AASR Live

Please join us for "Preschool to Prison": An Interview with Dr. Karen Baptiste About the New Documentary Film.

Karen “Dr. K” Baptiste is a visionary who can make magic and transform any space she’s in. Dr. K leads with compassionate courage and has bridged her love of supporting individuals with special needs and individuals impacted by the criminal justice system with storytelling in film. Growing up in the Bronx and becoming a special education teacher in the Bronx, seeing kids drop out of school was the norm. Dr. K founded Preschool to Prison, LLC, and is the film Director of her new documentary, Preschool to Prison. She has served on the International Board of Directors and the Education Legislative Committee at ASCD where she advocated to Congress and developed national educational policy points to address systemic barriers. She is also a co-author for The New Classroom Instruction That Works.

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Please join us for “Neither Comprehension or Learning Can Take Place in an Atmosphere of Anxiety” with Linda Cervenka, Michele Ricamato, and Deanna Tyrpak.

 Linda, Michele, and Deanna are the co-founders of Soaring Eagle Academy, a not-for-profit ISBE-approved therapeutic day school serving students 3 to 22 years of age with autism and related disorders. 

Linda Cervenka is a licensed speech-language pathologist.  At Soaring Eagle Academy, Linda is a Trainer/Expert Clinician focusing on teaching, facilitating, and supporting children during a crisis. Linda believes in preventative and proactive practice and supporting a culture within the school environment that views a child’s actions within a developmental framework. Additionally, she has a private practice near Chicago, IL. 

Michele Ricamato is a licensed speech and language pathologist who works primarily with children diagnosed on the autistic spectrum. Michele's expertise is in developmental language models and supports curriculum adaptation to support students’ ability to make meaning through learning.  In addition, she has a private practice in the western suburbs of Chicago.

Deanna Tyrpak is a licensed speech-language pathologist and serves as the executive director and board president at Soaring Eagle Academy.  Deanna is also a parent of an adult daughter with autism and leads her individualized programming in the community.

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Please join us for Designing an Environment for Everyone with Daniel Hodges, JD.

 Daniel Hodges, JD, is an activist dedicated to assisting others with disabilities and chronic illnesses to reach their full potential. While in law school, Daniel founded Peaces of Me Foundation; a nonprofit that promotes universal access and inclusion. Daniel’s perspective has been shaped by his experience as a blind man with chronic pain and other conditions. He has spent a lifetime surpassing the low expectations placed before him, and his personal calling is to help others do the same.

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Join us for “Why This Matters: Stories from AASR Volunteers” with Guy Stephens, Karen Bures, Amy Kriewaldt, Braden Flax, Heathyr Watson, Sidney McGillicky, Arielle Silverman, Chantelle Hyde, Angie Vigliotti, Cass Griffin Bennett, Erica Cotter, and Courtney Litzinger.

In this episode of AASR Live, you’ll have an opportunity to meet some of our amazing AASR volunteers and hear their stories. Learn why these amazing individuals are supporting the work and mission of the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. We will also talk about our end-of-year giving campaign and hope that you might support our work.

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Please join us for “Getting to the Deeper Why: Exploring The Why Toolkit” with Connie Persike, M.S., CCC/SLP, hosted by Jennifer Abbanat, C-TSS, EXA-CE, SSP Provider.

Connie Persike, M.S., CCC/SLP, is a highly experienced Speech-Language Pathologist and Educational Consultant. She has 20+ years of experience in educational settings and holds a certificate in instructional coaching, positive education, and applied educational neuroscience.

She served as a member of the multi-state work group to help develop the Common Core Essential Elements for English Language Arts. Connie is a published writer for Autism Parenting Magazine and writes for Exceptional Needs Today. She created an innovative process to assess student behavior, which deviates from the traditional behaviorism approach and aligns with current relational and neuroscience while maintaining a trauma-sensitive and neurodiversity approach.

Connie works from the guiding mission that Connection + Collaboration = Endless Possibilities.

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Join us for the Release of the Audio Documentary: “We Warned Them: Freedom Village” with Creator Margaret Mayer. A Deep Dive into an IFB Troubled Teen School

Margaret is a 24-year-old artist and activist originally from Rochester, NY. In 2020, Margaret became aware of the Troubled Teen Industry after hearing horror stories from her friends who had been trafficked to a private, for-profit religious, residential school located near her hometown (Freedom Village, USA). This led her to research and further investigate Independent Baptist Homes. Through networking, she connected with more survivors from Freedom Village and joined them in launching the We Warned Them Campaign in September 2021. She is passionate about storytelling and building genuine connections with people.

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Join us for The CALMER Approach: Sharing how to co-design the right level of therapeutic support at the right time to end seclusion with Francisco and Amy De Paula.

Francisco de Paula is passionate about supporting all to reach their potential. The CALMER Approach developed out of his passion to close the gap between theory and practice while looking for ways to make a more meaningful impact in positive behavior support.

Francisco has been working in the disability sector for over 20 years, starting as a support worker in accommodation, day programs, recreation programs, and employment settings. Since 2011, he has been working as a Behaviour Support Practitioner and an Education and Training facilitator (in both TAFE and private courses). He is a certified Person Centered Active Support facilitator since 2016 (through Greystanes Disability Services, NSW). Person-centered practice, PBS, neuroscience, and trauma-informed practice strongly influence his practice and training.

Amy de Paula is an Occupational Therapist who has been working in community disability settings for over twenty years. With a passion for meaningful engagement and co-design, she loves anything that leads to people having autonomy and participation in their lives.

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Learn about the upcoming 7th Annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference.

Learn about the largest gathering of trauma-informed educators in the United States with Ginger Healy and Kimberly Smathers. The 7th Annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference is dedicated to building trauma-reformed schools. It is being held in Dallas, Texas, on February 18-23, 2024. Registration is now OPEN.

Feb 18th Academy Day Preconference
Feb 19-20 In-Person Conference
Feb 22-23 Virtual Conference Online

https://www.attachmenttraumanetwork.org/conference/

Join us live to learn more about this amazing upcoming event.

Ginger Healy MSW, LCSW, is a clinical social worker who began her career as a non-profit case manager and child abuse investigator. She then became a hospital social worker and spent 15 years as the social service supervisor at an international adoption agency and was able to travel to provide support for orphanages all over the world. This job continues to inform her work on attachment and trauma needs in children. After serving in that capacity, she worked as a school therapist and served on the charter school board. She is currently the director of programs for the Attachment & Trauma Network. She co-anchors the podcast “Regulated and Relational” and speaks nationwide on trauma-informed schools, therapeutic parenting, and community engagement. Ginger is also the author of Regulation and Co-Regulation: Accessible Neuroscience that Brings Calm into the Classroom.
Kimberly Smathers brings over two decades of experience in strategy, research, system design, policy, and communications across the health and human service, education, and nonprofit sectors. As Principal and Owner of Flourishing Spark LLC, she collaborates with organizations striving to create supportive systems and environments for human flourishing, especially for those whose experiences are shaped by sociodemographic disparities, trauma and toxic stress, neurodiversity, complex health conditions, and functional limitations.

Kimberly serves as the Vice President of the Attachment and Trauma Network Board of Directors and as the Parent Education Programming Chair for the Family Association at Bennett Day School. She holds an MBA from the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management and a human-centered design certificate from Ideo U. She resides in Chicago with her husband and son.

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Join us for "What is EMDR, and how can it help in the treatment of complex trauma?" with Sidney McGillicky.

Sidney is an Approved EMDR Consultant and also a Certified EMDR therapist who specializes in the treatment of complex and developmental trauma with 20 years of experience working as a therapist. Sidney also is a Certified NMT(c) Level One Practitioner utilizing advanced knowledge and understanding of neurological development resulting from adverse and traumatic experiences throughout the lifespan. Sidney is client-centered and integrative, with an understanding of the consequences of trauma and developing interventions that focus on healing and recovery.

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An interview with Liora Schwartz: Trauma-informed and neuro-developmentally sensitive approaches for parents and professionals.

Liora Schwartz (she/her) has over two decades of experience in the trenches of the New York City public school system and is a parent of a complicated, brilliant, neurodivergent teen. As such, she has a unique perspective that has broadened outside many traditional boxes. Liora's work with parents and professionals aims to be trauma-informed and neuro-developmentally sensitive and is informed both by current research and the lived experiences of autistic advocates.

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