Blog Articles

One of the great storytellers in disability advocacy was Lou Brown, co-founder of TASH, who passed away a little over a year ago. And so today, on Tell A Story Day, I wanted to share one of Lou’s fables that he gave me permission to update and share. The story of Sally and Regina, the

How do you find what percentages of students with disabilities in your school district are included over 80% of the time in general education? Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), each state must develop a State Performance Plan and publish an annual report that evaluates how they are implementing the requirements of IDEA.

One middle school that I consulted with wanted some suggestions on how to improve their inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities in specials (art, music, and physical education). A special education teacher walked me down to the art classroom, where the art teacher prepared for her next class. In the large art room, there were

In 2003, Cecil County Public Schools (CCPS) educated students with significant disabilities very differently than they do now. At the time, they were known as a “center school district,” meaning students with significant disabilities were bussed away from their neighborhood schools to attend specialized schools. “There was never even an idea that a child with

One of the most common reasons people give as a barrier to inclusive education is funding. And it makes sense, right? If we want a genuinely inclusive education for our students, we have to pay for it. Except funding doesn’t have to be a barrier.  Inclusive education is about changing an educational system to be

Melissa Winchell’s guest post advocates for the integration of culturally responsive teaching and inclusive education in classrooms to better represent and understand disabled identities, teach about disabilities as socially constructed, and work with students to dismantle ableism, thereby transforming classrooms into genuinely inclusive spaces.