The SENIA Happy Hour Podcast

Overview For over 20 years, Angelica Benson has worked for Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes – a world leader in research and remediation for specific learning disabilities, including dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder. Angelica  is currently the Director of International Development for Lindamood-Bell. Angelica is also the Executive Director of the Lindamood-Bell Foundation, a non-profit...

Introduction: In this month's podcast, Lori Boll, Erin Madonna and Matt Barker explore the challenges of being a Newbie (starting at a new school). We discuss the challenges with starting somewhere new, the additional complexities of being a special educator in a new position, and the advice they would give both themselves and others who are starting at a new school. Lori and Erin also talk about...

Overview Jon Nordmeyer is the international programs director for WIDA, and will be one of our speakers at our upcoming conference. WIDA provides language development resources to those who support the academic success of multilingual learners. They offer a comprehensive, research-based system of language standards, assessments, professional learning and educator assistance. WIDA’s trusted resourc...

Overview Chances are, since you’re listening to our SENIA happy hour podcast, you are an advocate for inclusion. I’m so jazzed to bring you today’s show. I speak with Dr. Deborah Taub & Dr. Elizabeth Reyes from the TIES Center. TIES Center is the national technical assistance center on inclusive practices and policies. Today we discuss the work TIES Center does, Universal Design for Learning,...

Overview: Dr. Ann Helmus is a clinical neuropsychologist and Executive Director of NESCA (Neuropsychology and Education Services for Children and Adolescents), in its 20th year in Boston. For the past five years she has provided education and consultations in Asia. Dr. Helmus specialises in providing comprehensive holistic evaluations of the children with learning developmental and emotional disor...

Overview Today I speak with Patricia Padorsek, a Director of Teaching and Learning formerly of International School of Kuala Lumpur and now on her way to International School Nido de Aguilas in Chile. Our topic today is an important one. So many of us want to create and sustain change in our schools, especially in terms of inclusion and other issues we, as people who advocate for differently-abled...

Overview Today I speak with Dr. Joan Schumann who is just beginning a new position as Director of Professional Learning and Instruction at International School Beijing. Prior to this she served as the Director of Student Support Services at Stamford American School in Singapore. Dr. Schumann and fellow K-12 Directors are passionate about strengthening evidenced-based practices within the internati...

Today I had the great honor of speaking with Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift. Norm and Emma have been Keynote speakers at past SENIA events and will be our keynotes again at our upcoming conference in December. Norman was born with cerebral palsy and initially attended a segregated school for children with physical disabilities; At the age 13, he was integrated into a regular school. From there...

Lori Boll, Erin Madonna, and Matt Barker discuss all things to do with working in multidisciplinary teams. This includes the types of teams we find ourselves in as learning support specialists, the collective power of the team, when teams hit rough patches, our personal experiences of working highly effective teams and how to establish a high-functioning team.

Overview: Sarah Ward has over 25 years of experience in the treatment of executive dysfunction. We had a great conversation as Sarah helped me understand the key feature of Executive Functioning and how students go from the intention of completing a task to actually doing said task. We discussed the word “lazy” and ways to support students during remote learning. I’m confident you’ll take a lot aw...

Overview On our podcast today we speak with Greg O’Connor, a long-time friend of SENIA, who has spoken at many of our conferences and has taught us so much about how we can use technology to best support our students who need it. For over 30 years Greg has been actively involved in all levels of education, supporting the learning of ALL students as a classroom teacher, school executive, education...

Dr. Nicole Sparapani is an Assistant Professor at the University of California Davis and a faculty member of the MIND Institute The UC Davis MIND Institute is a collaborative international research center, committed to the awareness, understanding, prevention, and treatment of the challenges associated with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Nicole has been working with Autistic individuals for many...

Overview Dominique Blue is a special educator working in China. Like many of you, she has worked in schools where there is no official special education program. Does that mean there are no learning needs inthese schools? Of course not. So Dominique gives us some tips on how we can support struggling learners in our schools without programs. But that’s not all! Dominique tells us about raising her...

Overview Dr. Choy Sook Kuen is a mother of two sons Aaron and Joshua,  and founder of Oasis Place in Kuala Lumpur,  Malaysia’s first and largest multi-disciplinary intervention centre for children and adults with learning differences. Oasis Place was born out of a mother’s love for her differently abled son. Today, Sook Kuen tells her story of how she and her family  “learned forwar...

Overview Inclusion is essential in all areas of life, and Roland Benzon has invented a way for people who are deaf or blind can enjoy their favorite movies, TV shows, or podcasts. While not an educator, Roland has a personal connection to the special needs community and set out to find a way to help solve a problem. How could he help people in the deaf and blind community experience media in an en...

Overview Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrician, Dr. Roby Marcou, and I discuss the developmental and behavioral impact of the Covid 19 experiences on children, adolescents, families and educators. What should teachers do to help their students adjust? What are some strategies families can use if their child is experiencing anxiety about returning? And, what should schools be focusing on during...

Overview The chairperson of the SENIA Europe board of directors is our guest today. April Remfrey spent years as a special educator in the international schools. She understands how hard it can be for families to find a “good fit” for their children with special learning needs, and now dedicates her time by helping families. Today, April and I discuss what families can do when they find out they a...

Overview Today I speak with Pat Noonan, a special educator from Massachusetts who, during the early days of online instruction, found a way to create lessons for his students that are engaging, interactive, and fun. Pat created a series of youtube videos that have a Blues Clues or Dora the Explorer type of format, but uses Boardmaker icons which help support nonverbal learners, autistic students,...

Those of us who have been attending SENIA conferences for the past nine years or so are not strangers to my guest today. Dr. Bonnie Singer is the Founder and CEO of Architects For Learning, which is dedicated to giving educators effective teaching methods that take language and critical thinking to new levels. She also directs a staff in the Boston area that helps K-12 and college students succeed...

Overview Today I speak to Emmy Thamakaison, a rising Grade 12 student at International School Bangkok who wrote a bilingual children’s book about a child learning about his ADHD, what it means, how he can work with it, and what gifts it can bring him, because, yes, it can be a superpower. JJ’s Squiggly Mind was written with an aim to help destigmatize ADHD and other learning differences as a whole...

Overview While most of us were unceremoniously dumped into the world of remote virtual teaching recently, Tracey Ellis, CEO and founder of International Diagnostic Solutions (IDS) is a veteran. IDS is a company providing online special needs services and therapy to families and schools around the world through a telehealth model. Tracey started IDS over a decade ago as the first online special edu...

During this week’s Happy Hour, Phil Bowman, a Learning Support Teacher from International School Bangkok, board member of SENIA Thailand, and creator of the MARIO Framework discusses how he uses the Design Thinking process in his learning support classroom. Learn how one teacher uses this model to improve his teaching and his students’ learning. You don’t want to miss this one. For those of us new...

Join Matt, Erin, and me as we discuss Executive Functioning Skill challenges our students may be facing during this time of virtual teaching and learning. Executive Functioning Skills are the brain-based skills required for humans to execute or perform tasks (P. Dawson, R. Guare). These skills include, planning, organization, time management, emotional control and many others. Is it any wonder som...

Overview In this time of COVID-19, let’s spend today talking about something positive. STEPS with Theera is a vocational training center in downton Bangkok for adults with special needs. STEPS founder and CEO Max Simpson takes time to speak with us today about the center from its inception to now, several years later. Not only is this an incredible organization, it’s also a fantastic cafe’. So, if...

Inspired from last week’s podcast with Jessica Minahan regarding understanding behaviors, I was hoping to somehow learn more about student behaviors at home during this time of virtual schooling. I mean, here we all are, thrown into the role of teacher in our homes, and we’re dealing with intense feelings in ourselves and in our children. Our kids are experiencing trauma and grief of having their...