MONTREAL CENTRE FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES

                       PARENT CONFERENCE: TOOL BOX FOR SUCCESS!

8:00 am: Registration & Exhibition Room Open

8:00 am - 9:00 am: Continental Breakfast

Grab a quick continental breakfast & take advantage of our exhibitors who are ready to provide you with information and guidance.

*Individual select 1 topic in each time slot.
*Parent Couples select 2 either similar or different topics in each time slot.

9:00 am - 10:25 am 

Session 1) Singapore A - The Alpha Children- How to Get Back Into the Lead.

Speaker: Eva de Gosztonyi, M.A.  is a psychologist who has worked for over 40 years in schools across Canada. She is the Coordinator of the Centre of Excellence for Behaviour Management, a support to the ten English School Boards of Quebec, helping them to provide effective interventions for students with significant behavioural challenges. Eva bases her interventions on the newest brain research and the most effective practices congruent with the attachment-based developmental approach of Dr. Gordon Neufeld. Eva is faculty member of the Neufeld Institute and an authorized presenter of the Neufeld paradigm.

Seminar Topic: Is your child bossy, demanding, competitive, controlling and generally difficult to manage? Does your child charm others with their wonderful behaviour outside the home and then become a challenge to parent when they are with you? For a variety of reasons, including learning disabilities, high sensitivity, and impulsivity, some children have difficulty letting themselves be parented or taught. This session will uncover the roots of this problem, which stems from the alpha dynamic. Once this dynamic is understood, parents will be provided with ways to set right their relationship with their child and increase the likelihood that life at home will become easier.

Session 2) Hong Kong A  - The Ins and Outs of Executive Functions.

Speaker: Marlene Desjardin, Ph.D., is a licensed school psychologist who works at the Montreal Fluency Centre, a not-forprofit centre offering speech, language, learning, and literacy services. She is fascinated with the brain and is particularly passionate about the topic of executive functioning. A lot of spare time is spent reading about both subjects and chatting with anyone who is interested! In addition to doing psycho-educational assessments and consulting around learning issues, Marlene also directs the Taylor Adolescent Program, an after-school intervention for middle-school and high-school students who have learning disorders. Here, her knowledge of the brain and executive functioning comes in handy!

Seminar Topic: In this presentation, Marlene will explore in-depth what executive functions are, including some abilities that are not commonly thought of as executive functions such as attention, working memory, and emotional regulation. Executive function weaknesses will be discussed in the context of learning disabilities and high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The presentation will end with an overview of treatment options and considerations for executive function weaknesses.

 (Coffee Break) 10:25 am- 10:40 am 

10:40 am - 12:05 pm

Session 3) Singapore A - Parenting Adolescents with ADHD & ODD: Managing the Turbulence & More!

Speaker: Abe Worenklein, Ph.D., is a clinical and forensic psychologist in private practice in Montreal, professor at Dawson College, lecturer at Concordia University and certified as a family mediator. In addition to his psychotherapy practice, he provides psychological assessments as well as psycholegal assessments. 

Seminar Topic: The idea that adolescence is difficult includes three key elements, namely conflict with parents, mood disruptions and risk behaviour, in addition to other problematic behaviours that occur. However, parents are faced with significant challenges from their adolescents who demonstrate Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD) or Oppositional Defiant (ODD) Disorder. An understanding of the symptomatology of ADHD and ODD are vital in terms of dealing with such children/adolescents.This presentation will deal address the turbulence that many adolescents experience and parents have to deal with. Recommendations will be made in terms of how to deal with such adolescents while at the same time not using punitive methods, but rather using constructive and productive interventions.

Session 4) Hong Kong A - Making Sense of Sensory!

Speakers: Patrick Major, Nathalie Dinelle and Sophie Plourde, are certified occupational therapists and members of the Option Enfance: ergothérapie-conseil clinic, which provides occupational therapy services for children in their home, school or daycare. They have extensive experience with children with special needs: autism, intellectual disability, developmental delay and learning disabilities.

Seminar Topic: Children with learning disabilities face sensory challenges everyday, from hypersensitivities to noise, to inability to tolerate textures on their bodies. This experiental workshop offered by occupational therapists will focus on different sensory stimulations and their effect on a child’s mind and body. Strategies and sensory tools will be explored by the participants.

(Lunch on your own)  12:05 pm - 1:30 pm

Take the opportunity to visit the Exhibition Room where our exhibitors who will offer resources & guidance.

 1:30 pm - 2:55 pm

Session 5) Singapore A - Managing Anxiety: Practical Tools Parents Need to Know to Help their Child & Teen.

Speaker: Deborah Schwartzman is a licenced psychologist with the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec. She completed her Ph.D. at McGill University in Counselling Psychology where she researched the application of virtual reality (cyberpsychology) in the treatment of anxiety. She has extensive training and experience working with children, adolescents and adults with a range of difficulties, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, eating disorders, and relationship problems. She draws primarily on principles of cognitive-behavior therapy to help her patients identify and manage problematic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Her approach is collaborative and goal directed, with the aim of helping her patients to develop new strategies to improve their wellbeing and handle future challenges independently.

Seminar Topic: Parents play an essential role in helping their child or teen manage anxiety. This presentation will help you learn about anxiety: how it looks, how it works, and how to recognize if it is problematic for your child. We will then focus on practical strategies and tools to help you manage your child's anxiety, whether your child is just beginning to show symptoms, or has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Strategies will include:
-Taking charge of worrisome thinking
-Helping your child face their fears
-Helping your child learn how to relax
-Developing habits to support emotional and psychological health

Session 6) Hong Kong A - Assistive Technology for Children & Teens with Learning Disabilities: Frequently Unanswered Questions.

Speaker: Jillian Budd, M.A., is a doctoral student in in School/Applied Child Psychology at McGill University. She is currently completing a part-time psychology internship at the Lester B. Pearson School Board, where she provides psychoeducational assessments and therapy to children and adolescents. She has also been working at the Adaptech Research Network since May 2007, as a research assistant; she is currently the project manager for Adaptech’s Free and/or Inexpensive Assistive Technology Database. When she is not busy with school and research, Jillian also provides consultation services on assistive technology to parents, schools and specialized centers.

Seminar Topic: Parents of children/teens who have learning disabilities are frequently told that their children would benefit from technology. While this recommendation is often well-founded, navigating the multitude of software and hardware available can be a daunting task. This talk is aimed at helping parents choose which product(s) best suit their children’s needs by answering commonly asked questions such as:
- How will my child benefit from using the technology?
- How can my child best use the technology?
- How can I help my child use technology effectively?
By the end of this talk, parents will feel more comfortable navigating the different options and supporting their child's/teen's academic and technological needs going forward.

(Coffee Break) 2:55 pm - 3:10 pm

3:10 pm - 3:50 pm

Session 7) Singapore A - In My Head & Out of My Mind.

Speaker: Joey Elias started performing comedy in 1992 on open mic stages in Montreal. Since then he has performed at no less than 16 Just For Laughs Festivals. Joey has also travelled far and wide bringing his unique brand of humour to mass audiences, including two trips to Afghanistan to entertain the Canadian Troops stationed there. Joey can be heard weeknights at 11pm as host of the Comedy Show on CJAD 800 in Montreal and Newstalk 100 in Toronto. "Joey is a National Treasure!" - Montreal Gazette.

Seminar Topic: Mixing humour and personal stories, Joey will discuss his battles with anxiety and what he has done to combat it.

  Grab a quick continental breakfast & take advantage of our exhibitors who are ready to provide you with information and guidance.

• Abby's Office
• Babar Books
• The Big Blue Hug
  
• Centennial Academy
• Disability Financial Assistance Corp.
• Geordie Productions
• Hudson Literacy Clinic
• Inspirations
• Kiddo Active Therapy
  
• Kit Planete
• Medipsy Psychological Services
  
• Microcomputer Science Centre
  
• Montreal Centre for Learning Disabilities
• Montreal Fluency Centre
• Neufeld Institute
• Plant Love Grow
• Proset Autism
• Sew Dutch by Alet
  
• Strategic Learning Centre
• Top-Tutorat
• Vanguard School
• Yaldei Developmental Centre
  

 

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