Straight Talk with Dr. El

Dr. El walks you through her Internal Dream Team - the people who live in her head and work together to ensure wins. Together, they make up her personal agency, which help her navigate life. Who's on your Internal Dream Team?

Inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. This week, I found inspiration in the narrative of my good girlfriend. Learn how her Village Member blessing her...blessed me.

Dr. El loves hosting summer camps each year. Planning enriching activities for little ones is pure joy for her. However, she realized that all the planning and implementation that she and her team does, to prepare to provide the children with a fun and enriching summer, is now the responsibility of many parents. So her team came up with three top picks for free summer camp activities while sheltering in place! Happy Summer!!! Make it a GREAT one!

Admittedly, co-parenting is the hardest thing Dr. El has ever had to do. Through real life experiences, she will walk you through her application of the Family Stress Theory to guide her decision making, when parenting after a bitter divorce. Then Dr. El will explain how shifting her perspective assists her in maintaining her well-being, while parenting her son in the context of a new family structure. 

Who's your tribe? Who's your safe space? Join Dr. El in a discussion about the benefit of having a tribe. It is easy to feel isolated. It is easy to feel alone, in our busy world filled with all its responsibilities. But having a tribe, a safe space, offers a haven of personal refuge. Intentional thought can assist you in defining and identifying your tribe, just as Dr. El has identified her tribe. BOOM!!!! 

Through vivid storytelling, Dr. El takes you on a journey of advocating for and parenting a child with disabilities. She illustrates the value of play as a data collection tool for parents and so much more. Finally, Dr. El explicitly details five distinct values of play that can be immediately beneficial to your child and your family...and in time...to our diverse and cooperative society.

Dr. El walks you through her experience of advocating for her son, SDYM (SuperDuperYoungMan), from preschool parent/teacher conferences to middle school IEP meetings. Her goal was to ensure the words that surrounded her son supported a development of a strong belief in himself and his capabilities, as a child on the autism spectrum. Finally, Dr. El provides 5 strategies that you can use in your everyday life to ensure the words you use with and around your child promote the development of an emotionally healthy and confident person.

Dr. El shares her narrative to illustrate how the experiences of childhood can impact our relationship with nutrition and fitness as adults and parents. Then, shares in some candid Straight Talk with Dr. Lashandra Newton, CEO of Covenant Physical Therapy And Wellness Services, LLC (http://www.cptwellness.com) about strategies and tips that help families make good choices about nutrition and fitness. 

Learn the Big Deal/Little Deal strategy to support your children as they develop valuable problem-solving and conflict resolution skills. 

Empower your child to be an agent of change. Learn six steps to having a meaningful conversation with your child about social justice.