According to the CDC, 1 in 5 youth will be diagnosed with a mental health disorder every year. It can be difficult to understand mental health disorders in children because normal childhood development is a process that involves change. Additionally, the symptoms of a disorder may differ depending on a child's age, and children may not be able to explain how they feel or why they are behaving in a certain way. Learn the Signs, Symptoms, Coping Skills, and Support Strategies to help a youth go through managing the complex world of Mental Health. Stress, a factor in Mental Health, comes with traumatic events that are serious, intense, or sudden. Traumas such as serious accidents or injuries, threats, abuse, or violence can prompt this type of Traumatic Stress. However, the role of positive thinking can help relieve some of the signs and symptoms of Mental Health Disorders. Come hear information on how to use coping skills to help a youth. Which disorder is a Mental Health Disorder… ADHD? …Autism Spectrum Disorder? …Eating Disorders? …or Anxiety?

Have you had a moment when your child’s behavior started to escalate? What did you do to reduce the behavior? The goal of this training is to provide interventions to decrease challenging behaviors. When we notice the early signs of behaviors, they can often be resolved with supportive (nonconfrontational) language and other verbal de-escalation techniques to help diffuse the interaction. Come learn the early warning signs, verbal techniques, effective communication and positive attention.

Executive functioning is coordinated in the brain's frontal lobe and used to plan, organize, strategize, pay attention, and complete goals. Executive dysfunction creates challenges with impulse control, flexible thinking, task initiation, organization, and working memory. Executive dysfunction affects children's learning and can make it difficult for them to complete a project, organize their work, complete multistep tasks, and think independently. Executive functioning skills are learned in day to day activities, in real-life contexts, through observation of a competent adult model. This presentation will offer strategies adults can use to teach these skills.

This training is designed to be a tool to help parents, professionals and children understand the sensory systems and how to manage hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity to certain input. The training focuses on the child as a whole person as we explore sensory issues, sensory modulation, emotional regulation, and the relationship between a sensory and behavioral response.

Students who have self-determination skills have a stronger chance of being successful by addressing the need for self-determination skills among adolescents, including some of the major components of self-determination which are knowledge of self and others, personal management, effective communication, self-advocacy, and Advocacy within systems, decision-making, goal setting & problem-solving. These experiences help a young person test his or her strengths as a self-advocate. Adult outcomes for the students were assessed using a scale completed by parents.

The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD) is specifically tasked with serving the needs of Floridians with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD).  You can apply to APD or "pre-enroll" as early as age 3.  If you have not already applied to APD and you have a family member with an IDD, you need this session.  This basic information will give you the application and the guidance on all the documents you need to be gathering to submit with your application.  Hold on to every IEP, every IEP because APD wants to review them, details like this will clear up the process and help you submit a complete application.  APD overseas the MedWaiver or Waiver program, and it can mean invaluable help in the future if you take care of things today.

This presentation considers students' motivation to attend school and be engaged.  Strategies such as using praise and effective error correction are provided to encourage behavioral success and build strong relationships.  Foundations for understanding the motivation for certain behaviors will be provided.

Sibling relationships are a vital part in the stability and preservation of the family unit. This presentation will explore the challenges a youth may face while growing up with a sibling who has a disability. The presenter will review topics such as, ways to talk with siblings about applicable family member diagnoses, guiding siblings through the various emotions they may experience, and creating an environment that fosters and supports the needs of the sibling without a disability.

This presentation will review the foundations and research behind the best practices for including students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, allow for engaging discussions regarding misconceptions​, and address common myths and truths that address core beliefs necessary for students to be successful in the least restrictive environment. 

This training focuses on equipping parents and caregivers with the necessary knowledge and skills to effectively use visual supports as communication tools for individuals with autism, developmental delays, cerebral visual impairments, and language disorders. The objectives of the training are designed to empower participants to explore various visual support techniques, comprehend the significance of visual aids as communication tools, and implement these strategies within their home environments to enhance communication skills for children experiencing language delays. By the end of this training, parents and caregivers will be equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to create a supportive visual environment at home, fostering enhanced communication abilities for their children with language delays.

Reviews research on the importance of family involvement, transition services, individual educational plan (IEP) components, self-advocacy and self-determination, responsibilities of schools, families and students, and resources supporting family involvement in transition planning. The goal of this training is to help families of students with disabilities and others who support students with disabilities understand the secondary transition process and how best to participate in student post-school success.

This training provides participants with a review of the Project 10 website and the resources that are available to all transition stakeholders, such as school district personnel, families, community organizations, agencies and discretionary projects. Participants will also learn how to navigate through the Project 10 website to locate the information they need.