The Coffee Klatch Special Needs Radio

Bullying IS an IEP issue.    Hosts Jennifer Laviano a special education attorney and Julie Swanson a special education advocate host this very important interview.  Your child's IEP is a legal document that their school must follow.  The tragic suicide of a Florida teen from relentless bullying has sparked a firestorm within the legal system to put an end to torment and tragedy. If your child is being bullied you have rights and can use an IEP to protect them.  Two girls were charged with aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony and will be processed through the juvenile court system. Neither had an arrest record. The older girl was taken into custody in the juvenile wing of the Polk County Jail. The younger girl, who the police said expressed remorse, was released to her parents now under house arrest. If you havent already spoken

Dr Pratik Mukhrjee and Dr. Elysa Marco on their Breakthrough study of biological basis for sensory processing disorders in kids In a groundbreaking new study from UC San Francisco, researchers have found that children affected with SPD have quantifiable differences in brain structure, for the first time showing a biological basis for the disease that sets it apart from other neurodevelopmental disorders. One of the reasons SPD has been overlooked until now is that it often occurs in children who also have ADHD or autism, and the disorders have not been listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used by psychiatrists and psychologists. "Until now, SPD hasn't had a known biological underpinning," said senior author Pratik Mukherjee, MD,

Teaching Children The Social Skills The Need To Succeed   FAYE De Muyshondt  is the author of  socialsklz :-) (Social Skills) for Success: How to Give Children the Skills They Need to Thrive in the Modern World.  With social media ruling kids world today, who is responsible for teaching them their social skills?  Digital impressions are so vital. How can children make a positive impression and both digitally and in person?  Faye will talk about how parents need to take an active role in teaching the propers skills for their children to succeed socially.    

  True Brain Potential - What is your child's true potential learning more about what you can tell from test scores and daily choices. Why Should You Re-engineer Your Brain? In this interview, Dr. Florance explains when and why you should consider  "reengineering" your child's brain.  Find out how to determine whether your child is working to his or her potential.  Specifically, we will address why brain engineering can be so powerful for the highly visual Maverick profile  

Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden-- Gifted Adults: Am I Really That Smart? Many adults who as children are not recognized Gifted or Twice-Exceptional  grow up questioning their identities.Often they describe feeling like impostors who never fit in wondering if they are really that "smart" or just busy, driven people. Our guest Dr. Patricia Gatto-Walden has over thirty years of clinical experience understanding the complexities of Giftedness across the lifespan.  She has helped creative talented adults discover their own unique abilities and realize their potential regardless of age. Join us for this powerful journey of self discovery.

Dr. Betty Osman, an authority of children with learning disabilities, is a psychologist on the staff of the White Plains Hospital Center, Department of Behavioral Health. She is the author of several books including Learning Disabilities and ADHD: A Family Guide to Living and Learning Together and No One To Play With, Social Problems of LD and ADD Children.  

Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized authority on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults. The apples don't fall far from the trees - join us to discuss adult and child ADHD.  Untreated ADHD in a child continues into adulthood with struggles in relationships, careers and every aspect of life.  Executive functioning skills are key, learn tips and acquire tools to overcome deficits. Join us with the most respected expert in the world 

The Big Picture -  Rethinking Dyslexia provides personal and uplifting accounts of the dyslexic experience from children, experts and iconic leaders, such as Sir Richard Branson and financier Charles Schwab. Directed by James Redford, the film not only clears up the misconceptions about the condition, but also paints a picture of hope for all who struggle with it. 

MEASURING HOW YOUR CHILD  THINKS AND THE IEP   Measuring how your child thinks and relaying it in the IEP process. Listen to Dr. Florance explain how to interpret educational testing results with the unique profile of the highly visual student in mind.  Find out how test scores indicate whether someone is extremely verbal, a balance of verbal and visual, or extremely visual.  We will also discuss  auditory processing testing in the context of the highly visual child  

A Mentor Mom: Maximize your school.   How to be an Advocate for Your Highly Visual Child in School In this interview, we will discuss how to work with teachers and administrators to implement interventions specific the highly visual student.  Often, Maverick students can confuse teachers and administrators because the root of their symptoms of school struggle are not well understood or misdiagnosed altogether.  Listen as Dr. Florance tells us the most effective way to uncover the root of Maverick symptoms and communicate those results to the school. Once identified, parents and teachers can implement interventions tailored to the highly visual student, often resulting in quick results. 

Heading Back to School can cause many children to have anxious feelings about the start of a new year.  Parents of these children are affected as well, worrying about their anxious children especially kids who struggle with learning disabilities, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, and other related disorders.   Dr. Michele Borba is an internationally recognized expert and author on children, teens, parenting, bullying and moral development the award-winning author of 22 parenting and educational books and is recognized globally for her work in bullying prevention and character education. She has appeared on The Today Show over 100 times, Dr. Phil, Dateline, The View, The Doctors, Fox News, The Early Show and CNN and well as in Newsweek, People, Good Housekeeping, Chicago Tribune, U.S. News & World Report, Washington

In a tragic turn of events, our guest, Kelli Stapleton has allegedly attempted a murder/suicide with her daughter.   In this prerecorded interview Kelli discusses the physical aggression by her autistic daughter.  A child, sadly so out of control, that treatment, education and placement are challenging. Frustrated by a system difficult for her to navigate, living in chaos, Kelli asks us ... Where do I turn?  Host: Marianne Russo 

Starting the School Year Right:  Top Tips   Jeanne Voelker is a reading and writing specialist in Seattle, Washington. As the founder and principal teacher at Reading Before School, she has taught Seattle-area children since 1985. Ms. Voelker is the author and curriculum director of Reading Raven andReading Raven, Volume 2. These are top-selling and highly effective learn-to-read apps published by Early Ascent, LLC, and available through Apple. Ms. Voelker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington and has completed post-graduate courses through The Vermont College of Fine Arts and Stanford University. In addition to teaching, she enjoys writing fiction, and some of her stories have appeared in anthologies.  

Guest: Cali Estes, MS, ICADC, CAP, CPT, CYT With over 18 years’ experience as a Therapist, Life Coach and Wellness Coach, Cali Estes is currently serving as private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. Cali has been featured on NBC Universal News for her work with Addictions and published in several journals and books with her work on ADD and Relationships. Cali’s multidimensional approach focuses on getting to the underlying cause of the problem and working in the present to combat the issues by creating a safe and secure environment for her clients to learn and grow and tackle life challenges. Her unique background blend of psychotherapy, life coaching and wellness coaching allows the client to get to the underlying cause of their issues quicker, safer and produce results faster.  Many families think that addiction issues are primarily related to external substances like drugs, alcohol, and, more recently, legal synthetic drugs. While this is true, addiction can also take many other forms including internet, social media, gaming, and gambling. These internal issues can be difficult for parents to understand because there are not any identified substances. On this show, we will speak with Cali Estes, the addiction coach, about different types of addiction, what behaviors signal a problem, and what parents can do help their struggling family member.  

Special Needs Financial Planning: How to take care of a family member’s needs with J Todd Gentry, Special Needs Financial Planner of MetLife.   Caring for an individual with special needs requires special financial planning. Individuals have to find a way to integrate the family's overall planning, financial and otherwise, with their special situation.  Furthermore, there are federal laws  that can complicate matters and can cause individuals to lose eligibility for certain state and federal benefits so planning needs to factor in many different things.