COLLABORATION, CONNECTION, & COMMITMENT
May 2010 Half-day Conference
Speaker Details
Sheila Burns - Keynote Speaker:
Topic: "It does take a village: An ecological approach to meeting the needs of children with FASD"
The keynote address will explore current initiatives and emerging practice and opportunities that will strengthen our response to the challenges presented by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. FASD is a complex issue that requires the collaboration of multiple, informed, and knowledgeable partners. The ecological approach will frame our conference theme of Collaboration Connection and Commitment In and Out of the Classroom.
Children living with FASD require supports and services to help them meet their full potential. Outcomes improve when the community can respond to the needs of children and their families with sensitivity and insight. Key elements to the ecological approach include supported family networks, awareness among professionals who develop education and intervention plans, and community partners who provide the opportunities for children to build skills that will contribute to a lifetime of resilience.
Sheila Burns is an FASD consultant and is a founding member and Chair of FASD Ontario Network of Expertise (formerly the FASD Stakeholders for Ontario) collaborating to advance an FASD strategy in Ontario. Her background in children’s mental health, youth justice, women’s issues, and community development position her uniquely to advance the holistic and collaborative approach required to prevent, diagnose and manage the disability.
Allan Mountford –Breakout Workshop Speaker:Allan Mountford works with the Durham District School Board in a Section 23 program for aggressive adolescents, and is the President of Chimo Youth and Family Services, a Children’s Mental Health Ontario Agency. Many of his students have been affected by prenatal alcohol exposure, prompting him to review his attitude toward, and methods of teaching these students. Allan has been a member of the Durham Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Task Force, FASWorld Canada, and several Federal and Provincial FASD committees with Health Canada and Human Resources Development Canada. Allan works with First Nations communities across the country to discover FASD solutions. You may have heard one of his interviews on CBC radio.
He has worked with school boards, First Nations communities, and social & judicial agencies. He is the author of two handbooks for educators of children with FASD, a CD-ROM and website for judges, crown attorneys, and defense counsels. He has won awards from the Council for Exceptional Children and Ontario Association for Students at Risk for his work in the area of prenatal alcohol exposure. For seven years he sat on the Council of the Native Cultural Centre of Durham Region, and follows the teachings of his Anishnaubek (Ojibwe) heritage.
Topic: “Cause it’s Not My Fault: Behavioural and Learning Challenges for FASD”
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum disorder (FASD) is a spectrum of disorders symptomatic of organic brain damage caused by pre-natal exposure to alcohol. Research tells us that more that 1/100 children have FASD. FASD is a lifetime challenge; it does not go away, nor is there a cure. Without appropriate intervention the disorder can get worse as affected people get older. The presentation will look at the primary and secondary characteristics of FASD, the problems of diagnosis, and will discuss the physical, emotional, & social symptoms on the education of affected children through different age groups, through school years and into employment presentation. This fast-moving, multi-media presentation will change the way you approach that special group of children who have been such a puzzle in the education world for so many years.
Dr. John Perrin - Breakout Workshop Speaker:Biographical info:Dr. Perrin is a clinical psychologist in full-time private practice in Bowmanville, Ontario. For the past 20 years, Dr. Perrin has worked with infants, children, adolescents and adults suffering from mild and severe psychiatric disorders. He possesses vast experience with psychological assessment and treatment, and has presented on a range of issues including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, childhood behavior and learning disorders, abuse and trauma, suicide, attachment disorders and assessment of parenting capacity. He has worked closely with child welfare agencies and schools, and regularly serves as an expert witness within the court system.
Dr. Perrin experience with FASD began in Chicago in 1988 while completing his graduate studies. He continued that interest in 1991 while working in a children’s mental health program in northern Ontario. In 2001, he and a group of community professionals received training at the University Of Washington in Seattle about the diagnosis of FASD and together with them, developed a system for getting children correctly diagnosed in the Durham Region.
Topic: School Based Interventions for Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Psychological Assessment and Diagnosis.
- The complexity of alcohol related neuro-developmental problems
- Challenges presented by the FASD child
- The diagnostic process
- Co-morbid psychiatric conditions
- Psychometric data
- Treatment plan development in schools
- The community treatment plan
- When good plans fail
Parent Panel:
Sue Bradbury: Suzanne is the mom of five sons between the ages of 8 to 18 under the FASD umbrella. She will discuss some strategies that may work to help make recreational activities and the community atmosphere a more co- operative and safe place for our kids to be.
Margaret Lintott:Margaret is the mother of Tanya who is 12. Tanya was adopted at age 2 and diagnosed with ARND at age 8. Margaret will be discussing strategies for communicating with the school in order to get appropriate services for children with FASD.
Arlene Skolnik:Arlene and her husband Richard adopted fraternal twins Jessica and Kamille from a Russian orphanage when they were 13 months old. At the age of two they were diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome by the Chief ofNeurologyat the Montreal Children's Hospital. Our life as a family has been difficult, challenging, frustrating, rewarding, amazing and full of surprises. Arlene will be speaking to support strategies for social interactions.
Julie McColl:Julie is a wife and mother of 5 birth children, plus fostered 23 children over 16 years. Numerous children had FAS characteristics, and 5 had confirmed diagnoses. We are currently adopting 3 special little girls 5, 6 and 7. I will share my personal stories of experiences, ideas and strategies that have worked with some of my children. My stories will relate to before school prep and homework time.
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