How to Participate

This series of live webinars will be streamed over the web via Zoom. Registered participants will receive an e-mail with instructions, the link to join the webinar and any other materials on the morning of the event.

Each workshop will be 50 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes, consisting of a discussion of the main topic of the webinar by the presenters, with about ten minutes at the end for questions and answers.

Registration is free for TASH Members. Non-members can register for individual episodes for $20 per episode, or $150 for the entire series.

You need to be logged in to your member account for the checkout system to apply your member discount. If you don’t know your member account login and password, you can find instructions for resetting them here, or you can contact Donald Taylor at dtaylor@tash.org for help with your membership.

All presentations will be recorded and available for purchase in the TASH Training Resource Library, or available without additional charge to applicable TASH members.

Not presently eligible for the membership discount? Become a member today and save.

If you have any questions or need help, you can contact Donald Taylor at dtaylor@tash.org or (202) 878-6959.

Upcoming Episodes

2:00-3:00 PM Eastern, Thursday, April 23, 2026

Ten Tips to Creating an Inclusive and Independent Life

Michelle Tetschner

Raymond and his mom speak of their personal successes and strategies that they have used in Raymond’s life to promote independence and inclusion in his school career and life. Raymond will share some of his school stories of theatre, sports teams and belonging. He will use a Power Point/Canva presentation with pictures so he can talk about the events. He will use subtitles to ensure he is understood and his message is received.

Michelle will speak more to a parents view point, of processes and methods that worked in their lives. She will speak to ten tips and tricks she has used to gain more inclusion for Raymond has he went through elementary school, to college and now as a young adult. She too will utilize pictures, showcasing events and creating a vibrant and fun presentation that parents and educators will love.

Participants will:

• Learn ten tips on how to build, create and formulate a vision statement that leads to an independent life for your loved one.
• Have learned and heard from a self advocate what some of the highlights have been in his school years-and why they were important to him.
• Have a better understanding of the battles that families have, creating inclusion and how meaningful inclusion is to our entire world. And how to make changes in your community to promote inclusion.

Michelle Tetschner is a proud mom to three boys, the youngest is Raymond who happens to rock an extra chromosome. She is the author of the book: “Fully Included~Stories to Inspire Inclusion” with her husband Stacy. She also has over 25 stories published on disability and Down syndrome.

Michelle has been featured on several podcasts and webinars as a leading expert on inclusion in both public and private Catholic schools. She is the current president/founder of FIRE Foundation NE Florida.

She describes herself as a “passionate inclusion’ista” who has fought yearly for her son Raymond to be included in school. She has coached hundreds of parents with inspiration and guidance for school meetings and IEPs.

Her son Raymond, is used to being the first. He was one of the first students in Phoenix, AZ to be fully included in Catholic school. He went on to be the inaugural student of a brand new program in Maryland, as well as the first student with Down syndrome, in the diocese of St Petersburg- to graduate fully included. He is an amazing drummer, actor, and an amazing guy who loves God and his family.

Michelle believes we all live in one world, and longs for the day when everyone chooses to open their hearts and minds to seeing each person’s gifts and talents first.

Register for this Episode

2:00-3:00 PM Eastern, Thursday, April 30, 2026

Inclusive and Neurodiversity Affirming Online Course Design

Casey Woodfield

This presentation will outline a process for and examples of embedding Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and neurodiversity affirming inclusive pedagogy throughout all aspects of an inclusive online courses. We share concrete strategies to foster a foundational level of access, which can then be further tailored and enhanced to individual context. This session will offer specific examples of cultivating an experience of accessibility and inclusion while also learning about related concepts. We will share examples from undergraduate, graduate and professional development courses that serve as models of innovative, inclusive pedagogy in asynchronous online courses. Attendees will engage in interaction with examples and active planning to implement strategies in their own courses or related online spaces.

Learning objectives:

• Identify components of inclusivity in online course design.
• Summarize the need for inclusive, neurodiversity-affirming practices in online learning experiences.
• Design and assess online courses that draw on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a means to inclusive and neurodiversity affirming pedagogy.

Dr. Casey Woodfield’s work centers communication and inclusion as inextricably connected imperatives. Using a disability studies framework her research explores the nuances of communication support partnerships, inclusive educational practice, and transformative qualitative methods. Her research tells stories of/through lived experiences at the intersections of communicative diversity, educational practice, relationality and neurodiverse identities, specifically in the lives of nonspeaking and unreliably speaking people who use augmentative and alternative communication. Dr. Woodfield is a Professor-in-Residence in Rowan’s Professional Development School network at Horace Mann Elementary School in Cherry Hill and Bowe Elementary School in Glassboro. Through these scholarly activities she works to counter socially constructed notions of competence and voice, guided by the perspectives of individuals with disabilities as critical agents of advocacy and change.​​

Register for this Episode

2:00-3:00 PM Eastern, Thursday, May 7, 2026

Disability-Centered and Disability-Affirming IEP Meetings: Parental and Student Self-Advocate Roles

Dr. Ramona Schwartz

In this session, the presenters share their experience as a student and parent in IEP meetings to promote disability-centered and disability-affirming goal-setting and IEP processes. By looking at how both the student and the parent review drafts of IEP documents and suggest and change goals based on a student’s needs. This experience allows for building teachers’ and team’s knowledge of how to create goals that reaffirm a student’s individual disability experience and to reinforce how crucial Universal Design for Learning is supporting equity within the curriculum and the school environment.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Identify gaps in IEP goals and processes that promote ableism
• Identify barriers to equity and inclusion based on IEP process and goals
• Learn strategies to center and to affirm disability in writing goals and in creating a more disability-centered IEP meeting
• Craft goals and descriptors that value the student and their learning rather than conforming to a medical-model influenced set of IEP goals and benchmarks

Dr. Ramona Schwartz-Johnston is a parent, advocate, ally, and Disability Studies teacher and researcher. She has worked in urban school districts as a teacher, school-based literacy coach, and a district-level literacy coordinator. As an adjunct faculty member, she focuses on AT, AAC, and language acquisition for Master’s level Special Education courses. As a parent, she lives in the world of neurodivergence and multiple disability identities with her children. Her research focuses on the ways that ableism, technoableism, and ableism in communication affect access, perceptions of disability, presumptive competence, and what it means to be in conversation with children and young adolescents who do not speak and use AAC.

Register for this Episode

2:00-3:00 PM Eastern, Thursday, May 14, 2026

Training Teachers to Use FLIP Recess to Improve Social Competence

Sara Martin

Recess often presents missed opportunities for students with significant disabilities to build social competence and peer relationships. This single-case design study examined the effects of a combined peer-mediated and social skills video-modeling instruction intervention for four middle school students with significant disabilities. The intervention included video modeling with same-aged peers demonstrating individualized social skills and a peer buddy network intervention at recess. Results showed notable increases in peer interactions and play for all four students. Teachers, students, and peers reported positive experiences with the intervention.

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Describe social challenges faced by middle school students with significant disabilities during recess that necessitate targeted interventions
• Explain the implementation of a video modeling and peer-mediated intervention package designed to support social engagement
• Analyze the outcomes of a single-case design study
• Discuss practical strategies and stakeholder feedback to inform implementation of similar interventions in inclusive educational settings

Sara Martin is a doctoral candidate in Special Education at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on improving inclusive educational opportunities for students with extensive support needs. She studies peer-mediated interventions, paraeducator training, and educational systems that shape meaningful participation, belonging, and learning in inclusive classrooms.

Register for this Episode

In addition to individual episodes, you can register for the complete series (free for members; $150 for non-members).