Disability Inc.

INCLUDEnyc’s Executive Director, Cheryelle Cruickshank, continues our new podcast series, “Seize Joy, Building Community" with Belinda Johnson. Belinda maintained a successful 40-year career in education while raising a child with a disability. Join us as she shares her experiences, knowledge, and perspective in the reassuring voice of a friend who has been there.

Host Cheryelle Cruickshank kicks off the first episode of our new series, “Seize Joy, Building Community.” This week, she speaks with Jackie Ceonzo. When Jackie’s son, who is on the autism spectrum, was turned away from a program for young people with disabilities, the experience motivated her to never accept the status quo. Now the Executive Director and Founder of SNACK & Friends, serving individuals with Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Jackie encourages us to think big, reject hopeless thinking, and celebrate small wins that will become giant ones.

Para Alma, madre mexicana de dos niños con autismo, la primera barrera que tuvo que superar fue el diagnostico de su hijo mayor, luego la barrera idiomática, siguiendo por la falta de información que hay para padres inmigrantes y finalmente, el estigma que hay sobre el autismo. Hoy conversa sobre cómo aprendió a navegar el sistema de educación especial de NYC y cómo fue que INCLUDEnyc la ayudó a informarse para poder representar a sus hijos. http://es.includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Alma-Gopar-Transcript.pdf

Beth Rosenberg is the Founder/Executive Director of Tech Kids Unlimited, not-for-profit educational organization that teaches 21st century computer science thinking and technology skills to neurodiverse youth ages 7 to 21. She is a multiple award-winning teacher, consultant, author, and frequent contributor to conferences, publications, and events. To read the transcript for this episodes, please visit https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/From-Customer-to-Innovator.pdf

Nate Trainor is a passionate advocate for the acceptance of people with disabilities and, although non-verbal, is a powerful "voice" for inclusion. Nate has experienced firsthand what rejection, exclusion, and assumed incompetence feels like. He is an author and provides many presentations throughout the country, advocating for people with disabilities, and volunteers his time to help others understand that everyone has many abilities. He lives in Waverly, Iowa. To read the podcast for this episode, visit https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Nobody-Knew-What-I-Could-Do-Transcript.pdf

Rick Guidotti, an award-winning photographer, has spent the past twenty-five years collaborating internationally with nonprofit organizations, hospitals, medical schools, educational institutions, museums, galleries, advocacy groups, and communities to enact a sea-change in societal attitudes towards individuals living with a genetic, physical, behavioral, or intellectual difference. His work has been published in newspapers, magazines, and journals. Rick is the founder and director of Positive Exposure, a non-profit organization that promotes a more inclusive world through award-winning photography, film, and educational programs. Positive Exposure has significantly impacted the field of human rights, mental health, medicine, and education by providing new opportunities to see each individual as a human being and a valued member of our society. You can find the transcript for this episode here: https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Reframing-Disability-transcript.pdf

How a chance conversation between two NYPD cops on the beat in Brooklyn changed one man's professional and personal trajectory. Donny Swanson is the principal of Pathways to Graduation in Staten Island, NY, where he utilizes a unique blend of beliefs, adaptations, and flexibility which he developed growing up in NYC with a disability. Pathways to Graduation supports at-risk students who have not been successful in traditional schools. Donny just completed his 18th year in education in February 2022, but his educational journey is not complete.

Art allows us to process our lives and complex emotions individually, and to come together collectively while building community. Join our conversation on why having brothers and sisters with disabilities stimulates the creation of art.  Allan B. Goldstein is a distinguished NYU Tandon School of Engineering Senior Lecturer, whose Disabilities Studies course teams up students and community members with disabilities to create digital stories and discuss disability readings. Goldstein is the older sibling and guardian of his brother Fred, a survivor of the notorious Willowbrook State School. Goldstein’s writing explores the social barriers impeding an inclusive society. Allan also serves on the Pace University Disability Film Festival screening committee, which features films by and about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Liz Sargent has an extensive background in dance, theater and film, which informs how she tells her stories. Liz is an award-winning producer for Cyprian Films. She is

Approved, publicly funded special education schools are facing an existential threat. Hear about their history, the challenges they face, and how one school stayed true to its mission by discontinuing public funding. Donna Kennedy has guided the Gillen Brewer School, a NYC private school providing special education services in a private school in NYC since its inception in 1992, serving as Head of School since 2003. Donna serves as a Commissioner of Accreditation for NYSAIS and Treasurer of the Guild for Independent Schools. Donna received her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Bank Street College of Education and a Master of Science in Special Education focusing on Learning Disabilities from Hunter College. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Nebraska.   To read the transcript of this episode, visit www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Disappearing_Private_Special_Education_Schools.pdf.

What will mental health care look like going forward? Kenneth Paul Rosenberg, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital. Since 2001, he has been listed every year as a Top Addiction Psychiatrist in New York Magazine’s Best Doctors issue. He is the recipient of a George Foster Peabody Award for his PBS and HBO films educating the public about medicine and psychiatry, and has been recognized by both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He is an author and filmmaker and is well known for his book and film “Bedlam.” To read the transcript of this episode, visit www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Access__Activism.docx.pdf.

Dr. Tom Liam Lynch is Director of Education Policy at The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School and Editor-in-Chief of the website InsideSchools. A former educational technology professor, English teacher, and school district official for the New York City Department of Education, Lynch has written dozens of articles and presented the world over on educational technologies, online learning, school reform, new literacies, and K-12 computer science. He holds a doctorate in education from Columbia University’s Teachers College. To view the report referenced in this interview, visit www.centernyc.org. To read the transcript of this episode, visit www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/The_Legacy_of_Bloomberg__de_Blasio_on_the_NYC_School_System.docx.pdf.

Autism didn’t appear in the DSM until 1980 or as a disability category under IDEA until 1990. Meet the woman who began building the autism advocacy movement on Staten Island in 1981. Donna Long is a dynamic Staten Island community leader who has been advocating for the needs and services of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and autism since the early 80s--and her impact is still felt today. She is recently retired as Executive Director of The GRACE Foundation, a non-profit that works with individuals and families impacted by autism. Donna currently serves as Director of External Affairs for Crossroads Unlimited Inc., an agency that provides comprehensive services for individuals with I/DD. To read the transcript of this episode, visit www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Before_We_Knew_Autism.docx.pdf.

INCLUDEnyc’s Julianne Toce interviews David Bloomfield, Professor of Educational Leadership, Law, and Policy at Brooklyn College. David discusses the state of special education during this uncertain time and provides recommendations. You can reach David at davidcbloomfield@gmail.com, visit his website, or follow him at @BloomfieldDavid. This podcast was recorded 4/21/2020.   To view the transcript for this episode, visit https://www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/David_Bloomfield_transcript.pdf

All sibling relationships are dynamic, but they are all the more so when your sibling has a disability. Listen in to special education teacher and advocate Lindsay Hyland and INCLUDEnyc’s Beth Ebert discussing the challenges, joys and impact of having a sibling with a disability. To view the transcript of this episode, visit https://www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Lindsay_podcast.pdf Links: SibsNY website: http://sibsny.org/ SibsNY on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/sibsNY SibsNY on facebook: SibsNY Sibling Leadership Network: https://siblingleadership.org/ Other sibling support on Facebook: Sibnet on Facebook SibTeen Sib20

INCLUDEnyc’s Jane Heaphy interviews Dr. David Connor, Professor Emeritus at CUNY’s Hunter College & Graduate Center. Dr. Connor, whose research focuses on inclusive education, learning disabilities, and teacher education, discusses how professionals and families can leverage the transition IEP meeting to advance participation, self-advocacy, and self-determination. To view the transcript for this episode, visit https://www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Dr._Connor_Transcript.pdf

INCLUDEnyc’s Jean Mizutani chats with cannabis advocate and parent Maureen Surin. Advocating for her daughter, Maureen’s efforts resulted in Ashley’s Law, which allows Illinois students with certain medical conditions to take medical marijuana in school.   To read a transcript of this podcast, visit https://www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Maureen_Podcast_Transcript.pdf

INCLUDEnyc’s Kpana Kpoto interviews Oroma Mpi-Reynolds, education lawyer, parent, and former Special Education Settlements & Claims Attorney at the New York City Department of Education. This conversation explores the impact of race, culture, and socioeconomic status on special education and the racial disparities in identification and discipline. Listen as they discuss the inequities in the special education system and how to ensure appropriate referrals and high-quality supports and services despite them.

NY Peace Institute’s Restorative Justice Coordinator Kailani Capote shares her experiences implementing restorative justice at a Harlem high school with Colin Montgomery of INCLUDEnyc. Restorative justice practices will be adopted across all NYC middle and high schools in the 2019-2020 school year and they make up a big part of the DOE’s recent major reforms to limit school suspensions and to equip students and staff with social-emotional and conflict resolution tools.

Leonie Haimson, one of New York’s most active education advocates and proponent of small class sizes, and Jean Mizutani of INCLUDEnyc address the challenge of controlling student data in an era when practice precedes regulatory safeguards and education is today’s most data-mineable industry. For more information, visit https://www.studentprivacymatters.org/

Susan Dooha, Executive Director at The Center for Independence of the Disabled, NYC (CIDNY) and Ruth DiRoma of INCLUDEnyc discuss the movement to ensure that all New Yorkers are safe during emergencies. When they filed their first lawsuit against the city in 2011, demanding emergency planning that addresses the universal needs of residents, little did they know how soon the arrival of Hurricane Sandy would put the city to a life and death test. Find out what happened, and what we expect in the future.