In June 2025, Nil Johnson presented at the MATSOL (Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages) Conference in Framingham, MA. Her session, Language, Culture, and Disability: Confronting Inequalities for Multilingual Learners, examined how Multilingual Learners with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (MLEBDs) face layered barriers at the intersections of language, culture and disability. Nil highlighted how systemic biases contribute to misidentification in special education, exclusionary discipline and cultural and linguistic marginalization. Framed around three themes – Difference Becomes Disability, Disability Becomes Crime, and Inclusion as a Solution – the session offered pathways toward inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogy, evidence-based interventions and collaborative policy reform.

Nil’s next presentation will be at the TESOL 2025 Virtual Convention (PreK-12 Day & Graduate Student Forum) on November 20, 2025. Her session, Stigmatized and Excluded: Multilingual Learners with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities in U.S. Public Education, will continue this critical conversation.