Workshops

Check out some of our most popular topics on this page. Other topics are available, and topics can be customized to meet your needs.

“What to do After the Meltdown: Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention Strategies”

(Available for different grade ranges, including Pre-K to 1st grade and teenagers)

Children or adolescents with autism often exhibit behaviors that interfere with their ability to effectively navigate their environment. They may appear willful, obnoxious, overreactive, anxious, unfeeling, or withdrawn. They may also lose control and have a meltdown. And all of this may make you feel helpless, frustrated, and powerless to help.

But don’t worry. In this full-day workshop, Kathy offers practical strategies and information to show you how to:

• Identify the stages of a meltdown 

• Distinguish a meltdown from a tantrum

• Differentiate between punitive and instructional consequences

• Distinguish factual statements about autism from myths

• Use high interest areas to “hook” kids into demonstrating appropriate behaviors

• Effectively use learning strategies such as social scripts, video modeling, social stories, power cards, reminder cards, emotion cards, SOCCSS, calming boxes, and many other visual strategies.

 After this workshop, you’ll feel knowledgeable and confident that you can keep many meltdowns from occurring in the first place and that you’ll be better able to handle those meltdowns that do happen!

“‘Why Can’t They Get This Done?’ Over 25 Supports for Addressing Executive Function Breakdowns in Children and Adolescents”

(Can be a one-day or multiple-day workshop, and can be tailored to any grade range.)

Children and adolescents who struggle with executive functioning often look like those who just aren’t paying attention, have difficulty making transitions, or are purposely not controlling themselves. They may be unaware of the connections between their behavior and consequences. Everything around them is disorganized and they may be unable to plan ahead. Without self-regulation, they may act out, get placed in timeout, or sent to the principal’s office. A downward spiral occurs as the student gets more upset and continues to act out when given punitive consequences.

The root of all these issues is executive functioning, which take years to develop. The good news is that executive function skills can be trained.

However, when important brain structures are compromised due to faulty brain wiring and sensory traffic jams such as those seen in autism spectrum disorders and many other disorders, more direct interventions are needed.

To address these breakdowns, this workshop focuses on: 

• Visual strategies that support learning

• High-interest content as incentives for self-regulation and organization

• Tools that work to increase positive behaviors

• Strategies that improve academics, communication, and social skills

You’ll learn to strengthen neural connections in children and adolescents and apply evidence-based meta-cognitive and self-regulation strategies and hands-on techniques to improve memory, inhibition, planning, time management, attention, persistence, and emotional control.

This seminar is for clinicians, educators, therapists, and/or parents.

“Make Way! Including Our Students with Moderate to Severe Disabilities in a General Education Classroom”

Why is it that that the first place we include our students with moderate to severe differences (Autism spectrum disorders, Down syndrome, cognitive differences, other developmental differences) is at lunch, P.E., Music, Art, and Gym? All these areas can contribute to sensory overload.

If our intention is to provide social skills training for these kids, the question is, “Does that really occur?” Without direct intervention from a qualified teacher (not a paraprofessional), social skills, communication, and behavior will not be intentionally taught.

Furthermore, why aren’t these students included in a science class, World History, Reading, Biology, or other content area classes? Often, it’s because general and special education teachers don’t know how to create multi-level instruction strategies. It’s not because they don’t want to or feel there is a need. More often, it’s because the decision-making process during the ARD meeting doesn’t look more extensively at the strengths and weaknesses of the student or explore creative ways to meet the goals of the IEP.

In this workshop for special education administrators, general education administrators, teachers (special education and general education), speech therapists, and counselors, Kathy demonstrates a decision making process based on federal guidelines, shows you how to implement Critical Components in a general education classroom, and models creative ways to employ multi-level instruction with many practical strategies that can help support our students with moderate to severe disabilities.

Note: This seminar will need follow-up technical assistance. Implementing a more inclusive program for students with moderate to severe disabilities requires administrative support and “buy-in” from all stakeholders.

Contact us if you’re a Special Education Director, Principal, or another administrator and we can discuss a proposal based on your needs. 

“Self-Regulation, Growth Mindsets, and Adolescents: What to Do

Self-regulation is one of the primary skills that fall under the umbrella of executive functions. Brain research shows that self-regulation skills begin developing around two years of age and develop slowly over time—in fact, well into adulthood.

Unfortunately, our expectations for self-regulation in adolescents may be overly optimistic unless these skills have been specifically taught at a young age.

To make things more challenging, when there are lifelong psychological and developmental disabilities such as Autism, cognitive differences, ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, oppositional defiant disorders, attachment disorders, or other developmental or psychological disorders, it may take even longer to teach these strategies.

For those adolescents who have difficulties in regulating negative emotions (such as worry or sadness), those who have problems with anger and impulsivity (ADHD and ODD), or difficulties with sensory or cognitive overloads (such as ADHD or Autism), these strategies must be taught as lifelong skills and interventions may need to be more direct.

In this seminar, Kathy will provide you with practical, brain-based strategies and direct interventions to use when working with adolescents who have developmental differences. The bonus is that these interventions will work with all adolescents, not just those with developmental differences.

This workshop will be useful for counselors, social workers, pre-K teachers, special education teachers, Head Start teachers, administrators, parent supporters, and parents.

“Happy for No Reason: 7 Steps to Being Happy from the Inside Out”

Did you know the following facts?

• Research shows that less than thirty percent of people report being deeply happy.

• One quarter of Americans and 27 percent of Europeans claim they’re depressed.

• The World Health Organization predicts that depression will soon be second only to heart disease in terms of the global burden of illness.

Scary, isn’t it? And sad.

According to scientists, we have about 60,000 thoughts a day. 95% of those thoughts are the same thoughts we had yesterday, and the day before that. And for the average person, 80% of these habitual thoughts are negative!

But it doesn’t have to be that way. While researchers have found that we all have a fixed “set point” for happiness, you can change that set point if you make a concerted effort. According to the research, up to 40% of your happiness is determined by your habitual thoughts, feelings, words, and actions—things you can learn to change.

Brain researcher Dr. Richard Davidson says, “Based on what we know of the plasticity of the brain, we can think of things like happiness and compassion as skills that are no different from learning to play tennis. It is possible to train our brains to be happy.”

When we change our thinking to support our happiness, negative neural pathways shrink and positive neural pathways widen. This makes it easier for us to think more positively.

The pay off? People who describe themselves as feeling grateful tend to have more vitality and optimism, suffer less stress, and experience fewer episodes of clinical depression. Heck, happy people are even 35% less likely to get a cold than unhappy people!

This workshop is for people (teens or adults) or organizations who want to feel more fulfilled, relaxed, and energetic and who want to attract more happiness into their lives. If you would like to learn how to change your life from one of negativity to one of possibility and gratitude, this workshop is for you! You’ll walk out of this session with 7 concrete, practical steps to becoming more happy—no matter your life circumstances!

“Help Your Students Develop Self-Regulation Skills to Improve Behavior and Increase Learning in 3 to 5-Year Olds”

Self-regulation is one of the primary skills that fall under the umbrella of executive functions. Brain research shows that self-regulation skills begin developing around two years of age and develop slowly over time.

Unfortunately, our expectations for self-regulation in young children may be overly optimistic unless these skills are specifically taught at a young age. To make things more challenging, when there are lifelong psychological and developmental disabilities such as Autism, cognitive differences, ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, oppositional defiant disorders, attachment disorders, or other developmental or psychological disorders, it may take even longer to teach these strategies.

The good news is that these self-regulation skills can be taught as lifelong skills. For students with behavior differences, this instruction may need to be more intense and the interventions may need to be more direct.

In this seminar, Kathy will provide you with practical, brain-based strategies that will address self-regulation, but also learning, in three to five-year-olds. She will also provide examples of more direct interventions that are effective when working with children who may have developmental differences. The bonus is that these interventions will work with all kids in this age group—not just those with developmental differences.

This workshop will be useful for counselors, social workers, pre-K teachers, special education teachers, Head Start teachers, administrators, parent supporters, and parents.

Ready to schedule your workshop? We can’t wait to hear from you!