AASR Live

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,...

Please join us for “Diving into the NeuroRelational Framework: An Interview with Connie Lillas.” Connie Lillas, Founder and Executive Director of the NeuroRelational Framework (NRF) Institute Research to Resilience ( www. NRFcare.org ), co-authored the NeuroRelational Framework textbook and later authored the NRF 3 Steps to Resilience Foundations Manual. She oversees the NRF Institute’s ongoing re...

Please join us for “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are Still Important in Education: An Interview with Nicole Keler.” Nicole Keler is a passionate special education leader with nine years of experience working in the public charter school system across Washington, D.C. She is currently a Specialist on the School Equity and Effectiveness team at the D.C. Public Charter School Board. However, she...

Please join us for “A Parent’s Journey: From ABA to a Better Way” with Chantelle Hyde.  When I think back to about five years ago now, around the time that I first learned of my daughter’s traumatic seclusion incident at school from another parent, I was in a state of shock. After running into one frustrating and upsetting experience after another with the school and district, and even in reviewin...

Please join us for “The Journey Towards Neuroscience-Aligned Education” with Katie Pagnotta, Ellen Surprenant, and Sam Chadwick. Katie Pagnotta is a licensed clinical mental health counselor, functional success educational consultant, parent coach, and author. She is also the creator of the Brain- and Body-Aligned Responsive Systems (BBARS) of Excellence framework. She guides educators, administra...

Please join us for “Lessons in Listening with Yeiter.” Yeiter has 50 years of personal commitment to specifically supporting people who live in a status he names a “reputation for challenging behavior”. He draws on a rich personal history. His time in the company of people defined by a story of challenging behavior begins in an unreformed back ward in 1971 and continues through an attempt to refor...

Please join us for “Pathological Demand Avoidance: Born Outside the System” with Sandra McConnell.  Sandra McConnell, who is sometimes known as the PDA Mama Bear, is an instructor, speaker, blogger, and parent coach. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology, and two graduate certificates in neurodiversity and learning differences. And her 13-year-old son is Pathologically Demand Avoid...

Please join us for “Understanding Autistic Strengths & Differences: Why It’s Essential for Meaningful Support” 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 th...

Please join us for “Systemic Shifts in Inclusion: Neuroscience-Informed Practices for Transformation and Capacity Building” with Angelina Zara and Nicole Keler. Angelina Zara was born and raised in the heart of Washington, DC; Angie found her passion in education in 2015, serving students and caregivers in her hometown. Angie’s career includes the creation of the position of Social Emotional Learn...

Please join us for “Reducing and Eliminating Restraint and Seclusion in a Vermont School District: A Discussion with Superintendent Michael Leichliter” Mike is passionate about the ability of public education to provide all students with a high-quality education and is proud to be the superintendent of Harwood Unified Union School District. Mike’s goal is to improve classroom experiences for stude...

Please join us for “Not an Autism Mom: A Discussion with Meghan Ashburn.” Meghan Ashburn is a continuous learner, former elementary educator, family support specialist, speaker, and co-author of the award-winning book, I Will Die On This Hill. Her book club of over 15K members publishes book recommendation lists on autism and neurodiversity, and her website NotAnAutismMom.com is packed with resour...

Please join us for “Let’s Talk About Interoception: A Discussion with Kelly Mahler.” Kelly Mahler is an award-winning occupational therapist, author, and interoception groupie known for her boundless curiosity and fondness for crunching pinecones. Holding a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy, she has served school-aged children and adults for over 23 years. Kelly is the author of 12 resources, incl...

Please join us for “Your FBA is a Fantasy! Making Trauma-Informed, Neuro-Affirming Practices Actionable, and Aligning our FBAs and BSPs Accordingly” – An Interview with Rick & Doris Bowman about their workshop and upcoming book on trauma-informed FBAs & BSPs  Bringing together their combined experience and expertise in the fields of both mental health and education, Rick and Doris Bowman,...

Please join us for “The (Re)Education of Schools: A Discussion with Katie Thornton and Justin Moorman.” Justin Moorman and Katie Thornton are veteran educators who are well versed in Trauma-Informed Practices with advanced training in the Neurosequential Model in Education, Applied Educational Neuroscience, Crisis Prevention Intervention, Restorative Practices, Treatment and Education of Autistic...

Please join us for “Bolstering Self-Regard: the Energetics of Helping Children Thrive in Negative Classroom Environments” with Erin Grimm. Erin Grimm comes from a long line of educators. She has over ten years of experience teaching world languages and English and now owns her own business "Seahurst Learns Together," which is dedicated to academic coaching of students with what she calls...