The SENIA Happy Hour Podcast

Overview: Today I speak with Leah Kuypers, the creator of the Zones of Regulation curriculum which has been enthusiastically received by educators, therapists and parents around the world, Leah’s  book, also entitled The Zones of Regulation, has sold more than 100,000 copies worldwide.. If you are new to the Zones or need a refresher, then be sure to join us for our SENIA virtual conference i...

Overview: On today’s podcast, host Lori Boll speaks with Michelle Garcia Winner, the creator and founder of Social Thinking and a globally recognized thought leader, author, speaker, and social-cognitive therapist. She is dedicated to helping people of all ages develop social-emotional learning, including those with social competency challenges. Across her 35+ year career she has created numerous...

Overview: Today’s podcast is all about Watch Parties! In December we’ll be holding our virtual conference and as an organization, we encourage you to hold a watch party at your school or in your community. What is a Watch Party, you ask? Ah, good question. Laura Cox, the PK 12 Inclusion Services Coordinator and Coach at the American International School of Johannesburg discuss that today. Laura is...

Overview: Today on the podcast, I had the great opportunity to speak with Kristel Solomon Saleem who is a passionate inclusion leader and will be one of our presenters at the upcoming SENIA virtual conference. Kristel currently works as the Director of Students Services at the KAUST school in Saudi Arabia. She is the Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator of Next Frontier Inclusion (NFI) and contribute...

Overview: Today I speak with Steve Leinwand who has a long and impressive career as a math teacher, leader, researcher, and author in the field. Steve calls himself a Math Education Change Agent and as you’ll see does not hold back from sharing his views on how we can best support our students and teach math in a way that is meaningful to them. Steve shares best practice strategies and explains wh...

Overview: Today on the podcast, we welcome back Tracey Ellis from International Diagnostic Solutions (IDS) to discuss the impact this past pandemic year has had on families, parents, teachers, and students with learning needs. Tracey predicts there will be large uptake in student referrals for assessment and evaluation since so many of our kids spent the year behind a computer screen, making it mo...

Overview: Parents with children with special needs can find themselves overwhelmed as they do their best to care for their children. It's easy for them to get caught up doing many "good" tasks throughout the day to ensure their child's growth. As a parent coach, Sharoya Ham aims to give parents the permission to let go of some of those “I-need-to-do” tasks to focus on self-care and to recapture th...

Introduction: Today, Matt, Lori, & Erin share lots of laughs as they discuss balance and mental health in our students, our families, and us! You won’t want to miss this discussion as we talk about signs our students are feeling stressed and how we can best support them. Why so many laughs today? We recorded the night before Erin & Matt’s last day of the school year and Lori had just spent...

Overview: Today I speak with Gustavo Soriano, Gustavo he Senior Director of International Programs at Best Buddies International. His role is to oversee the organization's programs abroad, encompassing 56 countries and territories across six continents of the world. Not familiar with Best Buddies? No problem, you’ll get to learn about the history, mission, and incredible work of this fantastic org...

Overview: Drs. Melissa McCart and Sondra Marshall are experts in the field of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the implications of a TBI on learning. Sondra Marshall, PhD, is a Licensed Psychologist with St. Charles Health System in Bend, Oregon. Melissa McCart, Ed. D, is a national and international speaker and author on the topic of brain injury and return to school following injury. Both are in...

Introduction: Math. That one word can produce great amounts of anxiety in many of us and many of our students. Today our group discusses all things math with our special guest, Caty Romero who is someone who knows math and loves it. Some of the topics included in today’s discussion are foundational concepts students need to know, common areas of struggle in mathematics, the C-R-A approach, our fav...

Overview: Today’s podcast features Dr. Adam Boddison, the Chief Executive of NASEN, which is the National Association for Special Education Needs. Learn all about what NASEN has to offer. Hint: It offers a lot! Dive into their three educational journals (listed below) and if you’re like me, don’t forget to come up for air. Connect Website Twitter Facebook Resources Mentioned in Today’s Show Online...

Our guest today is Pernille Rippe who is an English teacher, author, internationally known speaker, and the founder of Global Read Aloud.  Pernille asks educators to reflect on one simple question: Would you want to be a student in your classroom? She takes time today to tell us how to build a classroom library that is accessible to all students, no matter their reading level, and shares how...

Introduction: We are all sensory beings. In this month's roundtable, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, Lori Boll, and special guest Kira Luanganggoon discuss all things Sensory. Kira, an Occupational Therapist, answers our questions: What is Sensory Processing? What does it mean when an individual is dysregulated? How can we recognize when our students need some movement? Erin, Matt, and Lori also share...

Overview: Dr. Lorea Martínez Pérez is the award-winning founder of HEART in Mind Consulting, a company dedicated to helping schools and organizations integrate Social Emotional Learning in their practices, products, and learning communities. Today we discuss what part emotions play in learning and how we can build relational trust with our students. We also talk about Dr. Martinez’ latest book, Te...

Overview Today the Vice-President of the National Council of Severe Autism, Amy Lutz  and I speak about raising children who are profoundly affected by Autism and how it looks so different from parenting our typically developing children in many ways. We discuss Amy’s books she has written on the topic and touch on some of the controversies surrounding Autism, the neurodiversity movement, and...

Overview Today Lori and Jill discuss healthy strategies for you as a parent or teacher to use on yourself or with your students/children when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed during COVID. Jill is a two-time best-selling author and speaker who is passionate about helping parents and educators understand their struggling students and the possibilities for real change. She is also the founde...

Introduction: In this month's roundtable, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, and Lori Boll discuss all things Dyslexia. Dyslexia? Are we allowed to call it that anymore? Why did they change the name? What does that mean for our learners? How can we best support our learners with reading challenges? And more. Resourced Discussed in Today’s Show Overcoming Dyslexia , by Drs. Sally & Jonathan Shaywitz Ya...

Overview Dr. Jim Delisle, and host Lori Boll discuss gifted learners. Why is there a common misconception that gifted kids don’t need help or support? What are some of the difficulties gifted kids have in school? How can teachers and parents support these learners? Lori and Dr. Delisle discuss all this and more on today’s show. Connect Twitter Resources Mentioned in Today’s Show Gifted Teen Surviv...

Overview March 21st is World Down Syndrome Day so we’re starting this month off with a fantastic interview with Heather Avis. Heather is an advocate and mother to three children; two of whom have Down Syndrome. Heather is on a mission to make a more inclusive world where everyone can belong. And she is doing this through her online communities she’s built on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter called...

Overview: Dr. Greene’s keynote at #SENIA2020 was so popular, we wanted to bring him back to learn even more from him. Today Dr. Greene and  I discuss systematic change in schools regarding discipline and positive change seems to be moving at a glacial pace. We also learn more about Plan B and how teacher and caregiver assumptions can often hinder a student’s growth. When we bring students int...

HI everyone, today I speak with children’s author, Julia Cook. Julia is a children’s author with over three million books in print. Many of us have used her books when working with our students.  With titles such as My Mouth is a Volcano , A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue , and Tease Monster , Julia’s books speak to and teach children about themselves, their learning, and their brains in fun and c...

Overview On today’s podcast Toby Tomlinson Baker (soon to be Dr. Toby Tomlinson Baker) discusses her research into post-secondary education for our students with learning disabilities. Toby shares a sobering fact; that 72% of students with disabilities are dropping out of university. Why is this the case? Spoiler alert: one reason is that many university professors have zero training in working wi...

Introduction: In this month's podcast, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, and Lori Boll discuss their takeaways from SENIA 2020. As a special treat, we also hear from SENIA participants who called in to share which strategies they left the conference with and have already tried in their practice, whether they are teachers, professionals, or parents. We hope you enjoy the show. Resourced Discussed in Today...

Overview Today I speak with two of the co-founders of Spokle. Spokle empowers parents to support their child’s speech therapy with home-based exercises. They do this using over 400 video tutorials developed by experienced therapists, who guide both parents and therapists along each step on the path to developing spoken language. They provide simple play-based activities that can be completed in 5-...