AASR Live

Please join us for “Understanding the Impact of Restraint and Seclusion: A Parent Panel Discussion.” Chantelle Hyde Chantelle’s advocacy began with her desire to support families after learning that her daughter was locked in a room at school. She has appeared on Global News and CTV W5, sharing her family's journey. With a background in adult education, business, and Self-Reg Foundations, she...

Please join us for “Facing the Fantasy, Finding the Way Forward: A New Book from Doris and Rick Bowman.” Bringing together their combined experience and expertise in the fields of both mental health and education, Rick and Doris Bowman, affectionately known by schools and agencies around the country as “Team Bowman”, provide speaking, training, consultation, and coaching services to both education...

Join us for “What Social Psychology Says About Behaviorism, and Five Things to Try Instead” with Dr. Arielle Silverman. In this presentation, Dr. Silverman will share research and theory from social psychology explaining why behaviorism (rewards and punishments) so often fails to improve children's long-term behavior. She will then discuss five strategies to use in place of behaviorist method...

Please join us for “Fighting Ableism and Exclusionary Practices in Schools: A Conversation with Kara Dymond.”  Kara Dymond, Ph. D., is a late-diagnosed autistic/ADHD advocate, teacher, researcher, and award-winning teacher educator from Toronto, Canada. Her work supporting autistic students inspired her books Creating a Neurodiversity-Affirming Classroom (2025) and The Autism Lens (2020). Kara res...

Please join us for “Lighting Up the Learning Brain: An Interview with Jessica Sinarski.” Jessica Sinarski, LPCMH is an award-winning author, dynamic speaker, and the founder of BraveBrains. She has spent her entire career working with children who have challenging behaviors and the caring adults in their lives. She loves spicy food, Diet Coke, and her sweet, silly family…not in that order. Jessica...

Please join us for “No Restraint: Disabled Children and Institutionalized Violence in America's Schools, an Interview with Dr. Charles Bell.” Dr. Charles Bell is an award-winning associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice Sciences at Illinois State University. His research explores how out-of-school suspension, seclusion, and restraint impact families and teachers throughout th...

Please join us for “Building Neuroinclusive Spaces Where Every Child Belongs” with Lauren Hough Williams. Lauren (she/her) is a neurodiversity and inclusion specialist and an experienced special educator and is the Executive Director of the Program for Neurodiversity and Inclusion, or “PINE.” PINE educates and empowers schools and communities to embrace neurodiversity, creating inclusive, accessib...

Please join us for “Understanding Autism in Context: A Discussion with Dr. Peter Vermeulen.” Peter Vermeulen, PhD, has a Master's in Psychology and Pedagogical Sciences at the University of Leuven, Belgium (1985) and a PhD in Psychology and Pedagogical Sciences at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands (2002). From 1987 until 1998, he worked for the Flemish Autism Association, first as a h...

Please join us for “We Don't Need a 2.0 Version: Creating Neuroinclusive Schools by Rejecting Behaviorism and Neuronormativity” with Jenna Goldstein. Jenna Goldstein, MS/CAGS, Certified School Psychologist, is an AuDHD woman, school psychologist, and parent to neurodivergent children – the '3' perspectives of her practice, 'ND3'. As such, Jenna brings a 360-degree view of...

Please join us for “Reducing and Eliminating Restraint and Seclusion in Your State: An Interview with Cassie Atallah.” Cassie Atallah is a Trauma Informed Changemaker with 10 years of teaching experience and 12 years of experience parenting her gifted, autistic son, who has become her greatest teacher. She has dedicated much of her time to learning about healthy, equitable approaches to extreme be...

Please join us for “Uncovering Cross Creek: From Survival to Screen” with Jessy Greer. Jessy Greer is an actor, writer, and producer with over ten years of experience in entertainment. After moving from Houston to Los Angeles to study at AMDA College of the Performing Arts, she quickly established herself in the comedy scene, sharing the stage with comedians like Amy Schumer and Margaret Cho. Jess...

Please join us for “How to Assess the Hidden Meaning Behind Behaviors” with Staci Neustadt and Susan Golubock. Staci Neustadt, CEO of Making Sense of Autism®, is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist with over 20 years of experience providing individual and group therapy, training, mentorship, and leadership. In 2019, Staci joined Susan in developing the Neuro Strengths Based Support for Autism f...

Please join us for “Assistive Technology: to Innovate and Integrate Your Future” with Sam Shepherd. Sam Shepherd is the founder of 3DA, a nonprofit that advocates for individuals with developmental disabilities across the country. 3DA focuses on providing accessible resources on their website ( 3DA.org ) as well as advocating at both the state and federal levels. Support the show

Please join us for “Understanding Issues Impacting Black Neurodivergent Students” with Cheryl Poe. Cheryl Poe is the founder and Executive Director of Advocating 4 Kids, Inc., a Special Education Advocacy organization that provides resources, information, and workshops to parents and professionals, with a special focus on addressing the needs of Black and Brown children with disabilities. She is t...

Please join us for “Leading with the Heart with Jase Williams.” Jase Williams is a TEDx Speaker who has 25 years of experience working as an educator and is the former Principal of Henry Hill School who won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Award - Wellbeing - the top education award in New Zealand. Jase is a certified trainer in the Neurosequential Model in Education (NME), an...

Please join us for “Disruption in Schools: A New Book from Ben Sacco." Ben is an education specialist and Author of ‘Disruption in Schools: Understand me before you mark me!’. He works with schools, teachers, and principals to tackle issues like teacher burnout, retention, school culture, and student behavior. Many of his strategies to improve behavior and classroom dynamics in schools are gr...

Please join us for “Collaborative Curiosity and the Unstuck Protocol: The Best Way to Prevent Restraint and Seclusion Is to Not Have a Reason to Even Consider It” with Jennie DunKley.  As a special education consultant for over 25 years, Jennie has represented hundreds of families and attended over a thousand IEP meetings. She empowers Teams to focus unwaveringly on the actual and intended “I’s” i...

Please join us for “Shifting the Narrative Starts with Parent Empowerment” with Stacy Badon and Torrin Kearns. Stacy and Torrin Co-host a podcast that seeks to dispel the myths, misconceptions, and fears around Everything Autism. Stacy Badon is an Autism Education specialist, Sensory Enrichment Therapist, and Parent Coach, with previous experience as a Speech Therapist and Early Intervention teach...

Please join us for “Your FBA Is a Fantasy: A Discussion with Doris and Rick Bowman About Their New Book.” Bringing together their combined experience and expertise in the fields of both mental health and education, Rick and Doris Bowman, affectionately known by schools and agencies around the country as “Team Bowman”, provide speaking, training, consultation, and coaching services to both educatio...

Please join us for “Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education” with Alex Shevrin Venet. Alex Shevrin Venet is an educator, author, and professional development facilitator based in Vermont. She teaches graduate teacher education at Vermont State University. Previously, she was a teacher and leader at an alternative therapeutic school, a community college instructor, and an after-school teacher in...

Please join us for “Trauma, Healing, and Positive Identity with Dr. Karyn Harvey, PhD.” Karyn Harvey has worked as a clinician in the field of intellectual disabilities for over 35 years. She has her Ph. D. in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Maryland. She has written three books: Positive Identity Development, Trauma–Informed Behavioral Interventions, and Trauma and Healing...

Please join us for “Shifting from Retribution to Repair: A Discussion with Margaret Thorsborne.” Margaret Thorsborne is an author, trainer, and facilitator of Restorative Practice with a background in education and counselling. She is a pioneer of Restorative Practice in schools in Australia and New Zealand in the mid-to-late 1990s, and in the UK in the early 2000s. She has since trained restorati...

Please join us for “Creating a Neurodiversity-Affirming Classroom: An Interview with Kara Dymond About Her New Book." Kara Dymond, OCT, PhD, is a late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD advocate, teacher, author, researcher, and award-winning university lecturer. Kara teaches autistic elementary students who inspired her books, Creating a Neurodiversity-Affirming Classroom (Jessica Kingsley, 2025) a...

Please join us for “A Data-Driven Analysis of Why Black Students and Students with Disabilities are Arrested Disproportionately in Maryland Public Schools” with Tamara Ward. Tamara Ward is a 2023 NABJ Pew Youth Justice Fellow. A MDDC Press Association award-winning multi-platform journalist, she is also an accomplished communications professional with over 20 years of experience in various communi...

Please join us for 5 Things Every Parent of Neurodivergent Kids Needs to Know with Polina Shkadron. Polina is a trauma-informed speech-language pathologist, family communication and feeding expert who specializes in autism and ADHD. She uses play to engage with each child’s unique perspective of the world. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Speech-Language Pathology from CUNY Queens College,...