AASR Live

Dr. Stuart Shanker (D.Phil) is a Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Psychology and the CEO of The MEHRIT Centre, Ltd.. His latest books “Reframed: Self-Reg for a Just Society” (University of Toronto Press 2020) and “Self-Reg Schools: A Handbook for Educators” (Pearson 2019) co-authored with Susan Hopkins is a follow-up to “Calm, Alert and Learning: Classroom Strategies for Self-Regulation” (Pearson 2012). His book, “Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle and Successfully Engage With Life” (2016), still garners enthusiastic reviews and media attention throughout North America and has been published in the UK, the US, Poland, Germany, China, South Korea, The Netherlands, and the Czech Republic.

In 2012 Dr. Shanker founded The MEHRIT Centre as a Self-Reg learning and information centre. Stuart commits considerable time to bringing the research and science of Self-Reg to parents, early childhood educators, teachers, educational leaders, health practitioners and communities through his writings, presentations, online courses, webinars, social media and a blog entitled, “The Self-Reg View”

Support the show

Susan is a passionate advocate for children, families, schools and communities, Dr. Susan Hopkins is the Executive Director of The MEHRIT Centre. Over Susan’s two decades of experience in education, she has worked in roles in the early years, K-12 and post-secondary across contexts from Italy to the Northwest Territories (NWT) including classroom teacher, program support teacher, vice-principal, district coordinator for inclusion, researcher, curriculum developer, and post-secondary instructor. Susan led the NWT implementation of the Early Development Instrument in kindergarten, co-authored the 10-Year Early Childhood Framework, developed the NWT play and culture-based kindergarten curriculum and led the Planning, Research and Evaluation division for the Department of Education. Under 5+ years of Susan’s leadership, The MEHRIT Centre has evolved into a highly respected, accessible, and successful center for teaching and learning Self-Reg. Susan recently co-authored the Self-Reg Schools Handbook for Educators and developed the online resources for the Principal’s edition with Stuart Shanker (Pearson, 2019).

Support the show

A special interview with Lori Petro an author & child advocate. Teach Through Love: Helping adults & kids build stronger relationships with conscious communication.

We'll discuss:

What is Conscious Communication/Parenting?

Who benefits most from conscious parenting and communication (everyone but kids with trauma/neurodivergent thinkers/giftedness etc demand it).

How does conscious communication reduce situations that lead to restraint and seclusion.

How do we learn to speak in new ways?

Lori Petro is the founder of Teach Through Love and creator of the Conscious Communication Cards. She holds a Bachelors in Elementary & Early Childhood Education and a certification in trauma-informed parent education. She founded Teach Through Love after her own self-healing journey as a vehicle to provide parents with a new framework for communicating with kids.

Lori is passionate about promoting social reform through education, community-building, and storytelling. A champion of conscious parenting and non-punitive justice, she's a board member of the nonprofit Stop Spanking and happiest when creating informative and entertaining content to help others heal their inner child and build authentic family relationships.

Support the show

Harrison Hill Elementary is in Lawrence Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Lori Desautels began co-teaching two days a week in August of 2020 during the pandemic in third and fourth-grade classrooms. In February she moved to a second-grade classroom and sixth-grade classroom implementing, modeling, and sharing the framework of Applied Educational Neuroscience with the staff and students. This framework addresses trauma, resiliency and creates a lens and a path to preventative brain-aligned relational discipline. The framework consists of four pillars that blend into our procedures, routines, and transitions throughout the day. The pillars are adult brain and body states, co-regulation, touchpoints, and teaching our staff and students about our neuroanatomy. 

Each day we began class with a brain-aligned morning meeting or afternoon gathering where the students learned about their nervous systems, parts of the brain, and how experiences impact how they feel, learn, behave and trust others. Through a variety of practices, we met the students in their brain and body development, addressing behaviors as a form of dysregulation. The students took this framework into their own lives as we shared ways to calm our nervous systems through breath, movement, rhythms, and a variety of sensory practices. The students began addressing and talking about brain and body states with the characters in books, throughout academic content, and experiences during the day! Join us for a live panel discussion where we will hear from the staff and students about how this framework has impacted their lives. We will also have an opportunity to learn how students, teachers, and staff apply the practices and strategies of educational neuroscience.

Support the show

Every bit of information that we learn in this world comes in through our senses. When sensory processing is efficient, we can navigate our everyday life comfortably. When someone is hypo- or hyper- sensitive to sensory input, daily experiences many of us often take for granted can become stressors, and as a result, our behavior will change. Transitions become more difficult. Focusing becomes more challenging. How someone processes sensory input is unique to each individual, so imposing our own sensory preferences on our children can lead to resistance. However, if we “think sensory” and understand our kid’s sensory preferences, we can help them feel safe, stay regulated, focus and perform at their highest level of ability.

Greg Santucci is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist and the Founding Director of Power Play Pediatric Therapy. He has been an OT for over 20 years, and currently is a Supervisor of Occupational Therapy at Children’s Specialized Hospital in NJ. Greg has been lecturing national for over a decade on topics related to sensory processing, challenging behaviors and best practice in the public schools. Greg is the father of two kids and is married to a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, so he shares his toys with all three of them.

Contact information:
https://gregsantucci.com
Facebook: Greg Santucci, Occupational Therapist
Instagram: @gregsantucci

Support the show

Black, Brown, and disabled students are experiencing adverse interactions with School Resource Officers (SROs) at disproportionate rates, feeding the school-to-prison pipeline. U.S. public schools have a duty to students to create a safe school without lifelong harmful effects. As a nation, we must re-envision what public school “health and safety” means in the 21st through ESSA and federal police reform. The reality is that many Black, Brown, and disabled children are eventually funneled into the juvenile justice system through a public school system. This is one parent and one child’s journey that reflects many others’ truth and consequences for simply being disabled, being of color, or being male in an American public school. Ms. Olafson will discuss the complex and layered journey that has brought a growing personal knowledge of how school systems “police” target population through implicit bias and school policies that allow criminalization of student behavior without due process through the public school system as experienced in her state and throughout our nation. Ms. Olafson will discuss the positive benefits that can be achieved when school-based mental health providers are made available through federal or state funding. 

Teresa has been blessed with two amazing sons that have raised her to be a fierce advocate when she would have enjoyed simply being “mom”. She is currently concluding her master’s in nursing administration and management and hopes to expand her learning on the neurobiology of trauma. Newer to advocacy, she is passionate about empowering families and creating positive impact on educational, health care and political systems through shared knowledge. 

Support the show

Join us for a special interview with Lori Kirkland. 

Lori Kirkland is a 3rd grade teacher and Advisor Lead in MSD of Lawrence Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. She has held numerous positions in her 25+ years of teaching but her heart and passion are working directly with and advocating for children.

Educational Neuroscience is not a program, but a framework and discipline that combines neuroscience, pedagogy, and developmental and cognitive psychology bringing the current research from how the brain feels, learns, behaves, and relates to instructional engagement and behavioral practices in the classroom. Every class, assignment, relationship, behavior and experience shapes the human brain. Understanding how the brain processes information into learning and knowing more about what it takes for students’ brains to be engaged, responsive, and alert are fundamental to the teaching and learning process. The neuroscience of how the brain learns and what influences the most successful brain acquisition and application of learning should be included in all teacher education programs. (Lori Desautels PhD) 

Support the show

Join us for a special interview with Karen Blacher. Karen is a Long Island based writer, artist, teacher, and mom to three amazing, neurodiverse children. She currently teaches secular studies to a small class of 3rd and 4th grade students at the Chabad Cheder in Coram, New York, where her constantly-evolving classroom design is informed by her experiences with her own neurodiverse children, her years of work as a children’s entertainer, and the voices of autistic adults and advocates.

In the fall of 2020, a Facebook post Karen made about the benefits of inclusive educational practices for neurotypical learners went viral, propelling her into the public eye and allowing her to connect with a vast and varied community of educators, parents, mental health professionals and advocates working toward the shared goal of inclusivity in education.

www.karenhopeblacher.wordpress.com

Support the show

In March of 2018 Victoria Johnson son was restrained by a school resource officer (SRO). Today Victoria is the founder of Families United for Self-Empowerment, a nonprofit organization in North Dakota. She helps mentor families and youth on how to become self-advocates. Victoria has a background in Business management, leadership, and Healthcare.

Families United for Self-Empowerment is a nonprofit organization that provides network support services for vulnerable families with children,young adults and youth throughout the State of North Dakota.We help connect families with other agencies, services and organizations. 

Victoria currently serve on the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Special Education Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Advisory Committee and Cass County Juvenile justice Racial and Ethnic disparity committee. Her passion to help mentor families and youth is what led me to starting Families United for Self-Empowerment.

Support the show

Join us for a special conversation with Elly Chapple, Founder #flipthenarrative, TEDx Speaker.

Elly graduated with honours in Human Resource Management and the Psychology of Human Communication. She has always been fascinated with human communication and behaviour, both verbal and non-verbal. She spent her early career working in businesses, managing and developing strategy for solutions focused approaches and building and maintaining relationships with clients.

Elly has a passion and interest in equality and inclusion for all, and her drive is to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table. In 2014 when her eldest daughter lost her vision, Elly sold her business to come home and begin another journey. In 2019 she did her TEDx at Norwich sharing their journey to found #flipthenarrative - their movement rooted in humanity.

Support the show