AASR Live

Author McAlister Huynh joins us to talk about: "Listen, Learn, and Grow: A Whole Body Listening Larry Story."

McAlister Greiner Huynh is an educator, also known as The Neurodivergent Teacher.

McAlister Greiner Huynh is a National Board Certified special educator, behavior support specialist, consultant, and international speaker who calls North Carolina, USA home. She has been working with and learning from Neurodivergent individuals professionally for twelve years, steadily growing in her passion for neurodiversity, disability culture, and radical acceptance. McAlister is the educator behind “The Neurodivergent Teacher” on Facebook and Instagram, where she connects with families, professionals, and neurodivergent folks worldwide to share philosophies around teaching, self-advocacy skills, accessibility, and coping strategies.

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Interested in learning how to advocate for federal legislation prohibiting the use of restraint and seclusion in schools? Join us for a virtual training by two experts in federal advocacy on how to engage in this advocacy on Capitol Hill. All skill levels are welcome!

As a Partner at Stride Policy Solutions, Laura Kaloi provides strategic policy, advocacy, partnership-building, and communications expertise to nonprofit clients and is a leader in the education, disability, and child advocacy communities. She advises clients on policy and advocacy issues impacting children and families. Laura has a deep passion for improving access to education, career training, and independent living for all individuals. She has written and spoken extensively on federal education, special education, and workforce laws. Prior to becoming a consultant, Laura led the public affairs teams for nonprofit policy and advocacy organizations, including the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the American Health Quality Association, and HealthInsight. She worked in the U.S. Congress early in her career as a legislative assistant to the late U.S. Congressman James V. Hansen. Laura holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and a master’s in public administration from Brigham Young University.

Cyrus Huncharek is the Policy and Advocacy Director for the National Down Syndrome Congress. Before joining NDSC, Cyrus was a Senior Public Policy Analyst at the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) where he oversaw several policy areas impacting people with disabilities. Prior to his work at NDRN, Cyrus worked as a Government Affairs Coordinator for the National Parent Teacher Association (National PTA), taught high school English in South Dakota through Teach For America, and served as a Learning and Development intern for the White House Office of Administration where he developed e-learning courses for executive office employees. He holds a B.A. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. Cyrus’ experience as a classroom teacher and prior work on special education policy motivates him to now work toward an improved world for individuals with Down syndrome.

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Join us for “Protect the Children Project: An interview with Eliphaz Costus of The Satanic Temple.”

Eliphaz Costus is the Campaign Director of The Satanic Temple's Protect Children Project, working to protect all TST members in public schools from abusive punishments that violate their religious rights. He began his work with The Satanic Temple in 2021, when he organized the Bladensburg Satanic Peace Cross Ceremony with TST co-founder Malcolm Jarry, thus establishing the first Satanic monument on public grounds. Costus is also a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who wrote the infamous Satanic children's song "My Pal Satan.”

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Join us for “Balance Auditory Exercises; Patterned, repetitive, Rhythmic Movement for Everyone” with Meagan Baldwin.

Meagan is a Bal-A-Vis-X practitioner/trainer, a fierce advocate for her child with a disability, and an educator with 26 years of experience as a public educator in general and special education.

Bal-A-Vis-X stands for Balance, Auditory, Vision, and eXercises. The program consists of 200+ exercises, each rooted deeply in rhythm. They range in difficulty from one hand passing/receiving a single sandbag to both hands bouncing/catching four racquetballs in a specified sequence. Partner exercises may call for six balls to be simultaneously in motion. Others combine bags or balls with feet patterns.

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Join us for “Child-Teacher Relationship Training: Seven Skills for Building Meaningful Relationships” with Dr. Claire Cronin.

Dr. Claire Cronin is a licensed mental health counselor passionate about supporting resilient communities and training front-line care professionals on trauma-informed care approaches. Her first exposure to restraint and seclusion was while embedded in a public school for children with behavioral concerns, where she witnessed firsthand the significant impact these practices had on creating trauma and stress for children. Since then, she has had a mission to support teachers and other front-line professionals in trauma-informed care through shifts in the philosophy of working with children and adolescents.

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Join us for “Restraint and Seclusion in California Schools: Findings and Recommendations from the 2021-22 School Year Data” with Robert Borrelle

Robert Borrelle is a Supervising Attorney at Disability Rights California, California’s federally designated Protection & Advocacy Agency. He is part of DRC’s Investigations Unit, where he specializes in abuse and neglect investigations in facilities serving youth with disabilities.

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Closing the gap - Why cultural safety matters in promoting mental health, equity, inclusion, and resilient minds in education settings? - Unpacking culturally responsive teaching and trauma-informed care.

Balaji Somasundaram and Meera Balaji – We are husband and wife and were lawyers for 20 years in India in our past lives with a focus on children’s rights and family law. Currently, we are registered teachers/specialist educators in Aotearoa New Zealand and working as Learning Support Coordinators across 12 schools and 13 Early Childhood Centres in Wellington, the capital city of Aotearoa, New Zealand in an area of significant socioeconomic deprivation.

We believe we are in a distinctive position to recognize our students and their families' perspectives, narratives, and ongoing challenges as we strive to provide appropriate support services through timely actions to heal trauma and buffer its negative effects. We are passionate advocates for social justice, inclusion, and diversity both in our personal and professional lives. As educators from a minority culture in New Zealand, we firmly believe our children need to experience relationships around them with unconditional care, compassion, and commitment which will help to re-work their internal working models of themselves and the world around them. Despite barriers in different forms, the welfare of children has always been our utmost priority. Culturally responsive pedagogies and the work of Dr. Stephen Porges, the creator of Polyvagal Theory, underpins and is the foremost of the work we continue to do with the advocacy for our vulnerable children and young people who are at high risk.

We have a Bachelors in Law, Masters in Educational Psychology, and another Masters in Specialist Teaching with a specialty in Autism Spectrum Disorder. We recently completed the one-year graduate Applied Educational Neuroscience program under Dr. Lori Desautels from Butler University, Indianapolis, and also completed Neurosequential Model in Education with Dr. Bruce Perry’s Child Trauma Academy. We are also trained in evidence-based interventions and frameworks for autism - like TEACCH from the University of North Carolina, SCERTS, Early Start Denver Model, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Hanen’s Four ‘Is’ to socialize, which are widely used in New Zealand to support the needs of children and young people with autism. We both are also qualified in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with Beck Institute, Philadelphia, and trained teachers in Dyslexia.

We have also been part of many advisory and research groups in New Zealand for culturally responsive pedagogies and recently were part of the advisory group for the new guidelines for minimizing physical restraints in New Zealand, which is a work in progress. Over the years, we have been working with and alongside neurodivergent learners, particularly autistic individuals, and are continuing to advocate/support their unique needs by embracing their strengths, voices, and perspectives both in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and India.

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Reducing Seclusion and Restraint for Autistic Students: Using CPS with Nonspeaking and Echolalic Communicators with Stephanie Izzi and Sarah Hamel

Stephanie Izzi (she/they) is co-founder and Executive Director of Autism Included. An autistic adult herself, Stephanie uses her unique insight into neurodivergent communication and learning to support inclusion for autistic students. Stephanie works as a speech therapist, autistic inclusion specialist, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) expert. Her background as a research scientist provides a unique approach to their work, combining evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence to drive her workshops and practice. Stephanie completed their PhD in Genetics at Stony Brook University, and M.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Massachusetts General Hospital IHP.

Sarah Hamel (she/her) is co-founder and Director of Strategic Initiatives at Autism Included, where she spends her time building a coalition of individuals and organizations passionate about inclusion for autistic students, particularly our youngest learners. She is always on the lookout for partnerships to expand the collective capacity for change. In addition, she continues to practice as a Speech Pathologist specializing in autistic learning and development including AAC. In her free time she enjoys making music, writing, and listening to funny podcasts

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Join us for “One Rule Improv: A Trauma-informed Approach for Classrooms and Beyond” with Mary DeMichele.

Mary is the creator of One Rule Improv, a research-based and trauma-informed approach to learning, teaching, and applying improv. Used in a variety of settings, including classrooms, trauma-informed schools, residential treatment centers, and homes, teachers, clinicians, and parents are consistently amazed and grateful for the simplicity and benefits of the approach and how comfortable they feel participating. She co-authored groundbreaking, published research on improv's effect on the brain and is featured in the documentary, “Act Social-Using: YES AND to Save the World from Within,” Psychology Today, and Forbes. Mary is a certified academic and special needs teacher

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Join us for “A Candid Conversation with Dr. Lori Desautels about Restraint and Seclusion from a Neuroscience Perspective.”

Dr. Lori Desautels, has been an Assistant Professor at Butler University since 2016, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Education. She was also an Assistant Professor at Marian University in Indianapolis for 8 years, where she founded the Educational Neuroscience Symposium. Currently, the Symposium is in its 10th year and now sponsored by Butler University College of Education. Through these conferences and symposiums, educators, parents and the community learn deeply about how adversity, trauma and resiliency impact the developing nervous system, helping our students to feel a sense of autonomy and purpose along with social, emotional and cognitive well-being. Because of her work, Dr. Desautels has been able to attract the foremost experts in the fields of developmental, relational and the social neurosciences, which significantly grow the conference each year.

Dr. Desautels has created a nine-hour graduate certification at Butler University in Applied Educational Neuroscience / Brain and Trauma. This certification has grown from six graduates in its pilot year in 2016, to over 400 graduate students in its now 7th cohort. The certification is open to students around the world as it has transformed into a virtual platform and format. The Applied Educational Neuroscience Certificate, created by Dr. Desautels in 2016, is specifically designed to meet the needs of educators, counselors, and administrators who work beside children and adolescents who have, and are, experiencing adversity and trauma.

Dr. Desautels’ passion is engaging her students through the application of neuroscience as it applies to attachment, regulation, educator brain state, and teaching students and staff about their neuro-anatomy, thus integrating Mind Brain Teaching, learning principles, and strategies into her coursework at Butler. Dr. Desautels has conducted brain institutes and workshops throughout the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, and Dubai on Mind Brain Teaching and Learning. She has created webinars for educators, clinicians, and administrators illustrating how educators and students alike must understand their neuroanatomy to regulate behavior and calm the brain.

Dr. Desautels graduated with a BS in Special Education from Butler University, an MS in counseling education from Indiana University, and earned her Ph.D. in philosophy with an emphasis in early adolescence/ thought formation from Indiana University and American Institute of Holistic Theology. Dr. Desautels resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband, Michael. She has three grown children, Andrew, Sarah, and Regan, and four rescue fur babies.

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