I Am
How do you talk to someone who uses AAC?
Ollibean Think Tank Member Tim Villegas
My hope is that ThinkInclusive.us can create a bridge between educators, parents, and advocates (including self-advocates) to promote ideas, innovation and inspiration to change our world to be more accepting and value each and every human being.
Ollibean Spotlight: Renee Salas
" Talk to people with disabilities. As many as you can: Adults, adolescents, kids. These people are the real experts on disabilities. These are the people that can tell you what life with a disability is like." Renee Salas
The Case for Inclusion Part 3: Sea Change
The longer there is a strong distinction between general and special education the worse it is for students who are labeled with a disability. It perpetuates the language of Us and Them...
Untitled
This is not directed at anyone in particular. It is about several people I’ve met throughout my life. I sometimes need to remind myself that being me means following my own agenda and not pleasing the ones who will not be part of my story.
It is About Respect
Respect for one another is one basic quality if we want to have meaningful conversations and relationships with other human beings. The ableism that disabled people experience is a form of disrespect.
Disability Activist Keith Jones on Community
"So let us remember that when we teach, when we educate, we make policy, we make decisions that we do it with a conscience and that we remember that we are leaving fingerprints on forever." Keith Jones
The Case for Inclusion Part Two: What Does Inclusion Look Like?
It should always be the objective of public education to serve all students no matter what their disability label. It should always be the objective to give the right amount of support for all children.
Labels
I am autistic. I choose to use this because of community. Not to tell you what I am or what I am not. This is my choice.
Interview Kate Winslet Golden Hat Foundation
Kate Winslet discusses her inspiration for the Golden Hat Foundation.
A Sensory Garden for Zoë and Oliver
One of Ollibean's contributors, the lovely and amazing, Julie Lohoefener of Bloom Garden Shop, let's us in on some great tips on creating a non-toxic Sensory Garden with your kids.
A Poem About Pain
Other people have written better articulated articles about the same things I write in this poem. It is hard for me to elaborate beyond the words in the poem. It could have easily been me in some cases, it can happen to any of us.
Walk In My Shoes
I want you to walk in my shoes
Not because I want you to feel what it means
To be disabled
But because I want you to understand
How it feels to be excluded
I would like to see you
Inclusive Educational Practices for Students with Special Needs
Studies have shown when kids with disabilities are educated in inclusive settings, the classrooms are better for all of the students.








