On-Demand Course: Unsafe, Unheard and Misunderstood

Description

Course Description:

Many times, traditional trauma viewpoints do not fully capture the experience of neurodivergents resulting in many children and adults being misunderstood and many underlying needs overlooked. This course will encourage attendees to think beyond the traditional understanding of trauma and consider causes of trauma that are not typically considered within traditional trauma frameworks. These include trauma from:

Cause 1: Sensory Trauma- Overwhelm & Learning to Hide Sensory Needs

Cause 2: Social Trauma-Bullying, Isolation, Feeling Different & Masking

Cause 3: Compliance Trauma- Dangers of Normalization & Surface Behavioral Approaches

Cause 4: Neurological Trauma-Communication Differences, Dealing with Uncertainty, Striving to Keep Up

Cause 5: Medical Trauma-Being Misunderstood by Medical & Mental Health Providers

As an autistic self-advocate and someone that has been subject to many of these causes of trauma, Kim will share first-hand accounts about the long-term detrimental impact that these experiences have had on her life. The emerging research that echoes Kim’s experiences will be shared and will provide further justification for why we need expand our views of trauma when supporting neurodiverse learners.   During this course, many practical, evidence-based strategies will be shared that will help you prevent and/or nurture healing from trauma.  These easy to implement strategies are applicable in supporting learners of a variety of ages, backgrounds, diagnoses & learning styles.  In order to bring these strategies to life, Kim will also share details about the positive impact that many of these strategies have had on her own life journey.   If you are ready to expand your knowledge regarding the common trauma experiences of neurodivergents and enhance your ability to better support these needs in the learners you serve, register today.

Who this course is for:

• You are serving neurodiverse learners.
• You are an Occupational Therapy Practitioner, Educator, Mental Health Provider, Speech and Language Pathologist, Behaviorist, or Caregiver who wants to help neurodiverse learners be better understood and supported.
• You are interested in learning more about trauma, especially as it relates to neurodiverse learners.
• You want to learn more about trauma experiences directly from a self-advocate that has lived experiences.
• You want to remain on the cutting edge of practice and follow what the research states as the best evidence-based approach for supporting neurodiverse learners.
• You want to feel empowered with information you can use to create buy-in for a stronger trauma-informed approach to supporting neurodiverse learners.

So, who are we?:

We are Kim Clairy and Kelly Mahler and have become fast friends since meeting at a conference 3 years ago. We love collaborating and have joined together for many different opportunities including writing materials for large grant projects, co-speaking at international conferences and doing co-interviews for podcasts. If you ever eavesdrop on our private discussions you would quickly find that there is almost never a quiet moment. We share so much passion for the work we do together and our ideas are endless. Now only if we could find more time in the day to execute all of these ideas!

More about Kim: Kim  graduated from Brenau University with a master’s in occupational therapy (OT). As an adult, she was diagnosed with autism (ASD) and sensory processing dysfunction (SPD). Kim learned to break through many personal and societal barriers, including navigating the healthcare system with ASD and an eating disorder (ED). Her experiences forged a passion for educating others on ASD, SPD, and eating disorders with the hope of helping give voice to those unable to articulate their inner worlds. Now in recovery, she is an autism advocate and uses her unique perspective as an OT living with autism to teach continuing educational seminars to healthcare clinicians internationally.

More about Kelly: I earned a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Misericordia University, Dallas, PA and have been an occupational therapist for 18 years, serving school-aged children and adults. I’m winner of multiple awards including the 2020 American Occupational Therapy Association Emerging and Innovative Practice Award & a Mom’s Choice Gold Medal. I am an international speaker and enjoy presenting on topics related to the twelve resources I’ve authored including:

• The Interoception Curriculum: A Step-by-Step Framework for Developing Mindful Self-Regulation-used in over 30 countries world wide
• Interoception Activity Cards
• My Interoception Workbook: A Guide for Adolescents, Teens and Young Adults

• Interoception Assessment: Dilemmas and Practical Solutions
• Toileting, Interoception & Nutrition: An Evidence-Based Approach for Promoting Toileting Success and Independence
• The 5 Keys to Behavior Regulation: How to Support ‘Challenging Behavior’ in a Kinder, More Effective Manner