Families living in rural and frontier setting may live hours away from the nearest specialist and have a small pool of therapists and providers from which to choose. How can a support system and work force be formed for these families?

Doctors tell parents of autistic kids not just to do ABA therapy but a lot of ABA therapy and as early as possible. Meanwhile, autistic self advocates are loudly saying under no circumstances should ABA be a therapy option. Who is right?

If the traditional format of education during the day and therapies in the afternoon are not advancing your objective, you CAN break the mold.

What does it look like to support self injurious behavior in a way that is affirming to the individuals neurotype? Are the approaches being suggested in the neurodivergent affirming therapeutic practices movement just wishful thinking or are they game changers for the many looking for help in this area? We conclude with a conversation about what self determination truly looks like when considering independent living outcomes and goals.

From the start, referrals and advice and options abound. How do we make smart decisions and put boundaries around therapy so as to choose the best option and know when it’s time to bail.

The most common settings for occupational, physical, and speech therapy are clinics, schools, homes, and in the community. This episode explores the pros and cons of each and introduces the new series where we rethink the what, when, where, why, and how of therapies we choose to use.

She was denied access to appropriate educational opportunities and a robust communication system for the first 18 years of life. But now, she has a degree in education policy and is a grad student studying curriculum instruction. A self advocate shares what it was like to live with trapped thoughts for 18 years and what was helpful and harmful on her journey toward communication and literacy.

Despite what research tells us about time learners need in emergent literacy environments, learners with CVI and significant disabilities are often expected to immediately jump into conventional strategies. This episode shares emergent literacy strategies, specifically in writing, for learners who have difficulty seeing and who have significant physical impairments.

If it’s not in the IEP then there is a good chance it won’t be an educational priority. Comprehensive literacy involves several areas of instruction. What should assessments and goals look like when using comprehensive literacy approaches toward literacy?

Bringing all learners, regardless of disability, to a place of literacy is going to require specialized skill sets from the therapy team, leadership from the special education teacher, involvement of para professionals, and follow through at home. This episode offers insight from a public high school education team that have discovered how bring it all together for comprehensive literacy instruction.

Changes require new ideas and ways of thinking. When considering literacy instruction and the teams responsible, where is the path of least resistance? This episode is a brainstorming session yielding ideas such as whole team vs segmented IEP writing, how to spearhead a comprehensive literacy movement in your school, and how Covid may have introduced models of instruction that bring more consistency to each child’s team.

Many educators are required by their district to use prepackaged curriculum sets. While these sets are very user friendly, they often do not follow a comprehensive literacy approach to learning and assume reading level equates thinking level. As a result, many learners are either left behind or lack access to age appropriate materials and cognitive concepts.

Comprehensive literacy instruction at the emergent stage includes shared reading, predictable chart writing, alphabet and phonological awareness, writing, and self directed reading. Comprehensive literacy instruction at the conventional stage includes reading comprehension, word study, writing, and self directed reading. This episode gives a fly on the wall look at how to put all of these aspects together to support literacy instruction should you have your learner for the entire day, or only at bedtime.

Is there a part of you doubting literacy is truly possible for ALL learners regardless of degree of disability? Or, perhaps you are on the other side of the ring trying to convince others that lacking the ability to see, or move extremities, or speak does not exclude literacy possibilities. This conversation addresses common belief barriers and removes them with a new vision from an educator who has experienced the truth that literacy is truly possible for ALL.

Given the right accommodations everyone is capable of reading and writing, even those with the most significant physical disabilities. This is the first of 3 episodes tucked into our 15 episode literacy series that will focus specifically on learners with physical disabilities. Here, we learn of several tools that make literacy instruction accessible and how to choose the best accommodations.

It is important for learners with disabilities to have ample time in emergent reading and writing skills so as to build a solid platform in which to build conventional strategies. How do you know when that platform is ready to support more complex literacy instruction? This episode answers that question and lays out the areas to focus on when teaching conventional reading strategies, specifically for learners with disabilitiies.

Learners move through 14 stages of writing as they progress. This episode focuses on the earlier stages of writing and how we can best support learners with disabilities in moving through each while avoiding common mistakes.

Often learners with disabilities are not provided ample opportunities for emergent literacy skills to solidify. This episode presents 4 questions to identify if our learner needs more time with emergent literacy strategies and several practical applications to build emergent reading skills.

Literacy instruction has historically used mostly verbal strategies so when learners are non speaking how is literacy supposed to be taught? This episode addresses a common literacy instruction mistake used for learners utilizing speech generating devices.

The tide is beginning to shift regarding how literacy is approached for students with disabilities, specifically those with complex communication needs. The first step in turning the tide is exploring what we believe to be true about students with disabilities. What are the dangers in assuming literacy is not possible? On the flip side, is assuming competence too simplistic? We will discuss these ideas as well as why access to the entire alphabet is needed, the gateway social media offers, and allowing the necessary time for emergent literacy skills to solidify.

The next 12 episodes will focus on what is being discovered regarding literacy instruction for ALL students with disabilities. This first part of this introductory episode explains how to get the most out of the upcoming episodes in this literacy series. The second half of the episode retells the history of Miranda’s literacy instruction and why it has become a priority despite her age.

Turning 18 is big milestone for all teens. When the teenager requires significant support needs due to disabilities there are additional considerations and things that must be done ahead of time to ensure the person with disabilities is protected and with wanted support services. In this episode we get a to do list and a pep talk to accompany the streamers and balloons.

We have set a deadline for Miranda to be independent of us, her parents, at the age of 22. While she will always require significant care and continual supervision, we have a plan to phase those supports to others while at the same time honoring her life as a young adult. In this episode we share what we will be doing 5 years out, 4 years out, 3 years out, etc to eventually arrive at this big milestone.

The last two years have been a mix of public school, homeschool, and NPS heartbreak. We are hopeful 2021 is the year Miranda will finally return to the classroom. In this episode Kim shares the roller coaster ride they have been on from deep disappointments to surprising opportunities.