The Art of Advocacy: Charmaine Thaner on Building Inclusive Schools

Charmaine Thaner is an inclusion advocate and founder of Collaborative Special Education Advocacy. She’s a former self‑contained special education teacher who became a general education teacher for 15 years, and now works alongside families and schools to make inclusive education real. She also hosts the long‑running Facebook Live series The Art of Advocacy. Her path runs from Slippery Rock State College in the 1970s, to early work in Colorado schools, to serving as an education specialist with the PEAK Parent Center (Colorado’s PTI). As a parent, she and her husband advocated for full inclusion for their son, Dylan, who has Down syndrome—from community preschool through college—experiences that shape her practical, relationship‑first approach today. Charmaine launched her advocacy business (originally Visions and Voices Together, now Collaborative Special Education Advocacy) to blend lived experience and professional know‑how and to stand with families in meetings when communication and trust have broken down. In this episode, Tim Villegas talks with Charmaine Thaner about what it really takes to move inclusion from idea to everyday practice. Charmaine traces her journey from self‑contained teaching to general education and district collaboration, and then to parent‑advocacy after her son Dylan was born—highlighting why “relationships, relationships, relationships” are the three R’s of effective advocacy. They dig into the rise, stall, and renewal of inclusive education, Dylan’s fully included path (including auditing classes at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs with support from allies on campus), and the hard truth that some schools still isolate students despite paper “inclusion.” Charmaine shares when to ask for help, how to keep it collaborative (and when to escalate), and why broader coalitions—parents, self‑advocates, and educators—are pushing for changes like ending seclusion and restraint and implementing UDL with fidelity. Complete show notes and transcript: https://mcie.org/think-inclusive/charmaine-thaner-the-art-of-advocacy/