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Diana Pastora Carson: This episode is proudly sponsored by Ability Magazine, the leading magazine for health, disability, and human potential that strives to shatter myths and stereotypes that surround disabilities.
Diana Pastora Carson: Welcome to the Beyond Awareness Disability Awareness That Matters Podcast. I'm your host, Diana Pastora Carson. Here you'll find a safe space to learn and grow with leaders in education, disability studies, disability advocacy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion conversation. Specifically, we look at how disability fits into diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging, and how to frame disability awareness in the context of educating K [00:01:00] through 12 communities.
Diana Pastora Carson: This show serves educators, parents, and community members who strive to learn and, or teach about disability in a research based and respectful way, moving beyond simple awareness and diving into inclusive and socially responsive conversations. Now let's go beyond awareness. Hello, everyone. And welcome back to Beyond Awareness, Disability Awareness That Matters. I'm so excited to have Kayla Coburn here of Inclusion Starts Now. Kayla, you are a mom who really is passionate about raising inclusive kids. You're an educator, you're an author, you're an entrepreneur, and you are now a podcaster.
Diana Pastora Carson: Can't wait to hear more about that. But welcome to Beyond Awareness. I am so thrilled and honored that you're [00:02:00] here with me today. We originally connected through Instagram and I've watched you as you've grown and developed your message and your business over the past couple of years. And then we met in person at a,
Diana Pastora Carson: I think it was TASH conference in Washington, D. C. Right? Back in 2023. And then again, last year in 2024. And I would love for you to share with our audience more about who you are and what you're up to.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. , so I mean, I'm Kayla . I really, I was a former para, I was a one-on-one aide for a couple of years and a special education teacher.
Kayla Coburn: And during that time, , I think I was, what I learned a lot was. I was shocked that so many people [00:03:00] didn't know about disabilities and didn't know about how to, , practice inclusion. And, , I was, cause like at grad school, that was like a huge focus for us. And so when I went out into the real world, I was like, Whoa, no, like, you guys don't know what this is.
Kayla Coburn: Like, you guys don't want to include everyone. And it really just spiraled from there. And, uh The book started as like, I just wanted more representation for my students. And then once I had kids, I was like, you know, there's so much parents can do like right at the beginning. So then I just kind of kept documenting it and here we are.
Diana Pastora Carson: And here we are. Wow. I love that. Yeah. That's, you know, I talk about my why being my brother Joaquin and our experience of institutionalization and, and then, you know, having to advocate for him to get out of an institution and then be included in the community as an adult., so that is always [00:04:00] in the forefront of my mind as an educator when I was in school.
Diana Pastora Carson: I'm wondering if there was. I know you learned about it in, in college, you know, in your, in your special education program. Was there anything else in your life that kind of tugged at your heart as a why? Why is it? Why is this so important to you?
Kayla Coburn: You know, I, I really, I, cause I know so many people who are big advocates usually have like a family member or someone really close to them where they.
Kayla Coburn: saw like firsthand how hurtful being excluded was. And it was, I mean, it was really just like all my, I could look back at so many different times in my life where I just felt like I just didn't like it. Like I, , a story that I like to share is my first time. In any sort of an inclusive setting was my [00:05:00] friend's birthday party and her mom, like, told us, like, so we all get there for the birthday party and it's a sleepover and the mom is like, okay, just to let you know, we do have a friend coming over.
Kayla Coburn: She, she has down syndrome and, you know, like, I remember her kind of saying, like, you know, her parents don't get a lot of time off because people don't know how to, like, hang out with her. But, you know, I, I specialize in this, like, so she is going to come to the birthday party for a couple hours. If you're, like, afraid or you need space, let me know, and I will, you know, come be with her.
Kayla Coburn: I remember at that time just thinking like I was scared because I mean, and I was probably, I don't know, seven, eight or nine, and I just remember being like, why would I be, like, she told me, like, you know, if you're scared, tell me so I can move her. And I was like, Oh, why would I be scared? And so I feel like I went into it thinking, like, I'm going to be scared of this person with a disability.
Kayla Coburn: And, and I was like, I did have moments where I was just like, [00:06:00] you know, I do remember being like, Oh, I'm afraid. Like, Take her, take her. And then looking back at that, the more I started like having more conversations with people with disabilities, I was like, dang, like that, that's such a great, that was such a great opportunity for that mom to be like, Hey, let me show you how to communicate with her.
Kayla Coburn: Like she does communicate differently. That could be like, we could get a little nervous with someone communicating differently. And so there was just like, So many times that I've looked back on that really kept building like why I care so much to educate people who don't know much about the disabled world and the disabled community.
Kayla Coburn: And I mean, maybe the student that I was a one on one aid for, I mean, he's the inspiration behind my first book, Tyler the Snake. And he does have like extensive support needs. He is deafblind and that's why I was connected with him and after that, I was just like, like, he loves being with [00:07:00] friends, like, why, why is he segregated?
Kayla Coburn: , and, and his family taught me a lot. So I just, I mean, really, there was so many things that like, just kept building this foundation that just inclusion felt so important.
Diana Pastora Carson: Yeah.
Diana Pastora Carson: Thanks for sharing that story. You know, the mom in your original story, her intentions were good, right?
Kayla Coburn: Totally.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah. I mean, she was kind of above her time or before her time, really.
Kayla Coburn: Right,
Diana Pastora Carson: right. And I see that with so many people is our intentions are good. I mean, even with myself, I can remember times when my intentions were good, but I said all the wrong things or did all the wrong things to get to a place of an inclusive mindset. And so that representation that you discussed, you know, and just.
Diana Pastora Carson: I think just being, not just [00:08:00] saying we are, we're going to be inclusive, but just being of a mindset that everyone belongs. Just like actually believing that everyone belongs and having that be the foundation. Then you don't have to explain so much, you know, when people are exposed to that mentality that everybody belongs here and it's, it's a good thing.
Diana Pastora Carson: I'm not sure exactly how to express it, but it's a good thing to just be okay with that everybody belongs here and to make ways for everyone's belonging to work for everyone.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah. So this is actually a topic that I'm going to start really diving into. , I just started a presentation with some of my friends about culture and like how to create an inclusive culture and maintain it.
Kayla Coburn: And, , there was this guy, I forgot his name, but [00:09:00] he talks a lot about organizational culture, I think is what it's called, but it talks about like this iceberg. And so the tip is like the practices that we do that everyone can see, like they come into campus and they can see, like, you know, they have a big sign that says, you belong here.
Kayla Coburn: Like that's like something we'll see right away. And then the next thing, like right under the water. Uh, it's like your, not value or maybe values. I always mix up these two, what they are, but I can explain what they are. So the one right under the water is like the school's mission, like the, what they're, what they're saying they really want to do.
Kayla Coburn: And then at the very bottom, which is like your inner values and you're like, you know, your biases that you might not even realize that you have, like, those are at the core. And so it's like to get everything to really be inclusive, it's like we do have to have that baseline mindset of everyone belongs here.
Kayla Coburn: And now we're going to grow from there instead of like, well, maybe inclusion isn't for everyone, because then it's like, [00:10:00] people will automatically be the second it's hard, they're like, Oh, well, you know, we know it's not for everyone. So maybe they just should go over there, which just doesn't make sense and is hurtful and that's just not realistic because we're a community.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah. We should all be together.
Diana Pastora Carson: Yeah. It doesn't make sense. It's hurtful. And in the grand scheme of things, it's really, it can be deadly. I'll give you an example. Well, first of all, institutionalization was a, is a result of that. And people were harmed, including my brother in an institutional setting.
Diana Pastora Carson: But beyond that, in the community, we just saw with the wildfires in Los Angeles, right? There was a, there was a man who was paralyzed and used a wheelchair, and his son had cerebral palsy and they lived in a community, and yet they were waiting for someone to come and help them. They were, they called [00:11:00] nine one one.
Diana Pastora Carson: The father couldn't get his son out of the house and they ended up dying. There was no sense of community and belonging, apparently. You know, there was nobody coming to, to, to check on the access to safety for these two individuals. And so what you're doing is so, so important. You know, I just, it just breaks my heart that these people were left and, you know, abandoned. And that happens. Not just in wildfires, it happens in all kinds of natural disasters, but it happens every day in our schools, you know, kids don't feel a sense of belonging and, and adults don't quite know how to respond to that, you know, and it's, there's a reactionary process afterwards, but what you do is you're promoting Being proactive with that [00:12:00] so that we don't have those kinds of reactions.
Diana Pastora Carson: People actually do understand, and embrace that everybody has different needs and that everybody belongs. So
Diana Pastora Carson: I love that you focus on raising inclusive kids and you are reinforcing the idea that inclusion advocacy doesn't only rest on the shoulders of the parents of children with disabilities or on the educators and administrators, but also on the community as a whole. How did you come to that conclusion and embrace that?
Diana Pastora Carson: I'm assing this is something that came about once you had your own children, or maybe not.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah, well, I, and I, I also want to say that that story of the LA fires was just devastating. I, even every time I hear the story, it's like I sit and I feel like I have to like sit in the [00:13:00] grief for a second.
Kayla Coburn: I'm from, , Orange County, so it's. Fire days were all very, very real. And, you know, one of the reasons we did move was I was always very afraid of fires and fire insurance and all that stuff. And yes, and I, I feel like that story is like a story that needs to be heard because we, we do need to take active steps to be a part of our community.
Kayla Coburn: And, I do feel like COVID has kind of, reset us. Like people have kind of gotten relaxed with like not taking those active steps to get to know your neighbors and like, Get, get outside and get into other people's houses and buy other people over to yours. Because building that community doesn't always come naturally, like it sometimes it does take some work to do and yeah, I mean [00:14:00] I I, I describe myself as like an extreme extrovert, uh, that I very much love connecting with people, love talking to people, love making friends. And I get a lot of energy being around people. Like I, I do very much love it. And then having so I mean, like before, like as a teacher, I would always go to events I love to talk to teachers. I love to have lunch with everybody because I and I this could be a big reason why inclusion is so important to me.
Kayla Coburn: But, I just feel like there's so much to learn and get to know from different people's perspectives. And it didn't really make sense for me to be a special education teacher asking for people to include my students when they didn't know who I was. So it was really about like building that community with me in it for them to like trust me and gain that trusted relationship, and then work together for all my students to like be a part of the community.
Kayla Coburn: [00:15:00] And, and I haven't been at that school for, I think, 10 years now. And they still do a lot of the things that we started. Because it's just become like the norm. It's like the expectation that everybody can see that it's successful. And they're like, Oh yeah, we're going to keep doing this. And so that has been really promising to me that I know that the change can happen and be sustained, without the one person there.
Kayla Coburn: But yeah, what, after having kids, I just, I, I guess it just made me, like, I just felt like I had so much access to the information in the disabled world. And I had friends with disabilities, like it was just like very. In our life, and I know that not everyone has that, but then I started realizing, like, you know, there are TV shows, and there's movies, and there's [00:16:00] books, like, there are so much, there is starting to become more disability representation out there, and it's, it's doable to connect your kids to that, and then to have those, because, like, kids, I mean, they get to an age where they just start saying things that are, like, you know, socially unacceptable, when they, like, You know, why do you look like that?
Kayla Coburn: Why are you so big? Like, why, where's your arm? You know, they say things and you're like, huh, sorry, like they're three. And, and so it's like when you have that conversation. In your house and explain it like, you know, in the safety of like, you're, you know, you're not trying to say the wrong thing or right thing.
Kayla Coburn: You're just like giving them the information. Then when you go out and see a person with a disability, I started seeing that my kids very easily just accepted that like, Oh yeah, they communicate differently or like, yep, they have one leg. I have two, cool like and it wasn't it wasn't like these questions Sometimes they get excited because they'll be like, hey, I have a character in my [00:17:00] book that looks like you and I'm like, okay That's cool.
Kayla Coburn: But we don't I don't know I kind of let that one go because no one has seemed offended yet. But sometimes my oldest will get excited when she sees a person like using an accommodation and she'll be like Look, there's a person with a disability, like, just like our books. And I'm like,
Diana Pastora Carson: that's so cool! That's great.
Kayla Coburn: I'm not sure if I answered your question, but yeah.
Diana Pastora Carson: Yeah. Well, yeah, it did. It did. So when I was teaching in the elementary classroom, which was an inclusive classroom, , or several inclusive classrooms, it was really clear to me which students had been raised with an inclusive mindset and it made a difference for the students and families, uh, with disabilities, but also for me and for the rest of the class.
Diana Pastora Carson: [00:18:00] So how do you see raising inclusive kids as beneficial to schools and or the community as a whole? Like what kinds of things do you see that maybe are problematic in our schools that, that this is, this is actually a solution for?
Diana Pastora Carson: I mean, I, so that, I love this question because I was like just thinking about this the other day that I don't, I try not to give these yes or no answers.
Diana Pastora Carson: Well, that's just the way it is. Like I try not to make it this like finite answer because I hope that our future generations can like invent the next thing or like figure out the next solution. And so having that for my kids, when they're like, you know, like, well, why doesn't this work? And it's like, well, I don't know.
Diana Pastora Carson: Why do you think? And it's like, kind of, and then even if they say an answer that that might not work, it's like, oh, cool, let's try it and [00:19:00] figure it out. And I just feel like that mindset going into schools and jobs and I mean, anything. I mean, I just feel like it's so important to critically think because I mean, I'm sure like 50 years ago, no one thought that we would be all able to work remotely.
Diana Pastora Carson: And, like, meet each other all over the world through our screens, and someone had the idea that it could work. And, I mean, just all the accommodations that, people use, like, for, especially for disabilities, like, all, and, because I worked a lot in the DeafBlind world, DeafBlind community, and there was a lot of new technology that someone had to invent.
Diana Pastora Carson: But it's like portable and it helps people communicate and, you know, do so much. So, I feel like giving kids that, like, as we said before, that baseline of that mindset of, like, everyone belongs. Oh, we've ran into a problem or a challenge. Like, how are we going [00:20:00] to solve it? Is just going to keep creating these humans that are going to be able to, like, make our world better and better and hopefully figure out how to make it good again.
Diana Pastora Carson: I love that. Yeah, make the world work.
Diana Pastora Carson: Yeah, that's good. That's great. I saw that in my classroom too, for sure. We were, the students were actually always thinking of ways that we could accommodate one another. How could we solve these problems together? And that was I think, I think it brought us closer together having to work to support one another for sure.
Kayla Coburn: And isn't, I mean, that's like what we want. I read, I read a lot of nonfiction books cause I just like love learning about han behavior and just book after book talks about the han need to belong and connect with other hans. And it's, it's just like, why would it stop for a certain [00:21:00] person? Because they don't use their voice to speak or their words to speak or, you know, maybe like, it's just so important to find ways for everyone
Diana Pastora Carson: to belong.
Diana Pastora Carson: Absolutely. So speak to our parents who are listening right now. What are a few foundational tips that you need to remember when your aim is to raise inclusive kids.
Kayla Coburn: Definitely having the representation at home is so important. , my, me, so my husband and I we're two cisgender white people, and we have two white children.
Kayla Coburn: And so, we very actively at the beginning of having kids made sure to have toys and books and shows that did not just have white people representation. We made sure to have, like, people of color. We made sure to have [00:22:00] disabilities because that was, like, the, just the first, like, foundational thing that we could do that, , That just started, that just showed them that like, you know, just because, you know, the four of us are white doesn't mean that's like the only option.
Kayla Coburn: And just, again, like really normalizing that language and conversation and like having a safe place to ask those questions because sometimes kids, I mean those, especially when they're so little, they do say things that are like, You know, they're, they're categorizing. I know that developmentally little kids are categorizing and when things are different than them very early on, they're like, Oh, I don't like that.
Kayla Coburn: Cause it's different than me. And that is like a great time to be like, Oh yeah, it is different than you, but you know, you can still probably play with them or you could still probably do this, like just continuing that conversation and just being so [00:23:00] repetitive. I mean, we talk about the same things over and over and over again
Kayla Coburn: which I just feel like is. It's really important and it's just, I don't, and it's also really helped me and my partner be really like just inclusive with our language all the time, oh, which I actually, that is one of the biggest things that I tell people, like, if you want to raise inclusive kids, you need to be an inclusive adult.
Kayla Coburn: And that means, uh, and I would say the biggest examples that I see is when people make fun of other people that can't hear them. And so I've, especially with people who might have like mental health issues who, , don't have a home, I've seen, you know, just the random, not so much since I moved to Washington, but the, like, negativity, the verbal negativity that people will have towards, like, the homeless population, and they'll say something like, even if it's, like, supposed to be a joke, or like, oh, that guy's having a good day, like,
Kayla Coburn: what the kids are [00:24:00] seeing is that like we can make fun of that person where we have like no idea what their life story is. And, , that's just like not leading the inclusive life. So really making sure that you as the adult are making choices, to like actively be inclusive. And that could be like inviting your neighbors over or going outside and all playing together.
Kayla Coburn: So those are the few, those are like the most basic things that I could think of that you could do like right now.
Diana Pastora Carson: Those are great. Thank you. Those are awesome. Okay, so your books, you have a few children's books that you've written in the past couple years that focus on diversity as it relates to disability and speaking to representation and an inclusive mindset.
Diana Pastora Carson: And you have some inclusive merch, like t shirts. Yes. So share a little bit about what you offer and tell us how we can get them.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah. Uh, so [00:25:00] everything is on that everything is inclusion starts now. That was my, I kind of made it randomly as a special education teacher like a decade ago and then I kind of just forgot about Instagram and then a few years ago I was like, Oh yeah, this account.
Kayla Coburn: And so then I like brought it back is how that name started. But now I don't know where else to go cause it's just been my name now for so long. It's a great name. Thank you. So the, the merch and stuff, it all gets made through another company, so. I just feel like that needs to be said. So if anything comes out wrong, that you can contact me and I'll contact the company and they'll help it.
Kayla Coburn: They'll fix it. Cause I don't see it. A lot of people ask me like how it takes, how long it takes me to make it. I don't make them. , but I'm wearing one right now. This was one of my first designs and it says you can sit with us. Nice. Mean girls reference.
Diana Pastora Carson: I haven't seen that movie. So thank you for clarifying that you can sit with us.
Kayla Coburn: Okay. It's, , yeah, on mean girls, they [00:26:00] say you can't sit with us because they're like the elite, the elite. Yes. Okay. And so, so I did you cans it with us. , and yeah, and there's just a bunch of really random, random shirts on there. I post a lot about them. I do a lot of coupons. So I don't know, follow, follow along and see where the coupons are.
Kayla Coburn: And then my books are, I would say like, are my, my third, fourth and fifth babies. They were, I feel like very therapeutic for me to write. I kind of wrote them as like social stories slash scripts for parents to be able to say the appropriate things about disabilities to their kids. So the first one was Tyler the snake and you follow Tyler, who's deafblind,
Kayla Coburn: just to get to his day at school. And so on his way to school, you meet some of his friends and they all talk about like the different [00:27:00] accommodations. There's some sign language in the book of like that they show, the illustrator drew the beautiful hand, like this is the sign for snake. And so it describes like how to sign snake.
Kayla Coburn: We got like AAC representation, so that was the first one. And then the next is Dallas, the dog. And this is about making Halloween inclusive and talking about different accommodations for trick or treating. There's also a character that celebrates Dia de los Muertos in this book. And there's a couple pages about that.
Kayla Coburn: And then the last one is Miguel the Chameleon. And Miguel is a new student. He has a limb difference, but it's never talked about. He just has one. So he comes to his first day of school in the class where all the characters go and they're all sharing like what holidays they celebrate during the winter [00:28:00] season.
Kayla Coburn: And so It just goes over a bunch of different holidays. And this one rhymes. This was the first one that I got to be able to rhyme. Nice! How fun! But yeah, so I would say, like, they are a little bit longer, but the reasoning is that it's giving the adults the language on how to describe, you know, if someone communicates differently than you, has different accommodations, like what things are called, but in a fun way that kids will like still be interested in reading them.
Diana Pastora Carson: And for what grades or age levels would you say?
Kayla Coburn: You know, I, people ask me this a lot and I should probably have a better answer. I mean, I would say up to like eight or nine years old, uh, my kids are four and two and we will, we read these books, but we are, we read a lot.
Kayla Coburn: Like that's. We're very into reading, but I feel like a lot [00:29:00] of the people I know who have bought them, they're from ages like three to seven, probably. But I would say you can go a little bit older than that too.
Diana Pastora Carson: I would say so you can modify anything. Adapt it to the age, yeah. Yeah. Have it be a research paper after that.
Kayla Coburn: I know that's actually why I've been so bad at saying what age it's for. Mm-hmm. Because to me, I'm like, it could be for anybody. Right. Right. That's
Kayla Coburn: what you're going to do after it.
Diana Pastora Carson: We, we all need to learn these concepts for sure. Okay. Kayla, are you ready for some fun? I mean, we've been having fun.
Diana Pastora Carson: Are you ready for some more fun? Yes. I have a few rapid fire bonus questions for you. Okay. Okay. Here we go.
Diana Pastora Carson: Coffee or tea? Coffee.
Diana Pastora Carson: Soup or salad? Oh my gosh. That's so hard. Salad. Salad.
Diana Pastora Carson: Dogs or cats? Dogs.
Diana Pastora Carson: Audio or paper books? Oh, no. I mean, okay, paper books, paper [00:30:00] books.
Diana Pastora Carson: Your favorite outfit? Leggings and a sweater. Okay. I, I already knew that. You're always showing your outfits on Instagram.
Diana Pastora Carson: Favorite music artist or music genre? Mika is like my favorite artist ever. Mika. But I also love Taylor Swift. I feel like, honorable mention, I love her as well.
Diana Pastora Carson: Okay. Favorite family outing? anytime we get to travel. I love traveling. Like road trips? Outside. Like going further, or we have to like spend the night somewhere. Okay. It could be anywhere. Camping, hotel, I don't care. I love it.
Diana Pastora Carson: Do you have a favorite kids movie? Inside Out was the first one that came to mind. Okay. Good. Ooh, and Encanto. Sorry. What is that? And Encanto. Honorable mention. Encanto? Yes. You [00:31:00] have not seen that. And Lin Manuel wrote the music for it. Have you, do you know him from Hamilton? He wrote Hamilton.
Diana Pastora Carson: Oh my gosh. I haven't seen Hamilton. I know. I need to, I need to go see Hamilton. It sounds like you don't have a Disney subscription.
Diana Pastora Carson: I do not.
Kayla Coburn: Okay. Well then that makes sense. These are all on Disney.
Diana Pastora Carson: So spell, spell the name of that one. The second one. The honorable. Encanto? E N
Kayla Coburn: C A N T O.
Diana Pastora Carson: Okay. Encanto. Okay. Encanto. Alright. Great. I have to see that.
Diana Pastora Carson: Favorite teacher growing up and why? Oh my gosh. That's so hard. I loved so many teachers. () Oh, nice.)
Diana Pastora Carson: My, my mom always always tells people that I had a, I had the best teachers because I was like born to be a teacher. So I was like. , Oh my gosh, I, I am like going through every teacher and I just [00:32:00] loved all of them so much.
Diana Pastora Carson: Well, that's a good answer then. Okay. That's good. I'm trying to think of like a name one.
Kayla Coburn: I could say a college professor. Okay. She's also like my mentor friend, her name's Julie Meyer. And she actually is in my book. All my books are named after all the characters are students or mentors. And so this is Julie the squirrel. How clever! That was awesome. She was a phenomenal professor, mentor, coworker, friend, all the above.
Diana Pastora Carson: Favorite memory as a classroom teacher?
Kayla Coburn: I mean any moment when a student, like without a disability, Was in our classroom or just like with one of my oh, you know what? No, okay I have a very specific one one of my students who was not in my class anymore So he was now a fourth or fifth grader and he was playing kickball So it was all like the fourth and fifth graders, whatever grade fourth [00:33:00] grade.
Kayla Coburn: All of them were playing together kickball and he went to go like kick the ball and all the students Like we're supporting him with kickball because he's never played before and so they, I mean they did, they like let him like go through the bases and they weren't as competitive to get him out, but it was also like they were showing him how to play kickball, which I just loved.
Kayla Coburn: And my favorite thing about this whole story was that when the teacher told me about it, they were like, we did not say anything like there was no, . Like we didn't tell them like, okay, it's now this person's let's take it easy. Like there was none of that. It was just like, everyone was automatically inclusive.
Kayla Coburn: And what was really important was that that student and that group of kids were like one of the first groups that me and my bestie general ed teacher did this, we called it buddy class where we just like switched all the kids into like two of our classrooms, but they were like split [00:34:00] 50 50 and it just switched every time, same curriculum.
Kayla Coburn: And, all it was, was like to socialize and do art and talk about like how to, you know, just like be with each other in the same room for more than like just recess and lunch. And so it was a really great moment of it's working, like we can see that the more time they get to spend together, the more time they understand each other and then they like want to be together.
Kayla Coburn: Right. I tried to say it really fast, but now it's beautiful.
Diana Pastora Carson: Yeah, not so rapid fire, but it was good. Okay. Something that your child, one of your children has done or said that made you proud?
Kayla Coburn: One of my favorite times was we were at the park and this little girl, I'm assing is autistic, uh, was there and she was like, was jumping.
Kayla Coburn: She was stimming. She was jumping and, , like flapping her hands and all of a sudden she like screamed really loud. And [00:35:00] my, my child was probably like two or three at the time. She was super little and she looked, she must've been three. She looked over and like, I could see her kind of observing her of like what she was doing.
Kayla Coburn: And then she looked at me and was like, Oh, I think she's really happy to be at the park. Cause like, you can see the smile on her face and I was just like, yeah, she does seem happy. And then they kind of did some parallel play later on. And I was just like, Oh my gosh, my little inclusion heart was bursting.
Kayla Coburn: That's precious.
Diana Pastora Carson: I love that. One more time, kayla. How can people find you? Where do they find you at?
Kayla Coburn: Everything is Inclusion Starts Now, so that's Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, I have a new podcast, it's not new, I don't, it's like six months, I don't know how, what new is, and everything is Inclusion Starts Now, uh, and you can message me on anything, cause I seem to be addicted to my phone, as I'm gonna assume everyone is.
Kayla Coburn: Yeah, [00:36:00]
Diana Pastora Carson: I'm working on not being so, but yeah
Kayla Coburn: I did put my time limit back on. So I only get a certain amount of time on these social media apps and then it's like I have to, you know, go read my book or something.
Diana Pastora Carson: Yes.
Diana Pastora Carson: Good. Good for you.
Diana Pastora Carson: Alright, Kayla Coburn, thank you so much for being with us today.
Kayla Coburn: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Diana. I really appreciate it.
Diana Pastora Carson: Thank you for tuning into this episode of Beyond Awareness, disability Awareness That Matters. I love providing this podcast to support you in your passionate disability awareness and inclusionary practices work in our schools and communities. And I hope you'll help me to help others by promoting this episode far and wide.
Diana Pastora Carson: You can also [00:37:00] proactively support this podcast in the following ways, subscribe, rate and review this show on Apple podcast, Google podcast. Spotify, or wherever you listen to this episode, it really means the world to me to have your support in this way, because it increases the chances of others getting to hear the messages presented in each episode.
Diana Pastora Carson: For more valuable resources that align with the values of this podcast, you can visit my website, dianapastoracarson. com, where you'll find links to my priceless free resource, how to talk about disability with kids. As well as my blog, where I share my thoughts as an educator and sibling advocate, my flexible online Beyond Awareness Basics course, my books, including the beautifully illustrated children's book, Ed Roberts Champion of Disability Rights, as well as my comprehensive [00:38:00] guide for anyone wanting to do disability awareness work.
Diana Pastora Carson: That is the book entitled Beyond Awareness: Bringing disability into Diversity Work in K 12 Schools and Communities. Now while I love this book so much, and I believe you should have it in your library as a resource, I do understand that time is of the essence. So, if you are super busy like me and you just need something quick, easy, and convenient that will get to the point, I have just what you need.
Diana Pastora Carson: You should definitely get your hands on my handy, tri- fold, laminated, beyond disability awareness educator's guide. Published by NPR Inc. Again, all of these resources can be found at dianapastoracarson. com. You can also follow me, Diana on Instagram at [00:39:00] dianapastoracarson and at facebook. com slash go beyond awareness.
Diana Pastora Carson: Podcast transcription and podcast guest information can be found in the show notes. Intro and outro music has been provided courtesy of my son, Emmanuel Castro. Thank you again. Be well, be a lifelong learner, and let's be inclusive. See you next time.
Diana Pastora Carson: Latin Theme Music: Cuando empieza el ritmo, Todo el mundo se junta Bailamos, gritamos, amamos
Diana Pastora Carson: Subamos las manos Nada nos puede parar Hasta [00:40:00] el final vamos a cantar Estamos aquĆ para disfrutar MoviĆ©ndonos al ritmo Manos arriba, arriba, todas las manos para arriba. Que viva la vida, no hay alternativa. Arriba, arriba, todas las manos para arriba. Que viva la vida, que viva, que viva, que viva. Whoa,
Diana Pastora Carson: whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Todo el mundo together, bailaremos forever, sudando, gozando, brillando hasta la maƱana. Whoa, whoa. [00:41:00] Nada nos puede parar. Hasta el final vamos a cantar. Estamos aqui para disfrutar. MoviƩndonos de ritmo. Manos arriba, arriba. Todas las manos pa arriba. Que viva la vida. No hay alternativa.
Diana Pastora Carson: Arriba, arriba. Todas las manos pa arriba. Que viva la vida. Que viva, que viva, que [00:42:00] viva.
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