are living in Alaska, who understand what travel is like in Alaska, and who understand what Alaska winters are like.

Molly

That’s amazing. The O&M field is small, and so it’s exciting that each university program offers a little something different, and there’s a need everywhere regardless of where you are in the U.S. or in the world. We’ve also found high needs in our area in terms of preparation programs for people who want to become O&M specialists and for schools and districts that are looking to invest in training new teachers.

Oftentimes, they’ll come to us, or they might go to Western Michigan, or they might look for online or hybrid program options. One of the key components for our program is that it is on-campus. If you’re coming for O&M only, you would come four semesters, so you could start the fall and finish at the end of the fall semester the following year. It’s very fast, which can be great for some districts and scholars who urgently need to fill positions. We’re beginning to investigate hybridization, but we’re not quite there yet; however, we are very fortunate to have an office of strategic partnership that has helped us develop great relationships with school districts in our area.

Amy

Because there are so few preparation programs, we work hard to keep in touch with each other and network with each other to meet the unique needs of scholars and schools. If somebody can’t be enrolled at Portland State University or finds another opportunity that’s closer to them geographically, I encourage them to take it!

What is the job market like for graduates of an O&M program? What types of employment are available?

Molly

You can get a job pretty much anywhere now, although if you’re really wanting to get into a certain region, depending on what the market looks like there, you may or may not get in there right away. We had several graduates just this past year, and they were all scooped up before they graduated in May. Your opportunities are greater if you do have a willingness to move to where those jobs are, but everybody needs somebody.

Amy

I agree, the market is very, very strong! Often our students get job offers, maybe even during their first or second class (though we advise them not to take the position until they’ve completed the coursework.) Opportunities vary by the agency that someone is working in, but whether it be rehabilitation or community-based agencies, those that work with transition age youth, those that work in VA [Veterans Affairs] hospitals, or other types of hospital setting, the need is great. Some states really want and need people to be prepared as both a TVI and an O&M specialist, and so they may not hire as many people who only have O&M certification. Other states have more avenues for O&M-only folks to be hired as related service providers.

What opportunities are there in O&M for infants and toddlers?

Amy

The need is so great to support infants’ mobility right away and for professionals working with families and coaching them. This has been a big focus in our program. We have distance consultation models for teaching skills that need to be reinforced and embraced and understood by families generally. For those working little ones especially, we coordinate and provide practicum experiences in that area. I think every person that you would talk to in early childhood would talk about the importance of movement as a part of developing language and as a part of developing concepts of the world.

Molly

Definitely — it’s so important for our youngest learners to build confidence and a sense of security in their travel and movement. When you go to become a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, you’re certified to serve all ages. But in Illinois, to be a developmental therapist in O&M, there is an extra step of training to get an additional credential, and then you can work with the state to provide services with families of children who are birth to 3. There are very few practicing developmental therapists in O&M who are working in Illinois right now, so it’s certainly an area of need.

What research and leadership opportunities can scholars pursue in O&M?

Molly

While we’re always working in our programs and supporting students, we also have a commitment to the betterment of the field. In my work with the Lighthouse for the Blind in St. Louis, we’ve been collecting and analyzing data to better understand the impact of our programming. I’m also continuing to research drivers’ education for non-drivers, which was the topic of my doctoral dissertation. One big theme from this research is the issue of passing as sighted by the individuals with low vision, and so I’m doing a qualitative research study, talking to people about their lived experiences with vision loss. I also want to look at cultural and linguistic diversity and how that intersects with vision loss.

Amy

Absolutely. In O&M, all types of people can be leaders as practitioners, action researchers, and community partners. Engaging in real world travel tasks and influencing people in communities to consider accessibility on the front end of their planning is a huge part of leadership. As we’re speaking, I’m on a train to Seattle for some research and practicum opportunities where scholars are testing tactile maps and wayfinding apps in transit stations. We conducted structured travel tasks and focus groups with diverse youth and adults in partnership with a transit provider. The resources we develop and refine through this process will become tools that Sound Transit provides to its ridership.

Later this fall, we are partnering with national parks on creating more accessible experiences for visitors. Our graduate students in Hawaii and one in Alaska will visit Pearl Harbor National Memorial to host youth and adults on a tour that incorporates tactile artifacts and audio description in a mixed-method study.

As we celebrate White Cane Safety Day (October 15), what aspects of white cane travel and O&M would you like schools and teachers to be more aware of?

Amy

White Cane Safety Day is a day for O&M practitioners, researchers, and students to join with the community in celebrating this important civil right to be recognized in all community spaces and to travel freely. This year, Portland State University is partnering with community leaders to walk from a local bakery, owned by a person with low vision, to a downtown library for an inclusive story time that focuses on White Cane Safety Day. This also incorporates our LIBROS [Low-Incidence Interdisciplinary Scholars Building Reading Opportunities for Social-Emotional Resiliency] personnel preparation grant goals of supporting inclusive literacy programming in community and school libraries.

Many students across the country walk to their local schools. Schools should be a part of recognizing “safe routes to school” for all their students. In Oregon, the Department of Transportation recognizes this need for “Safe Routes to School,” and they are a part of advertising the White Cane Safety Walk and Storytime event this year.

Molly

Awesome! And it’s not just blindness, but people with low vision. Even if they have some vision, they might also carry a cane, or they might not carry a cane, and that’s OK. It’s so important to be kind and respectful to people who do use these tools. Ask instead of making assumptions. This is really a spectrum of using tools you need when you need them.

Resources

For more information on orientation and mobility programs, please visit OSEP-funded O&M programs including many newly awarded personal preparation grants in 2023:

North Carolina Central University	—	Special Education, Visual Impairment, Orientation and Mobility, MEd
University of Nebraska	—	Visual Impairments/Orientation & Mobility \| College of Education and Human Sciences
Texas Tech University System	—	Special Education — Orientation and Mobility \| Special Education \| Graduate Program \| College of Education
University of Massachusetts	—	Vision Studies: Orientation and Mobility Certificate \| UMass Boston Online & Continuing Education
Portland State University	—	Orientation and Mobility (O&M)
Florida State University	—	Visual Disabilities Education \| College of Education
University of Arizona	—	College of Education program will boost support for K-12 students who are visually impaired
Western Michigan University	—	Orientation and Mobility for Children \| Blindness and Low Vision Studies
Cal State LA	—	Credential in Orientation & Mobility — Why Orientation & Mobility?
Northern Illinois University	—	Special Education: Visual Disabilities Program (M.S.Ed)
Salus University	—	Orientation and Mobility
University of Pittsburgh	—	Certification as Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) \| School of Education

This is the second of three posts in a White Cane Safety Day 2023 series.
View all the posts in the series.

While we are celebrating Oct. 15, White Cane Safety Day, and bringing more focus to the field of orientation and mobility, we asked two orientation and mobility (O&M) instructors about the highlights of the profession. Meredith Grace and Joe (who is also a cane user) provide their personal insights into what it is like to be an orientation and mobility instructor and why it is such a unique and wonderful job.

Orientation and mobility is a profession where instructors work with students and clients to help teach techniques for safe travel. Each instructor must go through highly specialized training at a university program to sit for the national certification exam. O&M instruction includes a wide variety of skills and concepts including, but not limited to, cane technique, indoor travel, outdoor travel, public transportation, intersection analysis and travel, and business district travel. Instructors work with individuals in all stages of life including early childhood and instruction happens in a variety of settings such as schools, rehabilitation centers and home environments.

Meredith Grace LaHue		Joe Strechay
Meredith Grace LaHue is a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) as well as a Teacher of Students who are Blind and Visually Impaired (TBVI). After pursuing her undergraduate degree in collaborative education from Birmingham-Southern College, Meredith Grace attended Florida State University to obtain her master’s degree in visual disabilities. Meredith Grace has experience in roles such as itinerant teacher in a school district, program specialist at a nonprofit for individuals who have vision loss and scientific researcher at FSU with a grant-funded low vision initiative. In addition to these positions, Meredith Grace has had the opportunity to teach within the visual disabilities program at Florida State University as adjunct faculty.		Joe Strechay is a producer and consultant around disability and blindness for television and film who happens to be blind. He has produced and created accessibility for actors with disabilities for shows such as Apple TV Plus’s SEE and Netflix’s All the Light We Cannot See. He has consulted on numerous shows, films, books and plays over the past years. Joe did his graduate work at Florida State University and undergraduate at East Carolina University. He serves as a spokesperson for the American Printing House for the Blind’s Dot Experience Museum being constructed in Louisville, Kentucky.

What do you think are some characteristics that make for a good O&M instructor?

Meredith Grace

One major characteristic of good O&M instructors is being flexible. When working with students you need to be able to think outside of the box and quickly shift your mindset based on what the skill level the student is presenting any given day. There are so many variables that can affect a student’s vision including their own health conditions, lighting conditions, weather, etc.

Another characteristic of strong O&M instructors is being able to analyze a situation and problem solve quickly. There are so many environmental factors that can impact travel that an instructor needs to be able to think outside of the box and quickly shift their mindset based on what you are presented in any given moment.

Lastly, you must be relatable, and your students must have an established trust. The instructor and the student have to be comfortable with one another and feel as though you could trust your life with this person. There is a certain level of vulnerability with this type of instruction. Being able to reach into the student’s life and establish a relationship and connections will help the student progress further along in the instruction.

Joe

As a person who is blind, I think what makes a good orientation and mobility instructor is that they’re someone you feel you can trust because you are putting your life in their hands. These lessons really open up doors. The instructors are giving you important information you didn’t already know such as cane tips and advice that will help you navigate in a manner that is safe. I’ve been on both sides of it as I was an O&M instructor. From an instructor’s perspective, the person I’m working with must trust me as an instructor. If they don’t feel safe on a lesson, you must stop. You cannot put them in the position. So, trust and bring respectful, those are important.

Another characteristic is being intuitive. An O&M instructor must understand that each person you’re instructing is different, and you need to meet them where they are in life at that moment.

How did you learn about the field of orientation & mobility?

Joe

I lost most of my vision in my first semester in college, and I was having a hard time traveling, especially at night. I was trying to memorize a campus of around 20,000 students and walking around trying to use my feet like a cane. I asked the doctor about O&M, and he said he didn’t think I was ready for that yet, but I felt I was, so I went and sought it on my own. There were difficulties with securing lessons, so eventually I gave up and went through undergrad without the training. There were lots of bloody shin while out on dates. One time I remember I had blood gushing down my shin from hitting it on a fire hydrant.

After I graduated college, I went back home and received cane training there. My doctors knew a little about O&M, but I learned about it mostly from doing research.

Meredith Grace

I was going to be a classroom teacher, but after my internship, I realized that is not what I wanted. One of my professors suggested looking at the visual disabilities program at Florida State. At first, I was thinking only TVI, but then I shadowed O&M lessons and from then on out, I knew this is what I was going to do. I love being out there teaching cane skills, problem solving, figuring out the environment. I’m so happy I got that little push from one of my professors.

How has O&M changed your life? What changes have you seen in others?

Joe

It has changed my life in so many ways. In college, I remember, having to explain to people why certain things were happening. People thought I was ignoring them or had a long night partying because of how I was walking or how my eyes were acting. Now, having the cane and that identification, helps people understand the situation and not make assumptions.

Learning the cane was definitely the right decision, and it changed my life for the better. One of my friends would say when I was using the cane all the time, I walked so much faster, and my head was up because I wasn’t worrying about drop offs or anything like that.

As an instructor I’ve had many experiences with students. One person, after months of training, was able to do this very complex, full-day trip where he navigated so many different obstacles and moving parts. They were so proud to go home and share with other people all the stuff they experienced. It was their first experience as a competent blind traveler in their home environment. I saw how much it changed them.

Meredith Grace

Seeing someone go from tiptoeing down a hallway with their head down and feeling uncomfortable to head up, moving swiftly without any worry or concern. Them being able to be their own agent and take control of their life, and their ability to go from point A to point B on without any assistance. I’ve seen students go from struggling walking down a hallway to being able to take the bus with no problems. I’ve seen the change from unsure and scared to competent and confident. There was a student I did bus travel with in Tallahassee, and I watched this person get disoriented and get confused with all the gates. It took multiple sessions for them to get an understanding of where everything was. At one point, they navigated the bus terminal, found the correct gate and took the bus home.

What is something most people probably don’t know about O&M that they should know?

Joe

It is the coolest profession out there. I think people are really missing out. You get to be outside, and there is a certain freedom to it. It is something that is different each day, and you really do have the ability to make it very fun! Also, you can see the impact after the first day and you see the impact every day you work with students.

Meredith Grace

I like what Joe said about seeing the impact every day and that it can look different every day. Blindness is truly a spectrum, that’s what I’d like people to know. Travel scenarios look different for different travelers. O&M can be something like basic cane training or something like finding alternative public transportation. But, as Joe said, it definitely is the best job out there!

As we think about White Cane Safety Day, what aspects of cane travel do you think the public needs to be more aware of?

Meredith Grace

I feel like public transportation can be really difficult and having more accessibility at places like bus stops is important. Accessibility, for our clients and students, so they can access public transportation in the same manner as their sighted peers is an important issue for me.

Joe

First off, I love Meredith Grace’s answer. Transportation means access to work, access to life and access to the world around you.

I would say that cane travel is a full contact sport. So, when I’m out using my cane, I’m going to hit stuff with it. Just because I’m hitting objects with my cane, it does not mean that I’m lost.

Resources

For more information on orientation and mobility programs, please visit OSEP-funded O&M programs including many newly awarded personal preparation grants in 2023:

North Carolina Central University	—	Special Education, Visual Impairment, Orientation and Mobility, MEd
University of Nebraska	—	Visual Impairments/Orientation & Mobility \| College of Education and Human Sciences
Texas Tech University System	—	Special Education — Orientation and Mobility \| Special Education \| Graduate Program \| College of Education
University of Massachusetts	—	Vision Studies: Orientation and Mobility Certificate \| UMass Boston Online & Continuing Education
Portland State University	—	Orientation and Mobility (O&M)
Florida State University	—	Visual Disabilities Education \| College of Education
University of Arizona	—	College of Education program will boost support for K-12 students who are visually impaired
Western Michigan University	—	Orientation and Mobility for Children \| Blindness and Low Vision Studies
Cal State LA	—	Credential in Orientation & Mobility — Why Orientation & Mobility?
Northern Illinois University	—	Special Education: Visual Disabilities Program (M.S.Ed)
Salus University	—	Orientation and Mobility
University of Pittsburgh	—	Certification as Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) \| School of Education

This is the third of three posts in a White Cane Safety Day 2023 series.
View all the posts in the series.

Every year on Oct. 15, we celebrate White Cane Safety Day. Have you ever wondered how someone who travels with a white cane learns techniques and strategies to know where they are, where they want to go, and how to get there safely?

Orientation and mobility (O&M) is a high-demand professional practice focused on instruction and support for learners who are blind/visually impaired in early childhood settings, schools, and beyond! According to the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals, a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) is an “expert who specializes in working with individuals who are blind, low vision or who have functional visual limitations, and empowers them to achieve their life goals for education, employment, avocation and independence.” O&M specialists prepare learners with visual impairments to move, engage, and travel in a range of environments with safety, confidence, and independence.

In recognition of White Cane Safety Day, Oct. 15, and October’s Blindness Awareness Month, we met with Justin Pierce and Laura Liedtka, two university students training to be O&M specialists through university-based personnel preparation grants funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).

Justin Pierce		Laura Liedtka
Justin Pierce is completing his certification in orientation and mobility through an OSEP-funded grant at Western Michigan University. He is in the internship phase of his program, working at the Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix, Arizona. Justin is visually impaired and has traveled with a white cane since the age of three.		Laura Liedtka is completing her certification in orientation and mobility through an OSEP-funded grant at Texas Tech University. She lives in Missoula, Montana, and has been an occupational therapist (OT) for 23 years, currently working in early intervention and preschool settings with children with disabilities. Laura enrolled in the O&M program to become better prepared to advocate for children with visual impairments in her rural state.

How did you first become interested in orientation and mobility?

Laura

As an OT, I was implementing a lot of the services for my students with visual impairment because there are so few trained teachers of students with visual impairments (TVIs) in my area. I especially have a passion for students with neurological visual impairment because their needs often align very closely with my practice as an occupational therapist. I’m trained and experienced as an OT, which is a type of related service provider, but I have not been through a teacher training program. So, I would have had to go back to school and get a teaching certification before I could be a TVI; however, O&M is a related service, like OT, so I’m able to become certified in O&M much more easily.

Justin

For me, although I’ve received O&M instruction and have been traveling with a white cane for a long time, it wasn’t until I was a sophomore in college when I started to really assess what I wanted to do. I have kept in touch with my former mobility instructor from high school, and he really encouraged me to consider a career in O&M. I grew up in Chicago and have always gotten around on buses and trains; I love to get out and move around. When I really started thinking about careers, this seemed like a great fit.

What are some factors that helped you to choose the O&M preparation program at your university?

Justin

One big factor for me is that Western Michigan is where my previous O&M instructor went to school, and he recommended that I go there too. Also, Western Michigan is one of the oldest programs and is very well known and respected in the field. I knew that I would have a great experience learning from the professors. They’re just great at what they do, and they always answer my questions. I feel like I hit the jackpot there! I’m around professionals who have been doing this for years and who are involved in research and all the behind-the-scenes work in O&M.

I enrolled full-time, on campus, although a lot of our classes have been online. There were just a few other students in most of my classes, and I appreciate that the program is flexible. Some of my classmates are already teaching and can’t stop working for a year to go full-time, in-person. There have been many in-person classes, including some of the classes on eye anatomy, and the courses where we practiced skills under blindfold.

Laura

In the same way Justin heard about Western Michigan from his O&M specialist, a TVI that I work with in Montana recommended the Texas Tech program. The OSEP-funded scholarship and opportunity to earn a master’s degree were also big factors in my choice to enroll at Texas Tech, and the fact that their program is mostly distance learning worked well for me. While I don’t love the idea of distance learning, at my stage in life, working full time as a single mom with a second job, distance learning is really the best option. There have been some in-person components, like the intensive, on-campus summer cane class, which I finished last summer. Having the option to do that class in the summer worked well for me because I work for a school district during the school year. I have so much going on in my life — if I can do this program, anyone can do it!

Based on what you’ve learned and experienced in your program, what are some characteristics that make for a good O&M instructor, especially for working with young learners?

Laura

I think creativity is very important. That’s also why I’m drawn to occupational therapy. For most of the learners I work with, there are no ready-made solutions, like a catalog that you can go and buy. You need to create things that work for your clients, so being creative and then also being flexible are very important for an O&M specialist.

In my work with little preschoolers, we must be flexible. We must meet them where they’re at and work where they are at, instead of having a very scripted approach. You need to be aware of where the student is at, meet them where they’re at, and be flexible with being able to change plans if needed.

Justin

I would also add that you have to want to help kids; being compassionate and listening are very important. I was doing an O&M assessment today and a lot of it was just sitting down and having a conversation and listening to their story and their experiences, rather than rushing to do everything.

I have never really thought of myself as creative, but I’m getting there, especially with the preschoolers that I’m working with. We go for walks down the hall, sweep the cane, and say “Hi!” to other teachers. O&M is very, very unique to each individual because it’s based on need, and it’s based on ability. Someone who understands the importance of seeing each learner as an individual would be a good person for the job.

Laura

And that’s what also makes it fun and exciting! I mean, I’ve been doing OT for 23 years, working with students with disabilities and in all environments. I’ve worked in the hospital; I’ve worked in early intervention; I’ve worked in private practice — and each individual is a new experience, and that’s what keeps it exciting and engaging.

What do you know about the job market for graduates of an O&M program? What types of employment are available?

Justin

Interestingly, I have a meeting coming up with a large school district in a suburban area, and the Special Ed Director has been looking for an O&M specialist for about two years now and has not found anyone. It’s heartbreaking that students might be going without services. There is a high demand that is not being met. I think more awareness is needed to help recruit and retain professionals in the field.

Laura

I agree. The job prospect for anybody going into the field of O&M is extremely positive. Of course, pay is a huge concern for any special education position. I want children to get what they need, and I want to be able to provide equitable services, so I think there needs to be a little a shift in philosophy, and more work on solutions like making O&M services billable under Medicaid. As an O&M specialist or TVI, especially in a rural state, you enter this field that you are suddenly given a seemingly impossible task — students four hours across the state, 70 of them that you need to see. So, I’m not doing this for the money, but I hope I can be an advocate for change.

What areas of need do you perceive related to research and leadership in O&M? Would you be interested in research and/or leadership in the field in the future?

Justin

At Western Michigan, the faculty does a lot of research, for example, on cane techniques and street crossing techniques. Personally, I love to be hands-on; I don’t see myself as a researcher. I prefer to go in and do the teaching; let someone else do the researching! But I’m glad we do have many professionals researching best practices.

Laura

I think there is a huge need in O&M to better understand the impact of our orientation and mobility interventions and to clearly identify the evidence based for our practice. It makes a difference in people’s lives. With a stronger research base, we could have more people in the profession and might more easily be able to justify Medicaid billing and other funding sources.

I also think there’s a need for research into O&M for individuals with multiple impairments or orthopedic impairments, pairing OT with O&M to maximize learners’ independence. That sense of independence brings such a huge quality of life; it’s definitely a passion of mine.

How do you see technology and the technologies of the future shaping the orientation and mobility profession?

Justin

One great example comes to mind for me. Living in Phoenix, we have a fully self-driving rideshare service called that you can call. The vehicle comes to your house or apartment and picks you up. I have used that since I moved out here and absolutely love it. The company is doing a lot with the blind and low vision community as far as accessibility on their app. There’s a feature you can activate so that every time the car makes a turn, it will let you know where you are, for example: “Turning North onto 12th St.” This service is in Phoenix and has expanded to San Francisco and parts of Los Angeles. So, for O&M specialists and cane travelers, there’s a lot of new technology to work with, including cars. And there are aspects that need to be further studied and worked out, too, such as quieter vehicles and more complicated pedestrian crossings.

Laura

Jason gave an excellent response. I’ll add that even with these amazing technology innovations, there will always be a need for traditional orientation and mobility services. What if your self-driving car drops you off in the wrong neighborhood? You will need to figure out how to reorient and get to somewhere safe and get back on track. We must always have a backup plan in case technology fails — or for very rural areas like parts of Montana where there is no internet access. This goes back to that sense of independence. Are you really maximizing your independence if you are entirely reliable on technology?

As we think about White Cane Safety Day, what aspects of cane travel would you like schools to be more aware of?

Laura

I’m lucky to live in a city where we support education and every bond that has been presented for a vote has been passed. So, we’ve seen a lot of growth in our schools and a lot of new buildings being built. However, I really wish that people with consider universal design — for cane travel, for everybody! — when they’re building these new buildings. For example, when designing a staircase in a new school, even though a spiral staircase without risers between the steps looks really cool, that may not be a great design for cane travelers whose canes could easily drop between the steps. Instead, we could prioritize the functionality of a building for everyone, for example by making staircases with good visual contrast on the steps.

Justin

In Phoenix, many of the school campuses include separate buildings and outdoor sidewalks. For example, students leave the gym and walk outside to go to the cafeteria. I wish there were more tactile indicators to assist kids with navigating these campuses, especially outdoors. I agree with Laura — a lot of designers are very concerned about how things look, and that’s great. But it’s important to take other people’s abilities and needs into consideration, so that everyone can enjoy the space. Not just some people, but all people.

Resources

For more information on orientation and mobility programs, please visit OSEP-funded O&M programs including many newly awarded personal preparation grants in 2023:

North Carolina Central University	—	Special Education, Visual Impairment, Orientation and Mobility, MEd
University of Nebraska	—	Visual Impairments/Orientation & Mobility \| College of Education and Human Sciences
Texas Tech University System	—	Special Education — Orientation and Mobility \| Special Education \| Graduate Program \| College of Education
University of Massachusetts	—	Vision Studies: Orientation and Mobility Certificate \| UMass Boston Online & Continuing Education
Portland State University	—	Orientation and Mobility (O&M)
Florida State University	—	Visual Disabilities Education \| College of Education
University of Arizona	—	College of Education program will boost support for K-12 students who are visually impaired
Western Michigan University	—	Orientation and Mobility for Children \| Blindness and Low Vision Studies
Cal State LA	—	Credential in Orientation & Mobility — Why Orientation & Mobility?
Northern Illinois University	—	Special Education: Visual Disabilities Program (M.S.Ed)
Salus University	—	Orientation and Mobility
University of Pittsburgh	—	Certification as Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) \| School of Education

Note: October is Learning Disabilities / Dyslexia / Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Awareness Month.

By: Erin Crosby

The Young Adult Leadership Council, a community of young adults aged 18–30 with learning disabilities and attention issues, unite their experiences and voices to advocate for the learning rights community.

With Learning Disabilities (LD) Awareness Month upon us, I have been thinking not only about awareness of what LDs are but how they impact people and how we break the myths and stigma about LDs. I’m also thinking about the amazing, successful leaders with LD that society has not seen as leaders.

Whether we lead in school, the workplace, or for a cause, there are infinite ways to lead with LD.

When I first thought of what it means to be a leader with LD, I thought of my self-advocacy and my time on the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

Young Adult Leadership Council (YALC). I also realized that I was leading by being a special education teacher with learning disabilities.

My teaching philosophy is to change how the world views students with learning disabilities by helping students see that they, too, can be successful students with bright futures. I often use my experience as an LD student to inform my practice, and it has had great success with my elementary students. There are many ways that I lead with LD as a special education teacher, but the most prevalent way is how I engage with my students, especially on the harder days.

I will never forget one day this past school year with my second grade reading group. We were learning a tricky sound and how that one sound shows up in two different, yet very similar, diphthongs (a nightmare for dyslexic and LD students).

That day was what we call a “hard day” in my class. It is when something is still hard no matter what, even when we are doing our best. I noticed two hard-working students suddenly go from engaged to silly, and then they somehow ended up under the table. Rather than continue the torture, I realized we needed to stop and do something different.

I said, “Let’s stop and do something else since I see we are having a hard day. I have a story I want to read to you.”

I pulled out a book about a child who also has trouble reading and felt the same frustration my students were feeling. I remember sitting on the floor, showing the pictures, and reading the story to my students as they listened wherever they were. My students slowly chimed in and shared their connections with the story. One of them said, “That’s what it looks like when I read!” with such enthusiasm, it still fills my heart when I think about it.

The read-aloud and conversation allowed my students to express their frustrations, have their feelings and experiences validated, and see how learning differently does not mean you won’t be successful or have a bright future.

To add to the conversation, we talked about how it is okay (and normal) to feel frustrated about our challenges and to have hard days. As their teacher, I wanted to make sure my class knew that this is a space where they can feel frustrated and talk about it when they need to.

I told my students that I had a hard time learning to read, write, and do math when I was in school, and that I felt frustrated and hopeless, just like them. But I made it through school, was working as a special education teacher, and preparing for further education—all proof that they have the potential to be successful and future leaders for those with LD.

I told them that it won’t be this hard forever, even if it feels like everything will be hard forever. I felt like I was never going to be good at anything, no matter what, but I eventually found what works for me. I wanted them to know that they will find it, too, and when they do, they will be unstoppable. You can be the successful person you want to be, especially when you find the right tools and people to cheer you on.

The read-aloud and conversation with a “successful” LD role model is something that my students needed but didn’t know they needed. I certainly needed to interact with LD role models and leaders when I was their age, but I had no idea I needed that until I was in college.

Reflecting on this experience with my students and thinking about LD Awareness Month made me realize that teaching with LD is an underappreciated and highly needed form of LD leadership.

Conversations and teaching moments like this show that LD special educators, their experiences, and their leadership are essential for students with disabilities and truly equitable and safe schools for all. Because when students with disabilities feel seen and heard, they thrive and become strong, confident, successful students, people, and leaders.

NOTE: October is Blind Awareness Month

By: Heather Holmes, Protactile Language Interpreting National Program co-director; CM Hall, Protactile Language Interpreting National Program co-director; and Kristen Rhinehart-Fernandez, Rehabilitation Services Administration project officer

The Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) is working to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and systems change through its Training of Interpreters for Individuals Who are Hard of Hearing and Individuals Who are DeafBlind program.

In October 2021, RSA funded seven projects to provide training to working interpreters in specialty areas to develop a new skill area or enhance an existing skill area to effectively meet the communication needs of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and individuals who are DeafBlind receiving vocational rehabilitation services and/or services from other programs, such as independent living services, under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

One of the project’s funded is Western Oregon University’s Protactile Language Interpreting (PLI) National Education Program. The program trains sign language interpreters working with DeafBlind consumers who are using a new language, Protactile, in a variety of settings such as vocational rehabilitation, post-secondary education, professional and business-related events, and medical settings.

What is Protactile language?

For equity to exist, a DeafBlind person has to be able to do everything a sighted and hearing person is able to do. Protactile language allows DeafBlind people to give, receive and exchange information through a tactile channel, rather than relying on auditory or visual channels to access information and language.

In Protactile language, the DeafBlind individual, the Protactile interpreter and the provider are in physical contact with one another during the interpretation. The provider communicates with the DeafBlind individual directly through touch, and in return, the DeafBlind consumer touches the medical provider, as touch is akin to eye contact. This prioritizes direct access to information and the interpreter does not create a barrier between the DeafBlind individual and the provider, but rather ensures that the DeafBlind individual receives as much information directly from the source as possible.

Touch is not only access, language, communication, information and power, but it is transformative and drives more confidence in autonomy and access.

Three videos help further explain Protactile language:

Protactile in action (4:45 minute demonstration) from Protactile Language Interpreting National Education Program. Note: there is no dialogue or narration. Please download the video description.
New Protactile language emerges in Oregon (50:35 video) from OPB.
Protactile: A Language of Touch (17:42 video) from PBS American Masters

Protactile Language Origin Story

Protactile language is a growing movement that began in the DeafBlind community 15 years ago and is revolutionizing the field of sign language interpreting for individuals who are DeafBlind. In Protactile language, the interpreter is a co-conspirator with the DeafBlind person and seeks to promote and support the DeafBlind individuals’ autonomy.

At the center of the Protactile language movement is Jelica Nuccio, an individual who is DeafBlind and serves as a subject matter expert and consultant to Western Oregon University’s Protactile Language Interpreting project.

“We can’t grow if we always are only getting things secondhand from other people who are seeing them in the world firsthand because people are uncomfortable shifting to a tactile ground,” Nuccio shared. “We want to be the game changers in our world. We want information to be going out from us also and for co-presence to be able to occur.”

What is the difference between Protactile and American Sign Language (ASL)?

ASL makes use of ASL signs, grammatical structure and linguistics in visual “air” space. In ASL interpretation, the interpreter acts as a middle person to bridge linguistic and cultural gaps between hearing individuals and those who are Deaf and DeafBlind.

Protactile language is a separate and distinct language from ASL with its own linguistic components and vocabulary in contact space. To be able to interpret with DeafBlind individuals, ASL interpreters must learn Protactile Language.

Impact of the Protactile Language Interpreting Institute

There are many unique challenges for DeafBlind individuals related to access, and medical settings are often the most complicated to navigate.

An example of systems change occurred a few months ago when a language coordinator was hired at a hospital in western Oregon to oversee the provision of all language services.

The hospital initially relied on video remote interpreting, which is often inaccessible to people who are DeafBlind. The hospital also provided in-person ASL interpreters, but they were not familiar with or trained to interpret in Protactile.

These challenges resulted in a meeting to address a critical need to provide patients with qualified Protactile interpreters. One of the interpreters at this meeting was a trained Protactile interpreter through the RSA-funded DeafBlind Interpreting Institute at Western Oregon University.¹

The interpreter was familiar with the difference between ASL and Protactile language and understood the importance of DeafBlind autonomy. As a result, the trained Protactile interpreter was able to advocate with the DeafBlind individual for qualified Protactile interpreters in medical settings.

The hospital provided 24-hour interpreting services for a DeafBlind patient receiving medical care. Most of the interpreters who worked with the patient were alumni from the DeafBlind Interpreting Institute or the Protactile Language Interpreting Institute grants funded by RSA. The team consisted of hearing and Deaf interpreters, and all worked in conjunction with the hospital’s staff and ASL interpreters to interpret the information into Protactile Language.

This change was made possible due to the advocacy of the local DeafBlind community and the interpreters who were trained through the DeafBlind Interpreting Institute and Protactile Language Interpreting Institute grants.

This unique training provided interpreters with the language competencies they needed to interpret into Protactile and provided them with an understanding of the paradigm shift that is required to do this type of interpreting work. This is one small example of the ways that interpreters and DeafBlind individuals are working together toward systems change that will have a big impact on the DeafBlind community.

Where can one learn more about Protactile language interpreting?

The Protactile Language Interpreting National Education Program offers online learning resources.

However, one cannot learn Protactile language entirely online. A person must be immersed within the community, and this immersion experience is what makes PLI unique. Only this type of training directly from DeafBlind Protactile educators can lead to real and lasting language development and change within systems.

People taking PLI’s modules or participate in the program should remember the simplicity of keeping in touch — literally and figuratively.

Visit PLI’s website, YouTube channel or Facebook page for more information. To contact PLI, visit the contact page on the program’s website.

¹ In 2016, the DeafBlind Interpreting National Training and Resource Center at Western Oregon University was funded by RSA to increase the number of qualified interpreters who work with individuals who are DeafBlind. As a result of this project, 156 working interpreters (i.e., interpreters who possess a bachelor’s degree or equivalent with three or more years of experience) enrolled and successfully completed specialized training in Protactile Language in 25 states. Of those, 88% obtained employment in the areas for which they were prepared, and 77% reported they advanced in employment in the areas for which they were prepared.

Heather Holmes is the Protactile Language Interpreting National Program co-director and holds a Master of Science degree, a National Interpreter Certification – Advanced and an Educational Interpreter Certification. CM Hall is also the Protactile Language Interpreting National Program co-director and holds a master’s degree in education, a National Interpreter Certification – Advanced and an Educational Interpreter Certification.

The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) celebrated the 9th annual National Apprenticeship Week, Nov. 13-19.

National Apprenticeship Week spotlights the value of registered apprenticeship, an “industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce, and individuals can obtain paid work experience, receive progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential,” according to Apprenticeship.gov.

Registered apprenticeships can serve as one venue for individuals with disabilities to receive the career training they need to get and maintain a job and seek advancement in their chosen career field.

OSERS provided the following resources for those interested in learning more about registered apprenticeships: