SCHOOLS & ORGANIZATIONS FAMILIES & PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITES
CONFERENCE CENTER
RESOURCES NORM AND EMMA
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
EMAIL:
AUDIO INTERVIEWS
Mothers of Children with Disabilities (60 minutes)
Beth Dixon, Lisa Houghtelin, and Cindi May, speak about their experiences of living with a child with a disability. Topics include:
  • the importance of incuslive education
  • gaining perspective on the need for rehabilitation
  • the contribution children with disabilities make to the larger community

  • This text will be replaced
    Play Audio Interview
    Fathers of Children with Disabilities (60 minutes)
    Jeff Strully, Jeff Tate, and Dan Habib, speak about their experiences of living with a child with a disability, specifically the importance of balancing outrage, self-reflection, and collaboration in advocating for their children.

    This text will be replaced
    Play Audio Interview
    Alfie Kohn (30 minutes)
    Alfie Kohn is a well-known author and lecturer who has challenged generally held assumptions about, competions, rewards, learning, and standardized testing. In this interview, Alfie maintains that if we want to help our children become thoughtful, empathetic citizens, we need to move beyond simplistic expectations of compliance and achievement. Instead, we need to search for the meaning behind the behavior and engage children in thoughtful self-reflective conversations.

    This text will be replaced
    Play Audio Interview
    Mothers of Children with Disabilities (45 minutes)
    Candee Basford and Barb McKenzie speak about their experiences of living with a child with a disability. Topics include:
  • moving from demanding rights to building relationships: It wasn’t the law that was getting us in the door, it was the relationships with people
  • Making the transition from elementary school to middle and then to high school
  • the need to recognize the importance of belonging in the face of enormous pressure to comply with relentless therapeutic intervention and remediation
  • How action learning groups provided enormous support and empowerment as they advocated for their daughters

  • More information on:
    Candee Basford   |   Barb Mckenzie's book   |   Erin's Welcoming Space

    More info on "The Art of Possibility"
    Are you interested in joining an online action learning group?
    This text will be replaced
    Play Audio Interview

    The Myth of Chronic Sorrow (60 minutes)
    Janice Fialka, Lisa Houghtelin (both mothers of children with disabilities) and Norman Kunc talk about the claim that people with disabilities and their families have a pervasive sense of loss and sadness about having a disability. While fully acknowledging that everyone responds differently to a disability and those responses are all valid, they share that they experience a range of emotions from sadness, frustration, joy, and grattitude.

    "Life is a come-as-you-are party!" Lisa Houghtelin

    This text will be replaced
    Play Audio Interview

    More Interviews coming soon!
    Please check back
    or...
    Join our mailing list and we'll let you know
    when new interviews are available.

     
     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     


    Candee Basford is an artist and a mother of two children. Her daughter, Katie, has down syndrome. While doing her masters degree, she began setting up action learning groups as a vehicle for supporting herself and other parents of children with disabilities. She has published a book of art borne out of the insights she has gained from Katie.

    Visit Candee's Website

    Are you interested in joining
    an on-line action learning group?

    Beth Dixon is the mother of four children. Andrew (26) has a developmental disability. Beth is also the co-ordinator of The New Hampshire Leadership Series (Partners in Policymaking) at the Institute of Disability at the University of New Hampshire.
    Janice Fialka has worked professionally in the field of adolescent health care for more than 30 years, as a social worker, educator, consultant, administrator, grant writer, and trainer. From 1986 through 1998, she was the director of the Taylor Teen Health Center, which she co-founded. In 1992 she expanded her professional work to include consultation and speaking to professionals and parents of children with special needs. She combines her personal experience as a mother of a 21-year-old son who has developmental disabilities and her professional expertise as a social worker, trainer, and national speaker. Janice was a member of the Michigan Special Education Advisory Committee (2003-2006) and is a current Member of the Advisory Board of Everyone Together (www.everyonetogether.org ). Janice is a Reviewer for Young Exceptional Children (YEC), a publication of Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).
    Dan Habib is the film-maker in residence at the Institute of Disability at the University of New Hampshire. He is the father of Isaiah (12) and Samuel (9) who has cerebral palsy. Dan recently completed a documentary film, "Including Samuel."
    Lisa Houghtelin is the mother of Jamie (24) who has a developmental disability., Lisa works as the Parent Liaison for the San Diego School district.
    Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. The author of eleven books and scores of articles, he lectures at education conferences and universities as well as to parent groups and corporations.

    Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores.";
    Cindi May is the mother of five children (twins and triplets). Grace, one of the triplets had Down Syndrome. She died of leukemia when she was three years old. Cindi is a professor of psychology at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
    Barb McKenzie is the mother of two children. Erin, her youngest, had down syndrome. After being fully incuded throughout her school years, Erin unexpectedly passed away two months after entering college. Since then, Barb has wirtten a book, Reflections of Erin, which doocuments the unique contributions Erin made to the people around her. Oberrlin College has a established a Erin McKenzie Virtual Welcoming Space for Erin
    Jeff Strully is the father of three children "who require thoughtful planning to have good lives": Alex (39), Shawntelll (36) and Sonia (31). He is also the executive director of Jay Nolan Community Services and gives presentations on Person Centered Planning and other topics throughout North America.
    Jeff Garrison-Tate is the father of four children, Charlotte (19) has Down Syndrome. Formerly the policy manager for the Texas Protection & Advocacy Agency, Jeff and is his wife, Ginny, now run "Community Now, a non-profit advocacy organization is Texas.