If Not Now, Then When? Early Childhood Education, LRE, and Inclusion with Melissa McCollough and Jani Kozlowski

When Elana Meyers Taylor won gold in women’s monobob at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, the first thing she did was find her sons and sign “Mommy won.” Both of her boys are deaf, and her older son, Nico, has Down syndrome. Sign language is the main language in their house. Elana talks with Tim about why her family learned ASL when doctors said not to bother, what an IEP evaluator missed because she didn’t know a single sign, and why a six-time Olympic medalist wants everyone to know they are not defined by what they achieve. She is honest about school, too: what inclusion looked like for Nico, what didn’t work, and why her family homeschools for now. Her starting point is the same as ours: ask what inclusion looks like for this kid first, then build from there. Plus, Elana plays Awake Among the Stars, our micro role-playing game, and discovers “grass fruit” on a world of floating mountains. Read the expanded show notes: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/mommy-won-elana-meyers-taylor-on-sign-language-worth-and-inclusion-1405/ Sponsors IXL, the all-in-one K-12 platform that adapts to each student: ixl.com/inclusive Behavior 360 from Inclusive Schooling, professional learning that treats behavior as something to understand, not just manage: inclusiveschooling.com/mcie-behavior

We say “inclusion” all the time. Michael McSheehan, owner and lead consultant of Evolve & Effect, says it’s time to say what we mean. He and four co-authors set out to write guidance about paraprofessionals and ended up writing the Five Features of Student Experience in a Continuum of Supports for Inclusive Education. The five features are location, accessibility, participation, affirmation, and agency. Each one is measured by what the student experiences compared to classmates without disabilities, not by what the classroom has. Michael explains why a student doing the same content with a para off to the side is not participating, why affirmation starts with “Is my name on the roster?”, and why special education and general education run on theories of learning that mix like oil and vinegar. After the interview, Michael plays Awake Among the Stars, our micro role-playing game adapted from Alone Among the Stars by Takuma Okada, and names a planet after his childhood dog. Expanded show notes and transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/say-what-you-mean-michael-mcsheehan-on-the-five-features-of-inclusion-1404/ Sponsors IXL, an all-in-one K-12 platform that adapts to each student and builds a personalized learning plan: https://ixl.com/inclusive Behavior 360 from Inclusive Schooling, professional learning that treats behavior as something to understand rather than manage: https://inclusiveschooling.com/mcie-behavior

Magen Rooney-Kron started out co-teaching in Chicago Public Schools. When she asked where her students with intellectual disabilities went after high school, the answers were “I don’t know” and “they go home.” The class meant to prepare them for work had them putting spoons in bags. She has worked on transition ever since, and today she is an assistant professor of inclusive education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Tim and Magen talk about why so few people with intellectual disabilities have real jobs, why paid work in the community beats job shadowing and task boxes that reset every day, and why a student who “doesn’t want to work” might just not want to bag groceries. Magen explains dignity of risk: letting students try, make mistakes, and face real consequences, with the right supports in place. Her most striking finding: teachers said the work site was the first place their students were included and held to high expectations. Not the classroom. The job. The episode closes with Awake Among the Stars, where Magen’s Captain Dash explores a jungle world and names it Tedasaurus. Expanded show notes and full transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/real-jobs-real-risk-magen-rooney-kron-on-transition-and-employment-1403/ Sponsors IXL, an all-in-one K-12 platform that adapts to each student and builds a personalized learning plan: https://ixl.com/inclusive Behavior 360 from Inclusive Schooling, professional learning that treats behavior as something to understand rather than manage: https://inclusiveschooling.com/mcie-behavior

Andrew Goff threw a mug that said “Best teacher ever” at a wall. It was his twelfth year in the classroom, and the email that set it off came from someone he had counted as an ally. His second memoir, Shattered and Becoming: A Teacher’s Journey Between Policy and Purpose, is about the year that followed. A new principal told Andrew he could not speak Spanish with the three-quarters of his pre-K class who spoke it. The policy did not actually say that, and Andrew found out too late to use it. Two boys in that classroom, both labeled with autism, both named David, were thriving with embedded supports. When Andrew brought the data, the answer was that it worked in his classroom but would not work in anyone else’s. Both boys ended up in self-contained autism classrooms. Andrew will not let us make villains out of the people whose decisions caused that harm, and he explains why without letting anyone off the hook. We also get into designing curriculum for the margins, the not knowing mindset, and following the breadcrumbs after a fifteen-year federal grant is canceled by email. Then Andrew becomes the first guest to play Awake Among the Stars. Expanded show notes, resources, and the full transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/shattered-and-becoming-andrew-goff-and-the-weight-of-being-enough-1402/ Sponsors IXL, an all-in-one K-12 platform that adapts to each student: ixl.com/inclusive Behavior 360 from Inclusive Schooling, professional learning that treats behavior as something to understand rather than manage: inclusiveschooling.com/mcie-behavior

Emma Rufo went to a restaurant in her wheelchair and was handed a kid’s cup with a lid. Everyone else at the table got a regular one. She came back another day walking with crutches, and got a cup with no lid. Emma and her mom, Dr. Jenna Mancini Rufo, join Tim to talk about what happens when adults decide instead of asking. Emma describes the year her school assigned her an aide, why it felt like being watched rather than helped, and how she got the support removed. Jenna talks about advocating as a parent after almost two decades as a special educator and administrator, and about being dismissed as just another anxious mom. Plus, the debut of Awake Among the Stars, the micro role-playing game that now closes every episode. Expanded show notes, resources, and the full transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/just-ask-what-inclusive-support-really-feels-like-with-jenna-and-emma-rufo-1401/ Sponsors IXL, an all-in-one K-12 platform that adapts to each student and builds a personalized learning plan: ixl.com/inclusive Behavior 360 from Inclusive Schooling, professional learning that treats behavior as something to understand rather than manage: inclusiveschooling.com/mcie-behavior