(Part 1) Empowering Inclusivity with Siblings: Dr. DeShanna Reed's Advocacy Journey in Special Education

At Specially-Designed Education Services (SDES) we LOVE highlighting amazing current and former Special Education Administrators along with our amazing Special Education Teachers!

In this episode of the Fast 15, meet Dr. DeShanna Reed, a distinguished TEDx speaker, author, and seasoned educator specializing in special education and student behavior management. Dr. Reed shares her remarkable journey from behavioral health research to education, driven by a passion for social-emotional learning, accessibility, equity, and inclusion. Drawing from personal experiences, including her sibling's influence, she emphasizes the importance of valuing differently-abled students and leveraging educators' classroom insights for effective leadership. Discover Dr. Reed's dedication to equipping families and creating equitable and inclusive educational environments. Join us as we delve into the transformative story of Dr. Reed and her impactful advocacy in the field of education.  

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey listeners, in this episode of the Fast 15, we get a chance to discover more about Dr Deshanna Reed, who is a two-time TEDx speaker, an author of multiple books and publications and an experienced researcher. She's an educator and a former school administrator with two decades of expertise in both elementary and secondary levels, in special education and specifically in student behavior management. Dr Reed's expertise in educational and behavioral health research focuses on social-emotional learning, accessibility, equity and inclusion. Join us in welcoming her to the Fast 15. Dr Deshanna Reed, it's such a privilege to have you here on the Fast 15 today and listen just about your story and where you have come from in your career, and we just really want to find out a little bit more about you personally, just what story has brought you to where you're at, and then also just professionally, what are you doing in your corner of the world? You're out in Texas, I'm in Easton, houston, texas, and so would you do that for us? Would you just start out and share a little bit about your story so our listeners can learn about you?

Speaker 2: 1:19

I'm again it's without overwhelm with our time. As my story on the professional side, I actually entered education almost by accident. What I mean by that is, at the time I entered education I was actually serving as a behavioral health research assistant at MV Anderson Cancer Center. My background is in psychology, with focus on psycho neuroendocrinology. It's a really long one. It has a lot to do with the brain, its function and how certain elements of that impacted the endocrine system. I was doing some really great community-based research, which was fabulous actually.

Speaker 2: 2:01

But the challenge is doing that when you have one in pre-K and one in fifth grade was not to continuing, and so I knew I was going to have to walk away from that job, even though it was very much on the trajectory of what I believed my dream job was at the time. But it more important for me to be able to be a mom and be present for them. And so third or fourth time that I was late picking up my daughter from pre-K, the principal met me at the door and asked me if there was anything that she could do to help, and then also asked me if I had ever considered entering education. And at first I was like, okay, wait, look, I was just late. Right, like that career change, can we just pump Right but hold up Right? Just just right, I was a little late. That means I need to be a complete career change.

Speaker 1: 2:50

But I know.

Speaker 2: 2:52

I can't explain to you why I'm asking this. I just feel led to ask you. Okay, oh, like a coincidence kind of person. So there's a reason why. And I said well, you know, I said if I be a teacher and I got a student like me, I would probably quit. So I don't know if I'm going to get a job. Oh, son, you might surprise yourself, maybe that's something you should consider. I mean, if nothing else, if I'm wrong, you do it for a little while and maybe you decide you want to move on to something else, but it will give you the opportunity to still make an impact and it'll also give you the opportunity to not be late. I'm really quick of your challenge, great, so much.

Speaker 2: 3:33

I've read it all the way back to that.

Speaker 1: 3:36

What a strategy. That's a strategy.

Speaker 2: 3:40

And so I took her up on it and surprised to know that you needed more than just a degree to be a teacher. I didn't go to school for education so I didn't realize what it was. It was a pair of Okay, it was a pay cut, but I learned a lot and ultimately it really wasn't all that different than what my regular life was. I elected to start with resource students and then requested to work with life skills because I knew how lead was and also that really mirrored what my personal life was. I'm the youngest of four.

Speaker 2: 4:17

I have a differently abled sibling, and so while I was young and I was at home, I had the opportunity to be part of her everyday life. She has level three autism, so there are certain elements that she requires assistance with and guidance and somewhat oversight. She can do a lot of things. Sometimes it's funny, she just likes to do things for her, but she knows how to do things, not only verbal. So I understood, and so for me, when I entered the classroom in that way, I really was just considering the type of teacher my sister needed when she was very young, powerful.

Speaker 2: 5:01

I mean, she's 17 years older than I am, and so you got her diagnosis in the late 1960s, and back then it was virtually unheard of to have differently able students at school with their same age peers that weren't differently able. It was generally frowned upon, and so my mom had to do a great deal of teaching her at home and managing that with other children that were not differently able, and so I remembered the stories of the early days with them and what it was like and how they wished they had had teachers, the care that really wanted to nurture and develop her and just saw for not just what were her perceived limitations and really genuinely tried to form community with them and help them to understand some of the things that were going on educationally or otherwise, just really trying to navigate those paths. And so I wanted to be the kind of teacher that she needed.

Speaker 1: 6:06

Yes, yes, we're going to take just a quick bit of a pause to give a shout out to our sponsors S D E, s, and then we'll get right back to our conversation.

Speaker 3: 6:19

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Speaker 1: 6:36

And you know, one of the things that I'm picking up from you just in our short conversations at this point is that seeing the strengths in somebody right, not seeing their limitations I'm making this comparison between you and the principal, seeing your lateness and being mad at you. But no, the principal sees some strength in you as a potential educator Right, but I just, I just see that as so powerful it doesn't matter who we're approaching, whether they're differently abled or typically developing seeing strengths in people and pulling that out right. So powerful, and that's where we need to be. That's the type of educator I want to be as well. So tell me a little bit more about that. How, from your time in the classroom now you're talking about that how did your personal experiences and then now your professional? Where was the crossover for that in what you're doing now with advocacy just coaching people up and in all of all of the advocacy and the sibling component as well?

Speaker 2: 7:48

Well, for me, it was kind of a nap progression to get to where I am now and, to be honest, I feel like I probably was always doing it, okay, just the structure of it was different. And so, moving on past those early years, I ended up spending, I would say, 12ish years in and out of the classroom at varying grade levels and ultimately, for me, at every stage, in every position I was in whether I was a special educational teacher, resource lifestyles, the preschool program for children with disabilities, if I was in a general education classroom, whether it was elementary or secondary, and then I eventually became a campus administrator, it didn't matter. Every place that I was, I kept the mindset of what would my sister need at this time in her life? What would have been best so for her? What do these other people around need to know in order to make a meaningful impact in a way that is accessible, equitable and inclusive for this particular student?

Speaker 2: 8:53

I kept that in the forefront of my mind and I kept thinking about what my parents told me, about how important it was and how the times had changed, but so many mentalities hadn't, and so my role in that that I kept with me was I understand that there's been some movement, but it seems to be a very, very small movement of this needle.

Speaker 2: 9:17

So what can I do to make this move faster? Who can I help educate about the importance of seeing students as they are and considering the fact that this could very well be your child or your sibling, and what would you want done for them? And if whatever you're doing isn't moving and operating authentically in a way that you would see acceptable for someone in your family, don't do it to these children either. If you be left in the dark, don't leave parents in the dark either. Absolutely yes, just keeping that mentality and being point for me where I decided to finally step out of this room. I was a high school transitions teacher. I was in my doctoral studies. I decided to go back into the classroom. I left my campus administration job because actually being a campus administrator during COVID was a nightmare.

Speaker 2: 10:11

I got kids I love it, but I love what it was doing to others on my campus and I can tell you this when you have an ineffective leader at the helm of the campus and there's only one person that is actually pushing forward to make meaningful change, it becomes overwhelming for that person. Right, really believe, when I was that person it took me really to, but it was that experience. And then when I was the high school transitions teacher, I was sitting in a meeting with other transitions teachers for a larger school district in the greater Houston area and one of the central office administrators overseeing special education said direct quote in a room full of transition teachers. Mind you, it doesn't really matter what the family's worn anyway.

Speaker 2: 11:09

We have more seats at the table and it's not like they understand, so we're always going to be the person that we want, so they can disagree if they choose, but we're always going to get what we want. And that hit me like a ton of break, and I realized that, if she felt so emboldened to say that out loud in a room full of teachers who are serving differently abled adults, helping to transition them into adulthood, yes, how many more people think that, right, that just wasn't acceptable for me. Nope. And so I decided then okay, now's the time, all those previous times that I had heard you should do this, you should do all of this. It's time. It was time in that moment, and I started with the mentality of leveling the playing field, because I felt that families deserve to know and that we couldn't, as educators or school leaders, complain about the divide between families and schools if we're the ones perpetuating it.

Speaker 1: 12:16

Right and we can't move forward, like you're saying, that small change, the change that has to be made has to be done, from my perspective, in relationships and from partnering together, from collaborative efforts and for valuing voices, right, right, so now that you've come out of the classroom or out of the school setting and I want to know more about your consulting, your TED talks and just your experiences and I know there's a lot there, but just your approach is currently how did you do that? How did you maximize your impact for families when you stepped out of that kind of area in the school? How did we can be protected in that and really getting your voice out for positive change?

Speaker 2: 13:08

I started very small, just having meaningful conversations like this, directly connecting with people in my community and being super open and honest about what my experiences were. And some of my experiences in the classroom were great, and I am immensely grateful for everything that I experienced, whether very, very active or not quite. So I'm really grateful for that, because that gave me additional pieces that I could add to my toolbox like, okay, to make this not happen, this is what should be done, and so when I coach and I talk with instructional leaders about actually leading meaningful change in their campuses, I focus on those elements that I needed as a teacher and the biggest thing for me, even when I was a campus administrator, I always said, even out loud to teachers that I coach directly. I am never going to forget what it was like to be in the classroom, because the second I forget what it's like to be in the classroom. I need to hang it up.

Speaker 2: 14:12

Yes, because I can't lead without knowing and remembering constantly what the demands were in the classroom, but it was that I needed when I was in the classroom and who I needed my administrators to be, and I wanted to be the kind of administrator that I always needed and didn't always have, and so for me, that was important, and when I do coach, I remind them of that and I have them really consider what did you need when you were boots on the ground in the classroom? What makes you think that your teachers don't need that same thing? And how are you going to give it to them? Right, because it's really cool to give them a tote bag and a coffee mug, but they're in their room for five minutes while they go and they have their minor breakdown and then they come back and we get back in.

Speaker 1: 14:59

Right? Well, friends, we are too quickly at the end of this Fast 15 together and I'm really loving this conversation with Dr D'Shauna Reed. We will pick up the conversation where we just left off in our next episode, but real quick, let's remember some key points together from what D'Shauna shared with us. Number one differently abled siblings can have such a positive impact on how we experience and view the world. Number two keep a mindset for what your loved one could need and want in an equitable and inclusive school environment. Start with the mentality of leveling the playing field, because families deserve to know and to not be kept in the dark. Number three don't ever forget what it's like to be in the trenches in the classroom, because the second you forget what it's like to be in the classroom. You need to hang it up. If you're like me, you are touched and inspired by D'Shauna's story and her perspective.

Speaker 1: 15:58

For the rest of the conversation, be sure to subscribe to the Fast 15 so that you don't miss the rest of her inspiring story. It'll come out next week. For now, champions, keep listening, stay encouraged and don't forget to give a high five to other inspiring special educators and keep up the great work for your students. We'll talk to you soon. A heartfelt thank you to our generous sponsors, specially designed education services. Publishers of the Functional Academics Program, please take a moment to learn more about the only true, comprehensive Functional Academics Program that enables students with moderate to severe disabilities to improve their ability to live independently and show meaningful growth, both academically and personally, while creating accountability with data-driven, evidence-based results. Visit sdesworkscom to learn more.