“You wouldn’t ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals. On the contrary, we would all celebrate its tenacity. We would all love its will to reach the sun. Well, we are the roses, this is the concrete, and these are my damaged petals.”
— Tupac Shakur
If you have made it here, you, too, have been inspired by The Shoes We Wear. Thank you for your interest, curiosity, and recognition that there is always more to learn and do. I want to provide you with some of my favorite resources relating to the topics covered in this blog (and more). I hope that they are helpful and lead you to deepen your knowledge, and to both celebrate and make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities, and the organizations that support them.
Guide to Laws: Americans with Disabilities Act (link to ADA)
What is the ADA?
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is one of several disability-related laws that guarantees that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else in all aspects of everyday life – from employment opportunities to the ability to purchase goods and services, and participating in state and local government programs and services.
To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability.
The ADA defines an individual with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.
What is the IDEA?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (formerly called P.L. 94-142 or the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975) (IDEA) requires public schools to provide to all eligible students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment appropriate to their individual needs.
The IDEA requires that public schools develop an individualized education program (IEP) for each student classified with a disability; specific special education and related services are outlined in each IEP. The IDEA covers 13 Disability Categories.
Service Dogs, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Incarceration
Puppies Behind Bars
Puppies Behind Bars is an organization of volunteers and incarcerated individuals who train dogs to service war veterans or first responders with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Guiding Eyes for the Blind
Guiding Eyes for the Blind is a non-profit school based in Yorktown Heights, New York, that trains guide dogs to aid visually impaired persons.
What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder? - Mayo Clinic
PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, is a mental health condition that is initiated by a trauma – either experiencing or seeing a horrifying event. The symptoms that result include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety that occur at all times of the day, and unpredictably, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event.
A war veteran with PTSD may have difficulty doing daily tasks such as going to the grocery store with fear that a sniper is waiting at the end of the shopping aisle.
There are effective treatments for PTSD; however, without being addressed, it is possible for symptoms to worsen.
Research: Defining the PTSD Service Dog Intervention; Perceived Importance, Usage and Symptom Specificity of Psychiatric Service Dogs for Military Veterans?
Research suggests that psychiatric service dogs may be an effective complementary treatment option for military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog.”
Intellectual Disabilities
“Each and every one of my workers are incredibly hard workers and they all have pockets of brilliance... Please consider employing somebody who is part of our community. It touches many lives, even if you touch just one.”
Facts: Intellectual Disabilities
An intellectual disability is a neurodevelopmental condition that limits intelligence and disrupts the abilities necessary for living independently. It develops in childhood and impacts the ability to learn and hold onto new information. It also can affect everyday behaviors, such as social skills and taking care of oneself, e.g., hygiene.
An intellectual disability is determined through an IQ test of lower than 70, and the severity of the condition can range from mild to profound.
Those with a mild intellectual disability can lead a fully functioning life with appropriate support; however, those with a more severe disability require more extensive and continuous support. It is estimated that approximately 6.5 million Americans have an intellectual disability.
What is a Developmental Disability?
Developmental disabilities are a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behavior areas. About one in six children in the United States have one or more developmental disabilities or other developmental delays. (The Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
For a condition to be considered a developmental disability, the manifestations or symptoms of the condition must be present in childhood years and are expected to be present for life.
Most developmental disabilities are present at birth and may not be identified early in life, although some developmental conditions may not be recognized until after age three. If conditions arise in adolescent or adult years, they are not considered developmental disabilities.
Research: Predictors of Word Participation of young adults with mild intellectual disabilities
Persons with intellectual disabilities are three to four times less often employed than non-disabled peers, and the evidence for factors that are associated with word participation is limited.
Cameron's Coffee & Chocolates
Cameron’s Coffee & Chocolates is a business of the non-profit foundation Every1 Can Work, whose mission is to provide permanent employment opportunities for young adults living with developmental and intellectual disabilities to further the teaching of work, life skills, and independence. Cameron’s employs these adults through Cameron’s Coffee and Chocolates and supervises them in producing chocolate creations and other bakery-related products and service. It opened its doors in October 1, 2013, and is located in Fairfax, Virginia.
Research: The Value of Competitive Employment, In-Depth Accounts of People with Disabilities
Employment makes a substantial contribution to people with intellectual disabilities regarding their sense of belonging to society and their quality of life. However, they experience “stigma-related obstacles” and feelings of being dependent on others in the work environment.
Hearing Impairment and Deafness; Cochlear Implants
There is a lot of confusion about the terms used to describe a person who cannot hear or hear well.
The term “hearing impaired” often refers to people with any degree of hearing loss ranging from mild to profound, including those who are “deaf” or “hard of hearing.” Many prefer those latter terms as they consider them more positive than the term “hearing impaired,” which can imply a deficiency or something wrong with the person.
“Deaf” usually refers to a hearing loss that is so severe that there is little or no functional hearing.
“Hard of Hearing” refers to hearing loss where there may be enough residual hearing that an auditory device, such as a hearing aid or FM system, provides adequate assistance to process speech.
Hearing Loss and Deafness – Definitions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
The IDEA includes “hearing impairment” and “deafness” as two categories under which children with disabilities may be eligible for special education and related services programming. While “hearing impairment” is often used to describe a wide range of hearing losses, including deafness, the IDEA regulations define hearing loss and deafness separately.
Hearing impairment is defined by IDEA as "an impairment in hearing, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance."
Deafness is "a hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification."
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for its members who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, speech, language, and hearing scientists, audiology and speech-language pathology assistants, and students. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders and providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech, language, and swallowing disorders.
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The mission of the Alexander Graham Bell Association is to ensure that people who are deaf and hard of hearing can hear and talk. “We want all families to be informed and supported, professionals to be appropriately qualified to teach and help children with hearing loss, public policy leaders to effectively address the needs of people with hearing loss, and communities to be empowered to help their neighbors with hearing loss succeed.”
A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that sits behind the ear and is surgically implanted under the skin to give a deaf person a useful representation of sounds and to help him understand speech.
It does not restore normal hearing and is different from a hearing aid, which aims to amplify sounds so that a damaged ear can detect them. Cochlear implants bypass damaged ear portions and directly stimulate the auditory nerve.
Dyslexia
International Dyslexia Association - Definition of Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
Adopted by the International Dyslexia Association Board of Directors, Nov. 12, 2002.
Teaching Reading is Rocket Science
Professor and researcher Louise Moats unpacks what expert teachers know and should be able to do in the classroom.
Our brains are not wired to read, yet we ask our youngest students to do that. They are tasked with one of the most cognitively challenging tasks within the first year of their schooling. The advances in psychology and neuroscience have begun to unravel the principles underlying the brain’s reading circuits. This short video will show how modern brain imaging now reveals the brain areas that activate when we decipher new words, and cognitive psychology provides an analogy for understanding how skilled reading – the fluent coordination of word recognition and language comprehension develops.
Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went So Wrong
Through American Public Media reporting, Emily Hanford debunks the way in which children have been taught to read explaining that this faulty approach uses methods that have actually harmed students and used up resources while all along we have known what cognitive science tells us about how the brain learns how to read.
Blame it on Gutenberg is a documentary about the evolving science of dyslexia, dueling theories over how to teach reading, and one family's landmark struggle with an unresponsive school system.
IDA Dyslexia Handbook - What Every Family Should Know
The International Dyslexia Association has produced a toolkit that helps provide every family with valuable resources about what they should know about dyslexia.
Response to Intervention – Youtube Video
Before becoming eligible for special education, a student will often receive varying Tiers of support within their public school. This is called Response to Intervention. If with Tier 1, 2 or 3 level instruction that student does not make appropriate progress, he or she should be referred to special education. Understanding the nature of this tiered support is helpful as a first step toward catching a student’s reading challenges early.
Response to Intervention is a tiered approach to teaching all students. It iaims to identify struggling students early on and give them the support they need to thrive in school. The goal is for the school to intervene, or step in, and start helping before a student falls really far behind.
The Right to Read (now available on Amazon Prime) is a documentary in which NAACP activist Kareem Weaver sets out to reform the low reading scores in his home of Oakland, California. Featuring stories from Weaver's own life, a teacher, and two American families, The Right to Read dives into the fight to provide our youngest generation with the most foundational skill for life-long success: the ability to read.
Structured Literacy: An Introductory Guide
Structured Literacy is term coined by the International Dyslexia Association that covers an approach to reading instruction using evidence-based elements and teaching principles. Key to this approach are direct and explicit, and cumulative and systematic principles including a well-crafted scope and sequence, and multisensory instruction that provides frequent and immediate feedback to the student.
Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy
Special education law is full of jargon that is hard to unpack. Families do not always know their special education rights, or what to ask in a team Individualized Education Program meeting. Wrightslaw offers tips and tricks for navigating the world of special education for parents and advocates.
Orton-Gillingham Approach to Reading Instruction
"The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a direct, explicit, multisensory, structured, sequential, diagnostic, and prescriptive way to teach literacy when reading, writing, and spelling does not come easily to individuals, such as those with dyslexia. It is most properly understood and practiced as an approach, not a method, program, or system. In the hands of a well-trained and experienced instructor, it is a powerful tool of exceptional breadth, depth, and flexibility.
The essential curricular content and instructional practices that characterize the Orton-Gillingham Approach are derived from two sources: first from a body of time-tested knowledge and practice that has been validated over the past 80 years, and second from scientific evidence about how individuals learn to read and write; why a significant number have difficulty in doing so; how having dyslexia makes achieving literacy skills more difficult; and which instructional practices are best suited for teaching such individuals to read and write." (Quoted directly from the Orton Gillingham Academy website)
The Truth About Reading (now available on Amazon Prime) looks at the illiteracy problem in America, highlighting people who learned to read as adults and sharing proposed solutions for working towards a future where every child learns to read proficiently.
Special Education: Complexity, Compassion & Courage
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a law that makes available a free appropriate public education to eligible children with disabilities throughout the nation and ensures special education and related services to those children.
Wrightslaw: From Emotions to Advocacy: The Special Education Survival Guide by Peter W. D. Wright and Pamela Darr Wright (January 1, 2006) Paperback
Wrightslaw: A History of Special Education in the United States
To understand the battles being fought today for children with disabilities, it is important to understand the history and traditions associated with public schools and special education.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 - The US Department of Labor
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in many areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and many public and private places that are open to the general public.
The Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) is a plan or program developed to ensure that a child who has a disability identified under the law and is attending an elementary or secondary educational institution receives specialized instruction and related services.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal law that protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability.
Section 504 Accommodations
Accommodations are provided to elementary and high school students under Section 504 to provide an “equal playing field” to showcase their aptitude. When we think about accommodations, we often think about extra time, use of a calculator, and preferential seating in the classroom.
A 504 plan is geared toward ensuring a student has equitable access to a learning environment. An IEP focuses on the student's unique profile, providing specialized education and related services, and educational benefits.
Trauma-Informed Schools
Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence
The goal of the Yale Child Study Center is to design effective approaches for supporting school communities in understanding the value of emotions, teaching emotional intelligence skills, and building and sustaining positive emotional climates in homes, schools, and workplaces.
The Center’s research covers the role of self-awareness in teacher decision making, the benefits of emotion regulation skills for creativity and adolescent coping, and connections among school climate, teacher engagement, and student academic performance.
It has tested RULER, an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence (recognizing, understanding, labeling, expressing, and regulating), an evidence-based approach to social and emotional learning. Evaluation research shows that RULER fosters a range of behaviors and shifts in school climate essential to positive youth development.
Mental Health
Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices.
Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.
Memory and emotion researchers have identified the emotional enhancement of memory
effect; essentially, when emotion, particularly negative emotion, is experienced, our memory for
those events is enhanced (Hamann, 2001; Baraly et al., 2017). Hormones/amygdala activation are linked to enhanced processes of attention/elaboration and consolidation of memory traces
Dr. Mays Imad recommends this book by Lori Desautels in which she claims that our children's developing brains need to "feel" safe. Children who carry chronic behavioral challenges are often met with reactive and punitive practices that can potentially reactivate the developing stress response systems. This book deeply addresses the need for co-regulatory and relational touch point practices, shifting student-focused behavior management protocols to adult-regulated brain and body states, which are brain-aligned, preventive, and relational discipline protocols. This new lens for discipline benefits all students by reaching for sustainable behavioral changes through brain state awareness rather than compliance and obedience.
Is it ADD or Child Traumatic Stress?
Trauma might sometimes be misidentified as ADHD since the symptoms have a lot of overlap. Hyperactivity, restlessness, disorganization, and trouble focusing can be signs of either trauma or ADHD.
Potential signs of trauma:
Overreactions to everyday challenges
Negative outbursts or aggression
Frequent stomachaches or headaches
Appearing very sad
Inappropriate social interactions
Trouble with executive functions like focus, organization, and self-regulation
Falling behind with classwork
Mays Imad explores seven ways professors can help students thrive in class in times of trauma.
Mays Imad and her students write that colleges should educate students about toxic stress, the lasting effects of the pandemic, and how to ameliorate the impact of those experiences on their learning.
What is Trauma-Informed Teaching?
Trauma-informed teaching considers how trauma impacts learning and behavior.
Trauma can slow down or completely stop our ability to learn.
Kids experiencing trauma are more likely to fall behind in class or get in trouble for behavior issues.
Compassionate Curiosity
Compassionate curiosity is a practice from trauma-informed teaching that asks teachers to act as non-judgmental investigators so they can better understand students. It’s an important first step in learning to respond to your students with empathy.