Beyond Inclusion: Creating Belonging

Presented by Dr. Matthew Wappett, Utah State University Institute for Disability Research, Policy & Practice (UCEDD)

Inclusion isn’t really what you want. You can be “included” in a classroom and still feel isolated and alone, you can be “included” on a team and still never have an opportunity to play the game; you can be “included” in a community but still be viewed as an outsider.  We all want more than this: we want to contribute and be seen as an integral part of the group.  What you really want is to “belong”.  In this presentation we will explore how we move beyond inclusion towards creating classrooms and communities where people actually belong.