What can happen when a child with disabilities is included in a traditional care setting with their peers without disabilities―where they can interact, learn, and play together in a universally designed environment, with adaptations, modifications, or accommodations built to support their full participation? For decades, the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Institute (FPG) has led the way, proving that with the right institutional support, technical assistance, professional development, implementation, and advocacy, young children both with and without disabilities thrive in remarkable ways when they’re in inclusive environments.

Earlier this year, the International Early Childhood Inclusion Institute celebrated a quarter-century of FPG’s longstanding work in early childhood inclusion. Presentations and discussions at the event recognized the voices and experiences of children with disabilities and their families and highlighted the critical contributions of individuals with disabilities, families, practitioners, policymakers, and many other leaders in the field who have worked tirelessly to create more inclusive environments.

We had a chance to speak with some of this year’s presenters and attendees and will be sharing those conversations with you in a short series of articles over the coming weeks. In this article, you’ll hear from Sam Atencio, senior program specialist at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. We’re so glad he made time to speak with us during the conference.

As a first-time attendee, what drew you to the Inclusion Institute?

What drew me to the Inclusion Institute is I wanted to learn from leaders in the field and bring back some practical strategies that I could use with my practitioners.

How does inclusion manifest itself in your life?

That’s a big one. Well, I work with preschool students—specifically preschool teachers—and just helping them and supporting them, working with students with IEPs, and to have an inclusive classroom and a sense of belonging in the classroom as well.

What are you most looking forward to at this year’s conference?

Well, besides the delicious food that you guys are all serving, just coming back with some practical strategies I can take back to my practitioners and use in the field to help support them. And also, I think one of the biggest things I brought back is that inclusion is a mindset. And it's not a dirty word. It's the mindset that we should all embrace. That we all belong here, and we all have access to that.

What advice would you share with future attendees?

You know, look at your schedule and plan accordingly. And just be prepared to learn and have a lot of fun just connecting with like-minded people and learning from leaders in the field.

What takeaways did you have from this year’s keynote?

Jordan Zimmerman, she was a phenomenal keynote speaker. And her and her family’s struggle just to be included was very eye-opening. And it was heartbreaking, but also very great at the end how she’s been given access and has been able to succeed because of that. And that just … made me reflect on my practices and how I could help support that in the future.

You can watch a video version of Atencio's video on our YouTube Channel.