What a Special Education Teacher Taught Me About Presuming Competence | Zack Ponder

Castos Description
Episode Summary
What happens when a special education teacher spends years working with profoundly disabled students—and then realizes the biggest lesson wasn't about teaching at all? In this episode of Inchstones, Sarah Kernion sits down with former special education teacher and Unspecial Podcast host Zack Ponder to explore caregiver stories, autism advocacy, neurodivergent parenting, and why presuming competence changes everything.
Full Episode Description
Before launching the Unspecial Podcast, Zack Ponder spent years teaching students with profound autism, complex communication needs, and significant disabilities. Those experiences fundamentally changed the way he understands intelligence, behavior, caregiving, and human connection.
In this thoughtful conversation, Sarah and Zack discuss what it means to presume competence, why outward behavior rarely tells the full story, and how educators, parents, and clinicians can better support children by seeing their strengths before their limitations. Zack shares stories from the classroom that forever shaped his understanding of autism communication, emotional regulation, and the incredible capabilities that often remain hidden beneath motor planning challenges. zack-sarah.txtTXT
The conversation also explores fatherhood, caregiver resilience, nervous system regulation, homeschooling, balancing family life during a spouse's cancer journey, and why caring for yourself is essential if you hope to co-regulate with the children who depend on you.
Together, Sarah and Zack examine why parents should trust what they observe, why difficult conversations strengthen advocacy, and how small moments of connection often become the most meaningful inchstones.
In this episode, we discuss:
autism advocacy through presuming competence
caregiver stories from both the classroom and home
neurodivergent parenting and emotional regulation
profound autism care and communication
autism education strategies
caregiver mental health and nervous system regulation
fatherhood and disability caregiving
special education advocacy
why connection matters more than compliance
finding hope through everyday inchstones
Whether you're raising an autistic child, working in special education, supporting neurodivergent families, or simply trying to become a calmer parent, this episode offers a hopeful reminder that every child deserves to be seen beyond what the world immediately notices.
In This Episode
02:30 — Why Zack left special education but never left the mission
05:00 — What profound autism taught him about seeing the unseen
08:00 — Caregiver burnout and protecting your nervous system
11:00 — Co-regulation begins with the parent
14:00 — Presuming competence in non-speaking children
17:00 — The classroom story that changed everything
20:00 — Fathers, strength, and disability parenting
24:00 — Why advocacy should create collaboration—not conflict
27:00 — Finding hope in the smallest everyday moments
Resources
Learn more about Zack Ponder and listen to the Unspecial Podcast, where he shares conversations with parents, educators, and disability advocates.

Subscribe to the Inchstones Podcast for more conversations about autism advocacy, caregiver stories, and neurodivergent parenting that help families feel seen, supported, and understood.

Read more essays on the Inchstones Substack.