inclusion – Page 20 – Stepping Stones Center

October 2, 2026· Neurodiversity

Rethinking Life, Mind, and Culture: How Relational Ecologies Offer an Alternative to Industrial Growth

By Jorn Bettin Core ideas embedded within ancient spiritual traditions such as Buddhism and Daoism share profound commonalities with the frameworks found across human-scale indigenous cultures. A compassionate understanding of love—framed as vulnerable, mutual knowing—proves entirely compatible with a panpsychic relational philosophy. Across society, people want their lived experiences to be taken seriously. As embodied…

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October 2, 2026· Special Education

Federal Initiative Launches $51 Million Effort to Expand Dental Care for Children with Developmental Disabilities

By Shaun Heasley | September 25, 2026 In a significant push to address long-standing gaps in medical equity, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced this week a major new federal initiative aimed at bolstering dental care access for children living with developmental disabilities. The program, which represents a $51 million investment,…

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September 30, 2026· Neurodiversity

Navigating the Modern Cult of Normalcy: New Participatory Research Exposes Widespread Psychological Unsafety for Neurodivergent Individuals

Our individually unique nervous systems and sensitivities develop and evolve continuously over the course of our lives. Yet, recent participatory research reveals a profound societal disconnect: 85 percent of neurodivergent adults report that they often or always feel overwhelmed and misunderstood, while more than 60 percent frequently or always feel disrespected and unsafe. According to…

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September 30, 2026· Assistive Technology

Empowering Advocacy: The 2026 Assistive Technology and Disability Awareness Calendar Moves Beyond Static Lists

As the global community looks ahead to 2026, the Assistive Technology (AT) sector continues to center its mission on what matters most: access, inclusion, and sustained innovation. Yet, industry stakeholders increasingly recognize that behind the complex software algorithms, mobility devices, and digital interfaces lies a deeply human narrative. This human side of technology encompasses the…

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September 30, 2026· Neurodiversity

Beyond the Mono-Cult: How Neurodiversity Activists and Systems Thinkers Are Reimagining Biology, Culture, and Human Distress

Many scientists do not acknowledge the extent to which their disciplinary paradigms remain deeply influenced by the cultural frames of the colonial era. According to neurodiversity and disability activists, the modern mental health crisis is not merely a biological failing of individuals, but a symptomatic outcome of a terminally diseased institutional landscape. For decades, the…

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September 29, 2026· Assistive Technology

Bridging the Accessibility Gap: How Higher Education and the Global South are Confronting AI Bias

In the current academic climate, the integration of artificial intelligence into higher education is frequently treated as an absolute inevitability. Yet, while administrative debates and campus forums often center heavily on academic integrity, classroom surveillance, and automated grading systems, a far more fundamental shift is quietly occurring beneath the surface. A recent collaborative playbook released…

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September 29, 2026· Neurodiversity

Beyond the Bias: Rethinking Tribalism, Human Scale, and the Toxic Culture of Modernity

In contemporary discourse, the concept of tribalism is almost universally burdened with negative connotations. It is frequently conflated with unreasoned bias, exclusionary politics, and an undesirable evolutionary leftover that modern societies must outgrow. However, a deeper and more critical examination of this assumption reveals that our modern aversion to tribalism stems largely from flawed foundational…

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September 29, 2026· Assistive Technology

Paving the Way: How AI and Smart Cities are Reshaping Inclusive Wheelchair Navigation

A comprehensive new scoping review published in the International Journal of Geo-Information provides a detailed analysis of the environmental factors that are essential for inclusive wheelchair navigation. By systematically examining two decades of global research, the paper highlights a significant and long-overdue paradigm shift in how urban accessibility is conceptualized. Rather than relying on traditional,…

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September 29, 2026· Learning Disabilities

New Texas Strategic Plan Aims to Expand Early Childhood Inclusion, But Experts Call for Meaningful Funding and Policy Reform

FORT WORTH, Texas — State agencies across Texas have unveiled a comprehensive new initiative aimed at fundamentally improving access to early childhood settings for children with disabilities and developmental delays. While the collaborative roadmap has drawn praise from advocates and families alike for finally acknowledging long-standing systemic failures, experts emphasize that a strategic plan alone…

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September 29, 2026· Neurodiversity

Beyond the Competitive Myth: How Human Collaboration and Ecologies of Care Offer a Path to Societal Healing

The fundamental human capacity for language was never designed to give us an adaptive edge through ruthless competition. Instead, evolutionary anthropologists and cultural historians argue that human speech developed to improve mutual understanding, build deep trust, and foster collaboration. This perspective stands in direct contradiction to traditional capitalist interpretations of human evolution, which have long…

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