The Ties That Bind Seminar Is Sponsored By The Following Organizations:
Workshop Schedule
Session 1 - Saturday, May 14th - 11:00 am - 12:30 am |
1A Engaging Autistic Children To Help Them Communicate Ryan Mitchell opened his own practice seven years ago to work with children with developmental disabilities. He has a passion for working with children and specializes in the area of Sensory Integration issues which includes most children on the Autism Spectrum. In this informal workshop he will assist parents in trying to better understand that their child’s behavior is communication. He will help parents learn how to respond to their child’s behaviors in order to gain insight into what their needs might be. Instead of viewing the child’s behavior as bad or challenging, parents will begin to ask, “What is she trying to tell us?” “What is he saying he needs? |
1B How To Support Your Child In Making Healthy Choices One of the most challenging times for parents occurs while their children go through the adolescent years. This workshop will focus on how parents can communicate with their teens without arguing. Specifically, it will present examples of how to communicate effectively about responsibility, healthy coping skills and alcohol and other drug use. The current research on adolescent brain development will be presented. Time will be given for questions and answers. As a clinical psychologist and stand-up comedian, Dr. Bellace uses humor to convey his very powerful message – we need to support young people in both words and actions if we want them to make healthy choices for themselves. |
1C Learn to Speak Your Adopted Child’s Heart Language Do you ever get frustrated when attempting openness about adoption
with the kiddos? Many parents don't realize that adoptees have a different
heart language than theirs and the importance of trying to learn what
their child’s heart language might be. Let adoptee, Sherrie Eldridge teach
you how to reach the heart of your child in deeper ways. Sherrie will share
what your child may be afraid to tell you and help you find ways to create
openness. She will help parents understand how to meet their children“where they are” and discover practical tools for helping their children
grow from the complex emotions they may be experiencing. |
1D Parenting The Hurt Child: The Impact of Trauma on This workshop will address the unique challenges facing families as they
parent children who have experienced early childhood maltreatment.
Emphasis will be placed on helping parents understand the relationship
between trauma and the kinds of behaviors hurt children exhibit. This will
be a practical workshop that will help give parents ideas on how they can
feel and be more effective with their children. |
Session 2 - Saturday, May 14th - 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm |
2A Beyond Placement: Understanding the Developmental and This workshop will explore the vulnerability/risk factors for adoptive parents and compare the psychological tasks for all parents with tasks for adoptive parents. Losses for both parents and the child will be discussed within the family’s relationships. In addition, issues of entitlement and claiming will be addressed as a predictable strain on a parent’s ability. Strategies for supporting parents and ultimately the child will be presented. |
2B Special Education 101: How Understanding IDEA (the Public This workshop will discuss the current changes to IDEA as a result of the 2004 reauthorization. Parents will gain a better understanding of their educational rights and how to assert those rights in IEP meetings. Furthermore, they will understand the IEP process and know what is considered a disability and what constitutes services. There will also be discussion about Mediation’s, 504’s, Manifestations meetings, Tribunals, and Resolution meetings. Lastly, parents will know how discipline should be handled according to IDEA and how professionals should address and support behavioral issues. Please note that this is a two part workshop and will continue during session 3. |
2C What Adoptive Parents Need to Succeed Do you ever wonder if you're succeeding in meeting the needs of your
child? Do you ever feel discouraged by the unwise choices he or she
makes--possibly the opposite choices you've taught? Do you ever feel like
parenting is much more challenging than anticipated, even though you
wouldn't trade your role for anything? Ms. Eldridge re-defines successful
parenting adoption style. Learn how to find your parenting secret spot of
success and the healing message your child wants you to know but
may not be willing or able to say. |
2D Parenting Adopted Adolescents—Part 1 Dr. Keck is the founder of the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio
providing therapeutic services for adopted children who have experienced
early childhood maltreatment. The first part of his two part workshop
will examine typical adolescent developmental processes, i.e., separation/individuation, identity development, sexuality. There will be a
special focus on how the processes vary for adolescents who were
adopted, either earlier in their lives or in adolescence. Race and culture
issues may become more pronounced during adolescence, and these |
Session 3 - Saturday, May 14th - 3:15 pm - 4:45 pm |
3A Adoption Through the Eyes of Children : A Developmental This workshop provides participants with an understanding of what
children comprehend, think, and feel about adoption as they grow,
from the pre-school years through adolescence. Common questions,
fears, and concerns related to birth parents, relationships with adoptive
and extended family members, and relationships with peers are
addressed. Special emphasis is on ambiguous loss and grief, selfesteem
and self-value, and identity. How non-adopted children perceive |
3B Special Education 101: Understanding IDEA (the Public This workshop will discuss the current changes to IDEA as a result of
the 2004 reauthorization. Parents will gain a better understanding of
their educational rights and how to assert those rights in IEP meetings.
Furthermore, they will understand the IEP process and know what is
considered a disability and what constitutes services. There will also
be discussion about Mediation’s, 504’s, Manifestations meetings, Tribunals,
and Resolution meetings. Lastly, parents will know how discipline
should be handled according to IDEA and how professionals
should address and support behavioral issues. Please note that this is
a two part workshop and has been continued from session 2. |
3C What Adoptive Parents Need to Succeed Do you ever wonder if you're succeeding in meeting the needs of your
child? Do you ever feel discouraged by the unwise choices he or she
makes--possibly the opposite choices you've taught? Do you ever feel like
parenting is much more challenging than anticipated, even though you
wouldn't trade your role for anything? Ms. Eldridge re-defines successful
parenting, adoption style. Learn how to find your parenting secret spot of
success for and the healing message your child wants you to know but
may not be willing or able to say. |
3D Parenting Adopted Adolescents—Part 2 Dr. Keck is the founder of the Attachment and Bonding Center of Ohio
providing therapeutic services for adopted children who have
experienced early childhood maltreatment. The second half of this workshop
will discuss how parents can mitigate some of the adolescent
adoptees’ issues and begin to understand, appreciate, and enjoy their
child and his/her journey toward adulthood. Many times, the adolescent’s
emerging ‘self’ clashes with what the parents’ expectations are, and it is
at these intersections that many parent-child conflicts occur. Dr. Keck is
the parent of two sons who were both adopted during their adolescence.
Please note that this is a two part workshop and has been continued
from session 2. |
Session 4 - Sunday, May 15th - 8:15 am - 9:45 am |
4A Transracial Ten You’ve adopted transracially...now what. In this workshop you will
learn the 10 things that all transracial parents should know. Some of
the topics that will be discussed include: preparing for the “unpreparable,” designing a cultural connection plan, love ain’t gonna
keep you dry, and hair today—gone tomorrow. Join Kevin for some
laughs and maybe some tears, as we explore this topic. He shares
from his own experiences as a transracial adoptee as well as from the |
4B Life Goes On: Resources & Services After Adoption Yes, life goes on even after a successful placement and finalization of
an adoption. This doesn’t mean that we know how to “handle” every
situation that might arise after the adoption is finalized. We know that
the Life of a parent has many ups and downs and twists and turns
before you are done. This workshop will answer many of your questions.
How can I get help? Why is this happening? What do I do now? |
4C Inducement: Understanding Acting-Out Behavior This workshop offers a positive approach for adoptive families to learn how to make sense of and deal with negative feelings that adopted children can make their parents feel, and anger and frustration that parents can feel toward their children. By understanding inducement, plus other key parent/child interactions unique to adopted children, adoptive parents can help turn family turmoil into an opportunity for true communication and strengthened commitment. The presenters will discuss the impact of abandonment on children and present scenarios of classic inducement in adoptive families. Understanding this unspoken, and often times, misconstrued form of communication is critical in helping families create successful strategies and approaches in building relationships with their adopted children. |
4D What Parents Need to Know About Bully/Victim Behavior! Dr. Carpenter is a violence, drug, and student assistance program consultant |
Session 5 - Sunday, May 15th - 10:00 am - 11:30 am |
5A Elephant Eating 101 Recently Kevin Hofmann sat down and figured out that over the first
18 years of his transracial life he spent approximately 27,375 hours
immersed in black culture. This translates 3.125 years of constant
24/7 exposure. After calculating this he began wondering how we can
get today’s transracial families close to these numbers and what is
enough exposure to tip the scales in favor of a more connected life?
As Kevin wondered if striking this balance was even possible an old |
5B The Impact of Maternal Substance Abuse On Child This workshop will focus on the impact of maternal substance abuse
on the physical, cognitive, social and emotional functioning of the young
child. We will review the long-term effects of maternal substance
abuse and prenatal exposure on a child’s developmental outcomes.
We will also discuss conditions that maternal substance abuse may be
associated with, including disease, prematurity, sub-optimal caretaking,
poverty, exposure to violence, neglect and maternal psychopathology.
Finally, interventions and resources for caregivers of children |
5C Solving the Mystery: Decoding Teen Behavior Most adoptive parents agree that the teen years can be quite challenging and many times teen behavior seems to be a real mystery, yet when you look under the surface, there is almost always a reason for what you see. This workshop will shed some light on the special challenges adopted teens face and some of the underlying reasons for defiant, attentionseeking, and even overly-compliant behavior. This workshop will include a Q & A session with a teen panel who will assist in decoding the mysteries of teen behavior and help parents learn how to hang in there, even in the face of rejection by their teen. |
5D How To Individualize Treatment for Your Child With Attachment Every child is an individual and unique. This workshop will stress to parents
how important it is to individualize treatment, techniques, and all
interventions with their child. Tailoring a child's intervention to his/her
temperament and personality is very important to the success of the intervention.
The workshop presenter will encourage questions in order to
make the workshop beneficial to the parents. |