A Special Anniversary Event…

What is emotional development after all?

In early childhood children have different passions. They love Barney or Dora, will only play with trains or cars, insist on the same stories night after night, want every Disney princess, or even "believe" they are Spiderman. Some will never play with pirates, go to the jungle, encounter dinosaurs, let the witch appear, or any bad guy in sight.

Understanding what these childhood symbols mean and how they reflect a child's emotional development helps you understand his or her feelings, how those feelings contribute to peer play difficulties and affect cognition and abstract thinking. When challenges with auditory and visual spatial processing, movement, language and learning differences come into the picture, emotional development can get derailed by frustration, anxiety or acting out, and development can be impeded.

This presentation will provide insight into a young child's emotional life and some ideas about how to support this critical aspect of development. Material is appropriate for parents, care givers and professionals working with children. A post-talk Q&A will follow.

Serena Wieder is a well known clinical psychologist who pioneered the foremost approaches to diagnosing and treating infants and toddlers with infant mental health disorders and developmental challenges. Dr. Wieder is the Co-Founder of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL) and the Director of the DIR® Institute in Bethesda, an interdisciplinary competency based training program for professionals. 

Dr. Wieder received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from City University of New York.  She publishes extensively, including the recent  Engaging Autism, as well as The Child with Special Needs, and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, co-authored with Stanley Greenspan. Dr. Wieder and Dr. Harry Wachs are now completing their new book, Hidden in Plain Sight; Visual Spatial  Challenges in Autism and Learning Difficulties.  Dr. Wieder continues to practice in Maryland, lectures extensively both nationally and internationally, and provides consultation to clinical and educational settings starting DIR® programs.

Dr. Wieder’s talk is the third in a yearlong series of events to commemorate the 60th anniversary of TLC—The Treatment and Learning Centers, founded in 1950, and the 15th anniversary of The Katherine Thomas School, established in 1995. Visit www.ttlc.org for more information.  We hope you can join us for this special event!

$10 advance registration/$15 at the door

Please note:  Registration fees are non-refundable.

The workshop has been approved by the State of Maryland Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists for continuing education credits.