Teach the Brain Forums

Four key principles to guide elementary education philosophy and practice:

Learning should be child centered. The facilities, curriculum and teaching methods should be developmentally appropriate and responsive to individual children's strengths, interests, and learning styles. Experiences in self-direction, making choices, and taking risks help children develop into confident, independent, life-long learners.

Learning should be active. Children learn best by doing things themselves. They should be given opportunities to explore and discover the world, to use a variety of materials, and to participate in activities and experiences that help them construct knowledge for themselves. Challenges, questions, encouragement, and time for reflection help them integrate and apply their understanding. They emerge as critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Learning should engage the whole child. Children have emotional, social, moral, physical, intellectual, and creative needs, and all of these needs should be addressed in the learning environment. Learning that embraces the full scope of children's lives is rich and meaningful. Children who are encouraged to experience all that the world has to offer develop habits of openness, curiosity, and joy in learning and doing.

Learning should have purpose. Children need to master the skills of analysis and communication, as well as those of living and working with others. Teaching them to respect all living things and connecting their lives to the larger context of community helps them become sensitive and informed citizens. They develop perspective and judgment, and are empowered to act.

What are your thoughts on these?


These principles are displayed on The School in Rose Valley's website. The School in Rose Valley is a small, independent school in the US (and one that is very near to my heart). Learn more about The School in Rose Valley at: http://www.theschoolinrosevalley.org

All best wishes,
Christina

Thank you, Christina.

This is my favorite topic. This is a white paper I wrote on this topic: A Principle of Learning on Which Civilized Systems of Learning Depend.

I have also maintained that the delivery system for applying such principles cannot be much different in nature from the principle itself if it is to have any chance of succeeding. There has to be an active ingredient in the product, or it's little more than just another poster.

So in this case, I offer that the core principle at hand is play, the tool is puppet play, and the 'affected area' of treatment is the invisible, but nevertheless physical, realm of communication.

I have written on this subject before, and hoped that the posts would generate a greater response than they have. If nothing else, they should stimulate some thinking on the subject of applied brain science.[url=http://www.teach-the-brain.org/forums/showthread.php?t=137][/url] Perhaps in context of the question you have presented, there will be more response. When you really think about it, the brain's invention of play--what Paul MacLean called 'the nicest thing that nature ever did for us"--comprises all the requirements you listed above. Play makes all of those things happen.

Thanks for this.

With high-stakes testing in the US, the trend is away from play:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/educat...oref=login

What are the causes and consequences of this? Do you agree with these policies?

~Christina

In view of the prominence of play among mammals and its civilizing influence in human evolution, it is curious that it has received so little attention in neurobehavioral research. In one handbook of experimental psychology, for example, the subject of play is dealt with in less than a page, and in a three-volume handbook of neurophysiology, there is no reference to play.

-Paul D. MacLean

Although written in the early 90s, Dr. MacLean's words point to the erosion of play in education as a superfluous, candy-coating that can be dispensed with.

This NY Times article is but a single mile marker on a road that has stretched for centuries from the desk-bound learning of the monastery to the play-deprived kindergarten described in the article. Hundreds of articles like this have been written during the past decade, and like the stories of the smoldering rain forest or the melting glaciers, the soul of education is being strip-mined in the name of academics and accountability. The great teachers unions cannot summon the political will to stand up to the bullying and the exploitation. Parents just want their kids ‘to do well’ academically and cannot see the culture they blindly accept. Political leaders accept the principle of standardization (a principle that may not in itself be so bad) but have no vision of education beyond the conventional need to have one country, locality, or school system outperform another as proof of their educational validity. In education, we are as lost as were the navigators of the 15 and 1600s who crossed the oceans without a way to measure longitude.

This has happened because science--in particular, the science of learning, has not received as much press as, say, evolution (ironic because they are two sides of the same coin). Consequently, education without a scientific foundation cannot adequately defend the principles that have been outlined in this forum thread. Instead, education is territory largely inhabited by women and children who are, more so than other populations, subject to commercial and political exploitation and the abuse by authority. Education continues to be a culture and a social sector in which basic rights can be denied as a matter of law and policy. Play is a human birthright--certainly a birthright of the young--and just look at what education institutions have done to defend and promote the value and the meaning of play. Play is to a child’s capacity to learn as air is to the human need to breathe. A look at the environmental crisis gives us an insight into the education crisis. We demand results in the classroom, but have completely lost the ability to communicate with the young who grow increasingly alienated and estranged by the culture that 'serves' them, and addicted and shaped by the media that entertains them.

In part education culture grows poison fruit that falls not far from the tree. Short answers breed short leashes, and those bred on the short leash have oversimplified answers for complex undertakings and challenges, of which education is possibly the most complex. In a word, we have not cultivated a deep appreciation for learning and how the young learn. Our systems of learning are anything but humanized. And we are driven to quantify a life-sustaining activity that is essentially an art. It is fair to say, I think, that the very notion of a humanized, enlightened learning culture is being erased and supplanted by a state-run machine.

We do not respect teachers and children enough to grant them the power to grow and the freedom to explore. The result is the gulag we now have. The result is our collective inability to deal with the ownership of climate change, or a Katrina, or a 9-11..

When you have a system that deprives the majority of the right to movement, self-expression, self-empowerment, you end up with a collective that allows itself to become a target for commercial and political exploitation. I think there are many who would agree that the problem is not exclusive to the United States, but it is demoralizing as an American to see Americans accept this form of education. Sad to say, too, that it is not surprising, since they have bought into so much else.

The good news is that the world is in flux. Play runs deep as does the underlying discontent with our systems of education. There is plenty of reason to hope and to push for change. I have written on the subject of play and strategies for its application throughout the learning culture. While the culture has become increasingly dense and institutional, it is also subject to forces that cannot be stopped. Play happens to be one of them.

Thank you very much for this truly powerful response. Your insights show the kind of self-consciousness that enables our education system to evolve, as well as the foresight to appreciate the far-reaching importance of current issues.

I find this statement is particularly powerful:
When you have a system that deprives the majority of the right to movement, self-expression, self-empowerment, you end up with a collective that allows itself to become a target for commercial and political exploitation.

Indeed, Alfie Kohn asserts, “Following conventional wisdom about classroom management often results in manipulating students instead of respecting them.” I believe it is extremely important to be more conscious of the “hidden curriculum” that we are teaching our children. Are we teaching them to identify as passive individuals whose primary responsibility is to follow directions? Could we, instead, teach them to be active members of a community of learners? In the United States, the “hidden curriculum” of our schools is predominately an anti-democratic system of non-involvement.

Do we want our most powerful nations to be in the hands of passive citizens?

~Christina

I have recently written another which is in the current edition of Education Next. This one focuses on Singapore's math program and how it was piloted in four schools in Montgomery County, MD. The article discusses how three of the four schools dropped the program and the politics as usual that led to the maneuvering of an underfunded program. It also mentions Everyday Math and Connected Math and how Singapore's program differs from the former.

It is in the Fall 06 issue of Education Next.

The address for the fall issue is:

http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext


The article itself is at:

http://www.hoover.org/publications/ednext/3853357.html

Barry Garelick

September 26, 2006
:anyone:
The trend over the past century and longer has been to inservice or present staff development to teachers by the most cost effective means possible. Cost effective should not be construed as the cheapest dollar spent. Yet...we have never looked at schools and teaching as a business where the best and the brightest resources as sought and great change occurs.

If classroom teachers could meet with the finest experts in their field and spent some time with them along with their own collegues that would be great. I would like to recommend a workshop that I feel would benefit most every teacher. This could if implemented properly made a big difference in the understanding of learning for you and your students.
Rob:yes:

The fall program is listed below, and it has some very interesting new research. Hope you can make it in November. Please write or call with any questions. Regards, Anne 617 388-0906


LEARNING & the BRAIN Optimizing the Brain and Body for Learning
A National Conference for Educators and Clinicians
Conference: November 9th, 7:00 p.m. through November 11th, 4:30 p.m.
Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, Boston, MA http://www.edupr.com


WITH THE COOPERATION OF
* Mind, Brain, Education Program, Harvard Graduate School of Education
* Comer School Development Program, Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine
* Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, The Dana Foundation
* Stanford University School of Education
* Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
* School of Education, Boston University
* Department of Communications Disorders, Sargent College, Boston University
* NASSP


LEARN FROM A DISTINGUISHED CONFERENCE FACULTY http://www.edupr.com


GENDER BRAIN DIFFERENCES
Brain Processing & Gender Differences in School Test Performance
Stephen M. Camarata, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Behavioral Research, Vanderbilt Brain Institute; Director of the Late Talkers Clinic; Director, Communication and Learning Research Program, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University


BRAIN DEVELOPMENT & LEARNING
Healthy Brain Development: New Insights into Child & Adolescent Minds and Intelligence
Jay N. Giedd, M.D., Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; Chief, Brain Imaging in the Child Psychiatry Branch, NIMH, National Institutes of Health; whose research focuses on the biological basis of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders and brain development in children and adolescents


Boosting Life-long Learning & Brain Health
Paul D. Nussbaum, Ph.D. Clinical Neuropsychologist; Adjunct Associate Professor in Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine; author of Brain Health & Wellness (2003) & Guide to Brain Health Across the Lifespan (2005)


Developing Sharper Minds: Effects of Lifestyle Choices on Brain and Cognitive Function
Gary W. Small, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences; Director of the Aging and Memory Research Center, Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior; Director, Memory Clinic, UCLA; author of The Longevity Bible: 8 Essential Strategies for Keeping Your Mind Sharp and Your Body Young (2006), The Memory Prescription (2004) and The Memory Bible (2003)


Developing Healthy Brains for Learning: Connecting Brain Research with Children's Developmental Pathways for Effective Teaching
Fay E. Brown, Ph.D., Associate Research Scientist; Director, Child and Adolescent Development, James Comer School Development Program, Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine; and Mariale M. Hardiman, Ed.D., Assistant Dean of Urban School Partnerships, The Johns Hopkins University; author of Connecting Brain Research with Effective Teaching (2003)


Translating Learning Science into Usable Learner-Centered Design Tools for Educators
Michael W. Connell, Ed.M., Ed.D. Assistant Professor, Educational Neuroscience Department, Dartmouth College; Co-author with Howard Gardner of "On Abilities & Domains" (2003, The Psychology of Abilities, Competencies & Expertise)


Wellness in Schools: Creating Enriched, Healing Environments for Learning and LD
Susan Frey, Ph.D., ND, RN, LMT, Founder/Director, Avalon Health; researcher in learning evironments and design; author of "Healing Environments for Integrative Healthcare" (2006, Humanizing Healthcare, Volume One), and The Road to Avalon II: Cultivating Spirituality in the Classroom (Revised 2000)


BRAIN, BODY and EMOTIIONS
From Stressed-out to Stress-hardy: Nurturing Resilience and Learning
Robert B. Brooks, Ph.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School; co-author of Power of Resilience (2003) and Raising Resilient Children: Fostering Strength, Hope, and Optimism in Your Child (2001); author of The Self-Esteem Teacher (1991)


The Biology of Stress: Implications for Emotions and Health
Esther M. Sternberg, M.D., Chief, Neuroendocrine Immunology and Behavior, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health; internationally recognized for her discoveries in brain-immune interactions and the effects of the brain's stress response on health and the science of the mind-body interaction; author of The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions (2000)


"Play=Learning": How Play Enhances Cognitive and Emotional Growth
Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology; Director, Infant Language Laboratory, Temple University; Associate Editor, Child Development Journal; Co-Founder, Center for the Improvement of Resources for Children's Lives; co-author of Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children's Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth (2006), Action Meets Word (2006), Einstein Never Used Flash Cards (2003), and How Babies Talk (2000)
:holiday:
Emotions & the Brain
Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Daniel and Amy Starch Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Harvard University; author of An Argument for Mind (2006), Surprise, Uncertainty, and Mental Structures (2002) and Three Seductive Ideas (1998); co-author of The Long Shadow of Temperament (2004)


The Overweight Epidemic Among Children and Youth in the United States: Causes and
Opportunities for Prevention
Steven Gortmaker, Ph.D., Professor of the Practice of Health Sociology, Department of Society, Human Development, and Health; Director, Prevention Research Center on Nutrition and Physical Activity, Harvard University School of Public Health; co-author of "Preventing obesity in children and adolescents" (2001, Annual Review of Public Health), and "When children eat what they watch: impact of television viewing on dietary intake in youth" (2006, Arch. Pediatric Adolescent Medicine)


The Neurobiology of Childhood Trauma: New Frontiers in Treatment
Bessel van der Kolk, M.D., Clinical Psychiatrist; Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine; Founder and Medical Director, The Trauma Center, Justice Resource Institute (JRI); Co-Director, National Child Traumatic Stress Network Community Program; author of Traumatic Stress: The Effects of Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and Society (1996)

Teaching in Turbulent Times: What the Brain Tells Us about Living and Learning on Planet Trauma
Regalena Melrose, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist; former School Psychologist at Long Beach Unified School District; author of Why Students Underachieve: What Educators and Parents Can Do About It (2006)

Outside the Moral Circle: Children's Feeling of Value and Self-Reflection
Thomas J. Cottle, Ph.D., Professor of Education, School of Education, Boston University; sociologist and licensed clinical psychologist; author of more than 30 books, including: When the Music Stopped: Discovering My Mother (2004) and Sense of Self: A Work of Affirmation (2003); Winner of a 2004 Award for Distinguished Prose from Antioch Review (Continued on next post)

:rainy:
SLEEP, MEMORY & LEARNING:
Intelligent Memory: Improving the Memory That Makes You Smarter
Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience Professor, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes, Founder, Mind/Brain Institute; Director, Division of Cognitive Neurology/Neuropsychology, and The Memory Clinic; co-author of Intelligent Memory (2003) and Remembering and Forgetting in Everyday Life (1995)


Sleep, Memory & Learning: A Cognitive Neuroscience Approach
Robert Stickgold, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry; Harvard Medical School; researcher, Laboratory of Neurophysiology, Massachusetts Mental Health Center; one of the nation's leading sleep researchers, who is widely published on sleep and cognition, dreaming, and conscious states


Sleep, Teens & Schools: Why Johnny Can't Stay Awake
Mary Carskadon, Ph.D., Director, Chronobiology and Sleep Research Laboratory, Bradley Hospital; Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown University; Diplomate, the American Board of Sleep Medicine; Co-founder of the Northeastern Sleep Society; researcher on sleepiness in children and adolescents, including assessing behavior when confronted with changing school schedules


Using Memory Pathways for Long-term Retention in Classrooms
Willy Wood, M.A., President, Open Mind Technologies; former high school and university teacher; national speaker on brain-based teaching

READING, LANGUAGE & BILINGUALISM
Breaking the Language Barrier: How Children Learn Words
Roberta M. Golinkoff, Ph.D., H. Rodney Sharp Chair in the School of Education; Faculty, Departments of Psychology and Linguistics; Dir., the Infant Language Project, University of Delaware; co-author of Action Meets Word: How Children Learn Words (2006), Play=Learning (2006), Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less (2003), and How Babies Talk: The Magic and Mystery of Language in the First Three Years of Life (2000)


Growing Up Bilingual: Linguistic, Cognitive & Academic Consequences
Ellen Bialystok, Ph.D., FRSC, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology, York University; Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute of the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; researcher on the effect of bilingualism on children's language and cognitive development


Wiring the Brain for Reading
Marilee B. Sprenger, M.A., Adjunct Professor, Aurora University, former teacher; memory expert; author of How to Teach So Students Remember (2005), Becoming a Wiz at Brain-Based Teaching (2001), and Learning & Memory: The Brain in Action (1999)
:autumn:

Diversity & Reading Development:
Promoting Language and Literacy Skills of English-language Learners
Nonie K. Lesaux, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Human Development & Psychology, Harvard Graduate School of Education; Research Associate on the National Panel on the Development of Literacy in Language Minority Children and Youth, panel funded by the Institute of Educational Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education; researcher whose focus is on the relationship between demographic, health, language and reading-related variables in at-risk populations


EXPERIENCE, EXERCISE & LEARNING DISORDERS
Exercising the Mind: Improving Memory, ADHD & Learning
John J. Ratey, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain (2001); co-author of Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder (2005); and Michael S. Wendt, Ed.D., Superintendent, Wilson Central School District; who conducted a study with the State University of New York at Buffalo on the effects of intense exercise on the behavior of children with ADHD and a study on its effect on classroom performance

Early Experience, Brain Development & Learning Disorders
Charles A. Nelson III, Ph.D., Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research; Harvard Medical School; Director, Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience; Boston Children's Hospital; renowned researcher on the effects of early experience on brain and behavioral development


Brain Development: Early Experiences & Long-term Consequences for Learning, ADHD & Autism
Pat R. Levitt, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology; Director, Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University; Chairman of the Board of Scientific Counselors, National Institutes of Mental Health; Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board, Cure Autism Now; researcher who focuses on how genes and environment influence the development of brain areas that control emotion, mood, learning and memory and learning disorders


THURSDAY NOV. 9 - PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
(By advance registration only. Select one of five. Add $25 fee if you are not attending the conference.)
I. Using Brain-Based Tools for Analyzing & Improving Learning & Curriculum
10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. Cost: $225
This workshop will provide a framework in cognitive development for analyzing teaching and learning and introduce a developmental 'ruler' that has been applied, in a variety of ways, to inform learning and instruction. Kurt W. Fischer, Ph.D., Charles Bigelow Professor; Director, Mind, Brain & Education Program (MBE), Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; co-author of "Web of Skills: How Children Learn" (2001, Journal of Educational Leadership) and Theo L. Dawson-Tunik, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Education, Cognitive Science, Hampshire College; President and Founder, Developmental Testing Services, LLC


II. New Directions in the Treatment of ADHD
1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Cost: $135
Dr. Pelham will focus on recent research in the treatment of ADHD and contrast three evidence-based, short-term treatments: behavior modification, stimulant medication, and a combination of the two. New evidence on growth suppression, lack of long-term effectiveness, and other negative effects in treatment will be discussed. Dr. John Ratey will discuss the latest research, medication, and treatment regarding ADD and will separate nutrition fads from what is known about how diet can affect brain functioning. He will discuss steps parents and teachers can take to maximize ADD students' abilities and minimize characteristics, such as procrastination, that may hinder them at school. William E. Pelham, Ph.D., UB Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry; Director, Center for Children and Families, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York; renowned expert on ADHD and ADHD treatment; and John J. Ratey, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain (2001); co-author of Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder (2005)


III. Raising Student Achievement by Improving Memory
1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Cost: $135
Recent research suggests that increasing working memory raises IQ and achievement in many content areas. High achievement on assessments relies on the ability to take information provided on the assessment, make connections to prior knowledge, and manipulate the two in order to comprehend and answer questions. This session will provide research and techniques to increase both working and long-term memory in students. Teachers must be able to get information into immediate memory, have students manipulate that information in working memory, and make connections to place it in long-term memory. Marilee B. Sprenger, M.A., Adjunct Professor, Aurora University, former teacher; memory expert; author of How to Teach So Students Remember (2005), Becoming a Wiz at Brain-Based Teaching (2001), and Learning & Memory: The Brain in Action (1999)


IV. Strategies for Teaching the Teen Brain
1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Cost: $135
Are you looking for ways to energize your junior high or high school classroom - ways that are fun and make learning virtually effortless? This session will show how a few basic principles, consistently applied, can improve teen learning. Explore four major areas teachers must attend to when working with teens: social learning (relationships), relevant learning (connections), affective learning (emotions), and responsible learning (developing maturity). Intended audience: teachers of teens, all content areas.
Willy Wood, M.A., President, Open Mind Technologies; former high school and university teacher; national speaker on brain-based teaching


V. Brain-Based Teaching: Applications for Student Achievement
1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. Cost: $135
In this workshop, you will learn about the natural learning systems in the brain, researched "best practices" for student achievement, linking performance directly to practice in real time, and ways to apply the verbal and visual attributes of memory/recall that increase student learning outcomes.
Robert K. Greenleaf, Ed.D., President, Greenleaf Learning Center, former Professional Development Specialist, The Education Alliance @ Brown University; author of The Power of Two and Brain-Based Teaching: Building Excitement for Learning; author of the article, "The adolescent brain: Still ready to learn" (2002, Principal Leadership) (Continued on next post)

:am: :autumn:

THURSDAY NOV. 9 - SPECIAL EVENT
"Meeting of the Minds" Reception 9:30 - 10:30 p.m.
Sponsored by THE DANA ALLIANCE FOR BRAIN INITIATIVES
Free & Open to All Attendees
Take this unique opportunity to meet other attendees and some renowned neuroscientists and neuropsychologists at this reception. Advance registration required. Please sign up on the registration form, if you would like to attend.


SUNDAY NOV. 12 - POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
(By advance registration only. Select one of three. $135. Add $25 fee if not attending the conference.)
Risk & Resilience: Changing the Lives of Children with ADHD
Learn a framework for a current model for ADHD, balancing interventions that relieve symptoms along with those that truly may make a long-term positive difference for those struggling with ADHD. Explore the current conceptualization of treatment that makes a lifetime difference in ADHD and the history of treatment for ADHD. The talk will focus on symptom relief as indicative of effective intervention, and about the need to shift to begin looking longitudinally at the effects of symptom relief long term. Sam Goldstein, Ph.D., Faculty, University of Utah; Clinical Neuropsychologist in private practice at the Neurology, Learning and Behavior Center (NLBC) in Salt Lake City, Utah; Senior Editor, Journal of Attention Disorders; co-author of Learning Disabilities and Challenging Behaviors: A Guide to Intervention and Classroom Management (2002), and with Robert Brooks of Raising Resilient Children (2001); and co-editor with Ann Teeter of Clinician's Guide to Adult ADHD: Assessment and Intervention (2002)


The Brain Diet: Treating Learning Disorders and Depression Through Nutrition
Most people today know that nutrition and health are related. We have heard that poor nutrition plays a role in cardiovascular disease and cancer, but what about other conditions such as depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's diseases, learning disorders, and ADHD? This workshop will explain the connection between diet, mental health, learning, and realizing the full potential of our intelligence. It will show how poor nutrition adversely affects mental health and success, and what can be done to help our children achieve full intellectual capacity. Alan C. Logan, ND, FRSH, Connecticut Board Certified Naturopathic Physician; Faculty, Harvard University School of Continuing Medical Education, Harvard Medical School; editor of the International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine; one of North America's leading experts regarding Omega fatty acids and their impact on optimum health and on learning disorders; author of The Brain Diet: The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, and Intelligence (2006)


Success for People with Autism: Using Our Brains & Strengths-Just Like Everyone Else
This workshop will help you develop greater awareness of how differences in brain development relate to the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder and practical strategies you can use to help people with autism lead fulfilling and productive lives. Stephen M. Shore, M.A., Doctoral Candidate at Boston University; Adjunct Instructor at Antioch College; Executive Director of Autism Spectrum Disorder Consulting; author of Beyond the Wall: Personal Experiences with Autism and Asperger Syndrome (2001), and the upcoming book, Autism for Dummies; co-author of Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on Autism Spectrum (2004)


FIVE WAYS TO REGISTER
PHONE: 617-469-6789 FAX: 617-469-3077 EMAIL: anne@edupr.com
MAIL: Make check payable to PIRI and mail to Public Information Resources, Inc. (PIRI),
20 McKenna Terrace, Boston MA 02132-2515 WEB: http://www.edupr.com/reg.html


Registration Form: PLEASE COMPLETE FOR EACH APPLICANT.
Name:
Position:
Organization:
Address:
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Please register me for the Conference. $_________


Fees:
General Registration: $499 per person
Late Registration (after Oct. 25, 2006) $545 per person
GROUP RATES $450 per person (Five or more from one organization. Registrations must be sent in together.)


Please register me for a Pre-conference Workshop on Nov. 9. $______.
Please circle or check your workshop choice:
1. Using Brain-Based Tools for Analyzing/Improving Learning & Curriculum: 10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. ($225 per person)
2. New Directions in the Treatment of ADHD: 1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. ($135 per person)
3. Raising Student Achievement by Improving Memory: 1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. ($135 per person)
4. Strategies for Teaching the Teen Brain: 1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. ($135 per person)
5. Brain-Based Teaching: Applications for Student Achievement: 1:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. ($135 per person)


Please register me for a Post-Conference Workshop on Nov. 12. $______.
Please indicate your workshop choice:
1. Risk & Resilience: Changing the Lives of Children with ADHD: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ($135 per person)
2. The Brain Diet: Treating Learning Disorders & Depression Through Nutrition: 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ($135 per person)
3. Success for People with Autism: Using Our Brains & Strengths: 1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. ($125 per person)


Please check here___ if you would like professional development credits. (Credits and Certificates are free, but please add $5 for postage/shipping/handling)


Total $_________


Please check here ___to attend Thursday's "Meeting of the Minds" Reception. FREE
Please check here ___if you have attended these Learning & the Brain Conferences before.
Please check here___ if you have any special ADA requirements, and call 617 469-6789 ext. 19 or 21.
The Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel is ADA compliant.

Choose your method of payment: (check one)
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Make check or purchase order payable to Public Information Resources, Inc. (PIRI), and mail it along with your registration form to: Learning & the Brain, Public Information Resources, Inc. (PIRI),
20 McKenna Terrace, Boston MA 02132-2515. P.O.s will be invoiced if sent without check and should be paid prior to conference. Registrations without payment or purchase order will not be confirmed, and such reservations cannot be held beyond 30 days.
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Stay at the Conference Hotel. $195 single or double per night (plus applicable taxes). Call the Westin Boston Waterfront at 1-888-627-7115 and refer to "Learning & the Brain." The conference group rate will no longer apply when the room block is filled or after October 16, 2006.
For other accommodations, call PIRI's reservations center at (617) 469-6789 ext. 19.


CONFERENCE REGISTRATION POLICIES
Registrations are taken and confirmed, on a first-come, first-served basis according to receipt of full payment or purchase order. Unpaid registrations without a purchase order will be cancelled after 30 days. If you do not receive a confirmation within three weeks after sending full payment or purchase order, call (617) 469-6789 ext. 19 or 21. A $35 administrative fee will be added for on-site registration at the conference. Groups of five or more may register at $450 per person, if registering together with payment or purchase order.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND CANCELLATIONS
Substitutions are permissible up to seven days before the conference, but you must notify PIRI in writing by fax or mail. Cancellations must be requested no later than Oct. 30, 2006. No cancellations will be accepted after Oct. 30. Because cancellations incur substantial administrative costs, we regret that it is necessary to charge a cancellation fee of $150 per person. Cancellations must be sent in writing to PIRI at 20 McKenna Terrace, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02132-2515 or faxed to PIRI at (617) 469-3077.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM CHANGES
Public Information Resources, Inc. (PIRI) reserves the right, without having to refund any monies to participants, to make changes in the conference, its program, schedule, location, and/or faculty should PIRI, in its sole discretion, deem any such changes necessary or advisable. Similarly, PIRI further reserves the right to cancel any sessions, events, workshops, or the conference, entirely, in which
case PIRI's liability to participants shall be strictly limited to a refund of those fees.


"Among the overwhelming number of neuroscience facts lies a portal through
which we might find a way to enhance the gift of education for every child."
Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Co-Director, Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara
:autumn:

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from this thread alone i could have saved five years of thaught.:detective:

yeah... this is a very informative and concise thread.
feels like it will help me greatly.