Read the June 2021 Newsletter here.
Today I speak with Gustavo Soriano, Gustavo he is the Senior Director of International Programs at Best Buddies International
Drs. Melissa McCart and Sondra Marshall are experts in the field of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the implications of a TBI on learning.
As part of her IBO MYP Personal Project, Iris researched her diagnosis of ADHD. The final product of her project was a presentation to the elementary teachers about ADHD, its causes, impacts and what teachers can do to support ADHD in the classroom.
 Iris went through the identification process in middle school and as she has matured through high school she embraced the opportunity to dig into her own understanding of what this diagnosis means to her identity and how it impacts her learning. It was important to her to return to speak to her elementary teachers about how they can support students and their families with ADHD.Â
The impact of Iris’ presentation was enormous. Teachers and leadership left feeling more confident in being able to talk about neuro-diverse learners around their needs. The Vietnam SENIA representative has asked her to present at their monthly meetings and in May 2021 she will present to her current teachers in the secondary school. Iris is a role model in the school community of a strong, resilient, and proud neuro-diverse student.
Congratulations to Iris van der Velden as the recipient of June 2021 SENIA World Changer Award!
Today our group discusses all things math with our special guest, Caty Romero who is someone who knows math and loves it.
Today’s podcast features Dr. Adam Boddison, the Chief Executive of NASEN, which is the National Association for Special Education Needs.
The details for the next virtual conference are finalized!
Aizat Izzuddin is an art enthusiast as well as a poetry performer, a storyteller, a voice actor, an illustrator and an orator. He, along with his classmate, narrated three short stories and recited three poems at the art festival “2020 Tiny Lit Festâ€, hosted virtually by an association in Brunei.The two students became the first Malaysians to take part in the art festival as performers. In early 2021, Aizat represented Malaysia to compete at the Asian English Olympics organized by an Indonesian university where he participated in the storytelling category, together with two of his classmates. He was one of the first individuals with disabilities to take part in the event as contestants. His accomplishments in literary, performing and visuals arts have catalyzed the active participation of special needs learners in various arts events in his community. More students have been inspired to participate in the art festivals being held locally, nationally and internationally.
Congratulations to Muhammad Aizat Izzuddin Bin Azme as the recipient of the 2021 May World Changer Award!
Aizat’s short story presentations and poetry along with his classmates can be accessed via this link: https://youtu.be/YkeS2ohTe_Y
A year ago today, my family and I made the difficult decision to leave our host country of Thailand to return to our home country. Our son, who is profoundly affected by autism and intellectual developmental delay (IDD) was not coping well with lockdown. It made sense to remove him from that stressful environment and into one where he felt most at peace. We thought it would “just be for the summer,†but it turned out that COVID had other plans and we were unable to get back. We are now in the US and call ourselves “COVID refugees.â€