AASR Live

Children communicate through their behavior. Behavioral problems may occur when we misunderstand what a child is trying to tell us. Adults may find themselves continuously addressing the same behaviors and wondering why their child keeps repeating these behaviors. This workshop will help you to get under the behavior and discover what it is a child is trying to tell you. The workshop will provide simple, yet effective tools for recognizing and managing the underlying causes of children's behavior. We’ll explore the role that anxiety, avoidance, attention-seeking, and communication challenges play, and share strategies to assist in better understanding what children are trying so hard to communicate with us.

Donna Shea, Founder of The Peter Pan Center for Social & Emotional Growth, is a social-emotional learning specialist. Since opening her center in 2002, she has worked to address the needs of families whose children are struggling with behavior and social challenges. Donna brings 33 years of life experience to her work as a parent of two sons with ADHD, Anxiety, and Sensory Integration Challenges.

Donna is a consultant to schools, parent groups, and human service agencies. She is also a seasoned public speaker and travels to bring workshops and seminars to groups and venues outside the local area. She has certifications in Cognitive Behavioral Coaching, Pathological Demand Avoidance, Positive Psychology, and Bullying Prevention. Donna is also the co-writer of the How to Make & Keep Friends book series.

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Student disruption at school can take up an enormous amount of time, energy, and even financial resources. Confrontations can result not only in personal stress for both students and teachers, but in conflicts that involve families and the larger community. However, it's not always easy to know what to do or how to respond.In this original and highly engaging book, Emma Van der Klift suggests that "cross-pollination" - applying the lenses of one field to the issues faced by another - can generate unexpected insights and open new ways to think and act. Based on a year's worth of fascinating interviews with hostage negotiators from all over North America, this book shows how crisis negotiators de-escalate distraught individuals through communication. Instead of relying on either punishment, reward or directives – something commonly done in education – hostage negotiators rely on listening and support and are successful in resolving more than 90 percent of the issues they are called upon to negotiate without loss of life, injury, or the use of coercion. This book offers a wealth of suggestions and advice from negotiators, and is not only about how we can help someone to de-escalate when they are in crisis, but also, and perhaps most importantly, about how we can learn to effectively de-escalate ourselves during difficult interchanges.

Over the past 30 years, Emma (with her husband and partner Norman Kunc) has travelled extensively throughout North America and abroad providing in-service and training in the areas of inclusive education, employment equity, conflict resolution, and other disability rights issues. Emma has recently published, Talk To Me: What Educators (and Others) Can Learn About De-Escalation From Hostage Negotiators.

Emma Van der Klift is a neurodivergent speaker, author and activist. Diagnosed as Autistic as an adult, she has embraced the diagnosis with a sense of relief, recognition and confirmation. Like many other autistic girls and women, she did not recognize her experience as represented in the common societal narratives. Emma believes that her experiences as a so-called “disruptive student” gives her a unique perspective on the issue. Emma holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Analysis and Management from Royal Roads University and is certified as a mediator and negotiator through the Justice Institute in Vancouver.

Emma can be reached at www.broadreachtraining.com

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Have you decided to run for local office - or are considering it? 

This session outlines the basics of campaign readiness, preparation, execution and compliance. 

We hope that this information will make you feel that running for office is possible and might even be fun!

Chelsea is an advocate for education, housing, mental health awareness, disability rights and inclusive communities. Chelsea was a kindergarten and first grade teacher in the mid-90’s and began practicing law in 2001. In 2018, Chelsea co-founded Not Without Us, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation dedicated to achieving equality for all children and adults with disabilities by and through trainings and tools to increase participation at all levels of democracy, including elected roles, to promote advocacy for shared knowledge of rights & responsibilities and equal systems of opportunity and justice. Chelsea has served a term as a School Board Trustee, she now sits on the San Mateo County Commission on Disabilities, and she is currently a candidate for the San Mateo County Board of Education.

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When Imani Hill arrived at her new job, she learned that rather than a co-teaching position, she would be responsible for teaching six black boys with Individualized Educational Plans (IEP). The boys were currently spending their days in a conference room with the Assistant Principal. When Ms. Hill arrived, they were moved to a classroom where she was to be their teacher. The students' IEPs were not provided to her initially, nor was she given any guidance about the students' levels of functioning or what they needed to be working on. When Ms. Hill did receive copies of the IEPs, she saw that they were out of date. She also saw that the move from regular class placement to the segregated special education class was not documented, nor was there documentation of communication about this with the students' parents. In mid-January, Ms. Hill was asked to update the IEPs, but to backdate them to December. She refused. In this Facebook Live session, Imoni Hill will tell her story of working to assure that these boys received updated testing, updated IEPs, and the supports and services they needed and deserved. She will share the push back and retaliation she received from the school administration. As Ms. Hill tells the story of these six boys, Cheryl Poe, AASR's Director of Diversity Issues and the Founder and Executive Director of Advocating4Kids, Inc., will identify each action the school took that was against federal regulations. Ms. Poe and Ms. Hill will provide an update on what is currently happening in the efforts to assure that these six boys, who are referred to as "the Chesapeake Six" receive. Cheryl will share her experience working with the state Department of Education before and after Virginia received notification from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) that the State was not exercising general supervisory and monitoring responsibilities in accordance with federal requirements.  Shawn Eure-Wilson will also join the conversation.

Imani Hill, a former special education teacher in Chesapeake who reached out to VDOE with serious concerns about six African American students assigned to her classroom.

Cheryl Poe is the founder and owner of Advocating 4 Kids, Inc a Special Education Advocacy organization that provides resources, information, and workshops to parents and professionals with a special focus on addressing needs of Black and Brown children and those from lower-socio economic status. Cheryl is the mother two boys with learning disabilities ages 23 and 21.

Shawn Eure-Wilson has been working with children and adults with Special needs for 20 plus years.  She is also a Special Olympics volunteer/mentor and mother of 2 Children with Exceptionalities.  

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Join us for a special interview with self advocate Sam Maloney.

Sam Maloney is a 20 year photographer from Rochester, NY. Sam started his photography journey at 10 years old.

Sam is a restraint and seclusion survivor from the age of 5 to 14 years old.

Sam is continuing his photography education through his person centered plan through New York State.

Sam is also working to support autism acceptance. Autism on US Routes 11 and 20 is a a journey to inspire others to see the best in themselves.

Sam will be traveling the country to spread his campaign to change Autism Awareness to Autism Acceptance.

Learn more about Sam: https://endseclusion.org/2020/02/04/making-positive-change-through-negative-experiences/ 

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Join us for a special interview with self advocate Alex Campbell.

Alex is an advocate for students with disabilities and the Executive Director of Campbell Advocacy. Alex is the KASSA Campaign Director for the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint. Alex is also proud to be a part of the education team at the Human Projects. He attends high school in a public school setting in rural Virginia. Alex is enrolled in Powhatan High School’s Advanced College Academy program. This means that he will graduate high school and earn his Associate's Degree through Reynolds Community College concurrently. Alex was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder when he was 3 years old.

When he was in elementary school, he was subjected to multiple counts of restraint and seclusion for disciplinary reasons. In 2014, Alex began advocating for the need to regulate the use of restraint and seclusion. Alex has inspired the creation and passage of three laws in Virginia and hopes to continue inspiring others. He has been invited to provide testimony to the Commission on Youth, the Virginia House of Delegates Subcommittee #1 under the House Committee on Education, the Virginia Senate Subcommittee on Public Education, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, and the Virginia Department of Education In 2018, Alex was invited to a Congressional briefing and asked to re-introduce the Keeping All Students Safe Act to the United States House of Representatives. Alex has inspired the creation and passage of three laws in Virginia and hopes to continue inspiring others.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Alex was a 2016 recipient of the Yes I Can Award from the Council for Exceptional Children. He was also named as the Spring Champion by the United Methodist Family Services in 2016 and received the Catalyst for Change Award by the Arc of Virginia. In 2018, Alex was invited to a Congressional briefing and asked to re-introduce the Keeping All Students Safe Act to the United States House of Representatives. Alex has inspired the creation and passage of three laws in Virginia and hopes to continue inspiring others. Alex has been featured in the Associated Press, The Washington Post, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Powhatan Today, NBC 12, ABC 3, NBC 23, ABC 8, The Story with Martha MacCallum on Fox News, The Hill, Boy’s Life, aclu.org (National), nbcnews.com (National), newswire.com, ideastations.org, and he has been interviewed by NBC’s Dateline. He has an Op Ed published in the Richmond Times in celebration of Autism Awareness month. Alex has inspired the creation and passage of three laws in Virginia and hopes to continue inspiring others.

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Unparalleled. Unprecedented. Extraordinary. Whatever descriptor you use for this time of societal crisis, it is clear that we are facing any number of defining moments as we struggle with COVID-19, systemic racism and institutionalized injustice, economic freefall, and climate change. How have our brains and nervous systems evolved to respond to crisis and trauma? What is attachment and how does it support and enhance our capacity for resilience? How can the tiny ripples of attachment security in our daily lives influence these massive forces moving in our country and across the globe? Join Dr. Gregory Czyszczon as we explore these topics through the lens of interpersonal neurobiology.  

Dr. Gregory Czyszczon is an Assistant Professor of Counseling at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). His specialties include working with trauma throughout the lifespan, particularly in the context of attachment patterning in childhood and attachment trauma in adulthood. He has written for the Neuropsychotherapist and Guilford’s Play Therapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice and has recently been featured on the Thoughtful Counselor podcast. Dr. Czyszczon is a board member of the Global Association for Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies (GAINS) and has trained for several years in the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) with the Neurosequential Network and Child Trauma Academy. He is the designer of and coordinator for EMU’s Integrated Ed.S. in School Counseling, a degree program launching in the Fall of 2021 with an emphasis on trauma, resilience, and restorative practices in schools.

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In this session we will explore brain development through an educator's lens. We will learn how adversity and trauma affect the way we learn, behave, and perceive the world, addressing specific brain aligned strategies that regulate our nervous systems and help us to connect with one another.  We will begin to understand that traditional discipline works the best for kids that need it the least and works the least for kids who need it the most. When we are dysregulated, our brains do not respond to words, lectures, consequences, or rewards.  Relational discipline is not something we do to children, it is something we want to create within them.

Lori is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at Butler University College of Education / Former special education teacher and school counselor and currently teaching applied educational neuroscience / brain and trauma to undergraduates and graduate candidates in the certification program. For the past six years, I have returned to the classroom co-teaching in multiple grade levels two mornings a week bringing these strategies and practices into the classroom preparing the brain to learn while dampening down our stress responses systems and attuning to the developing brain states of our children and youth. Author of several publications and writer for Edutopia. Currently preparing to birth my fourth book, "Connections Over Compliance," Rewiring Our Perceptions of Discipline." 

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This informational webinar will provide parents and educators with valuable information about executive functioning.

Robin Roscigno is a scholar/practitioner specializing in education for Neurodivergent children. She is a PhD candidate at Rutgers \University's Graduate School of Education and consults with school districts and parents on a range of topics. Most recently, Robin was awarded the Irving K. Zola Award for Emerging Scholar in Disability Studies from the Society for Disability Studies for her article "Semiotic Stalemate: Resisting Restraint and Seclusion through Guattari's Micropolitics of Desire" which combined her scholarly interests with her anti-restraint and seclusion activism.

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In this session Allison will share how she uses a comfort vs. control approach and creativity during this pandemic.

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