Special educators don’t know their job.

Now, that sounds like I’m slamming special educators, but nothing could be further from the truth.

When I was the Special Education Graduate Director at Towson University, I interviewed prospective candidates. Every time – with men and women of all ages, all shapes and sizes, all background, races and cultures – I was touched by the sense of heart-felt purpose in their response.

People have asked me to explain why I chose Included with the End in Mind as the title for my newly released book.

It is an expression of my frustration and my passion. As an educational consultant, I talk with a variety of people who have their own perspectives about inclusive education and secondary transition.

I had an opportunity to travel to Scottsdale to be a national expert for the Arizona Transition Conference. But I learned something from the breathtaking countryside.

Did I pay more attention to twitters of bird song and the caress of the gentle breeze because I stepped outside the stressors of my busy life? Was it because I took vacation time, that I became more aware? I inhaled the vivid colors of endless crowds of glowing sunflowers nodding to each other all the way back to the shadowed blue-grey goal post of the mountains.