 Good evening. Hello. Thank you so much Ellery for that introduction. Wow. I feel like why me? Why am I up here speaking when so many brilliant individuals are at the conference today? I've been sitting here just taking note after note after note while people were on the panels listening to them and then My breakout session was the most awesome. I don't know about yours, but I'll tell you breakout room number four rocked Number four So really I did not prepare a speech for today I took a lot of notes and I just want to give some reflection based on what I gathered While I was here today before I do that though, I would love for volunteers to raise their hand and Express any thoughts or reflections that you had today? I know we've heard a lot with the panels and the speaking We had our breakout groups and I think we learned a lot there But I wonder if people would be willing to just share their aha moments their thoughts and reflections of today Just for a few minutes anybody Anyone? Anybody brave enough? Come on. I'm sure there are okay. Here we go Prepare Thank you, that's great And I have to say that I really loved everything that you had to say when you were on the panel It's it's powerful to bring the boots on the ground people those frontline people who are in a classroom doing this work every day To speak to a group like this. So thank you. I really appreciated hearing your perspective Any more thoughts aha moments reflections anybody else want to share? Yes one over here I'll just follow up with that with with a quote that you miss young actually made me think of during your presentation When you were speaking about the way you use voice to text on Google slides I don't know if you all in this room know but Lin-Manuel Miranda likely has dysgraphia He's never been diagnosed, but he speaks about it often and he in sixth grade received a on his Performance evaluation from his teacher his teacher wrote Lin has some problems with the physical act of writing I have suggested that he tape record some of his work He has wonderful thought. I don't want the writing part to stand in his way And so what may we not have gotten what made that maybe the world wouldn't have experienced had it not been from That teacher just like you so huge. Thanks to all the educators in the room and just a good Reminder I think for me and maybe maybe you too that it's so much more than just technical Accessibility it really is full participation in society and being able to be our whole selves no matter who we are So thank you to the educators first and foremost and appreciate the space today Yes. Yes. Thank you. That was awesome. Let's have just a couple more people one more or two more Anybody else? Yes, right here. I Have to thank our student ambassador here emmy from coming from Fairfax County She spent the room she spent the day with adults as opposed to peers her own age And and hopefully it was as a good of experience as that could be so so emmy's always been an excellent spokesperson for the technology tools and her educational experiences and I'm Can't be more thankful in our educational teams at Fairfax can't be more thankful for her So thank you emmy. Oh and of course thanks to emmy's mom who if you didn't get to like any you have any Introduction to emmy and her mother. She did not introduce her mother but her chauffeur So I will I will give you that credit mom for coming in today. So thank you for coming in also One more. Yes right back here Hi, I'm Louisa from Kahoot one thing that struck me was just the The different levels that we're all working at right like the the on the ground people working directly with students to product people to Policy and like everything in between and I know some of us have had conversations about how to make connections across those levels and in research and academia and I think it's just really struck me how we're all Dealing with the same challenges and trying to raise awareness about the same issues but from different angles so more of this collaboration I think is really meaningful It is yes Thank you. Really. Thank you so much for sharing what you experienced today Today brought a lot of memories back of my own journey in the educational space And I know that you heard my bio where I've worked and the things that I've done. Yes I worked for the Obama administration I work for the Department of Labor. I push for policies for people with disabilities I work for the Department of Homeland Security But today I was reminded of the importance of Education that is the fundamental basic human right and the presence of the Disability should not hamper a person's ability to really grab on to all of those possibilities that education can afford an individual A person can thrive in society regardless of circumstances or where they are with Education so with all the educators here the parents who are investing in their children's education the policy makers The advocates who work tirelessly Paul gosh, Paul. I have known you for so many years your work all of your advocacy. This is just so so important. I Often time remind individuals that I'm an example of what is possible I'm an example of what's possible when students with disabilities are given the appropriate tools and environment to thrive disability Should not be a barrier to our success To our achievements to our dreams to our goals to our lives It should everything should just be determined based on the strength of our own work ethic our own personality Our own drive and our self-determination these artificial barriers shouldn't be a thing Discussions that happen like today. We need to think of the end goal and that end goal is for people to have Accessibility and again. It's about people. It's about individuals and they deserve a rich barrier-free education That education can allow them to reach up to their full potential When I was eight years old, I became deaf in the beautiful country the island of Jamaica My family had no clue what to do with me all of a sudden. They had a deaf child So today we talked about cultural competency a little bit in my breakout room Because imagine this country I came here as an immigrant from Jamaica and then on top of that the cultural elements Where for example when I lost my hearing my entire community was fearful of me Because of the religious stigma that was attached to disability So it was very demeaning and disempowering. I was terrified I was eight years old and I was just trying to make sense of the world around me all the sudden now people were treating me differently I was the top student in my class before becoming deaf. I was popular and now all the sudden people shunned me. I Was kept at home and again, that's because the teachers and my family Decided well. She's deaf now. So she's no longer capable of receiving an education So My life went from being the most popular smartest kid in the classroom to a life of isolation But I'm thankful for my mother at that time She was living in New York South Bronx and I was still living in Jamaica with my aunt So my mom was able to focus on my immigration and moving me to the States So I was 11 years old almost three years after I lost my hearing. I moved to the States I had no education during that time simply because of the fact that I was deaf So I finally got to New York And I got into a mainstream school program in the Bronx that turned out not to be a good fit for me now Thanks to my special educator the resource room teacher She identified that I was not thriving in that main school classroom Technology at that time obviously wasn't what it is today. We're talking about in the 80s. So there was no captioning I had no interpreter. I Think the most That was available. Maybe it was an FN system, but I'm profoundly deaf compared to the other students in the mainstream classroom who had some residual hearing that FM loop system wouldn't help me So I was expected to lip-read which was not working Obviously today we talk about artificial intelligence Intelligence speech recognition, etc. So much technology is available today. That wasn't then Fortunately, I was able to leave that mainstream program and was placed into The Lexington school for the deaf in Queens, New York There were a lot more opportunities for me to integrate there and also for the first time in my life to meet Deaf children in Jamaica. I thought I was the only kid in the world who was deaf I didn't know sign language until I got to that deaf school and that was a life-altering experience as a deaf person I finally realized all of these years. I have internalized ableism. Do you know the term ableism? ableism is how mainstream Society views a person with a disability how they determine our worth and how they determine What we are deserving of So I had internalized all of those negative Viewpoints so that ableism and when I got to that deaf school everything I believed I realized was wrong There were teachers who were deaf and I thought how can that be? So really for me that was the beginning of My journey I was like a sponge. I just soaked everything I could up at that point. I share my story with you today Because accessibility and education Equal possibility. I Shuttered to think of what my life would have been like If it weren't for the ability to come here to the United States the land of opportunity and Access all of the wide resources that are available through IDEA and through special ed That helped me to achieve my dream and people applaud me and say Claudia You're the first deaf black deaf female attorney, but I'm quick to remind everyone There are countless other people who are out there who are just as smart as I am Just as capable as I am just as ambitious as I am but they never had the chance that I did They didn't have the chance So our work your work is to empower These people and give them a chance like Emmy and other people that are here today Give these people a chance When you go into the classroom every day or when you work on policy every day just think I want to make more Claudias and again, I'm just an example. I'm not an exception. I am an example, right? I'm not an exception at all. I'm a humble woman and Every single day. I'm reminded of why this work is so important. I know what my life would have been like without it I go back to Jamaica every year. I just was there this January and while The you know interpreters and accessible ed tech all these things we talk about here There are finally two young ladies in Jamaica who are deaf who graduated from the university last year They had to pay for the interpreters themselves out of pocket and I congratulated and celebrated them And I share that to remind you that in the United States. Yes, we have a lot of work to do We're not perfect, but we have come a very long way. There is so much possibility here There are vast opportunities if you think about it compare America to other countries and you will understand that So I wanted to share that just to put this in context This work is about our youth, but it's also about our future about our country We are responsible to create that next generation of leaders of teachers of policy makers and individuals with disabilities are a crucial part of those populations representation of those communities, so we need to prepare them to do this work that we're currently doing today Keep me posted on time here. I did write some notes today that I just wanted to highlight with you And hopefully what resonated with me resonated with you as well Roberto this morning from the Department of Education One thing that he said that I really appreciated Especially as a person who is a black immigrant and a woman Roberto said not just for some but for all That was part of a statement that he made he was talking about Educators on the front line and he was saying remember why you're doing this work. So he was talking about the why That's so important. I have experienced so much Discrimination in my life. My mom was a poor single mother. I Received my first tty. We didn't have a phone back then but my first tty When I was 18 years old My mom couldn't afford that My mom had no idea what a tty even was I learned about tty's with my deaf peers at school captioning television captioning I Won a captioning box back then captioning wasn't built into your television You had it, you know how it was right you had that separate box that hooked up to your TV and you had to pay for that box so fortunately I was involved in Miss black deaf America that pageant and the prize one of the prizes I won was a captioning box So yes, I had captioning I Was 18 18 years old. So all those years I would watch television have no idea what was going on. There were no captions That was before captions were mandated and today those are mandated to be built into the physical television So that line not just for some but for all that Roberto said really resonated with me I mean for one we're talking about affordability and also outreach Really outreach because sometimes I find these spaces to be a bit elitist to be frank and no offense But you know what I mean? It can be a bit elitist So how do we make sure that this information and these resources about what we know is available? trickles down to those multiple Marginalized community like me, you know, I said like my group that I'm from how would this triple trickle down to me My mom worked a job that wouldn't allow her any time off if she had time off. She wasn't paid So she didn't have the luxury of going to the different agencies to navigate that system and figure out what was even available to help me So again outreach to those underserved communities Bringing this information to these people and really meeting them where they are So coming down outside those ivory towers to get this information to the world We also need to talk about language barriers in these communities When we're doing this kind of outreach language needs to be considered So holistically, I'm sure many of you work in a school environment. You're on the frontline boots on the ground every day Lexington school for the deaf my high school at that time. We had 28 different languages spoken at my school because I was in New York So what does that mean in this space for accessible ed tech and that goes back to many people talking about innovating and developing with individuals who have disability partnering with people with disabilities with not for So I applaud here we go. I'm sorry your name again. I forgot Yes Yes, yes, yes, I applaud you For sign speak I see your efforts and I see you developing this tech And I know I have seen some stuff in your field before that I'm like, oh really? But the innovation of working with people with disabilities like you're doing using resources wisely If you don't do that then whatever you're producing isn't beneficial for the community in the end You also have to remember bias seeping in regardless of the space and accessible ed tech bias can Seek in here, too. And lastly technology is not the answer to everything In our breakout session today that came up and that's always a caveat for some disabilities like interpreters And I know that cost is always a consideration You know in this world and everywhere cost is a factor now with AI every company now every Organization is looking how they can cut cost by depending on technology We have to be principled though and we have to recognize That we also have to incorporate quality of life For me example, I have an app on my phone I pull this app out every single day several times a day. I go to the bank. I go to the grocery store I use this app, but if I'm in a meeting that I can't get an interpreter I know this app won't be a hundred percent accurate, but I can pull it out So I think we have to be disciplined We have to be mindful that technology though. It's great. It's empowering. It's enabling But still sometimes that human intermediary still needs to be there Other concept that I think is important for researchers and developers that are here I heard this today Accessibility by design and I know this is a concept that Microsoft has been pushing Build accessibility in from the get-go develop with accessibility in mind Make sure that disability talent is part of the creation They should be some of the creators One thing that I wrote down Emmy. I adore you Emmy. I mean I applaud you. You are so mature Well beyond your years, but one thing That I really feel it's important to emphasize is choices Choices It's a simple word choice, but powerful. I Really appreciated that Emmy you were able to speak to all of the different range of Tools that are available for you for your type of disability For dyslexia, so you were able to try all of these different tools and the fact that somebody who worked for you Say maybe two years ago this tool worked for you, but it doesn't work for you now Like you said you're taking it more advanced courses, so your tool needs change over time as well It's important that we proceed with flexibility and with an open mind This is an interactive process, so we need to determine solutions There's definitely no one-size-fits-all and these needs will change over time So choice is important And I have had situations where This is a true story. I have had a situation. I went to work at the White House and One of the first things that I requested was a video phone a Video phone and it was new at the time Tty's typing your conversation then and having to call a relay operator It just took much longer to have regular conversations I mean at the time we were thrilled to be able to make a phone call Independently so we didn't care that relay took longer, but fast forward to 2009 Technology had advanced at that point, so I asked at the White House for a video phone My job was public engagement which meant I would engage with deaf people for example National Association of the Deaf if I call the CEO I want to communicate with them directly via video the White House said oh Claudio no video phone. No, no no too. We can't do that because of security. Here's a TTY Now most people in the deaf community were no longer using TTYS So my preference my choice was a video phone that was emerging technology and that's what I wanted to use But I really had to go to bat for that It took a couple of months before I was finally able to get a video phone and Several features were disabled because of security reasons, but I got a video phone so the reason I tell you that is because You as educators as researchers as Developers mostly educators though because you're the people making decisions working on those IEPs working on What's available for these students? You really need to be on the cutting edge. You can't Give them outdated antiquated tools because that's what you know So you need to stay on the cutting edge and take training so Emmy that's what I appreciated about your comments You were able to navigate through all of those different resources to figure out what is best for you at that time in your educational journey I have two minutes left. I see I have so many more notes that I took Just a few final thoughts though as we continue this work that we started today and the cross-sector of collaboration the silos I Think we would all succeed when we all succeed. So this shouldn't be a competition We are more successful when we can collaborate At the end of the day, I assume that our objectives are similar We want to set people with disabilities students with disabilities up for success. We want to empower them We want to give them the tools to thrive So this type of collaboration that's happening here today is key for this space We provide technology, which is great Accessible ed tech is terrific, but don't forget about the other wraparound services Teachers educators need to be trained on how to use the resources Parents perhaps also need to be trained if a student is allowed to bring the equipment home or has you know Similar equipment at home, especially cultural barriers linguistic barriers at home So we must think big picture here We can't just focus on ed tech for the sake of ed tech What are the other wraparound services needed sometimes human assistance is needed to maximize the outcome? So this wraparound service think about a holistic approach. I think that's very very important and As a person Who represents multiply marginalized communities? We must embrace intersectionality Race gender socioeconomic status conditions, etc Intersectionality is important and that also includes affordability When we are giving the students a wide range of resources at the school what's happening at their home Again, it goes back to thinking holistically I am humbled to be with all of you today and I really applaud your work that you're doing I applaud all the organizers department of ed new america for hosting this type of conversation that took place today I hope this will continue and can be a model for other sectors Collaboration is the key to our success. Thanks for having me here