When:
February 6, 2024 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
2024-02-06T18:00:00-05:00
2024-02-06T20:00:00-05:00
Where:
Zoom
Cost:
Free
Contact:
PEAL Center
866-950-1040

From Barriers to Belonging:

The Power of Peers in Inclusive Schools

February 6, 2024: Creating Communities of Belonging for Students with Disabilities

February 13, 2024:  Peer Support Arrangements: Supporting Relationships and Learning in Inclusive Classrooms

February 20, 2024: Peer Networks: Fostering Friendships Beyond the Classroom

All sessions will be held virtually from 6-8 p.m. EST. Can’t make it live? No worries. Sessions will be recorded and available to registrants following the live presentation. BUT you have to register to get this access. 

From Barriers to Belonging: The Power of Peers in Inclusive Schools presented by Dr. Erik Carter will provide a roadmap for creating schools where students with intellectual and developmental disabilities can feel a deep sense of belonging and create lasting friendships among peers.

ALL students should feel a deep sense of belonging in their school communities. But for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, this sense of belonging and the development of friendships among typical peers has largely been absent in their educational experience, due to a long history of exclusion and segregation of students with disabilities in schools. Separate schools, separate classrooms, separate curriculums has led to isolation for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which has resulted in negative effects on relationships and learning outcomes for these students.

While many schools are moving toward integration and inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms, simply being in the room is not enough. Students with disabilities need to participate in ways that lead to deep belonging and connection with peers in their communities.

That’s why the PA Inclusion Collective and the PEAL Center are excited to provide families and educators in Pennsylvania this 3-part series. During these sessions, we will take a deep dive into how to create classrooms and schools where all students feel a sense of authentic belonging, how peers can be used as natural support for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and how schools can help students who have historically been among the most isolated and marginalized in our society to form lasting social connections and friendships.

Who is this series for? Parents, educators, related service providers, school administrators, and community members across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (and fellow inclusionists across the country).

About the Speaker: Dr. Erik Carter is the Luther Sweet Endowed Chair in Disabilities at Baylor University and Executive Director of the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities. His research addresses strategies for supporting inclusion and belonging in schools, workplaces, and congregations for children and adults with disabilities. He has published widely in the areas of educational and transition services, including more than 300 articles, chapters, and other publications. Read more about his work at www.erikwcarter.com/writing

Click here to register: https://www.pealcenter.org/from-barriers-to-belonging/?fbclid=IwAR3ST5vzUWn6SirQVCsTWUvsUcKFxT6lklQlSiso4ZKWQPzkY3EENhJPwM4