Meet Hajime Chiba We are thrilled to announce the winner of this year’s SENIA Student Award, a recognition of outstanding commitment to advocacy and inclusion. This prestigious award honors a […]

We are proud to announce Maciej Karwowski as a recipient for the SENIA World Changer Award. Currently serving as a Learning Support Teacher at Copenhagen International School in Denmark, Maciej […]

March 2025 Newsletter Read Now

World Down Syndrome Day Resources Enjoy these resources that educate, celebrate, and advocate for World Down Syndrome Day.      

Neurodiversity Celebration Week Enjoy these resources that educate, celebrate and advocate for neurodiverse individuals

March 8th marks International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the achievements of women around the world and advocate for gender equality.

February 2025 Newsletter Read Now

SENIA Is Committed to Advocacy and Inclusion SENIA’s Commitment to Inclusion & Advocacy A Message from the SENIA Board of Directors When SENIA was founded in 2002 by a small […]

January 2025 Newsletter Read Now

We are thrilled to announce that Nikki Moffitt is the recipient of the prestigious SENIA World Changer Award! This honor recognizes her incredible efforts in creating the Facebook group Expat […]

Together, we are creating a more inclusive world, one school, one community at a time.

On this episode of the SENIA Happy Hour podcast, host Lori Boll speaks with Maymouna Sakho and Dr. MaryAnn DeRosa about their collaborative project “From the Margins, For the Margins.”

Please find the December 2024 Newsletter HERE

Congratulations to Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) Students!We are proud to announce that five exceptional IBO students from DCB—Gary Zhang, Jayden Ng, Jason Zou, Ethan Ning, and Tim Zhang—are this month’s […]

On this episode, host Lori Boll speaks with Alexandra “Zandy” Wong who shared her personal journey with hearing loss and her mission to make the digital world more accessible.

In today’s podcast host Lori Boll interviews Jeff Sisk, Senior Manager of Assistive Technology Services (ATS) in Fairfax County Public Schools, who is also a presenter, author, and adjunct faculty at George Mason University.

We are pleased to announce that Florence Walton, an international student studying in Bangkok, has been honored with the SENIA World Changer Award. Florence has embarked on a remarkable personal […]

Executive Functions for Every Classroom This book shows how educators can create a more engaging and effective learning experience while addressing the epidemic of disengagement and executive dysfunction. With practical […]

Today host Lori Boll speaks with educator and author Kwame Sarfo-Mensah about his recently published book “Learning to Relearn” which is a call for unlearning and relearning

We are pleased to recognize Sarah for her exceptional contributions to Global Neurodiverse Families, a vital support network for families navigating neurodiversity. Sarah embodies the qualities of compassion, dedication, and […]

Smrithy Rajesh September 2024 SENIA World Changer Award Recipient Celebrating the remarkable achievements of Smrithy Rajesh, a dedicated advocate for inclusion, her family has turned personal challenges into a powerful […]

It’s a quiet, gorgeous day for a walk on the University of Oklahoma (OU) campus.

And out of the peace, my husband and I hear a sweet little yell. 

“MOMMY……take picture! CHEEEEEESE!!!!”

How can I refuse that precious, high-pitched voice?

But as I take the picture, my heart hurts.

SENIA International Comes to South America! Read More

Dr. Keri Sullivan June 2024 SENIA World Changer Award Recipient SENIA is thrilled to announce that Dr. Keri Sullivan has been selected as a World Changer award recipient for June […]

Member School Spotlight School of the Nations Website Tell us about your school? At SON, we envision a learning environment where neurodiverse learners are not only accepted but celebrated for […]

We are thrilled to congratulate Harare International School on the remarkable achievement of having six of their staff members successfully complete the SENIA Level One Educator certification in 2024.

Member School Spotlight UAI International School of Tokyo Website Who is UIA? Our school celebrates each person’s unique individuality, fostering an inquisitive spirit and embracing multicultural perspectives to ignite a […]

This academic year saw Chinese International School (Hong Kong) celebrate its first Neurodiversity Week! While we have certainly seen an increase of awareness around neurodiversity on our newsfeeds, the important thing for us was to make it contextual and relevant for our school’s unique context and mission.

KATE BOWLER MAY 2024 SENIA WORLD CHANGER AWARD RECIPIENT It is with great pleasure that we announce Kate as the recipient of the 2024 SENIA World Changer Award for her […]

Celebrating Inclusivity at International Community School of Abidjan with SENIA! We are thrilled to announce a significant milestone achieved by the dedicated educators at the International Community School of Abidjan […]

Co-constructing a Personalized Math Class by Jay Lingo “Student Agency boils down to students having a voice in the classroom…” Laurie Manville & Dr. Alva Lefevre Towards the end of […]

Hello SENIA Peeps, Last week, I had the privilege of virtually attending The Brookings Institute Symposium on Inclusion and Education Systems Transformation. Inclusive leaders from around the world gathered to […]

SENIA International Honored with IFIP Global Inclusion Award

We are pleased to recognize Sarah for her exceptional contributions to Global Neurodiverse Families, a vital support network for families navigating neurodiversity. Sarah embodies the qualities of compassion, dedication, and […]

Korok Biswas is India’s first ever dance performer with down syndrome to be credited in India’s Book of Records. From an early age, Korok and his parents believed with love […]

Kan Fook Keong is a special education teacher in Sabah, Malaysia. Despite originating in Selangor that is more well-developed, Kan chose to stay teaching at a vocational school in the […]

Sarah has always had a unique perspective on life. Her neurodiversity enables her to see beauty and value in unexpected ways. Sarah manages to find meaningful ways to share her […]

Lana Abon is a special education teacher in the rural area of Sabah, a Malaysian island state. She teaches students with hearing impairments and students with learning disorders. She has […]

Alexius Ignatius was the first Malaysian to win a gold medal at an international art festival with his animated tale. The monthly art festivals hosted by Festival Bridges headquartered in […]

Avyasvina Istiniza Anak Unong is a special educational needs educator who has played a major role in training the special needs learners at her school to partake in various art […]

Hajime is a voice of self-awareness, acceptance and inclusion. He is a 9 year old boy, who currently attends Concordia International School, in Hanoi, Vietnam.  He was diagnosed with ADHD […]

Lele is a grade 2 student from Keystone Academy in Beijing, China who is building a better, more inclusive school community, one classmate at a time.  He is a curious […]

Aaron Yong Tzy Seng is from Sabah, Malaysia and has many skills like making beautiful furniture or telling an animated tale. The teachers at his school discovered Aaron’s talent for […]

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Pivot”- Ross Gellar, TV Show: Friends

One of my favorite scenes from Friends was when Ross, Rachel, and Chandler tried moving a large couch up a narrow staircase. Ross kept yelling “pivot” and I laughed until I cried.

Jackob Yoshua Jeffry, along with his partner, has paved the way for animated storytelling to be regarded as a practical and effective means for learners to communicate their ideas and […]

Courtney is a student at Torrey Pines High School in California. She was inspired to promote inclusion in her community by her younger siblings who both are diagnosed with special […]

Nurazwin Liyana Binti Abdullah has proven that individuals with a hearing impairment can always find different ways to showcase their talents through her monologue and poetry performances in sign language. […]

Welcome back to another year of Roundtable discussions with Erin Madonna and Lori Boll.

At just 4 years of age, Rashwin has made it into the Malaysia Book of Records for being able to identify the most number of international flags.  As a child […]

We’ve got some great content in this month’s newsletter including news about our in-person conference this spring, highlights of great work in Uganda, a new chapter in Ecuador, and more.

Have you heard of the accomplished freelance photographer who has fostered advocacy and awareness for inclusion in the Philippines? Her name is Andrea G. Zubiri and at just 29 years […]

Dymphna Simon has pioneered sign language poetry performance as an alternative for Malaysian special needs individuals to partake in performing arts that often require oral skills. She recorded her own […]

You won ‘t want to miss this discussion as we talk about signs our students are feeling stressed and how we can best support them.

Muhamad Fazri Bin Hassan is a special education teacher at SK Gas Sandakan in Malaysia. He believes that learning through play will provide meaningful learning for his students. He has […]

Check out our June 2021 Newsletter!

As part of her IBO MYP Personal Project, Iris researched her diagnosis of ADHD. The final product of her project was a presentation to the elementary teachers about ADHD, its […]

Today our group discusses all things math with our special guest, Caty Romero who is someone who knows math and loves it.

May Newsletter

Aizat Izzuddin is an art enthusiast as well as a poetry performer, a storyteller, a voice actor, an illustrator and an orator. He, along with his classmate, narrated three short […]

A year ago today, my family and I made the difficult decision to leave our host country of Thailand to return to our home country. Our son, who is profoundly affected by autism and intellectual developmental delay (IDD) was not coping well with lockdown. It made sense to remove him from that stressful environment and into one where he felt most at peace. We thought it would “just be for the summer,” but it turned out that COVID had other plans and we were unable to get back. We are now in the US and call ourselves “COVID refugees.”

Lex is an Early Years professional from the UK with a PGCert in Special Educational Needs Coordination. She has worked with children for 20 years in various countries including Australia […]

SENIA is pleased to announce the launch of the 2021 SENIA Student Award.  Do you know of a student who advocates and promotes inclusion in their community?  Please nominate at […]

In this month’s roundtable, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, and Lori Boll discuss all things Dyslexia.

Mohammad Zulfadhli bin Amban, who has a hearing impairment, is a vocational student at Keningau Vocational College in Sabah, Malaysia. He represented his state to compete at the National Abilympics […]

In this month’s podcast, Matt Barker, Erin Madonna, and Lori Boll discuss their takeaways from SENIA 2020.

Zandri is an Occupational Therapist based in Hanoi, Vietnam.She started her journey when she visited Vietnam in Nov 2017. Looking through her Occupational Therapy (OT) lenses, she saw that limited […]

Check out the latest SENIA newsletter

Jane Christine Justine, a student with a hearing impairment, was the leader of her school innovation team specializing in producing vegan food. Along with her team and their advisory teacher, […]

Edelson Dell started as a track and field athlete in the early 2010s before transitioning to football. He played actively in the special needs football championship in 2014. He represented […]

Dr. Shyielathy Arumugam is a special educator by profession in Malaysia.  She has dedicated her life to supporting and providing resources about special education and inclusion through her YouTube channel: […]

In this month’s podcast, Lori Boll, Erin Madonna and Matt Barker explore the challenges of being a Newbie (starting at a new school).

Zico Luck Elvister is a 17-year-old student at Keningau Vocational College located in the interior region of Sabah, Malaysia. Zico is a student whose main means of communication is through […]

Stefanus Lucas is a special education teacher at Sekolah Rendah Pendidikan Khas, Sabah, Malaysia. Stefanus has advocated for and changed the perceptions of people with disabilities in Sabah, Malaysia. He […]

Lori Boll, Erin Madonna and Matt Barker discuss all things to do with working in multidisciplinary teams.

Kumaresan Muniandy is a special education teacher with a degree and master’s degree in special education. He has 10 years of special education teaching experience. At Merbok Special Education Vocational […]

Charnin, also known as Ming, attends the International School of Bangkok (ISB) and is a valued member of his grade 3 class.  He will be moving to grade 4 this […]

Sara is originally from Japan and has completed grade one at the International School of Bangkok. Sara is a little ray of sunshine and everyone that meets her or interacts […]

Bee Giek Choo is a teacher who strongly believes that each and every child deserves the right to receive quality education in life.

Listen to Kate Balsamo, SENIA Board Chair, as she shares her progressive views on special education in international schools. Full interview here.

Meet Charlotte and Brigette Congratulations to Seferina Engen from Taipei American School as this year ‘s recipient of the SENIA Student Award. This award recognizes a student for advocating awareness […]

K.A. Razhiyah Congratulations to K.A. Razhiyah from Panji Secondary School in Malaysia as the recipient of this year ‘s SENIA Advocacy Award.  This award recognizes professionals whose mission is to […]