Letter from the Chair

Vanessa Virgiel, Chair, SSDIS

Greetings, SSDIS Community!

It is a pleasure to welcome you and thank you for your support. Our once “niche” interest section continues to burgeon, and this past year we’ve had the privilege of connecting with educators from a variety of contexts who are keen to support all learners. At the 2024 TESOL Convention, we connected with many of you during our intersection panel sessions, where we collaborated with the Reading & Vocabulary Interest Sections in person and the Bilingual/Multilingual Education Interest Section online.

Looking ahead, we’re excited about the opportunities the 2025 TESOL Convention will bring, along with other upcoming events. Just this September, we hosted a Virtual Coffee Hour featuring the author-educators behind the book "Barrier-Free Instruction in Japan,”, gaining insights into creating inclusive educational environments from a glocal perspective. We have more webinars and events planned, and we warmly invite you to join our MyTESOL community and Facebook group if you haven’t already. These platforms are spaces to stay updated on the latest happenings and to share information and dialogue with others who are passionate about supporting learners with disabilities and differences.

Thank you for being an essential part of our community. We hope you find the resources in this newsletter valuable and look forward to your involvement with SSDIS.

Warm regards,

Vanessa Virgiel Chair, Supporting Students with Disabilities Interest Section TESOL International Association

Vanessa Virgiel is a linguist who holds a Master of Education in TESL (Framingham State University, Massachusetts, USA) and a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics (Portland State University, Oregon, USA). Her areas of interest within ELT include materials design, CALL, intercultural competency development, and how to extend the ethos of inclusive education to the field of TESOL.