Nora Talks Panelist Presentation: Panel Discussions

At this year’s Training Camp, The Nora Project welcomed a panel of esteemed individuals with disabilities  to share their thoughts and perspectives about what inclusion should look like in schools. Each panelist provided a presentation with their own personal story, and later came together for a discussion facilitated by Torrie Dunlap of Kids Included Together. On the blog this month, we highlighted each of these presentations.

Over the last four weeks, we’ve highlighted each of our Nora Talks Panel participants and the impact their presentations had on our Training Camp attendees. If you haven’t had a chance to watch their talks, please check out Trisha’s, Mitchell’s, James’, and Gaelynn’s videos. 

After sharing an individual presentation for our teachers, the panelists came together for a discussion facilitated by Torrie Dunlap of Kids Included Together. Torrie leads the panelists in a conversation about what “inclusion,” a frequently used buzzword in education right now, really means and should look like. Panelists also discuss the concerns and challenges they face as disabled people in a world that was built for and prioritizes nondisabled people. They share their advice and their beliefs about what all people should know about disability and how we should begin teaching that to students in school.

The discussion runs about 50 minutes, and it’s worth every second. Our Training Camp participants raved about this panel. One teacher shared, “The video was a great time to reflect on my own practices both at work and outside of work.  I was able to think back on different situations I was in and wonder if I was incorporating all the ‘advice’ I heard, thinking about things I could have done differently even though I always had the best of intentions.”

Once you’ve watched the video, we invite you to share your takeaways in the comments!