This second inclusion story features Tyler Bernreuther, a 16-year-old Loudon County, Virginia sophomore. Tyler is joined by his mom, Trish, and his former school OT, Dr. Debbie Schwind (a former guest of Inclusive Occupations).

“He is living his best life every day in school,” shares Tyler’s mom. Tyler’s family were fierce advocates in ensuring their son had the opportunities to do all that he was capable of doing. While advocating for Tyler’s belonging in the general education environment, the family was empathetic to the challenges faced by educators. They were willing to be open, trusting, and collaborative, enabling the best learning experiences for Tyler.

The pragmatics of enabling inclusion is shared by this trio. Dr. Debbie Schwind’s support through a non-traditional, strengths-based occupational therapy intervention calls for practitioners to rethink how school-based OT services can be utilized to make inclusion a reality for our students with disabilities. 
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Key Takeaways:
1. Exposure to opportunities and the proper support to be successful is key to inclusion

2. Understanding the balance between high expectations and the student’s capacities is key to ensuring successful learning. 

3. Finding a niche area to be successful in can instill the confidence to try and participate in other areas.

4. There are many occupations within the school context that can be supported by occupational therapy to ensure students experience inclusion.

5. Discussion of various adaptations made by occupational therapy to support inclusive education.

6. What does inclusion personally mean to Tyler and Trish? - Being treated with respect and given the chance to belong to whatever community one chooses to be part of.
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Additional Resources
More on Dr. Deborah Schwind https://www.lcps.org/domain/6031
Pictures of some adaptations discussed in the interview https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zWbnsRrJo-BnPLq6bpSjpHE-LRlI0MSg?usp=drive_link

Check out our website- ⁠www.inclusiveoccupations.com⁠
Podcast transcript with audio available at⁠ Otter.ai⁠ https://otter.ai/u/1wYRVP6CGFUKShLfzU1RSk8evE0?utm_source=copy_url