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Special Educators Flock to Seattle
for the CEC 2009 Convention & Expo

More than 5,600 special education professionals from across the United States and around the globe gathered in stunning Seattle for the CEC 2009 Convention & Expo, held April 1-4. The occasional drizzle and even an April Fool’s Day snowstorm couldn’t keep attendees from enjoying the conference, which is the largest and most prestigious professional development event in the field of special education. The Washington State Convention and Trade Center and neighboring Sheraton Seattle Hotel offered more than 900 lecture and poster sessions, numerous special events and socials, endless networking opportunities, and an exhibit hall brimming with the latest special education products and technologies.

Marlee Matlin Shares Her Story

The Convention & Expo kicked off with the General Session, the highlight of which was actress Marlee Matlin’s keynote address. Matlin, who is deaf, won an Academy Award for her role in the 1986 movie “Children of a Lesser God” and has starred in acclaimed television series such as “The West Wing.” But as she explained, the path to success was not always easy. She faced both public criticisms – some thought she received her Oscar out of pity – and her own self-doubt. It was her family, her teachers, and a very special mentor who compelled her to follow her dreams of becoming an actress.

Though she claimed to be nervous in front of so many teachers – was she being graded, she wondered? – Matlin held the large audience captive for 45 minutes as she signed her address and later took questions; meanwhile her longtime interpreter, Jack Jason, spoke to the crowd. Matlin described how, once she was diagnosed as deaf at 18 months, her parents insisted on giving her the best education possible while also treating her as any other child. They chose to send her to Chicago Public Schools instead of a residential facility, which was the more common choice at that time.

“My childhood was about me, not my deafness,” Matlin told the crowd of about 2,000.

Matlin started out acting in school plays, even securing the role of Dorothy in the “Wizard of Oz,” and had the chance to meet actor Henry Winkler of “Happy Days” fame when she was 13. Winkler, who at the time had an undiagnosed learning disability himself, told the young Matlin to follow her heart and not let a disability stop her from pursuing her goals. Nine years later, she had her Oscar in hand – and she remains close friends with Winkler to this day.

From then on, Matlin found her way around the barriers in Hollywood, eventually becoming an advocate for people with disabilities. She has authored three children’s novels about coping with deafness and is involved with such charitable organizations as the American Red Cross, Easter Seals, and the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation. She was also instrumental in persuading Congress to pass federal legislation requiring that all televisions manufactured in the United States be equipped with closed captioning technology.

Matlin gave a heartfelt thanks to the teachers before her – “I know that I am here today because people like you listened to me,” she told them. In closing her speech, she asked the audience to sign the following mantra: “courage plus dreams equals success.”

Click here for additional coverage of and photos from the opening general session (courtesy of SeattlePI.com).

Leading Experts Discuss the Latest in Special and Gifted Education

Full- and half-day preconvention workshops, held April 1, featured experts focusing on such topics as response to intervention (RTI), universal design for learning, co-teaching, cultural and linguistic diversity, autism spectrum disorders, and public policy. Participants were able to get advice directly from and interact with the experts while earning CEUs for attending.

Convention strands explored specific topics in depth through a series of conceptually and developmentally linked sequential sessions. Subject matters ranged from RTI to paraeducator training, from using technology in the classroom to teacher recruitment and retention.

Program chair invited speakers included Naomi Zigmund of the University of Pittsburgh on meeting the needs of students with disabilities in today’s school climate, Doug Cheney of the University of Washington on RTI in the social domain, and W. Alan Coulter from the Data Accountability Center in New Orleans on disproportionality in state and national data.

“CEC is a great conference. I always come away with new tools or new uses for the tools I have. It is invigorating and nurturing,” said one convention attendee.

Also among the convention highlights were cutting-edge policy sessions featuring U.S. Department of Education officials and Kareem Dale, special assistant to President Obama on disability policy. Dale spoke at the “What’s Happening in Washington” session about the White House’s policy agenda for students with disabilities, including increasing funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), creating enhanced assessments, enforcing accountability for outcomes, and improving transition practices. He also answered several audience questions, which resulted in a lively discussion on these pressing policy topics.

CEC’s Policy and Advocacy staff also hosted two town hall forums, one on the recently passed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and one about IDEA reauthorization, during which the audiences shared ideas and recommendations in addition to the challenges they face implementing federal legislation.

“The legislative and ARRA information was timely and informative,” stated another special educator in attendance.

CEC Honors the Best of the Best

CEC honored some of the best teachers, researchers, faculty, and students in the field with the association’s Professional and Student Awards, which were presented at the General Session and the Student Forum. Click here for more on these honorees. CEC also honored Alec Peck and Stan Scarpati, outgoing editors of TEACHING Exceptional Children, for their stellar contributions to CEC and special education.
 
Also honored for their remarkable achievements were 27 children and youth with a wide range of disabilities – and an even wider range of impressive accomplishments – from across the United States. Several hundred special educators, family members, and friends cheered the winners as they received the 2009 Yes I Can! Awards. Click here for more on these inspiring young people.

The convention concluded with the annual Teacher of the Year Luncheon, which paid tribute to CEC’s 2009 Clarissa Hug National Teacher of the Year, Gayle Solis Zavala from Wellington, Fla., and the CEC state/provincial and division teachers of the year who traveled to Seattle for the convention. The audience was treated to a lovely meal as keynoter Mary Bigler described the joys of teaching and had them laughing so hard there were tears. All honorees were given commemorative statues and letters of congratulations from Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Highlights from the Expo

Another key piece of the convention experience, CEC’s Expo is a showcase for those who work with students with exceptionalities. The vast Expo, which included more than 200 vendors and recruiting school systems, displayed new and tried-and-true products for assessment, behavior management, curriculum delivery, and more.

At the CEC Store, shoppers scrambled for their copies of CEC’s just-published and most popular resources, including the sixth edition of What Every Special Educator Must Know, also known as “the red book”; Using RTI for School Improvement; and Surviving Graduate Study in Special Education.

In addition, CEC’s Career Center provided job seekers with the opportunity to browse dozens of open positions and gave schools the chance to interview highly qualified candidates – all in one place.

See You in Nashville!

Sorry you missed the excitement?  Plan to join us for the CEC 2010 Convention & Expo in Nashville, Tenn.! The event will take place at the gorgeous Gaylord Opryland Hotel April 21-24, 2010.

But great programming starts with you; submit your proposal today! The call for papers ends May 27, 2009.

CEC Today is a publication of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). CEC members may distribute published content for educational purposes only. © Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). All rights reserved.