Dr. A Jordan Wright,  Ph.D., ABAP, Faculty and Director, Center for Counseling and Community Wellbeing New York University, specializes in psychological assessment (including learning disabilities and ADHD) and is the author of five books on psychological assessment, discusses online neuropsychological assessments.  He answers common questions about the validity and reliability of tele-assessments for learning and attentional difficulties commonly seen in children, adolescents, and college students. Come learn what the important factors families should consider when deciding if an office or tele-assessment or both make the most sense when a child or teen is struggling with learning in school.

Dr. Jane Aronson, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, Director of International Pediatric Health Services, PLLC, Founder and former CEO of Worldwide Orphans 1997-2019, and Director of Global Behavioral Health Network for Children and Young People, who is also known internationally as the Orphan Doctor, reflects on her childhood growing up above her father's grocery store in South Jamaica, Queens, through age 3 and then in Franklin Square, Long Island.  Jane was passed over, ignored, and sometimes bullied at times throughout her medical career for being a woman, and yet she was resilient and became a leader in adoption medicine and global health. Even as a young child, Jane knew she wanted to become a doctor like her revered Great Uncle Joe, who helped treat Native Americans with Tuberculosis. As a young child, she created "The Bee Hospital" nursing injured bees brought to her by friends on the block. Her father, who owned a grocery store, would take Jane, as a very young child, on home visits to his diverse customers. He would ask them about their lives and about their children and spoke quietly and asked them to pay only what they could afford at the time.  Early in her childhood, Jane experienced trauma and the identity crisis of coming out LGBTQ without the support of her family. This motivated Jane to help others as a teacher, doctor, and as a global leader. At the age of 69, nothing stops Jane as she plans to grow her work as a pediatrician by developing a counseling practice to help adopted children grow a healthy identity. She currently works with professionals all over the United States to improve health equity and provide social justice for vulnerable and at-risk children.

Dr. Jan Wasowicz is an ASHA-certified, IL-licensed, and FL-licensed speech-language pathologist with 35+ years of experience as a language, literacy, and learning specialist working with students who have language-based reading, writing, and spelling difficulties and disorders. She has taught numerous university-level courses and is frequently invited to speak about best practices in literacy assessment and instruction at professional conferences. She is also the inventor of the Earobics® software, author of SPELL-Links to Reading & Writing, and lead moderator of the SPELLTalk professional listserv. She is here to speak about her favorite topic, literacy! Learn about the updated science of literacy, how her word study program was adopted by the Colorado READ Act, and Dr. Wasowicz's favorite literacy tips to help students become more proficient readers and writers.

Academy Award winner, Peggy Stern, who produces and directs documentaries, who struggled with dyslexia as a child, discusses how she created SuperDville, a media channel for students 7-12 years of age with dyslexia and learning issues. The SuperDville curriculum was developed by seminal researchers, therapists, and educators, and stars actual students who have learning differences on and off the screen. These fun educational videos are for educators, parents, and students and can be used at home! Each video lesson contains a scaffolded activity to promote social-emotional themes and discussions.  Please take advantage of this free subscription while it lasts!

Kaity Broadbent, Head of Learning from Prenda, discusses micro-schooling! Kaity is an ardent believer in equity and Prenda's approach to learning. Prenda believes students of different ages can learn collaboratively at their own pace. Flexibility helps students learn through fun engaging activities. Finding each child's internal drive, allowing autonomy for student choices, and making connections with peers and learning guides helps students grow as individuals as they master vital skills. Helping provide equal access to students who struggle with literacy, Kaity was one of the masterminds behind Treasure Hunt Reading (check out one of 93 videos), an Orton Gillingham based multisensory way to learn literacy! It's free for all https://treasurehunt.prenda.co/!

Preetika Mukherjee, who grew up in India, is a pediatric neuropsychologist in private practice in New York City. She specializes in neuropsychological evaluations of children and adolescents. In India, she received her master's in Applied Clinical Psychology. Knowing that she wanted to advance her studies in understanding human behavior, she studied in New York City and received a doctorate in School Psychology from New York University, received her post-doctoral fellowship in Pediatric Neuropsychology at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital. Later in New York City, she was the Director of Neuropsychological Evaluation Services at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital, served as an Assistant Professor at Columbia University and Mount Sinai Hospital. During this podcast, she discusses the field of psychology, particularly neuropsychology, cultural differences between India and the States, and how she helps families best understand their child's learning and behavior through a neuropsychological evaluation.

Due to a sudden pandemic, a new set of online social norms are being established between educators/therapists and their students/clients. Netiquette is acceptable online behaviors within a network of individuals.

Sharon Baum, a NY licensed speech-language pathologist, explains netiquette and its connection to social-emotional learning while virtually working with her New York City middle school students.

Patty is a Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn resident, mother of three girls, helps her hustler husband run one of their local businesses, a restaurant, and is the Math Department Head at a Manhattan public school, The Institute for Collaborative Education, 6th-12th grades. Come learn about progressive education, portfolio-based approaches, and how to encourage students to problem-solve. Patty explains how she facilitates her students to apply their understanding of mathematical concepts and use tools to build upon their understanding of mathematical learning.  By encouraging her students to collaborate together, this creates a community of inclusion and allows her students to challenge themselves. For the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, regardless of how students are taught, Patty stresses that students, regardless of the discipline, need time to think and actively engage with the world and their peers.

James, a Brooklyn middle school student, discusses his first week of all remote learning from the comfort of his home. Come learn what James enjoys about his online learning setup, what he misses from being physically at school, and what he predicts will happen to his online curriculum as the school year progresses. He also offers several suggestions to help students improve their online learning!

Fara Jones, MA, LCSW is a Psychotherapist and Creative Arts Therapist.  During this podcast, she discusses how the pandemic is impacting our mental health and provides suggestions for how to best care for ourselves. COVID-19 is best understood through understanding the stages of grief. Acceptance helps us deal with loss.  We need to learn to adapt to our new lives, accept discomfort, allow the flow of our full circle of emotions, and find a cause. Cultivating how to best express oneself during hard times is crucial for our well beings. Creativity helps us engage with the world, even when expressed during mundane tasks. Come learn how Fara helps families, tweens and teens, find their paths during these unprecedented times.