SPEAKout Blog

Reflections on the 2021 Virtual Conference On Inclusive Education

By PEAK Parent Center / March 23, 2021

By Anna Marcus & Leann Springer Around the world, children are excluded from schools where they belong because of disability, race, language, religion, gender, and poverty. PEAK’s mission, as you probably already know, is to provide training, information, and technical assistance to equip families with strategies to advocate successfully for their children. As a result of these services children and adults will live rich, active lives participating as full members of their schools and communities. We know that an inclusiveRead more

Every Student is an Opportunity and Other Pieces of Wisdom I Learned from Doug Fisher

By Leann Springer / February 12, 2021

“When your formative years include people with disabilities, as an adult you make decisions to include people with disabilities.” “Every student needs to hear, ‘We do not see you as a problem. We see you as an opportunity.’” “Membership in the regular class is directly tied to reading...Kids are not retained because of math scores.” “Focus on the solution, not the problem.” Above are some of the words from Doug Fisher that I jotted down at the 2018 PEAK ParentRead more

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Acceptance

Accessibility

Advocacy

Conference on Inclusive Education

Differentiated Instruction

All We Need To Do Is Change Our Aim

By Anna Marcus / January 19, 2021

Shelley Moore’s research is rooted in one fundamental question: how can we find the value in the day-to-day practices in our classrooms in terms of inclusive education? The answer, Shelley argues, lies in the science of bowling. Yes, you read correctly, bowling. Who knew an understanding of bowling strategies could provide solutions to the limits of our existing education systems? First, here’s a little background on Shelley. Originally from Edmonton, and now based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Shelley Moore isRead more

Tags:

Acceptance

Accessibility

Advocacy

Conference on Inclusive Education

Differentiated Instruction

“So You Wanna Be a Hope Dealer?"

By Anna Marcus / December 14, 2020

“Someone is waiting for you to be their ‘Hope Dealer,’ an audacious and fearless champion for children.” - Hasan Davis, Written Off. Are you a hope dealer? Do you hand out life chances for the kids you encounter, the kids in your classroom, or your own kids at home? You may be wondering what a hope dealer is or what it even means to be a hope dealer. If you want to learn more about ways you can make aRead more

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Conference on Inclusive Education

Disability Awareness

Disability Categories

The Santa Job is Sometimes Hard…

By Nora Thompson / November 29, 2020

As the mom of a daughter with pretty significant disabilities, the holidays have always been challenging. We’d go to see Santa and take the annual picture. Positioning her on his lap took some time, wiping any drool away and maybe even getting her to smile meant we had to find the really patient Santa and go when there wasn’t a whole line of other kids waiting. I knew exactly which mall had that good Santa. She wasn’t verbal, so atRead more

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New from the RSA Transition Team: Chet Quest's Transition Guide to the Future

By Leann Springer / November 17, 2020

As a parent, do you need help knowing what comes next after high school for your child with a disability? As a young adult, do you wonder how you can be free to do what you want when you want to do it? The PEAK Parent Center RSA transition team headed by Beth Schaffner and Sherrell Bethel has been hard at work over the last several months! They, along with lead author Sami Peterson and contributing author Shirley Swope, areRead more

The Path to Freedom and Possibility

By Leann Springer / October 16, 2020

“The function of freedom is to free someone else.” - Toni Morrison Beginning last spring and into the summer, PEAK Parent Center staff began the momentous task of writing grant proposal applications to continue our work for the Parent Training and Information (PTI) Center project and the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) Shift project. After a ton of work, It came down to the final hours and we rallied as a team to produce two proposals that met the stringent setRead more

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