AASR Live

Please join us for “Sensory Integration: Helping Children with Emotional Regulation” with Heathyr Watson. 

As a young child, Heathyr always knew she would go into the helping profession, whether it was medicine, teaching, or social work. Heathyr has a bachelor’s degree in History Education and a Master’s in Social Work. Heathyr is working on licensing so that she can become a clinical social worker. Heathyr hopes to achieve a Ph.D. in the near future. 

Heathyr has worked in residential since 2017 and as someone who is trained in restraints, she believes there are better ways of handling crisis situations for youth. Heathyr believes that if schools, hospitals, residential, or any place that claims to be a safe spot for children and youth should be just that. Reducing and eliminating seclusion and restraints will build more resilient youth and caregivers in the long run. 

 In her spare time, Heathyr enjoys reading, researching, playing video games with her husband, and taking the most random picture of her pets that she can.

Support the show

Please join us for “Changing Systems: A Conversation with Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, an Experienced Civil Rights, Disability, and Education Attorney.”

Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, is a nationally recognized attorney with thirty-eight years of experience in the fields of civil rights, disability and education law. He currently owns and operates Systems Change Consulting, a consulting and training law firm providing local, statewide, and national consulting and training for individuals, non-profits, and public entities. His focus is on making progressive systems change in the areas of civil rights, disability rights, general and special education, and combating abuse and neglect of vulnerable populations. He has been working on eliminating the inappropriate use of seclusion and restraint on children in school for nearly three decades.

Support the show

Please join us for “A Unique Program Helping Kids Find the Pathways to Success: An Interview with Dr. Tania DuBeau.”

Tania DuBeau has worked for The Pathways Schools since 1988 and is now finishing her 36th school year. She began as one of the social workers at the school and moved into various administrative positions, including principal of one of the schools. Tania became CEO/Executive Director in 2014. She has her LCSW-C, is a Certified Special Education Teacher and Administrator, and has her Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Maryland College Park. She is actively involved in MANSEF - Maryland Association of Nonpublic Special Education Facilities during her years in special education at Pathways. This is including several years on the board and as board president. She was instrumental in keeping the use of restraints to a minimum throughout the years at Pathways and in moving to no physical restraints policy in the past 7 years. Pathways has never implemented the use of seclusion.

Support the show

Please join us for “Becoming a Trauma-informed Restorative Educator: Practical Skills to Change Culture and Behavior” with Joe Brummer and Margaret Thorsborne.

Joe Brummer is a trauma survivor. Having lived through early exposure to violence, child abuse and neglect, and two violent anti-LGBTQ hate crimes, he turned his healing journey into a career in peacebuilding, restorative justice, and consulting in trauma-informed education. He supports schools and youth justice institutions internationally using a trauma-informed restorative lens to create supportive human-centered environments.

Joe is a member of the adjunct faculty at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, teaching the Peacebuilding Skills: Dialogue, Trauma & Restorative Justice course. Joe has appeared on dozens of podcasts and webinars and presented at national and international conferences. Joe has completed the certification course in Dr. Bruce Perry’s Neurosequential Model in Education and is a member of the Attachment and Trauma Network’s Training Collaborative.

Margaret Thorsborne, is an author, trainer and facilitator of Restorative Practice with a background in education and counselling. She is a pioneer of Restorative Practice in schools in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-late 90’s, and the UK in the early 2000’s. She has since trained restorative practitioners and change makers in education, workplaces, community, police and justice sectors across Australia, Asia, New Zealand, UK, USA and Canada. She remains involved in this important transformation in schools, particularly around whole school implementation of trauma-informed, relational approaches and culture change. Marg has been awarded an Order of Australia medal for her contribution to education, and a Lifetime Achievement award from NACRJ in USA.

Support the show

Please join us for “Navigating PDA in America: An Interview with Diane Gould about Her New Book”

Diane Gould is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in serving autistic individuals. As the Executive Director and Founder of PDA North America, she founded the annual PDA North America conference held in Chicago which has changed the lives of hundreds of PDA families.

Currently, Diane has a private practice in the suburbs of Chicago, where she serves neurodivergent children, adults, and their families. Over the last 40-plus years, she has worked for both private agencies and school systems. Diane was the Childhood Disability and Family Support Specialist for the Jewish Children’s Bureau for over a decade. She created many different types of programs and support groups, family camps, and parent education. She also established inclusion consultation and home visiting programs. She also has worked for two special education cooperatives which resulted in working in 14 schools during her career. 

 She served on the Professional Advisory Board of the Autism Society of Illinois for many years. Diane also facilitates a program to improve relationship skills for teens and adults.

She has served as a consultant and guest lecturer for many area school districts, parent associations, and private agencies.

 Diane provides assessments and consultations to families and school districts and frequently attends school meetings.  Diane has always been interested in human behavior and works with individuals, parents, and schools to create support plans that increase emotional regulation. She has been vocal with her concerns that our commonly used practices increase dysregulation and make behavioral challenges worse. She fights against punitive practices including seclusion, restraint, suspension, and expulsion.

 It was the understanding of behavior and support in the PDA literature that first drew her to learn more about PDA. And learning about PDA, led her to begin the new PDA movement in North America. Diane formed PDA North America at the first American PDA conference in March 2020. She has written a book with Ruth Fidler on Navigating PDA in America which will be published in June 2024.

 She is making it part of her life’s mission to gain more awareness and understanding of PDA in North America through this non-profit organization.

Support the show

Please join us for “Offering Support to Caregivers and Children During a Challenging Moment” with Nancy L. Weaver, PhD. MPH.

Dr. Weaver has a keen interest in promoting emotional health and working with schools and agencies to nurture the growth of all kids and adults using strength-based methods. She consults in the areas of messaging, community and team engagement, teacher training, strategic planning, and program design and evaluation. Dr. Weaver is also a performer and improvisational theater coach, and she uses tools from applied improv to strengthen collaboration and innovation in work settings.

As a tenured, full professor of Behavioral Science at Saint Louis University, her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among others, and has led to the widespread dissemination of effective parenting programs. Most recently, she launched Support Over Silence (supportoversilence.com) to provide bystander training to support parents and children struggling in public. Dr. Weaver is Co-director of the Community Engagement Core of the Center for Innovation in Child Maltreatment at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Using a systems lens, Dr. Weaver grounds her research, teaching, and practice in the rigor of the scientific approach, the art of storytelling, and the importance of connection across people and sectors.

Support the show

Please join us for “An Interview with Antwan Morris: Moving Beyond Incarceration to Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline.”

Antwan Morris lived the stereotypical lifestyle of a young black male growing up in the inner city. By 14, he’d essentially dropped out of school, and by 17, he was incarcerated. With 20+ years of hard work, advocating, healing, and public speaking, he changed his path and has dedicated his life to helping today’s youth heal from their traumas and create the lives they desire.

Support the show

Please join us for “The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Therapeutic Listening System: A Journey to Better Nervous System State Regulation” with Jennifer Abbanat, C-TSS, EXA-CE, SSP Provider.

 Jennifer is a parenting coach, Expressive Arts Educator, IEP advocate, Safe and Sound Protocol Provider, and trauma-informed consultant who uses neuro-affirming and trauma-informed approaches to empower families to make the most informed decisions that support their child's unique needs.  

 Jennifer has additional training in child development, including The Mehrit Centre ECE certificate program, a Certificate in Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), and trauma-informed expressive arts approaches.  Jennifer has a Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies from the Trauma Research Foundation with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, has completed hundreds of hours of PD in areas of DIR Floortime, attachment theory, polyvagal theory, neuroscience, inclusive education, and is a graduate of the UC Davis LEND program for Leadership in Neurodevelopmental Education. 

 Jennifer is a volunteer for the Alliance Against Seclusion and Restraint and is an advocate to educate on the dangers of these practices and supporting legislation to protect students. Jennifer started her own advocacy and consulting business, Crow’s Nest Advocacy & Consulting, where she provides a variety of services to support families through Expressive Arts Education, Safe and Sound Protocol therapeutic listening and individual and group parenting sessions to support the adults in the parent/child dyad.

 Jennifer has written several articles and blogs for organizations such as AASR and The Mehrit-Centre.  She is a founding member of a local organization, Yolo Neurodiverse Network (YNN), with 3 other parents with a mission to develop a culture of belonging and appreciation for neurodiversity by increasing community understanding, acceptance and engagement.  “Connecting individuals/ Connecting Caregivers / Connecting Communities” is what YNN hopes to bring.

 As an ND person herself, she is also a mom to three neurodivergent children, one of whom experienced early developmental trauma and is also autistic.  Jennifer believes in the value of lived experience and that we must learn to meet children where they are, not where we think they should be. This shift starts a new path for any family to be able to experience growth, balance, and joy as individuals and as a whole relational system.  The first step in this shift is curiosity.  Curiosity leads to the connection that all humans need.

 See a child differently, see a different child- Dr. Stuart Shanker,  PhD.

Support the show

Author Katie Pagnotta joins us to talk about: "Brain and Body-Aligned Responsive Systems of Excellence.”

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 balanced with wellness and goal attainment. 

Katie’s recently published book, Empowered by the Human Design: Utilizing the BBARS of Excellence Framework to Foster Student and Educator Success, 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. 

During her time as a school counselor, Katie was witness to a pattern in which educators were working passionately, and students were doing the best they could with the skills and support they had. And yet, the educator attrition rate, as well as the youth mental health crisis, were continuing to be on the rise. Knowing that when educators and school systems as a whole are given the right tools, they can provide fertile soil to nurture the environments, relationships, and supports necessary for students to thrive, Katie left her role as a school counselor to become an educational consultant who provides these tools through the BBARS of Excellence framework.

Support the show

Please join us for “What Toddler AAC Taught Me About Regulation and Nervous System Supports” with Cass Griffin Bennett.

Cass Griffin Bennett is an autistic and ADHD self-advocate and parent of multiple young autistic children. Cass is passionate about all things equity, early access to robust high-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), and anti-behaviorism harm reduction. Her guiding goal in parenting is to raise her children to be their own best self-advocates. Cass has a career background in professional services business development and a degree in Psychology from Smith College

Support the show