OT for Inclusive Occupations: Stories of Not Just Being Invited to the Party but Dancing

“ Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.” — Thomas Merton  The science of compassion is rapidly developing. As a construct, compassion is much better understood now than ever before.  In this final episode of Season 1, Dr. Immanual Joseph, founder of Compassionleaders and author of "The Fifth Revolution" gives us a simple, yet deeper understanding of compa...

Sam Drazin shares his personal journey of how and why he started Changing Perspectives. He clarifies the many doubts we may have about the inclusion of children with disabilities (especially severe disabilities) in education. Sam answers important questions and shares interesting stories from his years in this space of disability awareness. He brings to our awareness the different layers of inclus...

Mrs. Alpana Singh, a special educator and mentor with over 21 years of experience in special education shares about an event she has organized in her elementary school at Cupertino school district, CA for over 17 years called the "Ability Awareness day/week." Her takeaway message is that education of the different needs and abilities of our students with disabilities is the first step to full incl...

In this episode, Dr. Deirdre Azzopardi shares her views on OT and inclusion based on her wealth of knowledge from 25 years of working in both private and public school sectors. She has her bachelor's and doctorate degrees in occupational therapy and a master's degree in psychology.  Dr. Azzopardi is a registered yoga teacher for both adults and children (RYT 200 and RCYT 95) as well as a trained m...

The Charter School of Morgan Hill (CSMH) embraces a philosophy of full inclusion- meaning every student who gets selected in the lottery, regardless of the nature of their (dis)ability belongs in their age-appropriate classroom with same-aged peers. There are no "Self-Contained Classrooms" here. In this episode, our guest Brooke Trombly, a teacher of special education at the CSMH shares how they m...

In this episode Debbie Schwind, recipient of the 2020 NBCOT impact award, shares practical strategies and ideas of how she supported inclusion in her role as a school based OT practitioner. The final take aways from Debbie are 1. Inclusion is a continuum that does not happen when our students turn twenty one. It happens day one. 2. Occupation based interventions in schools would require us to step...

  In this episode, Ferose VR, a highly accomplished and world-renowned thought leader, change-maker, and author shares his journey of how he found his calling to become an advocate for inclusion. He piloted the autism at work project at SAP which in 4 years evolved to become a Harvard case study and a worldwide phenomenon. He has authored several books including the bestseller, "Gifted: Inspiring...

Mr. Bill Thiemann has seen it all in his 37 years. As a special education teacher and as an instructor at the Santa Clara County Office of Education's teacher credentialing program (called EPIC), Mr. T has valuable insights to share. While full inclusion is the ideal we aspire for, in reality, this is a challenge often because we do not know how to foster meaningful relationships between children...

             In this episode, we are honored to have Deborah Schwind, DHSc, BCP, SCSS, OTR/L, a school based occupational therapy guru, share her stories. Debbie has extensively contributed to school based OT practice through her many publications and presentations nationally. Authentic inclusion ( a true sense of belonging) is often a two way process. First, a community that is conducive to inclu...

Empathy stems from awareness. Sam Drazin, founder and executive director of Changing Perspectives, talks about his program on social emotional learning/disability awareness. Changing perspectives is a ready to use curriculum to sow the seeds of inclusion for our future world. Check out the website@ www.changingperspectivesnow.org