Keynote • 9:15 – 10:30am

Lise Fox, PhD
Changing practices, changing lives: Partnering with families to promote social emotional outcomes and address challenging behavior

Parents and professionals are increasingly aware of the critical importance of promoting social emotional skill development and addressing challenging behavior. Guiding social emotional development should begin in infancy and when there are social emotional delays or challenging behavior; effective intervention is a high priority. Learn more about the critical importance of early intervention, effective practices, and how professionals and families can team to achieve positive outcomes.

Social Emotional Teaching Strategies that Every Family Should Know and Use

Lise Fox, PhD

The teaching of social and emotional competence happens all day long as children engage in family routines and interact with peers and adults. Join this session to learn effective strategies to help your young child engage in family routines, identify and cope with emotions, use self‐regulation skills, engage in social problem solving, and play with other children.

An Introduction to SC Home and Community Based Waivers

Sherry Larson and Elizabeth McDonald Allen, LMSW

This workshop will provide an overview of Medicaid waivers. We will explain what Home and Community Based Waiver are, who they are for, managed by, the services that they may cover, wait lists, and the process for obtaining and keeping a waiver/services.

NAMI Ending The Silence for School Staff

Robin McCants, M.Ed

Through this presentation, participants get to see the reality of living with a mental health condition. During the 50-minute presentation, a young adult living with mental illness and a family member tell their stories about mental health challenges, including what hurt and what helped.

The learner will be able to describe Mental illness is a medical illness like any other physical illness. They will be able to understand that mental illness is no one’s fault.  The learner will be able to state at least 3 warning signs of mental illness; The learner will be aware of suicide warning signs and be able to state prevention tips. The learner will discuss how to approach their child and school staff when a mental health concern arises. The learner will be able to make the connection that treatment should be sought as soon as possible and that there are resources available.

Who is EHDI and Why is He Important for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children?

Cara Senterfeit, Tara Carroll, and Elaine Gentry

Learn about the SC Early Hearing Detection and Intervention team, identify needed resources, and learn how every parent and professional can support the children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Richland County Illicit Drug Trends and Awareness Training

Captain Brian Godfrey and Deputy Chris Mastrianni

Hear about drug trends, overdose deaths, the different types of drugs abused, their symptoms and associated paraphernalia.  Valuable information for home visitation professionals.

Social Emotional Toolkit for Families

Heather Googe, PhD and Kerri Kannengieser, MS Ed.

This session will use multiple modes of instruction to help participants learn about strategies and resources available to assist families in promoting social emotional development and positive child outcomes. Through PowerPoint, small/large group discussion, and hands-on activities, participants will come away with an understanding of how to set families of young children up for success. Participants will leave with a toolkit of ideas for families, including: strategies to welcome & support families, creating opportunities to learn from families, working together with families to promote positive child outcomes, and resources for families to support their child’s social and emotional development.

The Basics of the Palmetto ABLE Savings Program

Karen Crider, BA

To provide an overview of the Federal Achieving a Better Life Experience, ABLE Act.

To help participants understand the benefits of owning an ABLE account for an individual with a disability and the family that cares for them.

To communicate the eligibility requirements and the Palmetto ABLE savings account enrollment process. Additionally, participants will understand how to add money to their Palmetto ABLE account and how to withdraw funds for use on qualified disability expenses.

“Stop, Look, & Listen” Tool: Preparing Individuals with Disabilities for Maximized Independence

Makenzie Allison and Paige Maxwell

The “Stop, Look, and Listen: Planning for Independence and Adult Decision-Making Support” tool offers support for addressing age of majority conversations and identifying annual IEP goals and interventions to increase student self-determination and independence. The tool can be used as an age appropriate transition assessment in the IEP process and aid in families’ recognition of skills needing to be developed and/or natural support connections needing to be made.

Individuals will be well-versed on the importance SDM (and other alternatives to guardianship) and the SDM tool and will have a basic understanding of utilization of the tool into their current life/work. Attendees will also have a chance to complete a short portion of the tool while in the session. In addition, all attendees will leave with hard copies of the tool and be given directions on how to access the tool electronically. We will also provide guidance on making the tool more accessible for individuals with any/all disabilities.

Beginning the Journey: Transition from Early Intervention Services (IFSP) to Preschool Services (IEP)

Angela Carter, BS, M.Ed

Participants will be able to: Have a better understanding of what an IFSP and IEP are, and the differences between them. Also, they will learn about the transition process, regulations and responsibilities of IDEA/Part C Lead agency (Baby Net) and the IDEA/Part B Local Education Agency (LEA). Participants would also learn about the transition from IDEA/Part C early Intervention to Idea Part B preschool services timelines and requirements.

Family Connection 101: An Overview of Resources for Children that Have a Disability or Chronic Health Conditions

Sherry Larson and Jena Martin

This workshop is an overview and description of resources and services Family Connection of SC provides for children and individuals with disabilities or special healthcare needs in South Carolina.  Families and providers who attend will have a better understanding of the resources available for themselves and/or families they serve.

Work Incentives: Myths and Benefits

Robbie Breshears, BA and Melissa Snyder, CWIC

Attendees will explore various common misconceptions regarding employment while receiving social security disability benefits. WIPA Project 20/20 will help to identify a few of the most common myths regarding SSA work incentives. The participants will understand types of work incentives and where they can go to learn more about them.” (this is the presentation that has already been SSA approved).

Supporting Complex Learners’ Needs Through Active Learning

Marcy Meachum and Krista Olsen

Active Learning is an approach based on the work of Dr. Lilli Nielsen for instructing learners with multiple disabilities with an emphasis on promoting independent exploration and learning.

Examples of hands-on exploration and sensory loss simulation will be included in this presentation.

Home Visitation for the Whole Family: The Benefits of Home Visitation for Children and Families

Brittany Grooms, Ebony Brooks and Jisset McCollum

For families that have a child with a developmental delay or disability Home Visitation provides services, resources, and interventions that benefit the whole family. In our session, we will discuss the home visitation needs, barriers, and benefits for families that have a child with a developmental delay or disability. We will also discuss the impact that home visitation has on parent-child interaction, development centered parenting, and family well-being.

Engaging Latino Families in Their Community

Annia Knight

This training will provide a summary of information received at a Latino Community Needs Assessment Focus Group in your region.  We will discuss areas of need as well as strategies to engage Latino families in their community.

Building Bridges

McKenzie Johnson and Julianne Ingalls

This session will focus on how DDSN case managers and schools can collaborate to help ease the transition from high school to post-secondary life.  Describe what the role of case management is and how that relationship looks with families.  Learn how to access case management services and the services available to students.  Having a strong collaboration can help students and families achieve goals after high school.

This will be an interactive session describing the case management role and a discussion of how to create better collaboration between teachers and case managers to help students transition to life after high school.