The inclusive Education Series: On parental perspectives Dr. Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg

DiveIn: Diving into Special Education's Most Complex and Pressing Debates · Oct 5, 2026 · 50m · transcript

In this episode of our Inclusive Education Series, I talk with Dr. Lydia Ocasio-Stoutenburg, Associate Professor at Penn State, scholar, advocate, and mother, about what inclusive education looks like from a parent’s perspective.

We discuss a deceptively important question:

Whose knowledge counts?

Lydia and I talk about parent advocacy, collaboration with professionals, race and class, and why families do not all enter the special education system with the same resources or opportunities to be heard.

We also wrestle with the tension between believing in inclusion and making pragmatic choices…