About Think Inclusive
As the official blog of MCIE, we exist to build bridges between families, educators, and people with disabilities to advocate for inclusive education. We do this by publishing content from disabled advocates, parents of children with disabilities, and educators who are “all-in” for inclusion.
Here are a few things about who we are and what we do.
It all started with a Twitter and Tumblr account.
In preparation for the 2011 TASH conference in Atlanta, I set up a Twitter account.
Our first tweet:
Earlier that school year, the Georgia Department of Education worked with me and a student in my classroom to systematically include them in general education.
And then a Tumblr account.
I thought maybe if inclusion was important to me, it was important to someone else. And the response was fantastic.
In 2012, we officially launched the website.
Here is a screenshot of our first site.
[Image] the Think Inclusive website (Circa 2012), our tagline “where education meets advocacy.”
Our guest bloggers include disabled advocates, parents of children with disabilities, as well as special and general educators.
Something that was important to me when I started the site was to focus on a broad coalition of people who want to see inclusion move forward in our schools and communities. Since our first guest posts were published, we made it a point amplify voices that were at the greatest risk of being excluded in the discussion around inclusive education.
Some of our most notable guest bloggers are Emily Ladau, David Perry, and Katie Novak, and Amanda Morin.
Interested in guest blogging for us? Here is a link to view our guest blogging guidelines.
Our podcast episodes have been downloaded over 50K times since 2018.
We have been producing podcast episodes since 2012 and have featured conversations and commentary with thought leaders in inclusive education and community advocacy.
In 2020, Think Inclusive became the official blog of MCIE.
After spending 16 years in public education as a special education classroom teacher and district support specialist, my communications habit turned into a full-time career. Now, I'm the Director of Communications for MCIE, Editor-in-Chief of Think Inclusive, and host the Think Inclusive Podcast.
Every day, I have the privilege of advocating for inclusive education and show the world what is possible.
Something that I realized once I started in my role full time is that changing people's mindsets is the toughest part of changing systems. Believe it or not, the tools that make inclusive education possible are simple. It is much harder to convince people that we are segregating too many students with significant disabilities in disability-specific special education programs.
This is why our blog, podcast, and other communication avenues are vital. But we need your help to keep going.
Here is how you can help.
Donate to MCIE. Your gift keeps Think Inclusive going and expands our reach helps promote and sustain inclusive education for all learners.
Become a Patron of the Think Inclusive Podcast. Our patrons get access to a library of unedited interviews, exclusive patron-only posts, and even inspiring pieces of art.
Subscribe to the Weeklyish. A newsletter for inclusionists that is published nearly weekly, but mostly whenever we can get around to it.
Thanks for visiting and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Tim Villegas
Editor-in-Chief
