Empathy and Inclusion: Celebrating 30 Years of A Touch of Understanding (Update)

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In this episode, I welcome back an organization that continues to shape the way our children—and our communities—understand disability, respect, and inclusion. A Touch of Understanding (ATOU) is celebrating 30 years of hands-on empathy-building, reaching more than 157,000 students across 10 counties with wheelchairs, white canes, prosthetics, lived experience, and powerful conversations that students remember for life.


I sit down with Executive Director Meghan Adamski and longtime volunteer and speaker Karen Parsegian, whose personal journey and unforgettable humor bring the mission of ATOU to life. Together, we explore:


What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• The origin story — how a five-year-old’s moment of clarity became a decades-long movement for understanding and respect.
• The speakers — volunteers with and without disabilities who help kids ask brave questions, break down assumptions, and discover what they have in common.
• The hands-on experience — wheelchairs, canes, prosthetic limbs, braille, learning-difference simulations, and the “dark meal” that helps students feel, not just hear, someone else’s experience.
• Impact across generations — students who experienced ATOU as children now bringing the program to their own classrooms.
• Community partnerships — from Boys Team Charity and National Charity League to speakers referred through Society for the Blind and Progressive Employment Concepts.
• What it takes to grow the movement — and how ATOU is preparing for the next 30 years of expansion both locally and nationwide.

Karen’s stories alone remind you why this organization works: joyful curiosity, unexpected connection, and the brave honesty only children can deliver. And Meghan shares the vision of an ever-expanding “family” where people with disabilities are not just welcome—they are wanted as teachers, leaders, and role models.


If you’ve ever wondered what it really looks like when understanding becomes action, this conversation paints the picture.


Learn More


➡️ A Touch of Understanding: https://touchofunderstanding.org (https://touchofunderstanding.org/)
➡️ Volunteer opportunities, virtual programs, and their upcoming 30th Anniversary “Evening of Insight” celebration.


CHAPTER SUMMARY:


(00:00) '30 Years of Nonprofit Service
(11:00) Engaging Educational Program for Students
(21:22) Impact of Touch of Understanding Program
(27:46) Community Engagement and Funding Strategies
(32:24) Impactful Program Enhancing Empathy and Inclusion
(46:53) Building Strong ATOU Family Bonds




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