What happens when some of the most significant parts of a person's teaching and learning experience remain unseen?

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Amanda Goodwin about her dissertation, INVISIBLE: An Autoethnographic Study of Teaching and Learning with Physical Disabilities and Neurodivergence. Through the lens of her own lived experience, Amanda explores how invisible disabilities and neurodivergence shape teaching, learning, relationships, and professional life.

We discuss why personal narratives matter in educational research, how autoethnography helps us understand experiences that are often overlooked, and what educators can do to create classrooms and workplaces that are more accessible, compassionate, and responsive.

This conversation is an invitation to slow down, question our assumptions, and recognize that every classroom includes experiences we cannot fully see. By listening carefully and leading with curiosity, we can create learning communities where people feel understood, valued, and supported.

Coming this fall on Amidon Planet.

In 1962, Keith and Natalie Yelnick were given 45 minutes to make a decision about their newborn daughter, Kristin, who was born with a developmental disability.

What followed was not only a family story, but a story of social change.

Over the next six decades, Keith and Natalie witnessed—and helped shape—the evolution of educational opportunities, community inclusion, and support services for individuals with disabilities. Their experiences offer a unique window into how families, educators, advocates, and policymakers worked together to create opportunities that simply did not exist when Kristin was born.

In this special five-part series, host Joel Amidon and educator Dr. Alice Udvari-Solner share a recorded conversation with Keith and Natalie, weaving in historical context, personal reflections, and lessons that still matter today.

45 Minutes is a story about family, advocacy, education, and the ongoing work of inclusion.

The series begins this fall. Subscribe to Amidon Planet wherever you get your podcasts so this series will appear automatically in your feed when they are released.

Learn more and find supporting materials at amidonplanet.com/45minutes.

What does it mean to become more fully yourself?