Dr. Phil Smith will discuss his new book: What Ever Happened to Inclusion: The Place of Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Education. This book outlines the abject failure of schools to provide basic educational rights to students with disabilities and describes the changes needed in teacher preparation programs, policy, funding, and local schools to make the inclusion of students with intellectual disabilities a reality.
Abby Loy, college student, 19, will discuss the genetics of and her experiences living with Down syndrome in her presentation: The Truth about Down Syndrome. Loy's presentation will be followed by a brief question-and-answer session.
Loy attends Washtenaw Community College and is pursuing a career in child care. She started her formal education in Montessori school and has attended only regular education classes in the public school system. At Brighton High School, she earned her Varsity letter as a member of the marching and wind symphony bands and choir. Loy has delivered several presentations on Down syndrome to educators, physicians and decision-makers across the state.
Smith teaches special education at Eastern Michigan University, with an emphasis on inclusive education, families with members with disabilities, disability studies, and overrepresentation. His research interests include the ways in which people with disabilities experience choice, control, and power in their lives; normal theory; disability and education policy; and cultural understandings of disability. He conducts trainings in person-centered planning, circles of support, and disability rights. Smith has worked as an inclusion specialist in schools, a service coordinator, and an independent support broker.
Copies of Dr. Smith's book will be available for purchase by cash or check only.
Web site: Http://www.ddi.wayne.edu/author_series.php
Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.