Think Inclusive

Hello, Inclusionists!  I’m Tim Villegas, and you are reading or listening to my bi-weekly (or whenever we get around to it) newsletter, where I break down what is happening in the field of inclusive education and whatever else is going on in my brain concerning inclusion.   For this edition, I want to share an interview […]

For this episode, I speak with Cheryl Green and Thomas Reid, both fantastic podcasters.   Cheryl Green has worked as an Access Artist, making creative and immersive captions for 10 years and audio description for five years. She brings her lived experiences of chronic illness and invisible disabilities to her access work with independent content creators […]

For this episode, I speak with Katie Novak, an internationally renowned education consultant, author, graduate instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a former Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Massachusetts. With 20 years of experience in teaching and administration, an earned doctorate in curriculum and teaching, and eleven published books, Katie designs and presents workshops […]

For this episode, I speak with Michael Giangreco, a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Special Education in the Department of Education at the University of Vermont and is affiliated with UVM’s Center on Disability & Community Inclusion.   Michael and I discuss why many school systems rely too much on paraprofessionals when implementing inclusive education. We […]

For this episode, I speak with Melissa Defayette, who is a current third-year Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland. She achieved candidacy in the Fall of 2022. Her research is focused on creating and implementing mathematic interventions for students with moderate to severe disabilities to be used in general education settings while aligned to […]

For this episode, I speak with Dr. Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University and the author of New York Times bestsellers Animals in Translation, Animals Make Us Human, The Autistic Brain, and Thinking in Pictures which became an HBO movie starring Claire Danes. Temple and I discuss why she wanted to […]

For this episode, I speak with Ashley Barlow, a special education attorney advocate and host of the podcast Special Education Advocacy with Ashley Barlow. In a former life, she was a German teacher in Jefferson County Public Schools and Cincinnati Public Schools, having taught nearly every grade from K to 12.  Ashley practices statewide in […]

For this episode, Tim speaks with Jay Ruderman, the President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, focusing on inclusion, diversity, and social justice. He hosts All About Change, a podcast focused on activism, change, and courage.  Jay is a social justice activist who has spent his life promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities. Through his […]

For this episode, Tim speaks with members of the Inclusive Education Community of Practice from TASH, Debbie Taub, Diane Ryndak, and Mary Fisher, about TASH’s position statement on the characteristics of fully inclusive schools. So just a point of clarification. We recorded this interview earlier this year before the annual conference in Phoenix, the first […]

In this episode, Tim Villegas speaks with Charmaine Thaner, an inclusion advocate and founder of Collaborative Special Education Advocacy.  They discuss her journey from being a self-contained special education teacher to an inclusion advocate and including her son with Down syndrome in school from preschool to college. Charmaine describes her early work as a special […]