Disability INC.

Never Alone. The Support That Heals.

In the final epsidoes of our series “Seize Joy, Building Community,” host Cheryelle Cruickshank speaks with Lucina Clarke. As a young Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapist providing home-based services to toddlers, Lucina Clarke instantly experienced a powerful jolt of connection with their parents and knew she could help. Now the Executive Director and Co-Founder of My Time Inc. an organization designed to uplift, enlighten, and support parents of a child with disabilities, she shares her recipe for seizing joy. Listen in and absorb a little piece of Lucina’s warmth to put in your pocket. 

Granting Yourself Grace

INCLUDEnyc’s Executive Director, Cheryelle Cruickshank, continues our new podcast series, “Seize Joy, Building Community" with Belinda Johnson. Belinda maintained a successful 40-year career in education while raising a child with a disability. Join us as she shares her experiences, knowledge, and perspective in the reassuring voice of a friend who has been there.

Leading By Example

Host Cheryelle Cruickshank kicks off the first episode of our new series, “Seize Joy, Building Community.” This week, she speaks with Jackie Ceonzo. When Jackie’s son, who is on the autism spectrum, was turned away from a program for young people with disabilities, the experience motivated her to never accept the status quo. Now the Executive Director and Founder of SNACK & Friends, serving individuals with Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Jackie encourages us to think big, reject hopeless thinking, and celebrate small wins that will become giant ones.

Superando más de una barrera

Para Alma, madre mexicana de dos niños con autismo, la primera barrera que tuvo que superar fue el diagnostico de su hijo mayor, luego la barrera idiomática, siguiendo por la falta de información que hay para padres inmigrantes y finalmente, el estigma que hay sobre el autismo. Hoy conversa sobre cómo aprendió a navegar el sistema de educación especial de NYC y cómo fue que INCLUDEnyc la ayudó a informarse para poder representar a sus hijos.

http://es.includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/05/Alma-Gopar-Transcript.pdf

From Customer to Innovator: Why Disabled People Belong in the Technology Field

Beth Rosenberg is the Founder/Executive Director of Tech Kids Unlimited, not-for-profit educational organization that teaches 21st century computer science thinking and technology skills to neurodiverse youth ages 7 to 21. She is a multiple award-winning teacher, consultant, author, and frequent contributor to conferences, publications, and events.

To read the transcript for this episodes, please visit https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/From-Customer-to-Innovator.pdf

Nobody Knew What I Could Do: My Fight for Competence, Respect, and Equality

Nate Trainor is a passionate advocate for the acceptance of people with disabilities and, although non-verbal, is a powerful "voice" for inclusion. Nate has experienced firsthand what rejection, exclusion, and assumed incompetence feels like. He is an author and provides many presentations throughout the country, advocating for people with disabilities, and volunteers his time to help others understand that everyone has many abilities. He lives in Waverly, Iowa.

To read the podcast for this episode, visit https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Nobody-Knew-What-I-Could-Do-Transcript.pdf

Reframing Disability: Creating Cultural Change and Access Through the Lens of Beauty

Rick Guidotti, an award-winning photographer, has spent the past twenty-five years collaborating internationally with nonprofit organizations, hospitals, medical schools, educational institutions, museums, galleries, advocacy groups, and communities to enact a sea-change in societal attitudes towards individuals living with a genetic, physical, behavioral, or intellectual difference. His work has been published in newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Rick is the founder and director of Positive Exposure, a non-profit organization that promotes a more inclusive world through award-winning photography, film, and educational programs. Positive Exposure has significantly impacted the field of human rights, mental health, medicine, and education by providing new opportunities to see each individual as a human being and a valued member of our society.

You can find the transcript for this episode here: https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Reframing-Disability-transcript.pdf

A Brooklyn Story: How Lou Ferrigno Changed My Life

How a chance conversation between two NYPD cops on the beat in Brooklyn changed one man's professional and personal trajectory.

Donny Swanson is the principal of Pathways to Graduation in Staten Island, NY, where he utilizes a unique blend of beliefs, adaptations, and flexibility which he developed growing up in NYC with a disability. Pathways to Graduation supports at-risk students who have not been successful in traditional schools. Donny just completed his 18th year in education in February 2022, but his educational journey is not complete.

 

You can find the transcript for this episode here: https://includenyc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/A-Brooklyn-Story-Transcript.pdf

Exploring the Sibling Story Through Writing and Film

Art allows us to process our lives and complex emotions individually, and to come together collectively while building community. Join our conversation on why having brothers and sisters with disabilities stimulates the creation of art. 

Allan B. Goldstein is a distinguished NYU Tandon School of Engineering Senior Lecturer, whose Disabilities Studies course teams up students and community members with disabilities to create digital stories and discuss disability readings. Goldstein is the older sibling and guardian of his brother Fred, a survivor of the notorious Willowbrook State School. Goldstein’s writing explores the social barriers impeding an inclusive society. Allan also serves on the Pace University Disability Film Festival screening committee, which features films by and about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. 

Liz Sargent has an extensive background in dance, theater and film, which informs how she tells her stories. Liz is an award-winning producer for Cyprian Films. She is one of 12 children and in her work often draws upon her experiences having siblings with disabilities. Liz is producing “12 Turtles,” a feature documentary exploring who will care for her parents as they get older and who will inherit the responsibility for the siblings who cannot care for themselves. The Sargent family navigates the hard truths of aging, disability, adoption, and an evolving definition of family.

To read the transcript of this episode, visit www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Exploring_the_Sibling_Story_through_Writing_and_Film.docx.pdf.

Disappearing Private Special Education Schools

Approved, publicly funded special education schools are facing an existential threat.

Hear about their history, the challenges they face, and how one school stayed true to its mission by discontinuing public funding. Donna Kennedy guided the Gillen Brewer School, a NYC private school providing special education services in a private school in NYC since its inception in 1992, serving as Head of School since 2003. Donna serves as a Commissioner of Accreditation for NYSAIS and Treasurer of the Guild for Independent Schools. Donna received her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Bank Street College of Education and a Master of Science in Special Education focusing on Learning Disabilities from Hunter College. She holds a B.F.A. in Dance from the University of Nebraska.

 

To read the transcript of this episode, visit www.includenyc.org/images/uploads/content/Disappearing_Private_Special_Education_Schools.pdf.