Please join us for “Diving into the NeuroRelational Framework: An Interview with Connie Lillas.”

Connie Lillas, Founder and Executive Director of the NeuroRelational Framework (NRF) Institute Research to Resilience (www.NRFcare.org), co-authored the NeuroRelational Framework textbook and later authored the NRF 3 Steps to Resilience Foundations Manual. She oversees the NRF Institute’s ongoing research, focusing on understanding toxic stress across all ages and cultural backgrounds.

The NRF Institute is an innovative social enterprise uniting passionate practitioners worldwide. The institute champions five key paradigm shifts, challenging the limitations of viewing behavior through a compliance vs. non-compliance lens and their long-term hidden costs. By applying assessment and intervention guidelines, we call NeuroRelational Care, the NRF provides customized, collaborative, and coordinated solutions for children and families navigating complex challenges.

Support the show

Please join us for “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are Still Important in Education: An Interview with Nicole Keler.”

Nicole Keler is a passionate special education leader with nine years of experience working in the public charter school system across Washington, D.C. She is currently a Specialist on the School Equity and Effectiveness team at the D.C. Public Charter School Board. However, she started in the education system as a special education teacher, then transitioned to working as an inclusion manager to support families and students with diverse learning needs on a larger scale. She believes that home-school partnerships are the key to successful student outcomes. Rooted in trauma-informed practices such as Flamboyan and Conscious Discipline, Nicole works tirelessly to engage families throughout the special education process and has created systems to ensure team collaboration during the Tier 1,2,3 process. Her experience inspired her to establish LiveWellEd, with co-founder Angie Zara to bridge school and family best practices.

Support the show

Please join us for “A Parent’s Journey: From ABA to a Better Way” with Chantelle Hyde. 

When I think back to about five years ago now, around the time that I first learned of my daughter’s traumatic seclusion incident at school from another parent, I was in a state of shock. After running into one frustrating and upsetting experience after another with the school and district, and even in reviewing provincial education policies, the only thing that I could think to do was to search for the issue of seclusion and restraint online. This is when I found the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. In this session, I’ll share my journey as a parent from ABA and behaviorism to finding a better way.

 Chantelle Hyde: Chantelle is a dedicated mother and advocate. She became an active advocate against restraint and seclusion after learning that their daughter was being locked in a room at school in rural New Brunswick, Canada. Chantelle’s path to advocacy was paved by her desire to be a part of a community of support for other families. Chantelle hopes to bring positive change to Canadian systems. Chantelle is the lead Canadian volunteer for the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint and facilitates book study groups for the organization.

Support the show

Please join us for “The Journey Towards Neuroscience-Aligned Education” with Katie Pagnotta, Ellen Surprenant, and Sam Chadwick.

Katie Pagnotta is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, functional success educational consultant, parent coach, and author. She is also the creator of the Brain- and Body-Aligned Responsive Systems (BBARS) of Excellence framework. She guides educators, administrators, and school staff in strengths-based approaches that leverage the human design and empower the development of the necessary mindsets and habits that lead to re-envisioned success; success the achieves goals by rooting in wellness.

Katie authored Empowered by the Human Design: Utilizing the BBARS of Excellence Framework to Foster Student and Educator Success, a book that includes interview segments from 18 experts within the fields of education, psychology, and neuroscience. The book is a work of collective wisdom grounded in Polyvagal Theory and synthesized in a user-friendly way to facilitate practical application for educators. Its reviewers have called it “a powerful and practical new model for regulation and resilience,” “required reading for all educators,” “a gift to the field,” and “a game-changer.” Throughout the book, Katie combines the wisdom of her interviewees with her own research as well as her years of experience as a former K-12 NH public school counselor.

Katie utilizes her book and framework as tools to support schools in their journey of moving towards neuroscience-aligned education. She is passionate about providing professional development opportunities that support the whole school community in order to help educators and students thrive!

Sam Chadwick has been working as an educator for five years, four of which have been at Somerset Elementary School. Even before graduating and starting her professional career she always had a passion for working with kids and did so as a tutor, nanny, and in the PreK/daycare setting. After working with, and learning about students with exceptionalities and students with trauma, she decided to get her masters degree in Trauma-Informed education to better her practice and approach to support all students. Sam runs her classroom with one main mantra for herself, the other adults in the room, and her students; "Be a good human." Sam believes it's important to remember everyone in the classroom has different needs to be successful and assists students in meeting their needs in ways that aren't hurting someone else's path to learning. She works to create a welcoming and encouraging environment where all adults and students can be successful using routine, setting and achieving goals, and using regulation as a path for connection.

In her 30 years as an educator, Ellen Surprenant has been privileged to learn alongside students, educators, and families, in a variety of public elementary school settings. She has worked as a PK teacher, a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, a special education teacher, and an Assistant Director of Special Services. Currently, Ellen is the building administrator at Somerset Elementary School in Hartland, Maine. Her mission is to use a neuroscience and strengths-based approach to grow and support a team that views behavior through a regulation lens; understanding actions as a response to the body's internal state, particularly the nervous system, rather than as intentional or willful choices. The ultimate aim of this approach is to foster a community of safety, creativity, curiosity, and kindness leading to improved job satisfaction and retention for educators and joyful, engaged learning for students.

Support the show

Please join us for “Lessons in Listening with Yeiter.”

Yeiter has 50 years of personal commitment to specifically supporting people who live in a status he names a “reputation for challenging behavior”. He draws on a rich personal history. His time in the company of people defined by a story of challenging behavior begins in an unreformed back ward in 1971 and continues through an attempt to reform the institution by implementing behavior analytic treatments, the move into local group homes and day programs, the implementation of integrated special education, and the development of individualized supports for work roles and establishing people in their own homes. In making a positive difference in people’s lives, he has taken many roles: ward attendant, behavior specialist, administrator, consultant, and teacher.

Support the show

Please join us for “Pathological Demand Avoidance: Born Outside the System” with Sandra McConnell. 

Sandra McConnell, who is sometimes known as the PDA Mama Bear, is an instructor, speaker, blogger, and parent coach. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology, and two graduate certificates in neurodiversity and learning differences. And her 13-year-old son is Pathologically Demand Avoidant, or PDA, an unofficial autism profile characterized by an intense and persistent anxiety-driven need to resist demands. It just so happens, Sandra is PDA, too, diagnosed in early 2024. While parenting her son and navigating the school system were certainly a challenge, they’ve had relative success, and she attributes the edge to her insider’s perspective – one she described as perpetually on the outside looking in.  

Support the show

Please join us for “Understanding Autistic Strengths & Differences: Why It’s Essential for Meaningful Support” with Staci Neustadt and Susan Golubock.

Staci Neustadt, CEO of Making Sense of Autism®, is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with over 20 years of experience providing individual and group therapy, training, mentorship, and leadership. In 2019, Staci joined Susan in developing the Neuro Strengths Based Support for Autism framework. Staci is passionate about creating a paradigm shift for therapists to holistically support autistic clients and for autistic clients to feel seen and heard as they build on their strengths and contribute their gifts to their community.

Susan Golubock is a retired occupational therapist. She received her Masters degree in Occupational Therapy from Western Michigan University in 1968 and Masters of Education degree in special education technology in 1995. She was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum in 1999. Most of her career has been spent in school-based practice. Susan has been a keynote speaker and presenter at various conferences. Susan developed the Neuro-Strengths Based Support for Autism Framework, which comes from her personal experience as an autistic individual and professional experience as an occupational therapist who worked with autistic clients. She grew up trying to “be like everyone else;” she succeeded in masking but at the cost of never developing a sense of “self,” which led to symptoms of post-traumatic stress. When she was finally diagnosed in my early 50s, I learned that there were other options for how to think and behave, which radically changed my life for the better. Susan's passion is to educate parents and professionals so the autistic individuals in their lives are understood.

Support the show

Please join us for “Systemic Shifts in Inclusion: Neuroscience-Informed Practices for Transformation and Capacity Building” with Angelina Zara and Nicole Keler.

Angelina Zara was born and raised in the heart of Washington, DC; Angie found her passion in education in 2015, serving students and caregivers in her hometown. Angie’s career includes the creation of the position of Social Emotional Learning Specialist in her previous school building, which subsequently expanded across the Local Educational Agency, ranging from elementary to high school campuses. Her experience includes implementing school-wide shifts through sustaining positive relationships, capacity building, addressing adult mindsets, and leveraging positive outcomes for staff and students. In the Spring of 2024, Angie made her transition to work for Washington, DC Public Schools to support schools across the city in implementing restorative practices to support the whole child. Additionally, Angie collaborated with the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) to create the first set of Washington DC Social and Emotional Learning Standards. In addition to working full time in the DC school system, Angie presents nationally on the topics of trauma accommodating principles and strategies, applied educational neuroscience, and adult wellbeing and nervous system regulation. Angie also serves as an adjunct faculty for Butler University’s Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification Program under trauma-informed trailblazer Dr. Lori Desautels. In 2023, Angie co-founded LiveWellEd, LLC, which supports caregivers, educators, and organizations responding to the needs of the post-pandemic education system by sharing best practices and systems design through consulting and coaching.

Nicole Keler is a passionate special education leader with nine years of experience working in the public charter school system across Washington, D.C. She is currently a Specialist on the School Equity and Effectiveness team at the D.C. Public Charter School Board. However, she started in the education system as a special education teacher, then transitioned to working as an inclusion manager to support families and students with diverse learning needs on a larger scale. She believes that home-school partnerships are the key to successful student outcomes. Rooted in trauma-informed practices such as Flamboyan and Conscious Discipline, Nicole works tirelessly to engage families throughout the special education process and has created systems to ensure team collaboration during the Tier 1,2,3 process. Her experience inspired her to establish LiveWellEd, with co-founder Angie Zara to bridge school and family best practices

Support the show

Please join us for “Reducing and Eliminating Restraint and Seclusion in a Vermont School District: A Discussion with Superintendent Michael Leichliter”

Mike is passionate about the ability of public education to provide all students with a high-quality education and is proud to be the superintendent of Harwood Unified Union School District. Mike’s goal is to improve classroom experiences for students and teachers and be a champion in the community for public education.

He started his career in 1991 as a middle school and high school social studies teacher in the City of York, Pennsylvania. Following experiences as a high school assistant principal, middle school principal, and assistant superintendent for personnel, he was named Superintendent of Schools for the Penn Manor School District in 2009, a school system serving 5400 students in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

After finishing his educational career in Pennsylvania, Mike was drawn to the Harwood Unified Union School District in central Vermont through his travels in the state, particularly during the time his daughter attended the University of Vermont.

Mike is a member of the Vermont Superintendents Association and currently serves as its representative on the statewide Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont.

He is enjoying the opportunity to learn, discover, and help Harwood make the progress the school desires for its students and community.

Support the show

Please join us for “Not an Autism Mom: A Discussion with Meghan Ashburn.”

Meghan Ashburn is a continuous learner, former elementary educator, family support specialist, speaker, and co-author of the award-winning book, I Will Die On This Hill. Her book club of over 15K members publishes book recommendation lists on autism and neurodiversity, and her website NotAnAutismMom.com is packed with resources for parents and educators. Meghan has advocated for communication rights and inclusion at the local, state, and national levels of government

Support the show