June 2024 Newsletter

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The Chris Walsh Center Building Family Resilience Speaker Series, made possible by a generous grant from the Sudbury Foundation, has come to a close. All nine of the events were recorded and are now available to watch on the Chris Walsh Center YouTube channel. You can check out all of the speaker events in the series below and click through to watch the ones that interest you.

Thank you to everyone who has attended, or watched the replays of, these awesome talks throughout the year, as well as to those of you who are about to do so. It is the Chris Walsh Center's mission to support families and children through parent and teacher education. By engaging with these topics and enacting what you learn, you are doing the important work of making your homes and classrooms compassionate and inclusive places to be for the wonderful children we all care about. Thank you for making these efforts. They truly matter.

Watch Unlocking Potential: Nurturing Multimodal Learning and Play with Children with Dr. Chu Ly, hosted by the Chris Walsh Center to learn more about bolstering play, encouraging exploration, and moving through boredom. Our children engage in rich, meaning-making experiences at home and in their communities. Children make sense of the world around them through multiple modes such as linguistic, visual, aural, spatial, and gestural, and the interplay of these modalities. Watch this workshop to explore how your children navigate their world - online and in-person through these modalities and how we, as educators and caregivers, can cultivate this learning at home and in schools. Join us as we delve into multimodal learning by first learning from our children by drawing upon their knowledge and insights and then providing practical insights into incorporating a more playful and joyful learning experience.

Dr. Ly teaches undergraduate courses in foundations of education, literacy, and child and family studies. She worked previously as an early childhood teacher in a bilingual school in Shanghai, China and as an administrator in Boston Public Schools. Dr. Ly’s research interests are focused on equity and social justice for young children through digital literacy, critical perspectives in children’s and young adult literature, critical pedagogy, bilingual education, and teacher education. She lives in Boston with her husband and two curious little humans. She enjoys reading, cooking, spinning, and wondering about the world with her children.

Watch Breaking Stereotypes: Understanding Varied ADHD Expressions in Youth with Becca Gibson, LICSW to learn about ADHD.

Becca is a dynamic presenter who combines lived experience, research, and hands-on therapeutic practice to delve into the often-overlooked realm of youth who present with non-stereotypical ADHD traits. In this video Becca discusses different profiles of ADHD, the intersection of ADHD with other identities, why ADHD is often misidentified in those socialized as girls, and signs you can look for to reduce disparities in ADHD identification. Along with providing valuable information about both the short and long-term impact of unsupported ADHD traits, Becca offers practical suggestions for supporting these youth both at home and in the classroom.

Becca Gibson (they/she), LICSW, LCSW-C, is an Autistic and ADHD licensed independent clinical social worker, as well as the founder and owner of Wired Differently Therapy, a private practice serving clients in the states of Maryland and Massachusetts. After spending years working in special education, Becca began a career in social work with a specialization helping neurodiverse couples, families, and neurodivergent individuals through a neurodiversity affirming lens. Becca’s clinical work focuses on Autistics and ADHDers – especially those who are considered “gifted”, or “twice-exceptional” – and the intersection of LGBTQIA+ identities and neurodivergence. In addition to their work as a therapist, Becca provides professional development training, clinical consultation, and clinical supervision.

In Teaching Happiness: Practices to Support Our Wellbeing, part of the Chris Walsh Center's speaker series on building family resilience, made possible by a grant from the Sudbury Foundation, Hannah Rubio, LMHC offers a brief overview of the study of Positive Psychology, as well as a definition of happiness. Then she introduces specific behaviors, thoughts, and feelings you can practice to impact your happiness.

Hannah Rubio is a School Adjustment Counselor at a local public high school where she provides mental health support to students and co-teaches a class titled “Psychology and the Good Life.”. After starting her career in human resources at a financial services company, she quickly realized she did not feel a sense of purpose and fulfillment in her work. Ultimately, she went to graduate school where she majored in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a focus on School and Community Counseling. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and has a small private practice providing young adults with therapeutic support. As of 2024, she is also an instructor in the Counseling Psychology Graduate Program at Framingham State University.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental phenomenon that anyone can be born with. However, there are observable differences between which autistic individuals are identified as autistic, and when. Autism is often identified later, if at all, in folks who are marginalized when it comes to factors such as gender, sex assigned at birth, and/or race. By watching this presentation you will learn why this happens, why it matters, and what we can do about it. We will explore signs to look out for, particularly in those socialized as girls. We will also discuss ways of supporting autistic folks at home and at school, regardless of whether they have been officially diagnosed.

Davine Holness (she/her) is a Black, queer, neurodivergent therapist, story-teller, and justice-seeker. Trained at University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Boston College (MSW), she specializes in working with People of Color, the LGBTQ+ community, autistic adults, and trauma survivors. She is certified in evidence-based trauma treatment modalities such as EMDR, TF-CBT, and SMART. In addition, her approach incorporates elements of Mindfulness, Solution Focused Therapy, and Narrative Therapy. Her past roles have brought her to a variety of community based settings, her favorite of which was as the clinical director of a community center for LGBTQ+ Youth of Color. She opened Alafia Center as a way of connecting justice-driven therapists with clients who are often overlooked or poorly treated in mainstream mental health settings. She is passionate about musical theatre, sociolinguistics, and songbirds.

We all want to help our children grow into the happiest, healthiest, most successful people they can be. However, that doesn't mean we always know the best way to support their growth. Watch Supporting Our Children’s Social-Emotional Development: An Introduction to Social-Emotional Learning & Resources to Support Children’s Development hosted by Dr. Sue Donnellan and the Chris Walsh Center to learn tangible strategies for supporting your child's social-emotional development. This replay is free to the public thanks to a generous grant from the Sudbury Foundation which allows the Center to provide the resources in our Building Family Resiliency Series.

Social-emotional learning (SEL) is a lifelong process that develops over time, through daily interactions, and in a broad array of settings. Supporting Our Children’s Social-Emotional Development: An Introduction to Social-Emotional Learning & Resources to Support Children’s Development will provide you with an introduction to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2020) framework. Through this framework, you will explore the five core competencies of social-emotional development: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness, so you can better support your child in developing these essential skills. In addition, you'll be introduced to opportunities for your family to support the development of competencies at home and beyond through daily routines and practices. You'll also be introduced to resources to assist with your children’s development of the competencies, such as children’s literature selections and activities. Join us as we explore SEL and resources to support our children’s development!

Siblings of children with disabilities have unique needs and challenges. Watch Sibling Support: Building Resiliency Among Siblings of Youth with Disabilities, in which Emily Rubin, LICSW provides you with an overview of the sibling experience, as well as practical strategies that parents, caregivers and providers can utilize, to help increase sibling resiliency. In this recording, Emily also answered questions about how to best support siblings, including recommendations that are applicable to a wide range of families.

College is an exciting time! However, it can also come with unique challenges that can affect students’ mental health and overall wellbeing. By watching Supporting Your Child's Mental Health as They Transition to College you'll learn what is known about who contemporary U.S. college students are, and the rates with which they are experiencing mental health difficulties in this post-pandemic era. You'll also learn what educators, caregivers, and students can expect during their first semester of college and what you and the other people there to help your student can do to support them academically, socially, and psychologically. This workshop is be taught by Dr. Kimberly Arditte Hall of Framingham State University.

More specifically, you'll learn how stereotypes about students stack up to the reality of who college students actually are, as well as rates of mental health challenges post pandemic. Likewise, caregivers and educators will leave with a better understanding of how increased independence, living in the dorm, classes, social life, and more can be both exciting and contribute to stress. Dr. Arditte Hall also covers some of the difficulties of transitioning from home to college including homesickness, academic stress, and burnout. Importantly, you'll also learn what you can do to support your student so their transition to college can be a rewarding opportunity for growth.

Watch Jessica Ames, LISCW present Let's Talk About it: Overcoming Roadblocks in Caregiver-Child Relationships, where she shares her expertise as a child therapist, meditation and parent coach to teach you ways to improve communication in your family by enhancing open dialogue with your child(ren).

Importantly, when a caregiver is able to create more openness and acceptance around the day to day challenges of child-rearing, as well as larger environmental and situational challenges, they can positively impact the people around them and experience more joy themselves. Creating this openness is a skill you can learn and enhance. At this online event, Jessica will help you do just that by discussing skills and strategies that will help you be present in the moment and connect with your child(ren). Correspondingly, she will also present strategies for increasing your energy and personal satisfaction as a caregiver. At the end of the presentation, Jessica will also take time to answer questions that arise as she covers the material so you can get the most out of the experience.

As hard as it can be to advocate for your child, effectively working with educators, doctors, and other professionals is a skill you can learn. In this expert talk, hosted by the Chris Walsh Center, Leslie Leslie of the Federation for Children with Special Needs will teach you skills to help you advocate for your child across multiple settings. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit down with us, and improve your advocacy skills today.

Again, thank you all for joining us for this incredible year of learning, growth, and Building Family Resilience! We will be back in the Fall of 2024 with more amazing programing to serve educators and families. We look forward to seeing you then!

Throughout the school year the Chris Walsh Center offers free consultations for caregivers. However, the center is going on summer break starting May 6th, 2024 and will return to offer this valuable service in September.

Mission: To provide information for families and educators about the continuum of educational support available to students with disabilities, students who are gifted, and students with unmet needs. The center will offer support, workshops and other programming for families, educators, student support professionals, administrators, and advocates in the MetroWest area. The center also will engage in scholarly research, educator preparation, and professional development.

Email: chriswalshcenter@framingham.edu
Website: https://linktr.ee/chriswalshcenter
Location: 100 State Street, Framingham, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 215-5630