Speakers 2008

Louise Menlo,PhD., The About-U Workshop 

In this workshop you will gain an understanding of your individual profile using the results of your About-U assessment.   You will review your assessment, feedback will be given and you will discover the authentic you. Identify your strengths and style for future career interests.

The About-U assessment and workshop with address "The Hows of Establishing Relationships". This is a tool that will give you insights into effective communication, both with in your immediate family as well as in establishing social relationships and maintaining relationships on the job.

Identify your strengths and style for future career interests.

• Determine your talents and strengths.
• Find out what motivates you and with which job families you align.
• Identify environments that support your needs.
• Find out how and where you are most effective and happy.
• Identify your and your interests.
• Understand how you make decisions.

The About U Report is a very powerful tool for learning about yourself, the results provide insights into who you are now and into your future. You learn what interests you, makes you uncomfortable, and how to be successful. It can help you can find where your best fit is, choose a career field that matches your style, a college major or technical program.

Parents - It will be helpful if you also take this assessment to assist in communication and planning with your child. You can take it at the workshop rate. Call the NLDA Office for information and a code.

Dan Herlihy,M.A
ASSISSTIVE TECHNOLOGY

A hands on workshop that will help you determine the most effective Assistive Technology software available today, how and when to use it to optimize your success.
This session will address using technology to address the academic and communication needs of students with a Nonverbal Learning Disorder. From using organizational tools like Inspiration 8 that allow for movies, audio and images, to underutilized functions found in common tools like Microsoft Word, learn how these tools can be used. Students are provided with multiple means for expression and communication of knowledge learned, ongoing feedback in problem solving activities, tools for organization and comprehension.

Software programs demonstrated will include Inspiration, IntelliTools Classroom, Kurzweil 3000, Clicker 5, Microsoft Word and other programs as well as utilizing digital cameras and other related resources with them.

Sarah Ward, M.S., CCC SLP
WORKSHOP
Building "Thinking Strategies" and "Inner Speech" to help with keeping it all together.

In this workshop Sarah will provide an overview of Executive Function skills, their importance in goal setting, carrying out organized steps and in modifying a plan to complete a task successfully.

Sarah will explain the need for cognitive tools used in developing the "inner speech" that we rely on when attending to a problem, analyzing a cause, understanding consequences, generating and carrying out a solution, and evaluating outcomes.

This workshop will provide strategies and skills to promote independence for teens and young adults thru an approach designed to develop an individual's "meta-skills" and "executive function skills" thru a hands on approach.

SHERRY NEWBERRY,M.A
Academic Skills Building Workshop:
In this workshop you will create an individual learning strategies plan and tools to maximize your success.

Sherry Newberry shares her experience as a professional special education teacher, administrator and co author of Nonverbal Learning Disabilities: A Guide to School SuccessThe Teacher's Manual. 

Sherry works with students with NLD in a variety of settings. Whether it is how to best present a writing assignment or develop the key strategies to complete work independently. Sherry will outline a plan and tools to help your goal of academic success, a success that Sherry believes truly can be achieved.

Creating a School Toolbox:
Strategies for Making the Grade

Having the right tools to step into a college classroom is the purpose of this workshop. Strategies for creating the perfect essay, forging through the load of reading and attacking the math course work will be presented and discussed. College means less time in the classroom. It also expects that students have the skills to complete the work on their own. The workshop will be broken down into the three main areas; reading, writing and math; and will provide strategies that will help in completing the work. Students also need a plan of action when working with support services. Whether meeting with a tutor nightly or accessing the resource center, students need to be active in partnering with support services. This workshop will present approaches that will make that time efficient and effective. Materials will be presented and information can be downloaded to participant's computers for easy access and usage.

JANINE STANDISH, M.A., Ed.S, LPC
Empowering Teens with NLD:
Obtaining Support, Self Advocacy, and Self Disclosure

This workshop will examine situations and develop skills in the various tasks that individuals with NLD face as they negotiate the increasingly complex social world of late adolescence and young adulthood.

The following challenges will be explored - understanding rights and responsibilities, ensuring one's needs are being met, obtaining support in academic and vocational settings, as well as deciding whether to self disclose and how/when to do so appropriately.

Bio:

Janine Standish, M.A., Ed.S., LPC received her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and obtained her M.A. in Psychological Studies and an Ed.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seton Hall University. Ms. Standish has been at the forefront of integrating family therapy skills with an expertise in understanding and treating NLD and related disorders. She is the Clinical Supervisor of the Asperger's Related Services Department at West Bergen Mental Healthcare (Ridgewood, NJ) and the Center for Children & Youth (Ramsey, NJ) and a licensed professional counselor in the state of New Jersey.