You can see a perfect example of Secret #1 on how to stop talking and writing about kids in deficit-based and negative ways and instead build on the students' strengths in Dr. Causton's film, Because of Oliver. 

Dr. Causton and Dr. Pretti-Frontczak encourage us to take those heavy, negative lead words and turn them into strength-based gold words.

As parents and educators, we can help others realize the benefits of planning lessons around the students' interests, incorporating ways they learn more easily, and knowing they are capable of learning more.

This is not to say we pretend our children don't have areas of needs. In the film, Oliver needs to learn how to type so he can communicate with his friends.  Instead of saying Oliver has very low expressive language skills, which won't help us identify how we can teach Oliver, we frame it as Oliver is learning to type.

It's critical to our students' success in inclusive settings for us to convert those lead words into gold words.

TIP: Read your child's Present Level of Performance in their IEP.  Highlight the negative words in pink and highlight the positive words in green.  At a glance you can tell if the IEP has more pink (negative/lead) words and phrases or more green (positive/gold words).  Advocate for building on your child's strengths.

BONUS! Get a free eBook, Because of Oliver and many other valuable resources from Julie and Kristie.  Click here for more goodies.

In the special education system, educators are often asked to determine a student's needs in order to decide if the student is eligible for special education services or not.  This is where the deficit-based thinking begins.

What often follows is the student is found to be the problem. The student has to make changes.  The goal becomes to "fixed" the student. Systemic inequities are ignored. You probably recognize the Medical Lens is being used in these circumstances.

Let's contrast that with using an Equity Lens to view students. With the Equity Lens we see the environmental and biases as the barriers, not the student.  Instead of continuing to try to "fix" the child we begin to look at what supports can we provide so the student is successful.

With an Equity Lens we see the educational system as the problem, not the student.

TIP: Model using an Equity Lens. Start conversations with educators and administrators about the need for our school systems to shift how students are viewed.
 

You'll get three days of the very best training around inclusive practices around.  The lineup of speakers is incredible.  Some of the leaders of system change the participants will learn from are: Shelley Moore, Dr. Bettina Love, Judy Heumann, Jonathan Fields, and Karamo! Click here for more information about the Summer Leadership Institute.

One of the aspects of this virtual 3 day conference that is not found in most conferences is the intentional building of community with all the participants.  Julie and Kristie walk the talk. Each person is welcomed, encouraged to do what makes them comfortable, and appreciated for the insights they bring,
 

TIP: If you want your school system to be inclusive, put in a lot of effort in getting your school leadership team to attend this Inclusion Extravaganza.

1. Watch the replay below.

2. Post your aha moments, comments, and questions in the Facebook chat.

3. Do this before Friday, March 11th at midnight Eastern Standard Time.

P.S. Thursday, March 17th we'll have a live training on the 5 Red Flags and 3 Shocking Truths about Extended School Year (ESY).  I hope you can be with us live!