Presentations

SNP CE Webinars

All courses are now available at SchoolNeuropsych.com.

The Neuropsychology of Stress and Trauma: How to Develop a "Trauma Informed" School

By Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed., ABSNP

This presentation will explore the neural underpinnings of stress and trauma in children and its impact upon learning. Environmental deprivation, poverty, childhood abuse, witnessing violence, and pandemics can impact both cognitive and social-emotional development in children. There will be a discussion on five steps that schools can take to become more “trauma-informed”. Targeted assessment strategies, specific classroom accommodations, and school-based interventions will be presented as students return to school from the recent pandemic. Schools can enhance emotional wellness through early prevention efforts, appropriate assessment and screening techniques, and an improved school climate to foster emotional growth for all children.

1. Discuss the prevalence of trauma and stress for school aged children, as well as the various sources from which trauma can occur.
2. Explore key brain regions that are impacted when students experience stress and trauma, and the subsequent effect on academic and social skills’ development.
3. Review five essential steps toward the development of a “trauma informed” school.
4. Discuss the impact of the pandemic on the social-emotional learning needs of children, and how to utilize the PASS-12 to screen for subsequent anxiety related concerns.
5. Discuss four key assessment strategies in developing a “trauma informed” assessment and introduce the new FACT rating scale.
6. Discuss specific classroom accommodations along with school-wide interventions, and key coping strategies to induce a more positive school climate for all students.
   

The Neuropsychology of Mathematics: An Introduction to the FAM

Primary Presenter: Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed., ABSNP

This workshop will explore how young children learn and acquire basic mathematical skills from a brain-based educational perspective. The role of language, working memory, visual-spatial reasoning, and executive functioning will be featured as primary cognitive constructs involved in the acquisition of basic number skills. There will be a discussion on three primary ways in which numbers are formatted in the brain, as well as critical neurodevelopmental pathways that contribute to skills such as automatic fact retrieval, quantitative reasoning, and the development of number sense. Specific case studies featuring the Feifer Assessment of Mathematics (FAM) will be featured, along with scores of interventions. The expected learner outcomes will be to better understand three prominent subtypes of math disabilities in children, learn critical assessment techniques to tease out each subtype, explore the role of anxiety and math, and to introduce more efficient ways to diagnose and remediate math disorders in children. The following objectives will be covered:

1. Discuss international trends in mathematics, and reasons why the United lags behind many industrialized nations in both math and science.
2. Explore the role of various neurocognitive processes including language, memory, visual-spatial functioning, and executive functioning, with respect to math problem solving ability and quantitative reasoning.
3. Introduce a brain-based educational model of math by identifying three basic subtypes of math disabilities in children, and to develop targeted intervention strategies for each subtype.
4. Explore the role of anxiety and mathematics, and specific ways in which anxiety can impact learning, decision making, and test-taking behavior.
5. Introduce the Feifer Assessment of Math (FAM) battery as a more viable means to both assess and remediate math disabilities in children.

The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders: An Introduction to the FAR

By: Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed., ABSNP

This workshop will examine reading from a brain-based educational perspective, and discuss current literacy trends in the United States. The primary focus of the presentation will be to differentiate “dyslexia” from other reading disorders, as well as to classify developmental reading disorders into four distinct subtypes. There will be a discussion matching each reading disorders’ subtype with scores of evidence-based interventions. The use of a neuropsychological paradigm to discuss multiple facets of the reading process including phonemic proficiency and awareness, phonological processing, orthographic processing, working memory, and executive functioning will be featured. Lastly, the Feifer Assessment of Reading (FAR) battery, a diagnostic educational assessment designed to examine the underlying cognitive and linguistic processes that supports proficient reading skills, will be introduced. Specific learning objectives include:

1. Examine current literacy rates in the United States and the prevalence rate of dyslexia.
2. Introduce a brain-based educational model of reading by examining specific neural circuits that underscore phonological development, orthographic development, and reading comprehension skills.
3. Discuss four subtypes of reading disabilities, and link scores of evidenced-based interventions and relevant classroom strategies to address each subtype.
4. Discuss the differences between a traditional achievement test versus a diagnostic achievement test, and introduce the Feifer Assessment of Reading (FAR) as a more viable means to both diagnose and remediate subtypes of reading disorders.

The Neuropsychology of Emotional Disorders: A Framework for Effective Interventions

By: Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed., NCSP, ABSNP

This workshop will explore the neural architecture of emotional behavior by examining various brain structures laying the foundation for higher level social skill functioning. Specific biological factors related to the development of social competence and emotional self-regulation will be explored. There will be a detailed discussion on behavioral self-regulation, anxiety disorders, and depression from a brain-based educational perspective, including cutting edge interventions such as neurofeedback. Schools can enhance emotional wellness in children through early prevention efforts, appropriate assessment strategies, and an improved school climate to foster emotional growth for all children. The specific learning objectives include:

1. Discuss the neural architecture of emotion by detailing key brain regions responsible for the development of empathy and emotional regulation.
   
2. Discuss the pitfalls of over-relying upon behavior management plans or psychopharmacology to address mental health conditions in children.
   
3. Explore effective classroom interventions and treatment options for children with behavioral self-regulation issues and emotional disorders.

The Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders: An Introduction to the FAW

Developing Evidenced Based Interventions

By: Steven G. Feifer, D.Ed.

This presentation will explore the neuropsychological underpinnings of the written language process, and the use of evidenced based interventions to remediate writing disorders in children. For years, educators have struggled to cultivate more effective writing skills in their students, as well as to identify early signs of written language disorders. The ability to generate and produce written language requires multiple linguistic skills involving both phonological and orthographical functioning (the elementary components of language), efficient word retrieval skills, executive functioning skills to organize and plan our inner thoughts and ideas, and working memory to hold our thoughts in mind long enough for effective motor skills output. A breakdown in these fundamental cognitive, linguistic, or motoric processes can result in various subtypes of written language disorders. The primary objectives of this presentation will include:

1. Define the term developmental dysgraphia and discuss key warning signs of writing difficulties at all grade levels.
2. Discuss the neural architecture responsible for written language development in children and learn key brain regions responsible for the organization and production of writing skills.
3. Discuss three specific subtypes of writing disorders, with particular emphasis on how “frontal lobe” processes such as working memory and executive functioning impact each subtype.
4. Differentiate between evidenced-based and research-based interventions and strategies pertaining to written language.
5. Introduce the Feifer Assessment of Writing as a more effective diagnostic tool to determine subtypes of dysgraphia in children, as well as to provide targeted intervention strategies.