inclusion is...

Selecting an Inclusive Program- Tips for Parents

2012-01-24T10:40:00.000-08:00

If you are a follower of the work of Kids Included Together (KIT), then you know that we exist to support child development, recreation and youth enrichment programs in including children with and without disabilities. All of our focus goes toward training people who work in these kinds of programs on how to make accommodations so that a child can be successful in the YMCA, Boys & Girls Club or any other out-of-school time program. It’s not about changing the child; it’s about increasing the ability of the adult who is providing the service. Most often the work begins with facilitating an attitude shift. I often say that what we do is help flip that little switch in someone’s brain that tells them that of course they can support a child with cerebral palsy in their after school program. Once the right attitude is there, the barriers fall away and the person becomes focused on creating an inclusive environment. It’s invigorating work. I could go on and on for days about it (just ask my husband!). But you don’t have that kind of time, and today I’d like to look at the other side of the inclusion equation. Families. While we focus on helping child and youth development programs become more inclusive, it does not happen without families. It is a parent who finds the program, makes the inquiry and ultimately decides whether or not to enroll. At KIT it is our fervent desire that more and more parents of children with disabilities will seek to enroll in inclusive programs, and that hopefully knowing organizations like KIT exist will increase their confidence in doing so. To that end, I’d like to offer this post up to parents. If you are beginning to look for a program, whether it’s pre-school, after school, day camp or dance class, here is a list of things to look for and questions you can ask before enrolling in a program:

What to Look for in a Program

1. Quality first! Programs that are of high quality are programs that can serve children with and without disabilities. Different programs use different quality rating scales, but when you visit you should see evidence of quality (environments, ratios, staff, daily routine, etc). If you are unfamiliar with the aspects of a quality child or youth program, you can ask what accreditation or rating scale the program utilizes. Most are available online.

2. Is there evidence of a commitment to inclusion? This could be the atmosphere/feeling you get when you visit or call, website and print materials that convey an inclusive mission statement or photos representing diversity. When you speak with administrators or staff members at the program do they use person-first language?

3. Do you get a sense of an inclusive attitude among the staff you meet? When you are inquiring or enrolling does the staff ask you about your child’s interests, strengths and gifts? Do they ask about your goals for your child in the program? If you are there with your child do they address questions to just you, or do they also speak directly to your child?

5 Questions to Ask

1. Can I come visit the program when it is in session? It’s important for you to see the program setting when there are children there. A Boys & Girls Club is a whole different place at 10am than it is at 4:00pm. If you are going to be able to tell the staff where your child might need accommodations or extra support, you’ll need to see the program in action and understand the activities, routine and schedule. You also want to see if children are included together in natural environments. Do you see evidence of inclusion?

2. What systems do you use to communicate with the parents? It can be challenging for program staff to share difficult information with parents. Having a regular method of communication (using a daily journal, email or end-of-day chat, for instance) can help. Be sure you let the program know how you would like to be communicated with, how often and when it is OK to get a call when the child is in the program (Emergencies only? Or is it OK for your child to call you when she needs soothing?). Planning for the communication method on the front-end can save a lot of pain and misunderstanding later on.

3. Do you have a network of community collaborators? What are the organization’s key partnerships? Have they reached out to local disability organizations? Are they dialed into local social service agencies or resources available from county government?

4. Does your staff receive training on inclusion, diversity and disability? KIT’s research has shown that people who receive training on inclusion are much more likely to make accommodations for children with disabilities and are also much more likely to see inclusion as their professional responsibility. On-going access to training and information on inclusion for staff is a key indicator of a commitment to inclusion. If you encounter a program that does not offer their staff training on inclusion, you can always direct them to us at KIT.

5. How do you measure a child’s success in the program? It’s important to know what the program sees as success. If the program is one that aspires to build skills (basketball camp, drama class, swimming lessons) do you get a sense that they will view success in the same way you do? Can they adapt their measure of success to your goals? For instance, some children will never swim in a pool without using floaties. Is the program able to measure successful participation in ways other than independent swimming?

Of course, each individual family will have specific needs and wants in selecting a program. The sensory environment may be of particular interest, or you may prioritize a stable workforce that has been in place a long time, depending on the specific needs of your child. It’s also important to select an activity that your child will enjoy doing and build on their strengths and interests. You are the expert on your child, and the people who will care for your child in the program need the information you have to offer. They may not know exactly how to ask for it, and they may appear hesitant at first. This doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t equipped to care for your child. Developing a strong partnership between a parent and a program provider is important to creating a successful experience for a child. You are half of this important equation, and together you and the people you choose to teach and care for your child are responsible for creating memories that will last your child’s lifetime.

Inclusion is….a partnership between family and community.

Happy New Year from KIT!

2012-01-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I love a bright, shiny, clean and fresh new year. It feels good to come back after the respite of the holidays and look at the world with new eyes. Here at KIT we have a tradition of giving our staff a break the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It’s a time to rest, reflect and come back in January ready to rock. I always love the energy of January, when everyone is refreshed and excited about what the new year holds. We have lots of big plans at KIT, and an awful lot of work that needs to get done this year. We have a smart and creative new marketing director and another super talented digital content producer devoted to turning our curriculum into useful online tools. Our exciting annual fundraiser, Over the Edge for KIT, will come up fast in August and teams are already out there raising money. Perhaps you would like to join us?

All this is really just to say that the KIT team is ready to take on 2012 and spend another year promoting and teaching inclusion, making the world a better place for kids and families and supporting the incredible people who work with children in recreation and child care. If you would like to get involved in this important work, or if you have some ideas about how to make the world more inclusive please be in touch.

Many happy returns for your best year yet!

Happy Holidays to You from KIT!

2011-12-20T10:25:00.000-08:00

Wishing you and your family a holiday season filled with love and peace.

What Can You Learn from Jury Duty?

2011-12-13T12:28:00.000-08:00

I just finished my jury duty service. I seem to get jury duty a lot (I had federal jury duty this past summer), and yet I have never been selected to sit as a juror in a trial. I’ve heard it is a good experience and while I am not at all opposed to doing it, I do admit to feeling a little put out when I am forced to miss work to appear in the jury pool. Each time I hope that I will be sent home just before lunch so I can make it to the office without missing too much. This time my name was called as a prospective juror at 2:00pm. As I rode up in the elevator to Department 48 I still hoped that I would not be selected and would be relieved by 4:00pm or so. As it happens, I had quite a moving experience as I walked into the courtroom and took my seat. My perspective completely shifted due to something that happened in my own family.

A number of years ago my younger brother was run over by an 18-wheeler while on a motorcycle. He was air lifted to the trauma center and remained in the ICU for some time. His recovery was slow and painful, and the physical effects will be with him for his lifetime. He sued the oil company whose driver had not followed the rules of the road, leading to the accident. I spent many hours in the courtroom during the trial. It was an emotional and disturbing process. I remember hoping every day for a jury of reasonable citizens who would do the right thing when presented with the evidence. As I walked into the courtroom yesterday all of those feelings came flooding back to me. I realized that the people involved in this trial deserved thoughtful, reasonable people to actively listen to everything presented and with a clear and open mind make the best decision possible. I realized that it was my duty to be that person, if selected as a juror. I had a much greater understanding that these were people involved in this unfortunate situation and what was decided would have a real impact on their lives. My personal experience created a sense of empathy for others.

As I reflect I realize that in our work at KIT we often help people connect their own experience in their families with the philosophy of inclusion. When people can imagine how they would like someone in their own family who has a disability to be welcomed and accepted by the community, that is often what helps them become more accepting of people with disabilities. One of my great mentors and a KIT co-founder, Dr. Mary Shea, often says that disability is one of the only minority groups with open enrollment. Thus, you can join the population of people with disabilities at any time, and so can any of your friends or family members. In training sessions this is often when we see the spark of connection in the participants. This is the “ah-ha” moment for many as they resolve to treat others the way they would want their own family members to be treated. I have also had many people tell me that after enduring a temporary disability, for instance a broken leg that requires them to use a wheelchair or walker, they have a greater sense of what it is to live in the world with a disability. They always say, “I get it. I get what you do now.” And while it is true that a temporary disability cannot truly simulate the experience of a lifelong disability, it is a powerful empathy-builder.

And that is what it is about, right? We are humans here on this earth, having life experiences all the time that shape who we are and how we interact in the world. At KIT we realize that changing attitudes towards disability, and helping people understand that disability is a natural part of life is critical to our work. Once attitudes have changed and people are more accepting they will find ways to ensure that everyone in their child development center or after school program is welcomed and supported. It becomes intuitive. I was grateful this week to see how personal experience affected perception in my own life. I will never look at jury duty in the same way again.

Celebrating Inclusive Schools Week

2011-12-06T14:52:00.000-08:00

I am wearing my I Am Norm tag- get yours here and wear to celebrate Inclusive Schools Week!

This week we are almost in the middle of celebration season. Sure, we celebrate year round, but when else is celebrating so apparent? Lights everywhere, music, catalogs and cards filling your mailbox and certain foods that we only indulge in at this time of year. Celebrating is an important part of our culture. This week, I am going to spend some time and effort celebrating something else that I think is very important to our culture now and in the future, and I encourage you to do the same. “Inclusive Schools Week is an annual event which is held each year during the first week in December. Since its inception in 2001, Inclusive Schools Week has celebrated the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, including students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socio-economic status, cultural heritage, language preference and other factors. The Week also provides an important opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss what else needs to be done in order to ensure that their schools continue to improve their ability to successfully educate all children.”

If you follow KIT’s work then you know that our focus is inclusion in the out-of-school hours. We teach people who work in early childhood, before and after school and enrichment programs how to include children with and without disabilities. But that does not mean that we are not huge advocates for inclusive schools. KIT’s vision is that children with disabilities are welcomed and supported in all aspects of community life. The school is the centerpiece of the community. Outside of the family it may be the first place a child with a disability has to experience being included. It is the place where a child can understand and begin to know who they are in the world. It is where we as a society begin to support them in their journey to becoming an adult that contributes back to their community. Being included sends a powerful message. Being excluded or segregated or whatever you want to call it also sends a message to a child. Believe me, I know the state of education as it stands. I know that we are all about standardized tests and increasing achievement. I know that inclusion requires teachers to be prepared and given additional support and that we are operating with less money than we have in the past. But I believe that by promoting inclusive schools, we are encouraging what we know is best for children. We are making a statement that every child can learn and giving every child the chance to experience true diversity.

Won’t you join in me in promoting and celebrating Inclusive Schools Week? Visit the Inclusive Schools Week website for ideas and planning tools, or check out what our friends at I Am Norm are doing to celebrate. Or watch Malia describe it for herself.

Inclusion is...in school and out of school, and in every part of community life.

Thankful

2011-11-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. A day devoted to giving thanks for the abundance in our lives- what could be nicer than that? Both personally and professionally, gratitude is an important part of my daily life. I am intentional about practicing gratitude every single day, and I do it in various ways from writing and list-making to meditating on it. Check this out for ways to begin your own gratitude practice.

I find it very helpful to replace discouraging thoughts with those of gratitude. Things are tough in the world today, and it can be easy to be dragged into despair. As inclusion activists we are horrified when we see stories like this. It tells us that there is much more work to be done, and fuels our passion. A few too many of those, and not enough like this and it can be hard to get out of bed in the morning. We need to see that our efforts are making a difference. This is where gratitude comes in for me.

Here are 10 things I am grateful for in my work this year:

I am so thrilled with the commitment that the US Military Child & Youth Programs have made to inclusion. We have been working closely with them all year and it has been an incredible experience for all of us at KIT. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go to the Pentagon to speak about our work with the incredible people in the Office of Child & Youth Programs and Office of Special Needs.

I am so happy to know that there are disability organizations like The Ability Center of Toledo, OH who are changing their model to more community inclusion. Last spring The Ability Center held a two-day KIT workshop for a large group of recreation and child development organizations in their greater area.

Organizations like Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital are also becoming firmly rooted in inclusion. They hosted a National Keys to Leadership conference on the topic of inclusion this year and Girl Scout leaders from around the country came to learn and share their own practice of inclusion.

Corporate foundations like Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) continue to support inclusion. Celebrating their 20^th Anniversary this year they awarded 20 agencies with Inclusion Champion Awards and KIT was one of them. Thank you, MEAF!

There are so many individuals making a difference, and we were so lucky to have Jon Williams and Teresa Hayes-Williams come all the way from Japan to speak at our national conference in October and share their personal journey of inclusion. It was incredibly moving, and I invite you to watch the recording by creating a free KIT account here (note- there is a small fee to view).

Our KIT founder, Gayle Slate, recently hosted a reception of past KIT supporters to update them on our doings of the past couple of years. The event was so well received and we were so grateful to have the opportunity to thank our original supporters for guiding our early development.

I am a big, huge fan of the work of Micaela Connery and Unified Theatre. This work is showing middle and high school kids that everyone has something to contribute and that focusing on ability is really the way to go. See Micaela’s work here and here and here. I am so grateful that this year Micaela asked me to join her board of directors.

Young people are so important to the inclusion movement, and that is why I am very grateful for the passion and energy of the I Am Norm campaign. Every time I promote it somewhere (and especially when one of the youth advocates is there to speak about it themselves) people get incredibly excited about it.

We are thankful to have been recognized as finalists in the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) San Diego’s PEAK Performance Awards this year. We were recognized alongside Mailboxes, Etc. and HD Supply- two giant corporations, and it was fun to be the little engine that could.

Finally, I could not be more grateful for the incredible team of people I work with at KIT. They care so much about this work, and they express it in ways that are positive, joyful, fun and empowering. People respond so well to KIT’s message, and I know that it is in large part due to how the KIT staff communicates it with such verve. I cannot imagine doing anything else, with any other people and I literally wake up every morning with a smile on my face because I have the incredible good fortune to work for KIT.

What are you thankful for in your work this year?

The Power of Two

2011-11-15T12:53:00.000-08:00

I recently learned something about staffing and organizational behavior that I am calling "the power of two." KIT has been experiencing rapid growth over the past year, and we have added staff throughout the year. We are now lucky enough to have 2 digital content producers who work on social media, our website, our learning management system and translating our curriculum into a variety of digital formats. These two creative talents taught me this lesson, which I believe can be applied to any type of organization. Maybe another way to think of it is the "Noah's Ark staffing model." Here is how it goes- previously Michael was our solo digital content guy. He has a lot of expertise in his field and while we are all interested in technology and social media we do not speak his language. When he talks to us he probably always feels like he is teaching us! Which he kind of is. Enter our second digital content expert, Dora. The second Dora and Michael were introduced to each other I saw sparks fly. Because they share the same knowledge, experience and interests they can collaborate with each other in a way they can't with the rest of us. Seeing them work together, and what they have already produced with each other as a resource has really taught me the "no person is an island" lesson. It makes me think that two is more than twice as good as one, in some situations. It also makes me think that we should be intentionally creating these synergistic relationships among staff members, so that they each have their own sounding board. When I think about the organizations we serve, I think the child, youth and recreation providers would also benefit from this kind of pairing. It isn't mentoring, but more a peer-to-peer relationship that fosters creativity, problem-solving and shared experience. Now that I have learned this lesson, I hope to be able to use the information to plan for staffing. It's also something I will use when helping our affiliated organizations plan for and sustain their inclusive practices.

Visualizing Inclusion at KIT's National Conference

2011-10-04T09:44:00.000-07:00

Next week hundreds of people from around the world will be traveling to San Diego to attend KIT’s 7th Annual National Conference on Inclusion. As you can imagine, this week is full of the little details that come with hosting such an event. We are packing swag bags, assembling name badges, getting the program to the printer and on and on and on. But, since this is the 7^th annual conference I am familiar with the growing feeling of excitement and anticipation. There is really nothing like gathering so many people devoted to caring for children into one space and exploring the issue of inclusion. It is always such a moving experience for everyone.

One of my tasks this week is to prepare my comments for the first morning of the conference. I always like to use my time at the podium to frame the learning experience for the participants. I want to help them break their pre-occupation with the outside world and settle into a space of openness and curiosity. In the past I have shared the concept of the “beginner’s mind.” This year, I am considering conducting a few moments of subtle activism by asking the group to close their eyes and visualize what inclusion looks like in its truest form. I think that if we can start the conference by envisioning how we want our child care environments and communities to look, feel and be we will be in a more open space for absorbing the knowledge of our presenters. In subtle activism a group of like-minded people come together to positively influence social change, perhaps through meditation, visualization or prayer or some other form of subtle consciousness-raising. Gathering hundreds of inclusion practitioners in a hotel ballroom to visualize inclusion could be very powerful and propel our efforts to change the world!

This year I also have the pleasure of introducing one of my heroes as our keynote speaker, Micaela Connery, Founder and Executive Director of Unified Theatre. Her own activism is a real inspiration, and if you aren’t there to hear her live I hope you check out the virtual version that will be available in November.

A Daily Reminder from a Blow Dryer

2011-09-27T09:38:00.000-07:00

Every morning while doing my hair before work my eyes settle on a tag on my blow dryer. It says “Warn children of the risk of death by electric shock.” And every morning this causes me to consider the enormity of the responsibility parents have in raising children. My next thought is always about the role teachers and child care providers play in helping children grow and develop. It’s about remembering to warn children of risks like a blow dryer in a bathtub and it’s about teaching skills like sharing with your friends. The big goal, of course, is to help children become happy, confident adults that contribute to our society by sharing their unique gifts and talents. It’s an every day, every minute endeavor. I think it can be easy to forget the end goal when we are trying to get through the day-to-day challenges. Two children struggling over the same toy can be very annoying to us as adults, if we have forgotten that our role is to teach these two children the skills necessary to share. Remembering that behaviors are opportunities to encourage skill-building in children can be a helpful way to maintain our composure. Let’s consider all the tools and skills that are necessary for you to get through your own adult day. Here are just a few:

· Dealing with disappointment

· Listening while others speak

· Being empathetic

· Compromising with our spouse, partner or colleagues

· Setting aside our own interests for the greater good

· Being patient while waiting in lines

· Cooperation in the workplace

· Effectively communicating your needs

This is a list of skills I used before 9:00am today! And, at the risk of repeating the classic All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, these are all skills we help children learn in our child care and youth recreation programs. They need us to show them the way. They need us to lead by example, and also to be very understanding when they haven’t yet mastered a skill. There is so much to teach these small beings. It’s a big and important responsibility. I try to remind myself of this every morning as I prepare for work.

Inclusion is…teaching skills

Making Space

2011-09-20T09:40:00.000-07:00

We all need to take a breather every now and then. To refresh, revitalize and remember why we work so hard doing the things we do. This month I went and sat and looked at this lake for awhile and renewed my spirit and my dedication to my life's work. I share that with you as a reminder, and hopefully an encouragement, that we all need to make space in our life for reflection. Sometimes it feels impossible, but stepping out of our every day routine to be still is critical to keeping our own battery charged. When we are running on empty we can't give ourselves to others.

In August KIT delivered a webinar on techniques for relaxation for people who work in child care or recreation. It's still available here- titled Breathe & Relax: Self-Care Strategies. I encourage you to check it out and make a plan to take good care of yourself. You are so important!

Inclusion is...remembering that we are part of the equation.

Find Inspiration, Reflect Deeply

2011-08-30T09:23:00.000-07:00

In any kind of social change work, I think it is important to adopt the practice of seeking inspiration wherever you can find it and then internalize it by reflecting in a deep and meaningful way. Trying to make the world a better place can be draining! It can sometimes seem like change isn’t happening fast enough and that there are not enough people behind your mission to reach a critical mass. The way I counteract this feeling is by seeking inspiration and reflecting deeply.

Recently, my inspiration has been found in the hearts and minds of young people. I am continually invigorated by the energy and passion of the young people in the inclusion movement. I had a “my cup runneth over” moment recently at KIT’s Over the Edge fundraiser. There were several wonderful examples of youth advocacy and I expect to be sharing more about this over the next few weeks.

Here are my first two heroes- Tali and Malia Rappaport. Actively involved in the I Am Norm campaign, these two inclusion super sisters formed their own rappel team and raised $2,000 for KIT. On the day of the rappel they set up a table to promote the I Am Norm campaign and promoted the message of inclusion to every attendee. Tali has used her musical talent to write and produce a theme song for I Am Norm (available on iTunes!) and had our DJ Ryan, from Positive Adventures, play it as they scaled down the 33 floors of the Hyatt. These two blow me away. The positive energy, the devotion and the way they actively spread the message of inclusion is very exhilarating to me. And I love that they found pants to match their I Am Norm t-shirts.

Tali Rappaport beginning her 33 story rappel!

When I feel like KIT’s message isn’t being heard, or that my voice isn’t loud enough to make a difference, I look at the young advocates that I am blessed to know. They will change this world for the better, and I can’t wait to see it happen.

Malia Rappaport still smiling as she descends the building.

Inclusion is…powerful in the hands of young people!

The Journey

2011-07-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Big news! We have a new CEO at KIT. You may have seen the announcements that our beloved Jan Giacinti retired as of June 30. We were excited to welcome a new CEO to the KIT team (and a man, at that!). It has already been so fun to have an outside perspective on our work, with new questions and a fresh set of eyes on how we do business. At our recent staff meeting Jeff brought up the subject of quality, and how it’s not a destination we arrive at but more of an on-going practice. Yes!

What this brought up for me is related to how we teach organizations about inclusion. We are fond of saying that inclusion is a process and not a product and that the journey to inclusion really is the destination. There is no point when an organization crosses a finish line and can throw their arms up in the air and say “We did it! We are now officially inclusive!” It’s something you are constantly striving for, always refining and forever enhancing. Just when you think you’ve mastered it there will be a new challenge or you will find a new, better way of ensuring that your services can be accessed by everyone. And there is so much value in the journey. The exploration of an organization’s values, and the concept of working through the process of ensuring access is what actually leads to the organizational transformation.

When we deliver our services we are committed to what we call a “parallel process.” We want to model the behaviors that we hope our learners will adopt. We do this in our training modules by teaching the way we hope participants will teach others. We also strive to conduct our organizational business in this manner as well. This is why I saw the connection to quality so strongly. Achieving quality is also a journey, and going on the journey is what leads to better quality. There are some benchmarks along the way, but the finish line is ever changing. I know that at KIT we are so mission-focused that we keep moving the finish line farther and farther away from where we are now. It’s something I have always loved about being a part of KIT. The constant examination of what it means to have high quality (or be inclusive) is what makes it happen.

To all of you, my incredible KIT colleagues and those who engage with KIT at any level, I say let’s enjoy the journey!

Our Future is in Good Hands!

2011-07-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

Mentoring young people has always been something that has given me great pleasure, and added a lot of value and meaning to my life. This past year I had the opportunity to serve as the Project Advisor for an incredibly gifted young woman's Girl Scout Gold Award. I first met Jordan Moore, who recently graduated from high school, four years ago when we were paired up for a Girl Scout job-shadowing event. Jordan fell in love with KIT and we fell in love with Jordan. Subsequently, Jordan interned at KIT for a summer, served as a featured speaker at our National Conference on Inclusion and became one of the founding members of the I Am Norm campaign. Jordan, who lives with a disability, is a passionate advocate for inclusion.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, and requires significant, individual effort on behalf of the candidate. Jordan's project, Inclusion Made Easy: How to Bring Everyone to the Table, focused on inclusion of high school students in and out of classroom environments. She identified and organized a group of teens, living with and without disabilities, and created a National Youth Council on Inclusion. They created a resource guide and website to encourage inclusive environments in high school clubs and extracurricular activities. They sent the guide to 38 schools, potentially reaching more than 67,000 students.

I am incredibly proud of Jordan and so honored to have had the chance to work with her in her high school years. She's headed off to Yale in the fall and has an incredibly bright future ahead of her. It really does my heart good to see young inclusion advocates like Jordan. This mission will take some years to fully realize, so it's important to have dedicated people following behind us and coming up the ranks. Love you, Jordan!

This year I will be supporting another young inclusion dynamo, Malia Rappaport, as she uses her Gold Award project to promote inclusion.

2011-04-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

“Honey, you have to see the interview on Colbert from last night. The CEO of Special Olympics was on talking about person-first language!” my husband excitedly said to me one morning last week. I had fallen asleep while we were watching it together the night before. And, no, I didn’t fall asleep during it’s 11:30pm timeslot. I am (just a little) embarrassed to admit that we were watching our DVR’d version at about 8pm!

I did watch it. And then I watched it again. And then I tweeted it and posted it on my Facebook wall. And I kept thinking about it and talking about it with anyone who would listen. Here is the clip, in case you haven’t seen it. Watch it and then meet me back here and we can discuss.

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Tim Shriver

www.colbertnation.com

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OK. Pretty good, right? By “pretty” I mean, I love to see this kind of advocacy taking place on a show with such wide influence. Also, I do love the R-word campaign. But, by “pretty,” I also mean that I do have some criticisms. With no disrespect meant to Tim Shriver, President and CEO of Special Olympics, I think he got a little lost in his message. Here is what I mean:

The clip is about the “R-word” campaign. However, Mr. Shriver talks about person-first language and the importance of putting the person before the disability. In my opinion, that doesn’t have much to do with the R-word campaign, which is focused on stopping people from using the word “retard” as a slang insult. The campaign is beautiful and effective in its simplicity. Instead, Mr. Shriver talked about how mental retardation was a term that was used in the past and that now the term is intellectual disabilities. Which is true, but not really related to the R-word campaign. Which brings me to my next point…

· Mr. Shriver said that, although he knew that others didn’t like it, he likes the term “intellectual diffabilities” (a mash-up of the word “difference” and the word “disability”). I, personally, have a strong negative reaction to that term. It is one of those cringe-inducing, overly euphemistic terms like handicapable or differently-abled.

· I also didn’t love how he explained person-first language. I sat there thinking that I could do a much better job. Of course, being interviewed by Stephen Colbert may be one of the hardest things to do on television, so I shouldn’t be so judgmental. And I am really not trying to be judgey. I know Mr. Shriver was trying to poke fun at Colbert when he called him a “person with goop in his hair,” but I don’t know if it really helped viewers develop any new understanding of people with disabilities.

Again, no disrespect intended to Mr. Shriver and the incredible work he and his family have done for people with disabilities.

I think that the most important sentence in that entire interview was the one that Colbert delivered as a spontaneous PSA at the end. I thought it brilliantly summed up the point of the R-word campaign in a way that was light, funny and important.

What are your thoughts?

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We have an app! How cool are we?

2011-03-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

There has been lots of excitement around the KIT office, and lots of travel to faraway places to spread the word of inclusion. I am hoping that some of our busy trainers will contribute their journals to this blog in the near future, but until then I interrupt our regular programming for a commercial for our new iPhone app!

One of the many reasons I love working for KIT is the way we can have an idea and then get it off the ground quickly. This ability is directly related to the diverse team of talents we have here. It took a village to make an iPhone app, and we are thrilled to offer it to you for FREE! Many thanks to the Special Hope Foundation, who made this possible.

Click here to download it for your iPhone. The app includes many just-in-time training tools, like short instructional videos, booklets, FAQs and access to our training calendar. You can also link to our various social media outlets through the app.

We did start with the iPhone, but we plan to secure more funding to create apps for the other smart phones as well. Hang in there Android and Blackberry users!

Inclusion is...leveraging the latest technology!

KIT Receives Award from MEAF

2011-03-17T12:05:00.000-07:00

MEAF Director Kevin Webb with Torrie Dunlap of KIT

Please forgive this post if it looks too "braggy." KIT received a great honor last Friday in Washington, DC and I'd like to share it with you. For the past six years KIT has been fortunate enough to receive both financial and moral support from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF). Their mission is to provide grants that support the full inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in society, and thus, KIT and MEAF have partnered in numerous ways to promote inclusion. We have greatly appreciated the MEAF model, which intentionally creates partnerships between organizations, for the benefit of both. Thanks to MEAF, KIT was able to enjoy a mutually-beneficial relationship with Boys & Girls Clubs of America, for instance. Now for the braggy part...

Last week at their 20th Anniversary Luncheon MEAF presented KIT with one of 8 Inclusion Champion Awards. The award was presented by Dr. Carol Kochhar-Bryant of George Washington University. It was a very meaningful presentation, as Dr. Kochhar-Bryant has been an advisor for MEAF since their beginnings and she knows a lot about KIT's work. She suggested that KIT had influenced MEAF's understanding of inclusion and they way they approached their own work. I was very moved by that statement. I was also so grateful to have the opportunity to accept the award on behalf of my colleagues, our board of directors and the many organizations we have partnered with throughout our time as a MEAF grantee.

Taking the Message of Inclusion to the TOP!

2011-03-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of my career happened last week- I got to go to the Pentagon on official business to discuss KIT's work with US Military Child & Youth Services. I really can't say more than that...but I can tell you that there is a Starbucks and a Best Buy inside the Pentagon. I had no idea!

Connecting Compassion with Inclusion

2011-02-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

Oh, boy, do I love a good TED talk. This one, by Krista Tippett, is about one of my favorite subjects- compassion. If that wasn't enough, she mentions Matthew Sanford (a yogi and a self-advocate) in her talk. Check it out and reconnect with compassion. Pay particular attention to her description of compassion as both kind and curious. She quotes someone who says that compassion is "curiosity without assumptions." I think that is a very nice way to describe our work in inclusion.

Is it really still an afterthought?

2011-02-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post I recently attended the National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks meeting, funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation. While there I attended several workshop sessions on diversity, equity and access. And, of course, in every workshop and plenary session I ever attend I always have my ears attuned to any mention of inclusion, access, disability and equity. It’s like my brain has meta tags. I’m always listening for a series of keywords related to KIT’s work, so that I can get an idea of where the national conversation on inclusion is at any point in time.

At the Mott meeting I was heartened to hear that information on inclusion was something people felt they needed. When I started at KIT over eight years ago people were more likely to say to me “we don’t have any of those kids in our program.” Of course, I generalize. And that’s the point, really. To get a general idea of where people and organizations are in their approach to inclusion. Even though the discussion is much more open than it was eight years ago, it still seems to be focused on this idea of “special needs.” That some kids have needs that are special, and our program doesn’t know how to meet the needs, for instance. Which is a very good start. Recognizing that we need to support all kinds of needs is a great place to begin.

However, I’d love to see that discussion broadened and deepened even further. Could we recognize that all kids are different, have different needs, interests, challenges and strengths, and that our program design should allow for and support those needs? Could we see that children with disabilities are all of all ethnicities, socio-economics and religions so that “special needs” is not a separate category of diversity, but perhaps that ability difference runs through everyone and every community?

I am not at all trying to diminish the needs of children who have disabilities. I hope it doesn’t sound like that. Rather, I want to elevate the discussion so that “special needs” is not an afterthought, but a more intentional part of the process of providing child and youth development programs. And, for those of us in the field of inclusion, I think that’s our charge. We need to insert ourselves into the mainstream, instead of remaining a fringe or “boutique” concept. I can envision a landscape where every afterschool conference has sessions on inclusion, and beyond that they may not even be discrete sessions but instead interwoven in every session. I would love to see every quality assessment tool or rubric address inclusion, again, not in a separate category, but reflected in every category. Workforce development, professional development and certificate programs should ensure that people have the knowledge and understanding to support all kinds of children in all types of programs.

Maybe I’m getting more impatient as I get older. I just feel like as far as we have come there is still this sense of “oh yeah, and special needs.” My energy for this is boundless, and my colleagues at KIT are tireless and devoted advocates, but it’s going to take all of us and you to make this happen. It’s going to take us all, finding every possible entryway that we can, so that someday soon any child can be welcomed and supported in any program in any community.

Inclusion is…a team effort.

Talkin' About Afterschool with Mott

2011-02-01T10:03:00.001-08:00

After a 2-month travel hiatus, I was back on the road last week! I do get a little itchy when I’ve been in my office chair for too long, so the chance to “move about the country” was perfectly timed. I took a pleasant and on-time flight (thank you, Southwest!) to Fort Lauderdale, FL to attend the 2001 National Network of Statewide Afterschool Networks meeting, funding by the C.S. Mott Foundation. I am the Co-Chair of the California Afterschool Network’s Leadership Team, which is why I had the opportunity to attend the meeting. Coincidentally, KIT’s Dr. Mary Shea also attended the meeting as part of the Oregon After School for Kids (ASK) team. Mary and I both had a great time reconnecting with the state networks who have hired KIT to provide training, conference keynotes, technical assistance or strategic planning for their state (big shout outs to Michigan, Wyoming, Connecticut, Missouri and Washington!).

In addition to the great networking, the meeting also allowed for a lot of learning. It was exciting to hear Dr. Milton Chen, senior fellow and executive director emeritus at The George Lucas Educational Foundation (and an ordained Jedi Master by George Lucas himself!), discuss the ideas from his book Education Nation. As he described it, an Education Nation is “a learning society where education of children is the highest priority, equal to a strong economy, high employment and national security, which rely on education.” He defined a “ladder of learning” from pre-K through high school blending formal and informal learning through schools, technology, museums, libraries, churches, youth groups and parks. A real strength of the United States, Dr. Chen said, is our informal learning institutions- parks, camps, museums, libraries and other non-profits. Here, here! To see some examples, visit the George Lucas Educational Foundation’s website on what works in education. It’s easy for those of us in the out-of-school field to think that k-12 education doesn’t apply to us. That that’s what they do, and we do something different. But the truth is it’s all the same kids. Our kids. The more we can integrate their learning and development in all parts of their lives, wholly and thoughtfully, the better off they will be. And the better of we will be, as they are our future!

I’ve got more to share about the Mott meeting so check back later in the week and into next week!

Oh, and that cute photo is of most of our California team. From left, Gordon Jackson, Assistant Superintendant and the California Department of Education, me, Julie Jarrett, After School Programs Administrator for Butte County Office of Education and Andee Press-Dawson, Executive Director of the California Afterschool Network. This photo was taken just after we showed all the other states how it’s done on the dance floor to the sounds of The Mambo Kings!

Happy New Year

2010-12-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

Today is the very last day of the year. It’s always been one of my favorite days. I love the process of reflecting back on the year that was, and setting some intentions for the year ahead. It’s a powerful time to take stock of what’s working well in the balance of life, and also to examine what may need some tweaking.

This year I am really thinking about what’s been happening at KIT lately. We’ve grown tremendously in the past year, to meet an ever growing demand for information and resources about inclusion. I am thrilled that more and more organizations understand that they need to be doing more to ensure that children with disabilities have access to their programs and services. I can’t help but think back to 2003, when I started working at KIT, and how most of my time was spent begging people to learn about inclusion. I’d call program after program and the response I got was “your training sounds great, but we don’t have any of those kids here.” So much has changed since then.

2011 will be an incredibly dynamic year for KIT. But what absolutely won’t change is our steadfast commitment to supporting out-of-school time professionals in their efforts to include all children in their programs and activities. We’ve got exciting new methods for sharing inclusion, a team of new staff with fresh perspectives and some new opportunities that will allow us to reach out to new audiences. It’s going to be a great year.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

So grateful

2010-11-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, and all is quiet around the KIT offices. Email and phone calls from the outside world have all but stopped, and those of us working (and not battling the opt-out campaign at airports today) are doing a combination of catching-up and getting ahead. It’s nice to have a quiet day after months and months of hustle and bustle around here. What am I doing, you ask? Mostly sitting with a soft smile on my face as I consider all that I am grateful for here at KIT. In honor of Thanksgiving, I’ve made a short list that I share with you today. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families!

I am grateful for…

· The amazing group of women who I get to work with at KIT. From Jan’s incredibly visionary leadership, to Sara, Cheryl and Amanda keeping all of our processes in place, to Alicia’s work in re-branding and making our materials and website more hip and modern, to the passionate and dedicated group of NTCI staff (Wendi, Nili, Julie, Kara, Suzanne and Selena) who are constantly on the phone and in the field showing people the beauty and power of inclusion. And, I can’t leave Mary and Alissa off of the list, as I am supremely grateful to both of them for how they have, and continue to, help move KIT forward. Everyday I am grateful to get to spend my days with such a talented, fun and creative group of women.

· Our KIT affiliates who open themselves up to trying new ways of teaching, new ways of learning and new ways of relating to children and their families. They have been incredibly game, and I am both impressed with and very proud of their efforts. I know that everyday they make the world a better place for children.

· Our own KIT board of directors. When I arrived at the office this morning our Board President (Dr. Jane McAuliffe)’s 17 year-old son was sitting at a computer volunteering his time on a day off of school by helping enter training data (a very tedious job!). Making my way to my own office I bumped into board member Rahul Dangui who said he came by this morning just to “hang out” for a bit. Our board members are committed, supportive and enthusiastic about our mission.

· The US Military’s commitment to inclusion and their willingness to allow KIT to come in and, in the words of one of their staff, “shake things up.”

· Everyone of our partners, supporters, friends and collaborators who have helped spread the word about inclusion this past year.

· All of our learners, who teach us something every day.

· The Youth Inclusion Voices who have created an amazing message campaign called I Am Norm.

Donors and funders who believe in our work, volunteers who selflessly give their time and talents...

I think I’ll have to continue this list into next week and the week after, as I can think of so many more things and people that I am grateful for at KIT.

Peace!

I've (Been to) Kansas City...Kansas City (There I Was)

2010-11-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

At KIT one of our big hopes is that people who learn about inclusion will take their knowledge and spread it around. It’s obviously great if people learn new techniques to include children with disabilities and go back and use them in their own classrooms and programs, but it is even better if people take the message and philosophy of inclusion and share it with their colleagues so that it completely permeates an organization. We’ve seen organizations be absolutely transformed by inclusion- the concept of ensuring that every child is welcomed, valued and supported.

A wonderful example of this “psst…pass it along” is the after school program called Kids Country in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. Over the past several years Kids Country has been a National Affiliate of KIT, a program that is generously funded by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF). To say that we have been impressed with them would be a big, big understatement. In addition to doing the hard internal work of examining their own programs to improve inclusiveness, they have also been spreading the word about the value of inclusion far and wide in the state of Missouri. At our recent National Conference on Inclusion we honored their efforts with our highest honor, the KIT Leadership Award.

The staff of Lee's Summit Kids Country accepting their award.

This past weekend I attended the Missouri School Age Care Professional Development Institute (PDI), where I was a keynote speaker and presenter. This year’s PDI was organized by the staff at Kids Country and held in Kansas City. I was absolutely blown away by how the Kids Country staff incorporated inclusion as a theme throughout the event. Their passion for access and inclusion was obvious in their large-scale decisions (keynote speakers) and even in the smallest details (wonderful quotes about inclusion in their conference program).

Me with Tyler Greene- check out his video

So, thank you Lee’s Summit Kids Country! Spending the weekend with you and the dedicated professionals from the state of Missouri was an absolute gift.

Inclusion is…taking your passion and sharing it with others.

Thinking About the Word Inclusion

2010-10-13T09:09:00.000-07:00

It’s two weeks later and I am still ruminating about KIT’s National Conference on Inclusion. First, there is all the busy-ness of preparation- the planning of speakers and sessions, the bag stuffing, the printing of badges, the processing of registration- if you’ve ever planned an event you are very aware of all the details. But then, when the event actually arrives there is all of this incredible energy generated by the participants. I can feel the thoughts and ideas swirling around us throughout the week. Then, when everyone leaves and goes back to their communities to do their great work I find myself still processing what I heard. Still downloading and then integrating everything into my own understanding of what inclusion means. What it means right now. Today. Not a year ago, at the last conference or 8 years ago when I started working at KIT. But in this very moment.

Still in my download process I woke up this morning thinking about the name “National Training Center on Inclusion” and wondering for how long in our history will we need such a place. As I often say in training, selfishly I hope we need it until my retirement kicks in, because there is no place I’d rather work and no work I’d rather be doing. However, the fact that we even have to call what we do “inclusion” is kind of interesting, right? Why don’t we just make sure all people are included as our way of being human? This is a rhetorical question, because of course I know why. I know the history of civil rights in America and while I intellectually know what has happened to bring us where we are today, my heart still doesn’t understand why human nature chooses to focus on differences, rather than our oneness.

So, today I am thinking what would happen if we threw out the word “inclusion.” What if we didn’t call it anything and we just did it. What would we call the National Training Center on Inclusion if the word inclusion did not exist? The National Training Center on Ensuring that All Children Can Successfully Participate in their Communities? The National Training Center on Learning How to Ensure that Your Programs Meet the Needs of All Children? Or, perhaps, The National Training Center on Understanding that All Children are the Same and also Different in All Kinds of Ways that May or May Not Have to Do with a Diagnosis. OK, those are hard to fit on a business card. And I am certainly not suggesting that there is anything wrong or pejorative about the word “inclusion.” Yet, anyway. But, what if we let go of naming our efforts and just embraced the actions of working to make sure that every child feels welcomed, supported and knows that feeling of belonging that we all want. How would our practice change?

I am curious to hear your thoughts. This may be a topic I come back to in the near future.

The Conference Afterglow

2010-10-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

I love a good conference, don’t you? One that inspires you and helps you go back to your real life feeling refreshed and recharged. One that allows you to experience different perspectives, and perhaps even some with which you might not fully agree. And one that gives you the chance to meet incredible people doing their great work all over the world. Yes, if a conference can do all this for me, I am happy. Of course, a pretty location and good food don’t hurt either.

Last week was KIT’s 6th Annual National Conference on Inclusion. Even though our KIT team was in charge of ensuring that the conference happened, I really spent a lot of time feeling like a learner and participant. I listened with rapt attention to our keynote speaker LeDerick Horne, as he shared the experiences that have driven him to be a poetic activist. I attended break-out sessions with passionate, committed people like Micaela Connery of Unified Theatre in Connecticut. And I got to meet incredible practitioners, like the team from Washington PAVE. I truly hope that our presenters and conference attendees feel like they got an inspiring and informational learning experience. Because they all sure taught me a lot!

More photos will be on the new KIT website soon!

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Hard work vs. Heart Work?

2010-08-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

Recently one of our KIT supporters mentioned that she noticed that I hadn’t updated the blog since early August. Oh my, has it been that long? Lest you think I’ve been on an extended vacation, I will let you know that there has been a lot happening at KIT that will be revealed at our National Conference on Inclusion September 29-October 1. I hope you will be there to hear about and see all of our recent developments! Yes, there is still time to register.

Speaking of conferences, last week we had the pleasure of co-hosting the LEAD conference with our dear friends at the San Diego Zoo. It was great to be able to attend sessions on accessibility in arts and culture organizations. LEAD has always made a commitment to model accessibility at the conference by using multiple methods to translate the information to different learners. One method is CART (Computer Aided Realtime Reporting, although other versions of the acronym exist), in which a transcriber types everything a presenter, panelist or audience member says in a session and it is visible to the whole audience on an electronic display board. It is an accommodation for people who can’t hear the presentations, but it is also beneficial for supporting people who learn visually. I found myself both listening and watching the display board. It was by watching the board, and noticing a typo, that I had a moment of illumination. In the opening session someone who was introducing one of the speakers thanked them for being a “hard worker.” The incredible Chuck, who was the primary transcriber throughout the conference, typed “heart worker” instead of “hard worker.”

Interesting. Is a hard worker equivalent to someone who has a strong heart for the work? Can you work hard without putting your heart into it? If so, then how much is the effectiveness of your efforts related to the amount of heart you put into it? In my experience, those people whose hard work is driven by their heart are not only the most effective, but perhaps also the happiest in their work.

Inclusion is….heart work.

Discuss.

The arts and inclusion...a natural fit

2010-08-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

This summer I’ve been going back to my roots in the arts…and it feels good! I’ve long said that the arts are a natural place for inclusion. In the arts all contributions are valued and the uniqueness of people and their perspectives is seen as a definite advantage. The time I spent teaching dance, drama and directing plays with children of all abilities was a period of amazing personal growth for me. I was the teacher, but I swear that I learned much more from the kids I worked with than they learned from me. I am very proud of the work I did at San Diego Junior Theatre, where I was the Education Director for 11 years, and even prouder still that welcoming and supporting every child is still a priority at the theatre. The photo above is from a production I directed of The Magic Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. The adorable kids in the photo are now in college.

The chance to be back with my theatre peeps this summer has been very fun and given me a lot of the warm, fuzzy feelings that I miss from the old days. In June I co-presented with Diane Nutting and Elizabeth Broder-Oldach from Imagination Stage at the VSA International Conference. Truly, they did the bulk of the presentation and I just stood there with a stupid grin on my face. I was so proud of them, and of KIT and the difference we are able to make in the world for children with and without disabilities. Diane and Elizabeth shared what they had learned about inclusion, and gave some very practical strategies for implementing inclusion in an arts organization. We’ll repeat this presentation at the American Alliance for Theatre and Education conference in San Francisco (where we will be wearing sweaters in August- did you know it will be 56 in San Fran this week?).

Finally, in the artsy summer activities, KIT is co-hosting the LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) conference with the San Diego Zoo and the Kennedy Center August 25-28.

Tooting the KIT Horn

2010-07-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

It may not be polite or modest to toot your own horn. However, we are very proud of something that has happened at KIT this week, so I am going to ignore modesty and share it with you. I think you’ll be interested, as it means that the training you receive from KIT now has even more benefits for you.

In November of 2009 (and thanks to Qualcomm, who supported this effort) we began the process to become an Authorized Provider of IACET, the International Association for Continuing Education and Training. Authorized Providers (APs) are organizations that meet IACET's internationally recognized continuing education and training standard and therefore may award IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The process involved completing an extensive application that detailed every aspect of our policies and procedures at the National Training Center on Inclusion in 10 categories. Our 123-page application was completed in March and submitted for review. In late May we were notified that our application passed the initial review phase with flying colors, and we were to move onto the site visit. There were additional documents to prepare for the site visit, who came July 2nd to verify our information and examine our learning management system. It was a rigorous process, and it was probably similar to the accreditation processes that many of you go through for your programs. On July 12th we were notified that we had been approved as an IACET Authorized Provider!

Are you still with me? Are you wondering what this means for you? Now, the CEUs that KIT offers it’s training participants through the National Training Center on Inclusion are recognized as meeting the industry standard. People earning our CEUs will be able to use them for purposes of re-certification, salary advancement and as a significant boost to their resume. Check out the list of companies that accept CEUs from IACET Authorized Providers!

If you are interested in earning CEUs you can download the form and get started attending live or online training with KIT’s National Training Center on Inclusion!

Out Sick

2010-07-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry for the lull in the super powers series. I got knocked down and kicked to the curb by the flu. Since I have a strong immune system and only get any kind of sick every three years or so, when it hits me, it hits me good. Ugh. However, I have finally progressed from my bed to the couch with my laptop, so things are looking up. And looking out the window I see that summer is about to be in full swing with our 4th of July holiday weekend. I sit here thinking about you out there being a super hero with millions of happy kids right now.

So, I will make a plan to continue talking about summer camp super powers when I myself have some of my own powers back. For right now, I'll take this opportunity to remind you that children may exhibit challenging behaviors (or even just different behavior than usual) when they are sick or getting sick. I look back on the few days before I knew I was and in hindsight I see the signs. Remember that behavior is communication, and if a child in your program is struggling, consider their overall health. It will help you develop even more compassion and understanding for the children in your care. I would bet money that some of you have already had a child throw up in your office this summer!

Summer Camp Super Powers- Part I

2010-06-18T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here we are. Another summer camp season upon us. Even though I have worked for KIT for the past 7 years, and haven’t been in the thick of summer camp, I am still very attuned to it. Kind of like when you are in your mid-late 20’s, your school days long past, but every August you get the urge to buy some new binders, pencils and a new pair of school shoes.

On June 5th I was honored to give the keynote presentation for the American Camping Association Southern California/Hawaii Chapter’s Staff Training Day. Their theme was “Be a Camp Super Hero” and I tailored my presentation to reflect their theme. It gave me a chance to spend some time thinking about what makes someone instinctively good at including all children. I’ve seen, and I am sure you have too, some people who are just naturals. Their ability doesn’t come from any training or education they’ve had, although learning new skills is absolutely a plus. These super heroes of inclusion bring with them personality traits that serve them well in this business.

So, what are these traits? Here are my Top 4 Super Powers for inclusion in summer camp. I am going to go through them individually in the next four blog posts. I invite you to personally reflect on these. What are your super powers? Could you work on strengthening any of these areas in order to provide better service to children and families this summer?

The first one is….FLEXIBILITY. The ability to bend, stretch and contort to meet the needs of the children and families in the program, while still maintaining consistency and order.

It’s true that structure and boundaries are good for kids, and without policies your program would have a hard time functioning. But, in summer camp you also need to be able to loosen your grip on the structure so that you can see the big picture. Let’s say that after lunch each day your campers have a restful, quiet time. However, this particular day there has been an assembly in the morning where the kids were sitting for an hour or more. By lunch they have a lot of energy they need to burn off. Can you change gears and instead of more restful, quiet time can you throw in some gross motor activities? If you firmly held to the established schedule of quiet time after lunch, you may end up spending the afternoon trying to manage behavior because the kids are not getting what they needed at that moment. Make sense?

Remember to use flexibility this summer. See if you can follow the needs of the children in your care just a little bit more and see what benefits that brings to your campers, their families and to you.

On the Road Again!

2010-06-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today I am packing up and getting ready for a couple of trainings on the east coast next week. I think I can speak for Nili and Alissa also when I say that we love nothing more than getting out of the office, hitting the road and talking inclusion with people. Presenting a KIT training is a wonderful give and take with the participants. We learn a lot of them, and we hope they learn a lot from us. Our trainings are designed to make people think about inclusion in both large ways and small everyday, simple ways. We want people to take their new perspectives out of the classroom and into their lives. We also want them to commit to being flexible and willing to adapt some of their ingrained practices, if it will better support a child in their care. Changing practices is very difficult, takes sustained effort and constant reminders. Knowing this, KIT staff is always there to prompt, nudge and remind. We have developed online resources and tools for people to help them on the journey. We let people at our trainings know that we are just an email or phone call away. We don’t want our trainings to be a one-shot deal. “I came, I learned about inclusion, then I went back to doing what I have always done.” No, no, no, no, no. It’s a process and we are there to support each of our learners along the way.

That’s why it is so exciting to be preparing for a trip. There will be new people to meet and invite to join us on this beautiful path of inclusion.

June 10th, The Art of Inclusion in the Theater Arts Classroom, VSA International Conference, Washington DC. Co-presenting with Imagination Stage, Inc. Our 2009 Leadership Award winners!

June 11th- Success with Challenging Behavior: ADHD and Make & Take Accommodations, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, Washington DC.

Safe and happy travels wherever you are headed this summer!

Don't forget to register for the KIT National Conference on Inclusion! We want to see you at the Bahia Resort in San Diego, September 29-October 1, 2010!

Patience is a Virtue

2010-04-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

We are getting more and more impatient. Whether due to the digital revolution that puts the world at our fingertips, anywhere and anytime we want it or due to the acceleration of new innovations in general, we are increasingly not willingly to wait. I have been noticing this a lot lately- this reduction in the daily requirement to be patient and wait for something to come to me. In fact, this year I learned that you don’t even have to wait for your Girl Scout cookies anymore! Waiting a month for more for my boxes of Thin Mints used to be a way I could practice my own patience and delayed gratification. Now, as with most things, the Thin Mints are “on demand.” This led me to think about patience in general, and wonder if our sense of patience as caregivers is also declining, since we increasingly do not have to practice this virtue in our daily life.

When it comes to inclusion, patience is definitely not only a virtue, but also a requirement. Many practitioners that we work with at KIT are enthusiastic and eager to dash to the inclusion finish line. While we certainly admire their gusto, and we want them to take skillful action in ensuring that all children can meaningfully participate, we also want their inclusive practices to develop with care and thought and not with hasty, unplanned action. Inclusion will evolve and is a process, and not a product. This does not at all mean that you can wait to begin serving children with disabilities until you are ready. It means that inclusion itself is a practice that you will refine with each experience. To paraphrase the brilliant Maya Angelou “when you know better, you will do better.”

Practice patience- with yourself, your colleagues, the families you serve and most especially the children you spend your days with and you will find that inclusion unfolds naturally, before your eyes and within your heart.

Inclusion is…a process and a practice.

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Big Wisdom in a Small Package

2010-04-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

I am really a big fan of ted.com and their compelling short videos by renowned thinkers and speakers. If you haven't experienced TED, I encourage you to check it out. Today in my email I found a link to a speech from the February 2010 TED conference presented by Adora Svitak- a 12 year old prodigy. I found it delightful to watch and such a good reminder that children have a lot to teach adults. Her presentation is short and fast-paced and she crams a lot of ideas into her allotted time, but if you listen closely you can hear some real gems.

For me, I really connected with her message when she talked about the innate creativity in children, that we sometimes lose as adults. Not to say that adults aren’t creative, but we can have a sense of “that can’t work because…” When I used to teach theatre classes I was constantly amazed at the problem solving ability of the kids in my classes. In fact, if there was something I couldn’t figure out (like, how are we going to get a quick costume change to work, or make a set change, etc) I would take it to the kids who would easily come up with something that I never would have thought of.

In our work at KIT we spend a lot of time doing consultation and helping child care and recreation programs through challenging situations. We give ideas and strategies and we do sometimes hear “that won’t work” “we tried that” or “we can’t do that.” I think that I probably have been known to judge a thought or idea before even taking the time to fully ingest it. Adora asks us to dream a little, and to bring the freshness and wonder of childhood to our adult lives.

In her speech she shares an example of an art program for kids. She says that when adults are asked to design glass, they take their inspiration from what they know to be true. When kids design, they don’t have any real experience with glass as art so they are free to express their ideas without boundaries. If we could dial back our thinking to the time when our experiences didn’t cloud our thoughts so much, we may be better able to connect to new, creative and ingenious ideas. Of course, experience is a great teacher, but I think that a healthy dose of childlike curiosity would do wonders! Listen to Adora and see what comes up for you.

Inclusion is…creativity.

Behavior- Not Just for Two-Year-Olds

2010-03-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Right now I am sitting at Gate A19 in the Dallas/Ft Worth airport, and taking a few moments to reflect both on the past few days and the past couple of hours. Let me start with the last few days. I was in the DC area to present a general session at a conference of almost 200 child and youth development professionals. The topic was “Exploring Challenging Behavior”. I spent two-hours explaining that “behavior is communication.” We are all communicating through our behavior all the time, I told the group. I used the example that as my audience, I was reading their behavior during the presentation. Droopy eyes? I surmise they are sleepy and introduce something energizing to wake them up. It’s the same with children. When they behave they are communicating their wants and needs to us. The difference, I explain to the group, is that as adults we have cultivated some coping skills so that we can deal with life’s challenges. Children may not yet have the ability to say “I’m feeling frustrated” and so they show you in any number of ways, some of which can be very unappealing.

So, my speaking engagement went well, and I am up early on Sunday to catch my flight home. The originating flight leaves 40 minutes late, which I know will make it very likely that I will miss my connecting flight. We are not given any information about why we were delayed in the first place, or what will happen when we arrive in Dallas. I overhear conversations like “I heard there are no more flights to California today” and I start to feel my stress level increasing. My connecting flight is scheduled for 12:30pm and the plane hits the ground at 11:55am. I’ll make it! Then, we spend 10 minutes taxing into the gate and another 5 minutes waiting for the runway staff to clear some structure from in front of the gate. “There’s still a chance,” I think. We are coming into terminal D and my next flight is all the way over in terminal A. Rats! Then the guy in front of me stops in the aisle to answer his cell phone while exiting the plane, and by now I am very upset and it is starting to show. I am visibly fidgeting and I know that my face is revealing my frustration with both the situation and the guy who is holding up all the anxious people behind him. I run like I am being chased through a jungle by a hungry tiger and I just miss my flight. And I do mean “just.” By probably two minutes. By now I am almost in full-fledged toddler-tantrum mode. The woman in line in front of me asks me a benign question and I give her a terse reply. I am very, very close to full-fledged meltdown. I feel my eyes get moist as I ask the gate agent for help. After getting a new boarding pass (for a flight that was just two hours later), I head to the women’s room to dry my tears and take a few deep breaths.

I suddenly get the irony of the time I spent this weekend teaching people about children’s challenging behavior, and then displaying quite a good dose of it myself. Where were those coping skills I supposedly had developed? I actually practice a lot of yoga and meditation, where the goal is calmness no matter the circumstances. I certainly had failed the airport test. As human’s we are tested when life does not meet our expectations. We can feel stress when we are not in control of our circumstances. It does not matter if you are four-years-old or, in my case, 41 years old. As adults, I told my audience, we are helping children build skills when we support them in their own behavior change. I think I am going to have to do a little extra work with my own inner child!

Inclusion is…understanding that behavior is a method of communication.

Keep On Keepin' On- How Do You Do It?

2010-03-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

Over the past couple of months Nili, Alissa and I have been presenting live training and conference presentations here, there and everywhere. We love doing this, because we love the live interaction of participants right there in the room with us. Alissa pointed this out to me today- she and Nili have been doing a lot of training via webinar, which is efficient and definitely a product of this economy. Alissa mentioned that as a presenter the webinar is a very different experience because you aren’t getting the constant feedback from the audience like you are in a live setting- are they sleepy? Confused? Excited? Who is staying with the pace, and who needs more time with the concept? We can get all this from seeing your face, watching your body language and feeling that unseen “vibe” in the room.

There is also more time in a live setting, and that informal time before and after to engage with participants. I find that before and after time very valuable. It helps me gage how the people in the field are generally doing. I get a temperature check- totally unscientific, but I get a sense about how people in our field are managing.

So, over the past few months in these informal conversations with training participants we’ve heard some real challenges that programs are facing. Which led me to wonder how these professionals are staying motivated in their jobs. Challenges are bound to come up, but they can really sap your energy, drain your staff and cause a less than stable social-emotional environment in a program. I guess my real question is, when you’ve got an enduring challenge- be it with a child, their parent or even an outside influence like administration or the economy, what keeps you motivated? What gets you up, dressed and to work everyday? We know from the research that people in care-giving fields are very susceptible to burn-out, and you add to that a paycheck that’s nothing to write home about and the cultural perspective that we are “just babysitting” (that’s changing, right?) and what is it that keeps us in our jobs?

I am really asking for your thoughts and ideas on this one. You may be wondering how this relates to inclusion. To me, the connection is clearly that inclusion is most successful when the people providing the programs bring their best self to work. They provide a consistent emotional tone, without a lot of dramatic highs and lows and children know what to expect from the staff, from the schedule and from the environment. Not to say that there won’t be a few fun surprises now and then (what do you mean there is a pony on the playground??), but our goal should be stability in our programs. If the staff is under a great deal of stress, stability is threatened, which can lead to challenging behaviors by the kids in your program, which contributes to more stress for the staff… I think you are getting the idea.

Inclusion is….important and requires that adults caring for children are capable of managing their own stress.

Drop a comment and share what you do to stay motivated or how you motivate your staff. I hope we’ll generate some great tips and learn from each other!

Heroes come in all sizes

2010-03-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

First of all, thanks to Janet George of Child Care Services in Raleigh, North Carolina for sending me the link to this absolutely charming video. Before getting to the video, just let me say that Janet George is one of those people that sees the best in everyone. She trains the KIT Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs series in North Carolina, and is a very, very passionate and dynamic advocate for inclusion.

OK, now, back to the video. If you’ve attended many KIT trainings the first thing you may notice about this video is that the reporter uses dignifying language (“the child has autism”), but what really got me was the little charmer featured in the story. Click on the link and watch the video, then meet me back here.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=8840563

Did you watch it? How great is this story? A child with a disability (who I will admit to being partial to since he does have red hair) learns the Heimlich maneuver in Cub Scouts and then applies it to save the life of his teacher. Do you see where I am going with this? INCLUSION SAVES LIVES!! I might have to get that on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker. Seriously though, this child acquired a skill in a recreational setting, and pulled it out of his pocket when it was needed most. We know that scouting programs teach very valuable life skills; skills that all children need and will serve them well in throughout their life. Let’s all do what we can to ensure that children like our little red-headed friend here have the opportunities to participate in these typical childhood activities.

I love how the teacher is getting emotional about his saving her life, and he is kind of blasé about the whole thing. I love how he says it’s his “first time saving a life” as if he expects he will save many more lives in the future. My absolute favorite moment, though, is when he asks the reporter “Can we get back to the part about me being a hero?” This, of course, shatters a common misconception that children with autism don’t want to interact socially or can’t be empathetic. Let’s all say it together- HE SAVED HIS TEACHER’S LIFE! If grabbing a choking adult around the gut to save her life isn’t social and empathetic, I don’t what is. How many of us would have the courage to do the same in an emergency situation?

Is this child a hero? In my book, absolutely. He did the hard thing, when it was needed the most.

Inclusion is….inspiring.

Finding the Zen in Inclusion, Part 1

2010-02-25T10:18:00.000-08:00

MC Yogi - Give Love (Giving4Living Mix) from MC Yogi on Vimeo.

At KIT we have a number of venues for people who work in child and youth programs to request consultation and help from our staff. In particular, Nili Mathews on the KIT staff provides a great deal of personalized service helping child care and recreation providers work through challenging situations in inclusion. As we debrief some of the calls in our weekly meetings, I have noticed that lately the calls are peppered with a healthy dose of desperation. Now, you have to figure that a call coming into a helpline comes with a certain amount of urgency. However, there is another quality that I have noticed in the past few months, and that is emotion. We’ve heard tell of staff members at youth programs spending a lot of time crying the break room, threatening to quit or just being exasperated and at their wits end over the process of ensuring that a child (whether a two year-old or a ten year-old) can be successful in the program setting.

So, this increased level of emotion and stress in trying to serve children and families will be the theme of my multi-part series “Finding the Zen in Inclusion.” Over the past two years I have been studying yoga and ayurveda, and I have been amazed at how the tenets of yoga have applied so seamlessly to my everyday life. Be sure that this has not a lot to do with organized religion. By offering these thoughts, I do not attempt to take away from your own beliefs, but merely to provide some ideas and maybe even a tool or two that can be useful in dialing down the drama.

Today’s offering is “View everyone as an extension of yourself” (Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul, Deepak Chopra, 2009). I encourage you to practice this when you are having a difficult conversation with a parent, or working through a challenging behavior with a child. Too often we take sides and become adversaries, when what we need to do is find a common sympathy that links us all together. How much love can you give? How much generosity of spirit can you show a child who is pushing all of your buttons? I know it isn’t easy. I know that when you have 30 other children (or more) to serve, and the families they are attached to, that your love and energy is spread pretty thin. But, this is a practice. Give it a try and see what happens when you align yourself with the situation, rather than putting a wall between you and it.

Be sure that this practice of finding one-ness with others is not the same as taking everything personally. It could be that the elevated emotion we are hearing about is because people are taking their jobs, and the tough situations, very personally. It’s an occupational hazard in this field of caring for others. Taking something personally has a flavor of “this is about me and what I have or have not been able to make happen.” Engaging in one-ness with others is more about finding that common place where we can connect with others and find “agreement, consensus and reconciliation” (Chopra).

I give you this MC Yogi video called “Give Love” to enjoy. Please use the comments to discuss.

Inclusion is….about a collective consciousness.

Can a 7 pound newborn move a full-grown woman?

2010-02-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

I recently became an aunt to the first baby in my husband and my combined families. I’d been eager to be an aunt for the last 20 years, but I really had no idea what a moving and profound experience it would be. My career has been dedicated to improving the lives of children, and although it has taken several twists and turns along the way, it has always been about making the world a better place for children. I don’t have any children of my own, and up until December 7 no one else in my family did either. In my past work in direct care, parents have occasionally told me that because I don’t have kids I “can’t fully understand.” I will admit to feeling a little offended by this accusation. However, experience is our greatest teacher. The picture is of me holding my nephew when he is 5 days old. As I held him in my arms I gained an even deeper understanding of inclusion- one which parents know from first-hand experience. This child, my nephew, all hope and possibility, deserves to have a life full of love, happiness, friendship and belonging. It’s what we hope for our children. He will bring a lot to the party. His strengths, the skills he learns, the love he has to offer others. Undoubtedly, he will have areas of challenge as well. It’s impossible to know what those will be, but I don’t think any of us gets through this life without facing some of our own personal challenges.

A challenge he should not have to face is being included in community life. Nothing should keep him from the opportunity to play a recreational team sport if he wants to. Or take an art class (his dad, my brother, is a celebrated tattoo artist so an art class could very well be in his future!). Or go to summer camp. And yet, if it is determined by someone, in some school or program, that his needs are too great or his challenges too challenging, that is exactly what could happen. I mull this over as I hold the little 7 pound bundle of love in my arms. I think of all of the parents I know, and of all of the parents of children with disabilities I know and respect through my work. I know they have had this moment, and many other afterwards, dreaming about a future full of love, joy and positive experiences for their child and their family. I silently re-dedicate myself to working even harder than before to ensure that people welcome children- regardless of their ability- to participate, to experience and to belong.

Before December 7 I was a passionate advocate for inclusion. I spend most of my time communicating the benefits of inclusion to others who work in early childhood, recreation and youth development programs. I believe in it whole-heartedly. Now that I have held the mystery of a newborn child in my arms and thought about what the future might hold for him, I own and embody the philosophy of inclusion deep in my soul in a way that I didn’t even know was possible.

Inclusion is…a belief in the value and possibility of a life.

Has a child taught you an important lesson? Have you been changed by an experience in a way you didn’t expect? Please leave a comment and share your experience.

New Year & New Youthful Energy!

2010-01-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

OK, admittedly, it has been a long time since any of our KIT staff has had the time to blog here. Behind the scenes we are working on a re-vamp of our website, which will include a new blog, new opportunities for you to interact with your colleagues around the country and (thank goodness) an easier to navigate site map. So, this little blog has been sort of "back burner."

However, something happened this past weekend that I could not resist sharing. Twenty incredible teenagers, leaders and advocates in their own communities around the country, came together for the first National Youth Inclusion Summit. The event was held in Bethesda, MD at Imagination Stage (one of KIT's MEAF National Affiliates) and was initiated by Dan Habib's Including Samuel documentary project, and a team of collaborators. Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, the National Inclusion Project, Girl Scouts USA, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, KIT, the Victor Paneda Foundation, Fleishman Hillard and others supported the event as funders, facilitators, coordinators and evaluators. Guiding the youth through their work was disability rights advocate and poet Lederick Horne

The young people involved were required to hold a viewing party of Including Samuel in their community. They also completed an extensive application, where they shared their thoughts about inclusion. A panel selected 20 youth to travel to the DC area for the summit, with the goal of creating a national youth-driven message campaign about inclusion.

What a dynamic and inspiring weekend! These young people are already such leaders in their own communities, and bringing them together created an incredible energy. They discussed, created, negotiated, thought and in the end produced two short public service announcements. There is still a lot of work to be done on creating a campaign, but what a great start.

I was so grateful to have the opportunity to participate in the Youth Summit and see that there are strong inclusion advocates right behind us. It makes me feel good about the future of inclusion. A special shout out to the San Diego participants- Malia Rappaport, Tali Rappaport and Jordan Moore.

We Went Over the Edge for KIT!

2009-10-26T11:41:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, October 17th a group of 45 intrepid KIT supporters showed their commitment to inclusion by rappelling 33 floors off of Hyatt hotel in downtown San Diego. The Over the Edge event raised over $50,000 to support KIT's service to its affiliates.

In an amazing show of dedication and support, KIT trainer Janet George traveled all the way from North Carolina to participate in the event. Here Torrie and Janet are going over the edge together (Torrie slow and steady on the left of the photo and Janet cool and confident on the right):

Nili also went over the edge, as did both of her parents!

It was a fun day and a great way to raise money for inclusion. Plans are already underway for next year. Wanna join us? Call or email the KIT office to get on the list for next year!

A Good Walk Spoiled

2009-10-13T13:23:00.001-07:00

Wasn't that how Mark Twain described the game of golf? Well, in this case the game of golf was a good way to raise money for an excellent cause- inclusion! Mitsubishi Electric America held their annual Hallway Golf competition in their plants around the US, and KIT was selected as the national charity for the event. This means that half of the money raised at each of the 9 events will be donated to KIT to support its important work. The other half is donated within each plant's community.

KIT CEO Jan Giacinti was able to attend the event in Orange County, CA. She reported that Mitsubishi workers designed miniature golf holes that were fun and creative with a theme of "cartoons." Students from Rancho Alamitos High School both participated in the event and voted on their favorite hole. The winning hole from each event gets shipped to the headquarters for their big, culminating event. The winning hole in the Southern California event was Finding Nemo.

KIT is grateful for the on-going support of Mitsubishi Electric America and excited that the Mitsubishi staff members around the country recognize the importance of inclusion. Thank you, Mitsubishi!

Sometimes the party is at our house...

2009-09-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

In general this blog details the travel of KIT staff, as we promote inclusion across the country and even around the world. However, we do also have a brick and mortar location in San Diego where we present training, both for local and national audiences. In addition to our KIT trainings, many other groups use our beautiful space to hold committee meetings, presentations and retreats. This was the case this week, as we hosted the California After School Network Leadership Team for two days of meetings. Leadership Team members from around California came together to participate in a strategic planning event facilitated by Glen Price of the Glen Price Group. The strategic plan will guide the efforts of the network for the next three years.

The meeting was very well facilitated, participants were engaged and the outcome was positive. But, I am going to keep it real and admit that our beautiful space is not air conditioned. This is not usually a problem in San Diego, but we were having a heat wave this week where temps were 10-15 degrees above the average for late September. We did what we could with fans, windows and cold drinks, but it was pretty warm. Everyone did a great job of keeping their cool under steamy conditions.

The Real Thing

2009-09-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

Meet Jan. She participated in Jump Rope Camp this summer at the City of Coronado. The City of Coronado is one of KIT's Alumni Affiliates and dedicated to the process of inclusion. As a trainer, I am always talking about inclusion, providing examples and creating scenarios to tackle with training participants. It is always refreshing to hear a story from the program's perspective - real and uncut. Here is how Recreation Specialist Sarah Melchert explained Jan's experience at camp:

"Jan truly benefited from inclusion this week. There were many girls who didn't think twice about including Jan in their group, during a game or even just an encouraging high five. Because of inclusion, Jan was able to [perform] the jump rope skills she saw [modeled] all around her which allowed her to improve and learn new skills. This is a skill Jan can practice and improve upon her whole life almost anywhere. A skill that will last! Way to go Jan!"

Sarah's enthusiasm for Jan's success came shining through in how she described the experience. Celebrating success is so important to the process of inclusion, which can sometimes present many challenges along the way to success. So I say, "Way to go City of Coronado!"

Free KIT Webinar for Back to School!

2009-09-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

The school busses are lined up and ready to go...it's back to school! Is your program ready for the children and youth that will populate your after school community this fall? Have you brushed up your skills in supporting positive behavior so that the year gets off to a good start? If you are new to KIT, we invite you to participate in one of our free webinars "Best in Behavior" in September. You can sit at your desk (with a computer and a phone) and participate in a 30 minute experience. Our KIT Program Specialist, Nili Mathews, CTRS, will give practical tips on the inclusion of children with disabilities in out-of-school time programs.

Dates: September 16th at 12pm PDT and September 23rd at 10am PDT

To register, please email Amanda Caruso at amanda@kitonline.org

Thank you KIT interns!

2009-09-01T15:52:00.001-07:00

This summer KIT was lucky enough to have 3 interns, who helped us in a variety of ways. Laura Smith, an undergrad from the University of Arizona worked on grant research and writing, in addition to helping with upcoming special events by tracking donations. She is also an accomplished oboe player, as you can see from the photo!

Priyam Chatterjee, receiving her Masters in Information Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, supported KIT's work by enhancing our online capabilities and conducting a thorough usability study of our website. Carrie Narvesen, an undergrad in the Graphic Design program at Rochester Institute of Technology directly supported KIT's training by creating handouts for conference sessions, working on a Google map of places we've trained, working with evaluation data and preparing training materials.
We are all so grateful for their help and to show our appreciation we held a Thank You Picnic at the end of the summer. There was lovely San Diego weather, the beautiful Liberty Station setting, delicious cake and a special musical performance by Laura. Thank you Priyam, Carrie and Laura and best wishes to you all!

KIT a Hit at the LEAD Conference in DC

2009-08-24T16:07:00.001-07:00

On August 14 I traveled to Washington, DC to attend the LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) conference. I was asked to co- present at this conference with my friend Sheri Sherman from the San Diego Zoo. We had a great time and our session was a hit. We presented on the building of bridges between the participants and their frontline staff and between them and their upper management. There were many sessions throughout LEAD on interesting topics I don’t usually get to hear about. One of the sessions I attended was on assistive technology. There are incredible items people have created to make museums, theater, and the arts more accessible. We were able to hear about these items, where they are being used and of course the cost so we can save up to have our very own. We were even able to test them out! Apparently they will be coming soon to Disneyland. What is it? Oh yes, sorry it is a hand held device, about the size of an iphone, (a little bigger) and it captions a predetermined script on an exhibit or attraction for those with hearing loss or who are deaf, in addition it can audio describe for individuals who are blind or have low vision. The changes in accessibility are quite amazing due to these types of technology.

Did you know that KIT will be co-hosting the LEAD conference next year with the San Diego Zoo? If you are a museum or cultural institution this would be a good conference for you to attend. The dates are August 26-29, 2010 in San Diego!

(pictured are Nili Mathews, KIT and Sheri Sherman and Bob Dillon, San Diego Zoo)

What We Did With Our Summer Vacation

2009-08-06T13:00:00.000-07:00

The summer typically means less travel for the KIT staff. You are busy giving kids wonderful summer memories in camps, and we are busy at the KIT office creating new training, resources and materials that will be ready for you when the kids you serve are back in school. So, just when we settled in for the summer and got quite cozy in our office chairs...the phone rang and we were invited to visit the City of Brotherly Love to present at the US Army Exceptional Family Member Program manager's conference.

Of course, we never turn down a chance to talk about inclusion so off we went! Alissa and I flew to Philadelphia for a long (5 day) weekend to meet and mingle with EFMP managers from all over the world. Our session was lively and even though it was right after lunch the participants were very engaged and responsive. We also had a little time to see the historic sites of Philly, and while we did not eat Philly Cheese Steak (sorry, Philly, I am vegetarian) we did enjoy a huge pretzel.

Meanwhile, back at the KIT ranch there are a lot of exciting things going on. Have you heard about our upcoming fundraiser?

We hope your summer is going well and that you are making magic for children with and without disabilities. Remember to be in touch if there is anything we can do to help ensure that all children can enjoy a summer camp experience.

Trip to North Carolina

2009-07-13T15:58:00.001-07:00

I recently returned from a great trip to North Carolina. I had the pleasure of visiting several branches of the YMCA of the Triangle. The YMCA of the Triangle located in Raleigh North Carolina is one of KIT’s national affiliates. My guides through the YMCA of the Triangle were Yo and Marco two of North Carolina’s finest gentlemen; they are both associate executive directors for YMCA branches. My guides showed me the in’s and out’s of YMCA facilities and programming, highlighting summer camps and after school programs all of which are inclusive. Along the way on our two day tour I was able to meet the real stars of inclusion the young vibrant staff that stand out in my mind as the frontline heroes of our philosophy. The tireless job (and it is because I’ve done it) of being with kids 8 hours a day educating and entertaining and maintaining an inclusive environment is made to seem effortless by these frontline heroes. I really enjoyed thinking back to my summer camp days and the great stories I had about the wonderful people I worked with and those I supported.

Inclusion is such a passion for me and when I see the champion in others to promote it, I get all fired up!

A very special Thank You to my hosts, and true gentlemen, Yo and Marco. Thanks for the tour, the food, and especially the air-conditioning.

Also cheers to my buddies Janet and Anna for hanging with me during my stay always good to travel and see friends.

Nili

Janet George Shares Her 5 Questions for Families

2009-07-06T08:40:00.001-07:00

Hi, I am Janet George, School Age Specialist for the Child Care Services Association in Wake County, North Carolina.

Last night I facilitated the Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs: Partnering with Families module for staff from child care centers who provide school age care. They really kept me on my toes! The participants were interactive and voiced strong opinions and beliefs. I think some were initially challenged with the strategies I asked them to employ but they left with new ideas and a willingness to try!

Throughout the evening we discussed many things, including the importance of building the relationship. As a group, we had to shift from a place where we think the parents are “not really interested” and/or “don’t have time” to a place of recognizing that families do want what is best for their children but there may be constraints we are not aware of that interfere. We agreed that creating a welcoming environment and working to figure out how to communicate successfully with families is really important. During the discussion I shared with them 5 questions I like to ask when establishing a relationship with families, and then we conducted an interview with parents in the room using the 5 questions. This approach put providers and parents at ease, and the providers get great information about the children. This is also a great first step to establishing a positive partnership with the family.

These are the 5 questions:
1. What does your child do that makes you laugh/smile?
2. What does your child do that makes him laugh/smile?
3. What are some things that upset your child?
4. What does it look like when your child is upset?
5. How does your child calm herself when she is upset? Does she need help to calm?

Historically, families of children with disabilities are asked about their child’s challenges, difficulties, etc as a first step. Using the questions above allows the parents to share what is important to them and gives the provider insight to likes, dislikes, strengths, needs, potential challenging behaviors and strategies to support the child!

Camp Winacka

2009-06-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

Camp Counselors, Camp Winacka, Julian, CA

Girl Scouts are so much fun! Nili and I had the opportunity to train camp counselors working at a residential camp in Julian, CA yesterday. Hundreds of Girl Scouts will spend up to 13 days at the residential camp this summer. In two hours, we covered respectful accommodations, examples of accommodations and practiced making accommodations to games. Counselors learned drama-based games and brainstormed ideas for making accommodations for children with different types of disabilities to participate in the games. When asked the one thing they learned in the training that they will take with them, participants commented:

"A person doesn't necessarily need to know everything to modify an activity for everyone."
"The thought of being purposeful and aware of the kids."
"How easy it is to adjust games without singling kids out."
"Sometimes what you come up with is even better than the original activity, which is pretty cool."

Even though we got lost on the way and took a very lengthy detour to get there, it was a great experience. Julian is also famous for their apple pies so we stopped on the way back for some spectacular apple boysenberry pie!

Business Travel Has its Perks!

2009-06-17T12:47:00.001-07:00

As you can tell by the blog, the KIT team has been traveling a lot lately! This trip to Washington DC actually took place May 20-22, but we are just now finding space for it on the blog. Nili and I traveled to DC together. I was attending the Including Samuel Summit and Nili was presenting a training for the Choral Arts Society of Washington, DC.

The perks of which I speak were in this case GIANT cookies from the Firehook Bakery & Coffee House in DuPont Circle. That cookie is bigger than Nili's head! We excitedly took it back to our hotel room and devoured it while watching the season finale of American Idol. Our other great find in DC was The Darlington House restaurant. If you are headed to DC and looking for a nice meal in a lovely setting, we give this one our recommendation.

OK, it wasn't all about the food. We did do some work on the trip. Nili worked with a great group of teaching artists who go into the schools. They took KIT's Supporting Positive Behavior and Supporting Social Emotional Needs training. Nili was very impressed with this group! While Nili was training, I was at the National Education Association at a meeting led by Working Films. They pulled together a group of twenty or so representatives from national organizations supporting inclusion and disability to discuss a strategy for using Dan Habib's beautiful film Including Samuel to promote inclusion at a grass-roots level. It was a great day, and good to see so many of our colleagues and collaborators face to face.

Mary in New Mexico

2009-06-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

This is Mary Shea again and I just completed a 3 day trip to beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico where I did my site visit with one of our MEAF National Affiliates, the Bernalillo County Parks and Recreation Department. (By the way, there will be a test at the end of this blog to see how many of you can spell Albuquerque the first time!) I think it is one of the hardest words I have ever had to spell.

I flew on Memorial Day and I would recommend that option to anyone who doesn’t like crowded airports. It was a pretty quiet day in the skies and no one else was at the rental car counter so that was quick and I was at the hotel in downtown Albuquerque by early afternoon (of course I left my house at 4:00 am). I took a long walk downtown later in the day to get some exercise (hot and muggy weather) but it was a very quiet day because it was a holiday and few folks were downtown so it was peaceful.

Tuesday morning began with Jeffrey Paul, the Inclusion Manager for the County’s Parks and Recreation Department picking me up at the hotel and we began driving to Community Centers all across the county, which was very large and very diverse. Jeff had arranged and confirmed all the appointments so when we arrived I was able to tour the facilities and meet with staff and most directors. It was their time to ask specific questions about their programs and services as well as specific children they were supporting that they were having challenges with. It was a good day and I met with 5 of the 7 directors and approximately 18 - 20 full time staff and I was able to provide some quality site specific consultation.

The next day involved a full day of training at Mountain View Community Center where almost all staff (50 total) from the recreation department as well as 5 of the newly hired inclusion facilitators were in attendance. We did 3 of the KIT core modules (Respectful Accommodations, Supporting Positive Support, and Partnering with Families, and we addressed some specific issues in supporting children with attention deficit disorders. The staff really seemed to enjoy the training and activities and besides the fire alarm going off and having to evacuate the building quickly, the day seemed very successful and empowering to the staff. It was a very pleasant surprise to have both the Director and Assistant Director of Bernalillo Parks and Recreation Department stop by the training during the day and show their support for inclusion.

This visit was short and very busy but well planned and efficient and Jeff has done a great job in the 2 years he has been with the department. By the way, he told me he had an opportunity to apply for last minute stimulus funding that had come to their county and that is how he was able to hire 8 additional staff for summer programming! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful treat to every one of you if that was available?

Summer is finally here so wishing you all a peaceful summer and good luck with summer camps and programs and enjoy each and every day you get to spend with those joyful children whose parents have entrusted your with their care 

Training at the Montclair YMCA

2009-06-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

Camp Directors pose for a photo after participating in a training.

I just spent the week facilitating training for the Montclair YMCA in Montclair, New Jersey. The Montclair YMCA is one of our ten national affiliate programs funded by the Mitsubishi Electric Ameria Foundation (MEAF). Since I am originally from Massachusetts, I love spending time on the East Coast. The people I had the opportunity to meet were amazing. From the Director of Development to the Program Director and Managers, Camp Directors, and After Care and Summer staff, I was impressed with the thought they put into questions and comments during trainings. We covered a lot of different topics from On Common Ground: Activities that Facilitate Inclusion to Ready, Set, Summer and discovered ways to support children with and without disabilities in programs at the Montclair YMCA. I was delighted to see an After Care Site Director facilitating an activity she learned during a training with children at her site the next day. It was great to see how she had taken the information and applied it directly to her program. The Program Directors were great hosts (see below) and I had a wonderful time getting to know them and experiencing their programs and city.

Megan Chell, Adrienne Fuller, and Alissa Lavelle

Mary Shea visits Lee's Summit, MO

2009-05-19T12:46:00.001-07:00

This is Mary Shea and I am writing as I return from Lee's Summit, Missouri after two days of training and consultation with the leadership and staff of Kids Country, one of our newest MEAF national affiliates. It was an energizing and busy couple of days and the staff I worked with was enthusiastic, well prepared for my visit and very welcoming.

It was Sunday (Mother's Day) and I arrived in Kansas City, got my rental car and drive 40 miles south to Lee's Summit, a town with a population of 82,820. It was a sunny day but managed to rain before the night was over, which is very typical of Midwest spring and summer days as I recall from growing up in Wisconsin. The rain was good-it kept me in the hotel reviewing the 3" notebook of policies and procedures, marketing materials, history and highlights of Kids Country over the past 13 years.

Kids Country is the before and after school provider for the 17 schools in the Lee's Summit R-7 School District and all the staff are school district employees. Monday morning started with Dawn Butler, Coordinator of Kids Country and Kristi Fate, Assistant Program Coordinator, both of who, I would spend many hours with during the next two days,s tarting our visits to Longview Farm Elementary School, which was a beautifully refurbished historic horsebarn and I was able to observe the before school program and start my day smiling watching kindergartners and 1st through 6th graders enjoying themselves at play- what a joy!

We spent the rest of the morning (after some good Seattle coffee) reviewing policies, procedures and programs, and outlining our goals for the visit. At lunch the three of us met with the Executive Director of Special Education Services and the Director of Classified Personnel and supervisor of Kids Country and we were joined by Christy Weber, a Registered Nurse and the newest hire on the leadership team. We made several more site visits in the afternoon where I met with and observed some terrific site supervisors and program staff engaged with kids and providing some excellent programs.

That night the entire Kids Country staff (~100) attended the Fear Factor workshop and once we gave them box dinners and let them wind down for a few minutes after working all day, we had a wonderful workshop and lots of energy and great ideas coming from the staff. It was a big success and thanks to Nancy McCutcheon, Quality Advisor, who prepared all the materials and coordinated the training.

Tuesday started with another site visit and was followed by training for the 21 members of the leadership team which included all 17 site coordinators, Dawn, Kristi, Christy and Nancy where I reviewed indicators of quality programming and introduced strategies to support and empower staff. That meeting was followed by a Community Meeting where afterschool directors of 5 other cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area as well as the Director of Parks and Recreation for Lee's Summit and a parent came together to learn more about Kids Country and how they were progressing in their journey to inclusion. Dawn and I led them through the session identifying strengths and challenges of inclusion in their currently existing systems and Dawn, who is a legitimate boundary crosser committed Kids Country to share lessons learned, strategies and resources and together the community group re-affirmed their commitment to ensure that children and youth with disabilities in all of their cities would have access to quality afterschool programming. They are actually planning to host a statewide conference next year on that very issue and I am 100% sure it will happen!

Our afternoon ended with some last minute review of marketing material as well as strategic planning including suggesting a change in the current Kids Country Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). To date the program has had the Advisory Committee and a separate but parallel committee, the Ability Awareness Team (parents of children and youth with disabilities). With some reflection and guided instruction (my very favorite thing to do), Dawn and Kristi and I were able to draft an agenda for the evening PAC meeting where Dawn would introduce the concept of combining both groups of parents as well as inviting other people from the community who are interested in kids and families and would commit as stakeholders to this community vision. It was very well attended and Dawn did an outstanding job of inviting them all to this new process and two hours later they were still meeting in one of four individual subcommittees that would address program, professional development, cultural competence and diversity, and funding and sustainability. The energy in the room was infectious and when I returned to my hotel room 13 hours after the day started, I could only smile and be reassured that these Kids Country folks would continue to make a difference in the lives of children and youth with disabilities and their families, not only in Lee's Summit but in the entire state of Missouri and probably across the river in Kansas!

Meet Alissa Lavelle

2009-05-18T13:37:00.001-07:00

As promised, I am going to use this blog post to brag about another KIT superstar- Alissa Lavelle. If you have scheduled or attended a KIT training, you have probably encountered Alissa. In addition to her outstanding work developing curriculum and organizing training events, Alissa also frequently facilitates training. One of our other KIT trainers dubbed her the "power pack." It's true. Alissa is a big ball of passion and fire in a small package. She has a wealth of both knowledge and practical experience, which can be a surprise to our training participants as she also looks a lot younger than her chronological age. Learn more about Alissa and her background on the KIT website.
Alissa's interests related to inclusion are very broad. She frequently researches new topics for training, and her initiatives have included popular training sessions on supporting children's social-emotional needs, creating behavior plans and examining your physical and sensory environment. In the above photo she teaches basic sign language to a group of participants taking a training on accommodations for children with autism spectrum disorders. You can view one of Alissa's recent webinars on the topics of helping children understand their peers with autism or how attachment affects inclusion.

At KIT, staff members tend to wear a lot of different hats. As you can see from the photos, Alissa has served as a model for our new inclusion t-shirts, a trainer, an actor in the video shoot for the eLearning module on Supporting Positive Behavior and the manager of the Snow Zone at a KIT sponsored community festival.

If you haven't had a chance to attend one of Alissa's live trainings or webinars, then I recommend that you do! Check the training calendar to find an upcoming event.

Best Kept Secret

2009-05-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

In today's post, I'd like to share with you one of KIT's best kept secrets. A best kept secret is something that is an outstanding service, that many people don't even know about. We actually have a couple of these little gems, so I'll share them with you over the next month or so in the blog. Today's secret is our helpline, which is managed by KIT's Program Specialist, Nili Mathews.

The purpose of the helpline is to provide customized inclusion support for staff at child and youth programs. The service is FREE. I'll say it again. The service is FREE. All you have to do is email your question to help at kitonline dot org (spelling it out to protect us from spammers!) and Nili will respond with an email or phone call and help you with any inclusion-related challenge.

Just so you know what kind of excellent quality you are getting with this service, let me tell you a little bit about Nili. She will not be happy that I am doing this, so I hope she doesn't read the blog. Anyway, Nili has been at KIT since the beginning. In fact, she worked in the original program that became KIT. She then spent years working for the YMCAs in San Diego County as an inclusion specialist, while also serving as a KIT trainer. Nili joined the KIT staff several years ago to head up a project funded by First Five. Nili is a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) and she has over 20 years of experience serving people with disabilities in recreation activities.

Many of you have experienced Nili's dynamic and engaging training sessions. She is the only KIT trainer who always gets comments on evaluation forms that she is funny. I believe that people learn better when they are having fun and laughing, so I appreciate Nili's lighthearted approach to training. What you may not have experienced is Nili's ability to come up with accommodations for situations on-the-spot. She is a good listener and committed to helping youth development professionals work through challenges and find solutions. She has experience in many types of early childhood and after school settings. If you email the helpline with a question about how to better serve a child in your program, you will receive some great recommendations of things to try.

I am so grateful for the amazing, passionate and talented people I get to work with at KIT. In my next post I plan to brag about KIT's Program Coordinator, Alissa Lavelle.

Images of inclusion

2009-05-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

I am back in the KIT office in San Diego after my trip visiting Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) in Portland, OR and facilitating a two-day training with child care providers in Pleasant Hill, CA. Having the opportunity to get out and do training with child and youth professionals and hear their voices is always an eye-opening experience. I was particularly impressed with the words and images chosen by site coordinators and program managers at MFS when they were asked to portray what inclusion means to them during a focus group. Every organization possesses its own strengths and faces unique challenges with regards to inclusion. It always amazes me that no matter what the organization's strengths and challenges may be, the individuals working within the organization always touch upon the central themes of acceptance, belonging, and support when asked to describe what inclusion means to them.

I love Portland!

2009-04-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be visiting one of our national affiliates, Metropolitan Family Service (MFS) in Portland, OR. From the eco-friendly toilets at the airport to the awesome public transportation, giant bookstores and little coffee shops, this is a great city. Today I had the opportunity to meet the executive team at MFS, facilitate a training for program managers, site coordinators, activity leaders, go out for a healthy lunch with the program managers, and still have time to visit two after-school program sites. Metropolitan Family Service is a non-profit organization dedicated to building stronger communities by providing services, connecting people with resources and offering volunteer opportunities throughout the Portland, Oregon region (www.metfamily.org). I was so impressed with the thoughtful questions and comments participants had during the training and seeing them "in action" at the sites. One school site I visited had a welcoming and calming environment. The quiet area below was in the hallway (left) and the cafeteria included a living room area (right). Tomorrow we are going to hold a focus group with the site coordinators to identify their needs for training and support for inclusion and next steps to ensure every child is successful.

KIT Goes International!

2009-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

This is an exciting week in KIT-land! We will be conducting our first international site visit at the Navy Child & Youth Programs (CYP) in Naples, Italy. The visit actually occurs next week, but the travel part later this week. The goal of the visit is to orient the CYP professionals to KIT's services, visit the facilities and meet the staff and provide consultation on the CYP process of in-take for families with children with special needs. I will also meet with the regional staff from Navy CYP Europe and discuss the best ways to provide inclusion support to overseas installations. There will also be gelato involved and a visit to the famous pizzeria that has been described as the "sacred temple of pizza."

We cannot say enough about the Navy's commitment to the inclusion of children with disabilities and other special needs. They are looking at inclusion systemically and working on process and program improvements at every level. This is truly a top-down and bottom-up approach to organizational change. In many cases we have seen organizations whose journey to inclusion rests on the shoulders of one or two change agents. Once these one or two people leave the organization, or get promoted or relocated, the process of inclusion is hard to sustain for the rest of the staff left behind. In our work we caution these change agents to share their work with others and to develop and implement strategies that don't rely on them for success. The US Navy has change agents at every level and at every installation we have encountered thus far. Their energy and enthusiasm about inclusion is inspiring and we are so grateful for the opportunity to partner with such committed, dedicated professionals.

Ciao!

Hi from Orlando, FL!

2009-04-07T16:42:00.000-07:00

Alissa and I are in Orlando doing training for the Training & Curriculum Specialists in Navy Child & Youth Programs. There are 100 of them here, and they represent Navy installations from all over the world. In fact, today we had lunch with 2 wonderful T & Cs from Italy and they shared a lot of interesting information about life on and off a military base in a foreign country.

In addition to the training we have provided, we have been able to informally talk to people at the meals and networking events. We are getting so much good feedback from the field about KIT's eLearning modules. Almost 2,000 Navy CYP professionals have completed the four self-paced modules so far. Go Navy! It is nice to hear that people are finding the modules both helpful to their work and fun to do.

We have one more day here and then we are back on Southwest Airlines headed for home. Alissa and I are both feeling very grateful that we get to work with people that are so committed to serving children and that we have the opportunity to spread the message of inclusion far and wide.

Here We Are at KIT's 5th Annual National Conference!

2009-03-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today the blog is coming to you from KIT's 5th Annual National Conference on Inclusion! There are participants here from all over the United States, plus Japan and Australia! Many of KIT's partners are in attendance, including our newest partner the U.S. Navy Child and Youth Programs. There are people from early childhood programs, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, after school programs, dance companies, theatres, city parks and recreation departments just to name a few.

Yesterday we kicked off the conference with a wonderful featured presentation by a 19 year old advocate Tyler Greene. If you missed the conference, we encourage you to check out his website.

More on the conference and some great photos in future posts. Oh, and we will be making many of the conference sessions available online in the next few weeks.

"I could talk about this stuff for hours."

2009-01-20T12:36:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I happened to be in the Apple store in Brea, CA. All the staff was wearing t-shirts that said "I could talk about this stuff for hours." Meaning, obviously, Apple products. But, my first thought went to inclusion. That is how I feel about inclusion. I could talk about it for hours. And I often do when I train around the country. I know that this is how Nili, Alissa and Mary and all of our KIT trainers feel- they could share their passion for inclusion for hours and hours. I feel so grateful to get to share my passion as my profession, and grateful for all of you who promote and support inclusion in your daily work. This movement of inclusion of children with disabilities in community life is so important, so critical to the future and in difficult times like these we need to reinstate our dedication to our cause.

So, today is the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. What an amazing day. What a day for all of us who work for the inclusion of all people. What a day for Americans to come together and celebrate our history of democracy. What a day to hope for the future and commit ourselves to making the world a better place than it is today.

I know that this blog is supposed to document the travel adventures of our trainers. And we will be doing a lot of travel in the coming months as we visit our new partners in Navy Child and Youth Programs around the world. However, I would also like to use this space as a forum to share, discuss and even to dream a little about the future. Especially today, when the future holds such promise.

Celebrating Civil Rights

2008-11-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

Traveling and training for KIT does provide some wonderful benefits. Meeting people from all over the country who care about providing quality services for all children and are eager to learn new techniques, getting to talk about the positive and powerful subject of inclusion every day and the chance to visit other parts of our beautiful nation. This past week I was in Memphis, Tennessee to meet with the Headquarters staff for the US Navy Child & Youth Programs. KIT is partnering with the US Navy CYPs to ensure that staff who work with children on Navy bases WORLDWIDE have training on inclusion. Wow- we are so impressed with the US Navy Child & Youth Programs and the commitment they have to inclusion.

So, while in Memphis I had a few free hours. This allowed me to visit a museum devoted to one of the subjects I am most passionate about (I know you are thinking Graceland right now). No, my passion is not Elvis Presley. I spent a morning visiting the National Civil Rights Museum and it was a moving and powerful experience. The museum is located in the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. The motel has been gutted and turned into a museum, but the facade remains and there is a wreath placed on the balcony outside room 306 in King's honor. Across the street from the motel is the second part of the museum, which is located in the boarding house where the assassin (James Earl Ray) shot from. You can stand in the location of the bathroom where the assassin stood and look out the very same window to the motel. Learn more about the museum here.

The displays in the museum are outstanding and detail every element of the civil rights movement leading up to King's assassination. It was incredibly moving. In a ten-minute film that runs in the museum's theatre I heard that "movements don't start as movements, movements start with individuals" and I could not help but think about the movement of inclusion. It is true. It starts with individuals. KIT's work is to train and speak to as many people working in out-of-school time programs as we can, and invite them to join our movement so that all children can experience the life-enhancing benefits of participating in their own community, doing typical childhood activities.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to do this important work, and that I get to share it with so many others around the United States (and now the world- thank you US Navy!).

Our Nation's Capital

2008-09-28T12:33:00.000-07:00

I loved spending time in our nation's capital. It was nice to be reminded of our great history and how far we have come. Visiting Abe Lincoln and reading the words he wrote so long ago was a reminder that civil rights and equality are virtues we have fought for throughout our history. I started my trip working with teaching artists at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD, one of KIT's national affiliates. We spent three hours exploring ways to make accommodations for children with autism spectrum disorders participating in theater and arts classes and programs. I also had the great pleasure of working with volunteer trainers and staff at Girl Scouts Council of the Nation's Capital in Washington DC. I am proud to welcome these talented women into the growing family of individuals trained to present KIT's core training curriculum Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs. Represented in the photo below are volunteer trainers, residential and community camp directors, Program and Inclusion Specialists who will now train fellow volunteers, leaders, and staff on including children with and without disabilities in their programs, helping to assure that every girl is welcome and supported at Girl Scouts Council of the Nation's Capital.

On the Road Again!

2008-09-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

Typically, we don't do as much traveling and training in the summer. This is mostly because all of you are busy with your summer programs. The fall things get pretty busy, and this fall is no exception. In fact, we started early this year with the NIRI conference (National Inclusive Recreation Institute) in Eugene, OR where Mary Shea and Nili Mathews both presented workshops. Now it is Torrie and Alissa's turn to travel. This week, Torrie will be in Memphis to work on a project and Alissa will be in the Washington DC area to train the staff and volunteers from Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital and the staff from Imagination Stage. We are all excited to be back on the road, as the best part of this mission is talking to the dedicated people in our trainings who are working hard to ensure that children learn and grow in their programs.

Oh, and if you see us in an airport or a Starbucks in your city, please say Hello! You'll know us by our KIT shirts.

If we can make it here...

2008-05-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

We'll make it anywhere! Isn't that what Ol' Blue Eyes sings about NYC? KIT has a new national affiliate, sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, whose offices are headquartered in the heart of Times Square. The After School Corporation (TASC) serves 125 after school programs in all 5 boroughs of New York City. I spent two days at their offices participating in planning meetings and presenting training to site supervisors of the after school programs and TASC staff members. It was fun to call my mom and tell her that my childhood dream had finally come true and I was working on Broadway! OK- it was just for two days...but still...it felt great to be walking along Broadway not as tourist, but on my way to work just like thousands of others those mornings.

Before the visit to NYC, I spent several days working in Bethesda, MD with one of our other new affiliates. Imagination Stage has a long history of serving children with disabilities and they are looking to strengthen their processes when it comes to inclusion. They have an amazing facility, a visionary founder/executive director, a talented and dedicated staff and wonderful children and families that they serve. While I was there I saw their beautiful production of Looking for Roberto Clemente, a work they commissioned about the baseball legend. I saw a performance that was held for school kids- this day all 6th graders- that included a talkback with the actors at the end of the show. One of the characters in the play has a disability and in the storyline he wants nothing more than to play baseball in a league with his brother and friends. He is allowed to be the bat boy and is repeatedly given the message that winning the games are just too important to let him play this time. The 6th graders were fascinated with this talented actor and asked him most of the questions in the talkback. "Can you really play baseball?" they wanted to know. It was great to see inclusion demonstrated in such a powerful way for hundreds of young people. The talented actor, JP Illarramendi, answered their questions with honesty and humor.

Both of these dynamic organizations have made a commitment to improve their service to children with disabilities. It is a delight to work with them and I know they will make great strides in their journey to inclusion. Next up- news from Nili's trip to visit Family YMCA in Blackhawk County, Iowa and Alissa's trip to see the Camp Fire USA- Heartland Council, Kansas City (which is in Missouri- funny story about that so watch for future posts!).

North Carolina Providers Trained on KIT Curriculum

2008-05-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

Nili and I are back from our trip to North Carolina. We sure had fun on the East Coast, especially with our parters from Community Partnerships, Inc. It was amazing to see individuals from all types of programs (YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, Girl Scouts, early childhood, school age after-school programs, and parks and recreation) together to become trained to present KIT's Opening Doors to Inclusive Programs series. We were excited to try our first glass of "Sweet Tea" - boy, they are not kidding, it is sweeeeet! We also had the pleasure of zooming around Raleigh in a bright yellow rental car. Until next time...Alissa

Greetings from St. Pete's

2008-04-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I am excited to post my very first blog. Anything for KIT! I am currently in my hotel room in St. Petersburg, Florida (yay wireless!) I am here facilitating a two-day training of trainers for individuals from St. Petersburg, Naples, Tampa, and Clearwater City Departments of Parks and Therapeutic Recreation. I have enjoyed hearing their unique experiences with staff training on inclusion. They are so grateful to have a standardized curriculum to use to train summer camp and recreation staff throughout the year and cannot wait to get out there and empower their staff to include all kids. I am certainly loving the Florida sunshine and 80 degree weather...until next time - Alissa

The Party's at Our House!

2008-04-15T16:54:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended to be about KIT's travels around the country providing training on inclusion to early childhood and out-of-school time programs. And, believe me, there will be a lot of that coming up. In the next month or so the KIT team of trainers will be hitting the road for northern California, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, Iowa, Kansas and New York. Keep watching the blog for all the details!

Right now, though, we'd like to celebrate the coming together of over 200 people for KIT's 4th Annual National Conference on Inclusion. This April 2-4th, 2008 everyone came to our house (well, the Mission Valley Marriott to be exact) for three days of learning about inclusion, sharing ideas and strategies and networking with colleagues from around the country. Our keynote presentation was Dan Habib, award-winning filmmaker of the new documentary Including Samuel.

Thanks to everyone who presented, contributed and attended for an another amazing journey! If you weren't there please try to join us next year and see what all the excitement is about.

First Post from the Road!

2008-02-20T18:41:00.000-08:00

Today I flew all the way from San Diego to Raleigh, NC to present a one-day Inclusion Institute for our good friends and colleagues at Community Partnerships, Inc. Last year KIT trained Janet George and Anna Berkeley of Community Partnerships to be KIT trainers and they have been actively training in the Raleigh-Durham area. Now they have gathered 70 out-of-school time providers together for a one-day intense training on inclusion. The conference is tomorrow and we are all really excited!

While I am here Alissa Lavelle and Nili Mathews from the KIT staff are in the Bay Area of California presenting the last half of a training series for the Contra Costa Unified School District. Check back later for pictures and posts from both events!

Welcome to our new blog!

2008-02-04T16:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to KIT's new blog- Where in the World is KIT? Keep watching this space for updates on the travels of KIT trainers, who deliver KIT training on inclusion to out-of-school time programs around the United States- and sometimes beyond! We can't wait to share with you what your colleagues in other states are doing to implement inclusive practices and ensure that all children in their community have a place to belong.