Roots of Inclusion

It is so important to understand the harm restrictive settings cause.

Did you know when making placement decisions, IEP teams are supposed to consider harmful effects on the child and quality of services?

However, most people are not familiar with the potential harmful effects of restrictive placements (e.g., separate classes, separate schools).

We've got you covered! Check out this new resource, with corresponding research.

Image description: Handout on the harmful effects of restrictive placements.
https://www.evolveandeffect.com/_files/ugd/d5d0d3_2a61efc982c649fcb7cb1d6f799cb1e6.pdf

It is crucial to understand and eliminate barriers to AAC for students with disabilities. Jordyn and Communication First are doing important work.

Nonspeaking autistic woman embarks on inspiring journey to advocate for disability rights At 29 years old, Jordyn Zimmerman is autistic and nonspeaking but she's making her voice heard on some of the most prestigious stages. Jamie Wax sat down with Zimmerman in her first broadcast television interview to discuss the struggles she faced growing up, the way that a communication app on an i...

Happening today! The culmination of our learning series with Robyn Gobbel on the neuroscience of behavior. Robyn will be joined by an amazing panel of experts to discuss how we take our new understanding of the neuroscience of behavior and put it into practice.

Bringing It All Together Webinar Join Robyn Gobbel, Guy Stephens, Lee Collyer, Cynthia Blasko, and Nura Adam for an interactive discussion reflecting on the webinars Roots of Inclusion has hosted with Robyn and Guy in February,...

Mark your calendars and register!

Upcoming free workshop for educators!

Sponsored Posts
Just three more days until !
Continuing Education at Antioch University is hosting a free online workshop, "SEL for Educator Wellbeing: Introducing Justice-Centered SEL" on March 12, 2024 at 7 PM Eastern Time, 4 PM Pacific Time for those who are interested in learning more about social emotional learning and how you can apply it to your day-to-day. Within this workshop, they'll be using frameworks of self compassion, social justice, and transformation. Learn more here: https://ce.antioch.edu/18a .
VIDEO: https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=1f4bb_3JEYObPKJWyEXrjSZhRat-HLMJG

Thursday morning (1/25 at 8am) is the bill hearing for HB 2239 - Supporting Student Wellbeing through instruction in Social Emotional Skills. This bill:
• Encourages school districts and public schools to provide instruction on skills that promote social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health and wellness.
• Directs, subject to appropriation, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to annually distribute funding to support this instruction
Take a moment to let legislators know you support this bill by visiting: https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=House...

CSI This system is used as a roster to show who has registered and wishes to state their position on a bill. The information you provide will be made available to legislative committee members and staff of the committee, and will be included in the legislative record for bill and meeting archival purpos...

Exciting news!

AUCD - A National Partnership to Advance Peer-Support Models for People Who Need Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) The Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) is pleased to announce that the University Center of Excellence in Development Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD) at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), in partnership with CommunicationFIRST, has been selected as...

Make due process in special education fair!
Sign pro in BY MONDAY 1/15, 12:30 pm on SB 5883 here:👉 https://bit.ly/5883signin
It shifts burden of proof in due process to school districts.

Download issue paper (with talking points) here: https://bit.ly/FairDueProcess

WHY WE THINK SCHOOL DISTRICTS SHOULD HAVE BURDEN OF PROOF:

Better for kids:
Statistics from states that put the burden of proof on school districts show it leads to quicker resolution of disputes and students receive appropriate educational services much sooner.

Better for the budget
As a bonus, costs associated with litigation are reduced when
schools have burden of proof. If districts lose due process cases, the court can order them to pay attorney costs for parents. Quicker resolutions and lower litigation costs for parents save districts money when they lose.

Better for equity:
School districts, not students and families, have power in litigation. Making a district show its decision is correct is an equitable and just allocation of burden. School districts have access to data and expertise to prove the IEP works. Parents have neither. School districts have ready access to legal representation. Parents without means must appear alone, without lawyers, to present the law and facts.

Better for accountability:
Any evidence districts must produce for a due process hearing is information they should have already collected to make the IEP decision. Putting the burden of proof on districts shifts dynamics. The focus becomes the quality of information schools are gathering about student growth and their ability to use it to ensure students are progressing appropriately.

The Arc - Washington State
The Arc of Whatcom County
The Arc of Spokane
The Arc of Snohomish County
The Arc of Grays Harbor
The Arc of Tri-Cities
The Arc of Cowlitz County

TeamChild
ACLU of Washington
League of Education Voters

The WA House Education committee is holding 2 work sessions this week on the use of isolation in Washington schools. A public hearing is being held Thursday on HB 1479, a bill to end isolation and use of mechanical and chemical restraints.

Sign in on the bill here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=House&mId=31561&aId=156030&caId=22824&tId=3&fbclid=IwAR3pwiiTLos4wHp8z7aWnlX8Azgqd2uL3Zm-OGFctizU8NkbmReeytpXh_Q

Please sign in. Please share. More people need to understand these practices set up kids and staff for failure and cause lasting harm.

The Arc - Washington State
The Arc of Whatcom County
The Arc of Grays Harbor
The Arc of Cowlitz County
The Arc of Spokane
The Arc of Snohomish County
The Arc of Tri-Cities
Washington State Developmental Disabilities Council
Roots of Inclusion
Equity in Education Coalition
ACLU of Washington
Disability Rights Washington
Treehouse
TeamChild
League of Education Voters
Open Doors for Multicultural Families

“Disability Rights are Human Rights” There is still time to register for this event! A live stream will also be available.

Human Rights Day 2023 Thu 12/14, 2023, 6:30pm Event Format:In-Person & Livestream City of Seattle presents Human Rights Day 2023 Disability Rights are Human Rights GET TICKETS Free Thursday, December 14, 2023, 6:30PM Google iCalendar The Great Hall 1119 Eighth Avenue (enter on Eighth Avenue) Seattle, WA 98101 Google Maps...

Belonging matters. "...we have a tendency in this culture to think that bad behavior comes from bad disposition. That poor performance comes from a lack of ability. This is what my colleague Lee Ross calls the “fundamental attribution error.” We overestimate the role of the student’s disposition and underestimate the external situations that they’re dealing with. So fight the fundamental attribution error. That’s one of the most important things you can do."

The Science of Belonging and Connection Feeling like you belong in school is critical to academic success—and there are research-backed strategies that educators can deploy, says Stanford psychologist Geoffrey Cohen.

Students With Limited Verbal Capabilities Can Thrive in Inclusive Classrooms With the right support, students who cannot rely on natural speech to communicate can do well in integrated classrooms.

Great new podcast sharing stories of families and school districts who are committed to inclusive education.

Inclusion Stories Inclusion Stories is a five-episode audio documentary series that tells the stories of families and school districts who have committed to pursuing authentic inclusive education. Produced by MCIE. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Act now to save Nothing About Us Without Us bill

URGENT: The lived experience bill, E2SHB 1541, was pulled from executive session Monday. Tuesday is last day for bills to be voted out of committee, which means the bill is in extreme jeopardy. The coalition working on the bill is asking advocates to email Ways and Means Committee members.

SUGGESTED MESSAGE:
Dear Senate Ways & Means Committee members,
I am writing to urge you to pass E2SHB 1541, the Nothing About Us Without Us Act, out of committee. E2SHB 1541 has strong bipartisan support – it passed the House 83-12.

E2SHB 1541 requires temporarily established statutory entities to include at least three people with direct lived experience to the issues it is examining on its membership. These entities refer to temporary agency work groups and task forces that the legislature often creates to develop policy recommendations.

Many communities – for example people with disabilities, people of color, rural residents – are underrepresented in decision making processes that affect them. When people with lived experience are included at the decision making table, we help shape policies that are right the first time.

For a very modest cost, E2SHB will help greatly to ensure our policies reflect what our communities need to thrive. Please advance E2SHB 1541.

Please send an email to:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Please add to "cc" line:
[email protected]; Lily.O'[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]


Disability Empowerment Center
The Arc - Washington State
League of Education Voters
The Arc of Spokane
The Arc of Snohomish County
The Arc of Whatcom County
The Arc of Snohomish County
The Arc of Grays Harbor
The Arc of the Peninsulas

“It isn’t the behavior of the children that threatens community; it is the response to that behavior, the use of exclusion, that threatens community. When a child is excluded, it teaches the other children that belonging to the classroom community is conditional, not absolute, contingent upon their willingness and ability to be a certain kind of person. In this paradigm, belonging is a privilege to be earned by docility, not a basic human right that is ensured for every child” -Carla Shalaby, Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School (2017)

What about the other kids in the room? Your student is breaking stuff. Not idly breaking stuff, like accidentally snapping a pencil or shredding a piece of paper with fidgeting hands. I mean tearing apart your carefully composed bulleti…

"All Voices Matter" - Remembering Judy Heumann (1947 - 2023) | CommunicationFIRST Like others in the disability community and around the world, everyone at CommunicationFIRST is devastated by the untimely loss of our badass colleague, Judy Heumann. Judy was elected to our Board of Directors in June 2019, months before CommunicationFIRST publicly launched. She played an indispensa...

And just like that HB 1479, which will bring much needed professional development to educators and end isolation in schools, passed the House. Still more work to be done, but this is progress.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1479&Year=2023&Initiative=false

Washington State Legislature

Let your legislators know you support ending isolation in WA schools and providing school staff with technical assistance and professional development to support students in crisis. SHB 1479 provides common-sense strategies and supports to our schools and classrooms. School should help not hurt. https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1479

This is not a ‘sensory room’.
This is not a ‘chill-out zone’.
This is trauma.

The idea that someone ‘designed’ these sorts of spaces to trap our neurodivergent students in is one that makes me sick to my stomach. I was drawing this image with tears running down my face.

This is a student who has been failed. They have been forced into situations of extreme discomfort, dysregulation, sensory overwhelm, to the point where they arrive at significant neurodivergent distress. There was no other trajectory for them. Their needs were not met. Again and again they were not given what they need to be ok. Meltdowns and shutdowns are never a choice. And then? Once they literally cannot take anymore, and they break- they get put into rooms like this.

This is not a calm place. This is not safe. This is absolutely traumatising for this student, who is already experiencing a massive trauma response at school.

Meltdowns and shutdowns are trauma responses from continuously unmet needs. They are not simply ‘a part of Autism’. They are a megaphone screaming ‘I DON’T HAVE WHAT I NEED TO BE OK’.

Our kids deserve to have their needs met. They do not deserve to be secluded.

Note: if your school has an actual sensory room with equipment, tools for regulating, is a nice and inviting space to be, is a calm and happy environment that students can choose to use and LEAVE when they like- brilliant. Thank you for providing such a beautiful, important space for our kids.

If your school has a room like the one above- students are experiencing severe trauma there. Why does anyone think that’s acceptable?

Check out Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint
Guy does a great job.

Em
AuDHD SLP

Substitute House Bill 1479 takes common-sense steps to equip our education system with proven strategies and supports to address challenging behaviors. Please take a moment to sign in PRO! https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Testifier/Add?chamber=House...

CSI

Sabrina Guerra with Senator Murphy 2.11.23

Register now! AAC Counts: The Urgent Need for Better Data About People with Significant Speech-Related Disabilities

February 23, 2023 - 11:30 PT / 2:30 ET

What data exist and what data are missing about people who need and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in the United States? Find out what CommunicationFIRST and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) uncovered during this one-year Ability Central-funded grant project, and what our recommendations are for policymakers and researchers.

We count the things we care about in society. We must begin to count people who cannot rely on speech alone to be heard and understood.

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2216764291246/WN_Nt5hOoEnQ9qt9ntfTxCM9A

For the past couple of years, Disability Rights Washington and ACLU of Washington have been monitoring the use of isolation and restraint in schools across Washington state. Their report includes the findings from monitoring and data review as well as testimonials from students, families, and educators. We have linked the report on our website: https://www.rootsofinclusion.org/uploads/1/1/8/8/118839424/restraint_and_isolation_report_-_dist.pdf

What we do in the K-12 education system perpetuates across a lifespan. When we isolate and segregate in schools, we set our young people up for continued isolation and segregation in our communities.

This is not about blame and shame. The education system we all exist in was not designed to be equitable, accessible, or inclusive. It is our shared responsibility to make it so. Please take time and read the report from the ACLU of Washington and Disability Rights Washington. You may not have seen or heard of these practices. They exist. Every student has the right to fully be themselves in our classrooms, our schools, and our communities. The racism and ableism that exists in our education system harms. It harms in little moments, it harms in ways we do not see, and it harms in big ways that last a lifetime.

Please join us as we advocate for the elimination of isolation in our schools. SB 5559 is being heard today in the Senate Early Learning K-12 Committee at 1:30pm. You can offer your support for the bill here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/csi/Senate

CSI If you require an accommodation to testify before a committee, please refer to options on the Legislature’s Americans with Disabilities Act Information https://leg.wa.gov/legislature/pages/adainfo.aspx page.

LEVinar: Ending Isolation Practices in Washington K-12 Schools Isolating students in schools creates harm that is lifelong and disabling.In this webinar, we spotlight findings from a new ACLU/Disability Rights Washington...

Please let your legislators know that it is time to stop using isolation in schools. Your voice will matter on this one. An education system that isolates and segregates causes harm. It also impacts how our peers and communities view children who experience these practices. These children matter. These are children experiencing stress. These are children who are being denied their accommodations and communication supports. The rhetoric that is being spread on who these children are is dehumanizing. Do better Washington. Please support this bill.

Comment on this bill: https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1479
Thank you, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) , for requesting HB 1479 and advocating to end the harmful practice of isolation in our schools. Isolation is not a time out. It is not decompression. It is not a room clear needed for safety. Forcibly locking kids into cells, closets, or other spaces is coercive, traumatizing, and escalates situations. We need to call it what it is and stop traumatizing children. About 80% of incidents happen in K-5; about 90% involve students with disabilities. Within this group, Black and mixed race children, low income children, foster children, and homeless children are over-represented.

Free League of Education Voters webinar Jan 27 - We will spotlight findings from a new ACLU of Washington/Disability Rights Washington report and an Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI)-led legislative workgroup report on isolation and restraint practices in Washington state and discuss the impacts of isolation in K-12 schools, why this practice must end, and alternatives to isolation. Register now. https://bit.ly/ending_isolation The Arc of King County The Seattle Times Spokane Public Schools Seattle Public Schools

Such an important case. Take a moment to read the update from CommunicationFIRST and the attached blog post.

Deaf student’s lawsuit against school district draws support from justices on both the left and the right - SCOTUSblog The Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed ready to side with a deaf student who is seeking financial compensation from a Michigan school district that failed to provide him with a qualified sign-language interpreter. The student, Miguel Perez, alleges that the school district violated the Ameri

There is still space to join! Registration information is below.

Register now for Zooming In & Out on Inclusionary Practices, a Three-Part Series: Jan. 11, Feb. 6 & March 27, 2023 | 4:00-6:00pm PST

Presented by Shelley Moore and Katie Novak

Register at http://www.bit.ly/ZoomingInAndOut

Sponsored by the Inclusionary Practices Professional Development Cadre: Association of Educational Service Districts; Association of Washington School Principals; Center for Change in Transition Services; Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession; Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center; Family Engagement Collaborative; University of Washington Haring Center; Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction; Washington Association of School Administrators; Washington Education Association

We know that general education classrooms are places where each and every student is able to thrive, contribute, and be valued members of their community. Universally designed classrooms intentionally create spaces where this can happen. The Design for Each and Every Learner: Design for Learning Modules were co-developed by CAST, TIES and Lake Washington School District in Washington. These professional learning modules support all teachers on their journeys to move UDL research to practice!

https://tiescenter.org/resource/design-for-each-and-every-learner-universal-design-for-learning-modules