K-12 Workshop (October 23, 2022; Educators Only)

Neurodiversity in the Classroom: Strategies for Educators

October 23, 2022 (12 to 2:30 PM Pacific Time)

Capacity of this session is 100. Please register for this workshop within the Hubilo Platform after you have registered for general admission. After accessing the Hubilo platform, please click "Exhibitors" at the top of the screen.  Please click "K-12 Educators Workshop" at the top of the Exhibitors section. Within the "K-12 Educators Workshop" page, click "REGISTER HERE" to access the registration form. Please click here for more detailed step-by-step instructions. 

After the workshop capacity is reached, we will maintain a wait-list for this opportunity. Registrants 

All sessions of this workshop will be recorded for summit registrants to access after the event, regardless of registration of the workshop.

 

Workshop Description (click here for more detailed description): 

Exploring Dual Differentiation and Universal Design for Learning (UDL): These two approaches help all students engage with the material being taught in multiple ways according to their strengths, needs, and interests. 

Dual Differentiation is a classroom strategy that helps bright neurodiverse / neurodivergent students succeed within specific lessons, building on their strengths while respectfully working around their deficit areas so that their challenges do not get in the way of learning. Dual differentiation provides opportunities for students to engage meaningfully in learning. 

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework offers a pathway for all learners to engage with the material being taught, allowing students to access meaningful, challenging learning opportunities in multiple ways according to their strengths, needs, and interests. Through flexible learning environments, barriers to academic engagement are reduced and/or eliminated by offering an educational experience where each child can be their best.

It is the goal of this workshop to create an environment where educators can connect and learn with one another; please plan to attend live on Zoom on 10/23/2022.

 

Moderators:

  • Robin Schader, PhD, Callie Turk, Marci Schwartz, PhD, LCSW, Abby Kirigin

Speakers:

  • Michael Wehmeyer, PhD, Chair and Distinguished Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Kansas
  • Sheida Raley, PhD, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Kansas
  • Lakshmi Balasubramanian, PhD, Lecturer & Social Science Researcher, Stanford University
  • Susan Baum, PhD, Chancellor, Bridges Academy
  • Amy Bechtol, Teacher, Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education
  • Danielle Mizuta, Learning Support Specialist, Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii

 

Agenda

12:00 to 12:05 PM:  Welcome to the Educator Workshop by Dr. Lawrence Fung

12:05 to 12:30 PM:  Neurodiversity and Strengths-based Approaches: Toward Inclusive Practices by Dr. Wehmeyer

12:30 to 1:30 PM:  Focused Sessions:

  • Universal Design for Learning, Grades K-5 - Danielle Mizuta
  • Universal Design for Learning, Grades 6-12 - Dr. Lakshmi Balasubramanian
  • Dual Differentiation, Grades K-5 - Dr. Susan Baum
  • Dual Differentiation, Grades 6-12 - Amy Bechtol

 

1:30 to 1:35 PM:  Break

1:35 to 2:30 PM:  Strengths-Based Approaches for Inclusive Education: It Takes a Village - introductory and closing comments by Dr. Sheida Raley with all presenters as panelists, Q&A

Speaker Profiles

Michael Wehmeyer, PhD

Chair and Distinguished Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Kansas

Michael L. Wehmeyer, Ph.D. is the Ross and Mariana Beach Distinguished Professor of Special Education; Chair of the Department of Special Education; and Director and Senior Scientist, Beach Center on Disability; all at the University of Kansas.  His research and scholarly work has focused issues pertaining to self-determination, positive psychology and disability, transition to adulthood, the education and inclusion of students with severe disabilities, conceptualizing intellectual disability, and technology use by people with cognitive disabilities. He has published more than 475 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. He is an author or editor on 45 texts. Dr. Wehmeyer is Past-President and a Fellow of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD); a Fellow of the American Psychological Association Division 33 (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Division). He has been recognized for his research and service with lifetime achievement awards from numerous associations and organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Council for Exceptional Children, and The Arc of the United States.

Sheida Raley, PhD

Assistant Research Professor, Department of Special Education, University of Kansas

Sheida K. Raley, Ph.D. is an Assistant Research Professor at the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities and Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education. Dr. Raley’s research focuses on assessment and intervention related to self-determination for all students, including students with extensive support needs learning in inclusive contexts. The ultimate goal of her research is to understand how to enable all students, including students with and without disabilities, to build abilities and skills associated with self-determination. She has a particular interest in identifying instructional strategies and supports for general and special educators to use in inclusive classrooms. Dr. Raley earned her doctoral degree in Special Education from the University of Kansas and is a former public school teacher for elementary and middle school students with extensive support needs.

Lakshmi Balasubramanian, PhD

Lecturer & Social Science Researcher, Stanford University

Lakshmi is a Lecturer and Researcher in the field of special education at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. She completed her Ph.D. in Special Education at the joint doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley with San Francisco State University in May 2021. Her dissertation research examined the processes and practices of inclusive education for students with diverse disabilities in a school district in Northern California. The first part of the dissertation is a theoretical articulation of a conceptual framework that school districts and local education agencies can use to design, implement, and sustain inclusive educational practices. This framework has three central tenets, which relate to (a) how students access general education, (b) meaningful ways in which they can participate alongside their peers, and (c) support structures that can undergird effective implementation. The second part of this dissertation consists of an empirical study that evaluated the deployment of this framework in implementing inclusive education in the kindergarten-through-12th-grade context. It brought under scrutiny the system-level processes and programmatic structures that were in place or being developed at this school district. Facilitators and barriers to inclusion were examined as they related to access, meaningful participation, and creation and provision of supports for all participants within their sociocultural context. She makes visible the ableist and disablist discourses and practices that sometimes frame the construction of disability and what it means to teach or parent a child with a disability within those confines. In this way, this research untangles the oppressive ideologies that are prevalent in narratives about the disabled and destabilizes any claims made to a normative ideal, while affirming that inclusion and receiving education in the least restrictive environment is a civil right for disabled students.  She currently manages two Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grants as part of the Lemons lab at Stanford.  One of the grants  seeks to build general education and special education teachers’ skills in delivering effective interventions using the Data Based Individualization by Design method (DBI by Design) and engaging in collaborative processes to build inclusive classrooms The second grant is an RCT that is testing the efficacy of a kindergarten writing curriculum.   Prior to joining Stanford, Lakshmi worked as a special education teacher and inclusion specialist in a large public school district for 14 years. During this time, she spearheaded the design and implementation of inclusive education programs at the school district in grades K-12. Additionally, she has worked as a professional development facilitator nationally and internationally on a variety of topics related to inclusive education and Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Susan Baum, PhD

Chancellor, Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education

Susan Baum, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of the 2e Center for Research and Professional Development at Bridges Academy, a school for twice exceptional and Chancellor of the  Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. For her work in twice exceptionality she has received many awards including 2010 recipient of the Life Time Achievement Award granted by the Weinfeld Group, 2011 recipient of the Connecticut Association for the Gifted “Friend of the Gifted Award: and the 2015 Distinguish Professional Alumni Award from the Neag School of Education. Her seminal book now in its third edition, To be gifted and learning disabled: Strength-based strategies for helping twice exceptional students with LD, ADHD, ASD, and more (Baum, Schader, & Owen) was awarded the NAGC Book of the Year award in 1918.  Dr. Baum is widely published in the areas of differentiated instruction, twice exceptional students, primary-aged, gifted students, and social and emotional factors affecting gifted students. A popular speaker and workshop presenter, she has traveled worldwide teaching about creativity, education of the gifted and talented and twice exceptionality. She currently is a frequent presenter at Bright and Quirky—an online summit for supporting twice exceptionality.

Amy Bechtol

Teacher, Bridges Academy

Amy Bechtol is a neurodivergent individual, educator, and activist. Identified as autistic at thirteen, Amy attended Bridges Academy, a school for twice-exceptional students. After pursuing an education in the arts through Otis College of Art and Design, Amy returned to Bridges, where she now works as an arts and humanities teacher, supporting students with a neurology much like her own. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Education through the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education. When not embroiled in academia, she enjoys long walks around the pasture with her dogs, collecting far too many books, and wearing headphones without any audio playing.

Danielle Mizuta

Learning Support Specialist, Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii

Danielle Mizuta, MEd is a Learning Support Specialist, Special Education Teacher and Mentor, and Adjunct Faculty for pre-service special education teachers in Hawaii. She focuses on neurodiverse students and strength based approaches to work with schools and their families. Danielle likes to say her job is to “make learning fun.” She holds two MEds, a BS in Communication Studies and a Minor in Dance. Danielle is currently a Doctoral Student at the Bridges Graduate School of Cognitive Diversity in Education in Studio City, California. Danielle has spent the last 20 years in various roles in special education spanning Kindergarten to High School, a residential treatment facility for teenagers, and adult education for pre-service special education teachers. She taught special education in the Hawaii State Department of Education for 13 years. Danielle also provides faculty coaching in classrooms and professional development to ensure the learning needs of all students are being met through strategic design like Universal Design for Learning (UDL). When Danielle reflects on her career, she often encounters struggling and troubled youth with extremely amazing gifts. This has led to her current path on better understanding these students, and how to support them in the classroom.