For the past 20 years, I’ve been fortunate to help students with special needs receive the high-quality education they deserve. During this time, I’ve guided them and their families as they navigate the common misconception that online learning can’t work for them. It can and it has. But for those … Read More
For more than seven years, I worked in a fully online public school that served general education and special education students in kindergarten through high school. During my teaching time, I specialized in special education needs. Since then I have worked as a professor at California State University, Fresno, conducting … Read More
According to the World Health Organization, around 15 percent of the world’s population lives with some form of disability or special educational needs—and of that 15 percent, 2 to 4 percent experience significant difficulties in functioning. However, the global disability prevalence is thought to be higher than previous WHO estimates, … Read More
“Every individual should be able to access things that they like,” said Monica Fisher, M.Ed., BCBA/COBA, director of the behavior department at Monarch Center for Autism during an edWebinar. “It is our right to engage in preferred activities, spend time with family, and connect with the community. If there are … Read More
While many educators and students are returning to the familiar classrooms left abruptly in March, teaching this upcoming year will be anything but business as usual. In a recent edWebinar, Aimee Dearmon, Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), says the disruption of routines, schedules, classroom … Read More
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is, at its heart, a processing disorder. And while the students with ASD face a variety of challenges depending on where they fall on the spectrum, even those considered high functioning have difficulties with pragmatic social language and understanding social interactions. So, when educators mainstream students … Read More
No matter age or ability, it’s critical that schools make inclusivity a priority for all students. Parents often struggle to find inclusive environments for kids with special needs, which limits abilities to capture memories outside of the home or secure a space in traditional memory books like yearbooks or other … Read More
We know early childhood is prime time for teaching new skills, ideas, and languages. But are kindergartners ready for computational thinking, problem solving, and coding? Our team took a trip to West Bend, Wisconsin, to visit a district that presented its approach to early childhood education at ISTE, supporting the … Read More
As elementary STEAM educators, we have both learned that the best way to teach science is through hands-on exploration where lessons are both rigorous and relative to all of the students in the classroom. Incorporating robotics, coding, and engineering into these lessons is a great way to engage students and … Read More
How and where our students learn has radically changed over the last 10 months. Students are in a multitude of educational environments that have challenged the entire school community. As educators, we cannot predict what the future holds, but we understand the importance of developing core skills such as collaboration, … Read More
