Thinking About the Word Inclusion

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.

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The Conference Afterglow

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?

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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.