Ep 150: Empowering Learning: Building Inclusive Skills for Adults with Disabilities

Educator and curriculum designer Kathleen Chauffe specializes in creating training programs for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). She explains how her career evolved from a passion for teaching into developing practical, accessible curricula used in adult day programs, with a focus on employability and life-enrichment skills. Her work emphasizes making lessons easy for support staff to deliver, even without formal teaching backgrounds, while ensuring hands-on, engaging learning for participants. Chauffe highlights the success of her programs, such as improved engagement and retention among learners, and discusses ongoing efforts to modernize delivery through online tools. She concludes by sharing key insights: allowing extra time for responses, recognizing that individuals may understand more than they can express, and promoting inclusion through respectful, direct interaction with people with disabilities.