Welcome to Episode 146 of the Think UDL podcast: Futureproofing with Adam Davison and Clare Squires. Adam Davison is the Lead Specialist Autism Mentor and Clare Squires is the Disability Officer for Autism both at De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom. I met Clare and Adam at the AHEAD conference in Dublin, Ireland, and was intrigued by the programs they have created to help Autistic students transition out of university and into the working world. We have many college and university programs that help students transition into college, but Clare and Adam saw a need for programs to help students think through life after college and confront and prepare for the challenges outside of the university that do not necessarily have to do with academic life. In today’s episode, we discuss the need for these programs and what De Montfort University has to offer, and also the many successes of these programs. You can read more about “Future Proofing” in this episodes resources on thinkUDL.org website and thank you for listening to the Think UDL podcast.

Welcome to Episode 145 of the Think UDL podcast: Intentional Workshop Design with Tolu Noah. Dr. Tolu Noah is the Instructional Learning Spaces Coordinator at California State University, Long Beach and is a gifted speaker, facilitator and presenter. Every time I get the chance to talk with Tolu I learn something new, inventive, and helpful for my own teaching and presenting. I am very happy to get a chance to talk to her about her upcoming book, Designing and Facilitating Workshops with Intentionality: A Guide to Crafting Engaging Professional Learning Experiences in Higher Education. I had the chance to be a pre-reader for the book and am so excited to see this out in the world and help so many of us who teach in so many contexts. It is an incredibly thoughtful and helpful guide. You can find out more about her book and how to pre-order on the resource section for this episode at ThinkUDL.org. And you can pre-order the book June 4-24 before its release date of June 25th. Today’s conversation delves into how UDL is such an important part and guiding principle of Tolu’s practice and her book and how UDL can help design really fantastic learning opportunities in the workshop format!

Welcome to Episode 144 of the Think UDL podcast: Accessible Workplaces with Connor Duignan. Connor Duignan is a Technical Software Developer at Innopharma Education. I met Connor at the AHEAD (Association On Higher Education and Disability) conference in Dublin, Ireland. His talk “Tertiary Education as Accessible Workplaces” beautifully summarized what accommodations and structures we have in higher education could also be transferred to the workplace to make a better working environment for all involved. In our conversation, we discuss principles that should be in place to make the workplace more flexible and accessible. This episode hits on the major ideas of Connor’s thesis with some excellent talking points for employers and employees to follow. Additionally, we had a wonderful time talking about the Irish language and its renaissance in Ireland, and why language itself is so important to a people and a culture. This is important to identity, culture, and individuality which is also linked to learner variability, and why we need to have places where everyone can bring their best selves in any environment, from higher ed to the workplace and everywhere else.