Gearing up to Back to School Vibes

First day of school is this Thursday!  Where did the summer go? I'm nervous and excited and pumped and ready to hit the ground running. As a special ed teacher, but also as a human being, I am so happy with all the positive representations of disability I have seen in popular media lately!  Here is a few of my favorites that are giving me the never ending stream of energy and positive vibes I need to start the school year.  Are there any good ones I am missing?

Born this Way A TV show on A&E that I am OBSESSED with.  It is so entertaining and has all the typical reality TV show, except it is better because the stars are adults with down syndrome.  Choosing just one clip to share is killing me, just go out and watch it and report back.

Welcome to the very first episode of Speechless with Carly Fleischmann. Watch along as she interviews hollywood hunk Channing Tatum. He discusses growing up, his marriage and his greatest fears. Since finding her voice, Carly has made it her duty to spread autism awareness.

Speechless with Carly Fleischmann Love this Youtube show by Carly!  She only has one episode so far in which she interviews Channing Tatum all using an iPad with voice output for communication.  Rock on Carly!

The Fundamentals of Caring I've had a pretty serious crush on Paul Rudd since Clueless, so I knew I would like the movie right off the bat.  I strongly recommend not watching the trailer because it shows you all the funny parts out of order and shares way too much.  

Life with Micah Beautiful instagram about a young boy named Micah with down syndrome.  Micah is so stinking cute and irresistible, you can tell he inherited model skills from his mom, Amanda Booth.

Speechless  A new ABC comedy with a high school aged boy protagonist that uses a head attachment to spell out words to communicate. Excited to see how they portray Assistive Augmentative Communication and family life with a person with a disability.

Under the Table-The Importance of Presuming Competence A killer ted talk by Shelly Moore a fellow "inclusion geek" about the perils of underestimating students.  Every special ed teacher has a story like this that helps explain why we are so obsessed with our jobs and the populations we get to work with.  Rock on Shelly, got a total work crush on you girl. 

Class Act Coffee Cart Video  Last, but certainly not least, I'm going to plug this video that was made about my classroom by SoulPancake.  I'm so incredibly proud of my students and staff and this video managed to capture the magic my students spread around the school.  Because of our move I had to find another job, which broke my heart, but I know these charmers will do just fine without me!