Think Inclusive

AZ Chapman is a writer, athlete, and disability advocate from California. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a toddler, AZ has navigated life with determination and resilience. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Special Education from California State University East Bay. AZ is also a passionate Special Olympics competitor, having participated in events like swimming...

Tim Villegas from the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education connects with Simone Morris and Julie Kratz, hosts of the Inclusion School podcast, to explore the intersection of inclusive schools and the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) space. They discuss the importance of DEI initiatives in schools, strategies for allyship with marginalized groups, and the significance of addressing raci...

Gage Robinson is a 19-year-old college student at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount, Minnesota. He’s a passionate self-advocate who fought for his right to inclusive education and now shares his story to inspire others. Gage runs a nonprofit called Gage Gives Back , where he educates about traumatic brain injury and shaken baby syndrome, and supports organizations that helped him succee...

Carolyn Kiel is a corporate instructional designer and the host of Beyond 6 Seconds , a podcast that spotlights neurodivergent and disabled entrepreneurs, creators, and advocates. She’s a late‑identified autistic adult who uses her platform to share first‑person stories that challenge stereotypes and expand understanding. In this conversation, Tim talks with Carolyn about why she started Beyond 6...

Alma Zaragoza‑Petty (she/her) — Mexican American activist, scholar, and podcast host; author of Chingona: Owning Your Inner Badass for Healing and Justice . She advises and counsels first‑generation, low‑income students and teaches equity-focused coursework to working professionals at USC, with a personal and scholarly focus on intergenerational healing. Alma Zaragoza‑Petty shares how reclaiming t...

Hilda Bernier — Educator with a special education license and bilingual extension who has taught mostly integrated co‑teaching classes (and some self‑contained high‑school classes). As a parent, she describes how evaluation reports and an early IEP meeting pushed against inclusion for her son, Emilio, and how seeing the Henderson Inclusion School shifted her perspective on what’s possible. Olivier...

Ryan Wilson is the founder and director of Team Trust Productions, a disability‑led media company that partners with mission‑driven organizations to tell authentic stories of people with disabilities. He launched Team Trust after an early documentary project (“Seeing With Trust”) and now works with nonprofits and higher‑ed institutions to make marketing more accessible and inclusive. Ryan lives wi...

Mary Beth Moore — Author of Unwanted: Fighting to Belong and founder/executive director of The Advocacy Underground. She studied political science and criminal justice at UNC Charlotte, served in the U.S. Marine Corps, worked as a DoD intelligence analyst and later as a marketing leader. She uses storytelling to make special education law and research accessible to families and educators. She’s al...

Cheryl Green is an access artist who’s spent a decade creating creative, immersive captions and five years crafting audio description, drawing on lived experience with chronic illness and invisible disabilities. She’s collaborated with disability‑focused organizations including Superfest International Disability Film Festival, Disability Visibility Project, and Kinetic Light; she’s also produced d...

Katie Novak is an internationally recognized education consultant, author of 11 books, graduate instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and former assistant superintendent in Massachusetts. With over 20 years of experience in teaching and administration and a doctorate in curriculum and teaching, Katie specializes in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)...

Michael Giangreco is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Special Education at the University of Vermont and is affiliated with the UVM Center on Disability and Community Inclusion . He’s authored over 200 publications, presented across the U.S. and internationally, and is known for the “Absurdities and Realities of Special Education” cartoon collection, created to spark reflection and...

Melissa Defayette — Third‑year PhD student in Special Education at the University of Maryland; advanced to candidacy in Fall 2022. Her research focuses on designing and implementing math interventions for students with moderate to severe disabilities in general education settings aligned to grade‑level content. She previously taught special education in Maryland for about seven years and has co‑au...

Temple Grandin, PhD — Professor of Animal Science, Colorado State University Dr. Grandin is a renowned author and advocate whose work bridges animal welfare, education, and neurodiversity. She’s written multiple New York Times bestsellers—including Animals in Translation , Animals Make Us Human , The Autistic Brain , and Thinking in Pictures —and her life story was portrayed in the HBO film Temple...

Ashley Barlow — Special education attorney practicing in the Greater Cincinnati area (licensed in Kentucky and Ohio), parent and self‑advocate, former K–12 German teacher, and host of Special Education Advocacy with Ashley Barlow . She runs Ashley Barlow Company , which offers reasonably priced resources and digital courses for parents and advocates, and serves as Director of Education at the Nati...

Jay Ruderman is the President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to inclusion, diversity, and social justice. A lifelong social justice activist, Jay has championed disability rights and worked to hold the entertainment industry accountable for authentic representation. He also hosts the podcast All About Change , which highlights stories of activism and resi...

Debbie Taub — TASH board member and technical assistance provider with the TIES Center, a national TA center focused on building inclusive systems for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Also brings a parent perspective as a mom advocating at the IEP table. Diane Ryndak — Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro; co‑chair of TASH’s Inclusive Education Comm...

Charmaine Thaner is an inclusion advocate and founder of Collaborative Special Education Advocacy. She’s a former self‑contained special education teacher who became a general education teacher for 15 years, and now works alongside families and schools to make inclusive education real. She also hosts the long‑running Facebook Live series The Art of Advocacy . Her path runs from Slippery Rock State...

Kanwal Singh — former Director of the Vishwas school (India) and author of Hanging On: A Special Educator’s Journey into Inclusive Education (published in 2020). She began her career in 1988 at the Spastic Society of Northern India and has spent more than three decades moving from special education to integration to inclusion. Currently, she consults with the UK-based Enabling Education Network, s...

Russ Ewell — Founder of E‑soccer and Digital Scribbler; CEO of Hope Technology Group; host of the Lead Different Podcast; and father of children with disabilities. His inclusion journey began when his eldest son was born with Down syndrome, which led him to create inclusive sports programs so kids with and without disabilities could play together. When Russ Ewell saw his son segregated in youth sp...

Meg Grigal — Researcher and program leader at the Institute for Community Inclusion, University of Massachusetts Boston, where she directs multiple federally funded projects that expand access to higher education for people with intellectual disability (ID). Cate Weir — Project Coordinator for the Think College National Coordinating Center at UMass Boston; she supports colleges nationwide and has...

Jani Kozlowski is a Technical Assistance Specialist with the Early Childhood TA Center at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill). She previously served as the inclusion lead for the Office of Head Start’s National Center on Early Childhood Development, Teaching, and Learning, and is the author of Every Child Can Fly: An Early Childhood Educat...

Dr. Ross Greene is the New York Times bestselling author of Lost at School and Raising Human Beings. He developed the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) model, a framework for supporting children with challenging behavior by focusing on problem-solving rather than punishment. Formerly on the faculty at Harvard Medical School for over 20 years, Dr. Greene is now the founding director of Li...

Dr. Mona Delahooke is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience supporting children and families. She is a senior faculty member at the Profectum Foundation and a member of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Delahooke is the author of Beyond Behaviors: Using Brain Science and Compassion to Understand and Solve Children’s Behavioral Challenges and Brain-Body Parenti...

Mazey Eddings is an author and dentist who identifies as neurodivergent (anxiety since childhood; ADHD and autism diagnosed later). She’s on a personal mission to destigmatize mental health and write “love stories for every brain.” She also proudly claims the title of stage mom to her cats, Yaya and Zedi. Host Tim Villegas talks with Mazey Eddings about neurodiverse representation in romance , the...

Liz Weintraub — Senior Advocacy Specialist at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD); host of the monthly YouTube series Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, where she breaks down complex policy terms and bills so everyone can understand and advocate. She’s interviewed legislators and has produced 200+ short episodes over ~5–7 years. Kenneth Kelty — Motivational spea...