Podcast Guest on Rewriting the Narrative: Transforming Special Education

I'm so excited to share this recent podcast episode on Rewriting the Narrative: Transforming Special Education. I spoke with podast host and the current chair of the Board of Directors for the Council for Exceptional Children, Ben Tillotson. In addition to this role, he also has over 14 years experience working with children with disabilities, so you know we had an awesome conversation. And anytime I get to talk about communication, language, identity, and culture, I get very excited. We were able to make connections educators need when it comes to understanding communication and how to effectively and responsively work with students.

So, just to make it easy, here's the already written blurb and audiogram that the host of the Rewriting the Narrative podacst used for the introduction:

In this episode, host Ben Tillotson is joined by Megan-Brette Hamilton, PhD, CCC-SLP, Chief Staff Officer for Multicultural Affairs at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), to explore the important distinction between language differences and communication disorders. Drawing on her experience as a clinician, researcher, and educator, Dr. Hamilton explains why dialects are rule-governed variations of language—not deficits—and how misunderstanding a student's linguistic background can lead to inappropriate evaluations, interventions, and missed opportunities to build on their strengths. The conversation explores the value of observing students across multiple settings, asking better questions rather than making assumptions, and focusing on what students can do instead of comparing them to a perceived standard. Dr. Hamilton also discusses the role of translanguaging, African American English, and other language variations in the classroom, emphasizing the importance of culturally responsive assessment and instruction. Throughout the episode, she highlights how meaningful collaboration among educators, speech-language pathologists, and families helps create more inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive.

Check out our conversation here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Thank you for listening!

~Megan-Brette