Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D.
Prof., University of Cambridge, UK

Bonnie D. Singer, Ph.D.
Speech-Language Pathologist

Robert B. Brooks, Ph.D.
Assist. Prof.,
Harvard Medical School

William H. Calvin, Ph.D. Prof.,University of Washington

Shelley H. Carson, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Harvard University

Steven G. Feifer, Ed.D., NCSP Neuropsychologist

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M. Director, Brainergy, Inc.

Susan Goldin-Meadow, Ph.D.
Prof., University of Chicago

Alison Gopnik, D.Phil.
Prof., University of California, Berkeley

Robert K. Greenleaf, Ed.D.
Professional Dev. Specialist, The Education Alliance at Brown University

Diane F. Halpern, Ph.D.
Prof., Claremont McKenna College

John J. Ratey, M.D.
Assoc. Prof.,
Harvard Medical School

Jerome Kagan, Ph.D.
Prof. Emeritus,
Harvard University

Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D.
Director, Kosik Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology

Kurt W. Fischer, Ph.D.
Prof., Harvard University Graduate School of Education

George McCloskey Ph.D.
Prof., Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Demitri F. Papolos, M.D.
Assoc. Prof., Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Renate N. Caine, Ph.D.
Prof. Emeritus, California State University, San Bernardino

Ron Ritchhart, Ed.D.
Research Assoc., Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D.
Adjunct Prof., University of Wyoming

Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D.
Prof., Boston University School of Medicine

Theo L. Dawson-Tunik, Ph.D. Visiting Assist. Prof., Hampshire College

Allan L. Wigfield, Ph.D.
Prof., University of Maryland

Maryanne Wolf, Ed.D.
Professor, Tufts University

Thomas J. Cottle, Ph.D.
Prof., Boston University

 

The Evolving Mind: The Evolution of Human Thinking, Language, & Intelligence

Explore how our evolving brains might have developed our ability to think and learn languages, and such bizarre abstractions as nested information, metaphors and ethics, thus paving the way for consciousness as we know it. Learn about the mind's "Big Bang" as tied to the development of language, as well as the consequences of our human brains getting smarter even as our guts stay primitive and our technology skyrockets.

Keynote: William H. Calvin, Ph.D., Neurobiologist; Professor, University of Washington ; author of A Brief History of the Mind: From Apes to Intellect and Beyond (2004), A Brain for All Seasons (2003), The Ascent of Mind (2001), and How Brains Think (1997)

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A Child's Mind: How Children Learn & What They Teach Us About the Mind

In the past 30 years we have learned more about babies and young children than in the preceding 2,000 years. This new knowledge has completely overturned our view of young children - even the youngest babies both know more and learn more than we would ever have thought. Three factors make this learning possible: babies are born already knowing a great deal about objects, people, and language. They have the most powerful learning mechanisms we know of - more powerful than those of the most brilliant scientists or most sophisticated computers. And they have the world's best teachers - parents and other caregivers who unconsciously, in the very act of caring for young children, teach them just what they need to know.

Keynote: Alison M. Gopnik, D.Phil., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley; renowned neuroscientist on early learning and language development; co-author of The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains & How Children Learn (2001), and Words, Thoughts & Theories (1998)

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Educating Different Minds: Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities

Research and theories about sex differences in cognitive abilities will be explored along with caveats about the ways in which we infer brain-behavior relationships. We will consider the implications that average differences and similarities between boys and girls in cognitive abilities have for learning, testing, and career selection.

Keynote: Diane F. Halpern, Ph.D., Director, Berger Institute for Work, Family, and Children; Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, Claremont McKenna College; 2004 President of the American Psychological Association; author of Differences in Cognitive Abilities (2000, 3rd Edition), and Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking (2003, 4th Edition)

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Pathways for Learning & Teaching: Reflective Judgment & Critical Thinking

In this workshop, we will show how a cognitive scale and a developmental model of reflective judgment can be used to structure, analyze, and improve teaching and learning of reflective and critical thinking. Using examples from our research, we will explore the impact on decision-making of (1) different developmental levels of reflective judgment, and (2) different degrees and forms of relativism. Participants will relate these examples to students' reasoning in the classroom, and we will explore methods for using students' real world experiences in challenging them to develop better reflective judgment skills.

Kurt W. Fischer, Ph.D., Charles Bigelow Professor; Director, Mind, Brain & Education Program, Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Theo L. Dawson-Tunik, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Education, Cognitive Science, Hampshire College

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Creating Thoughtful Classrooms: Helping Students Become Better Critical Thinkers

Explore the need for critical thinking in students, strategies for improving thinking in the middle and high school classroom, and how it relates to adolescent brain development. Also examine ways to establish a "culture of thinking" in the elementary to high school classroom. Learn how to go about establishing classroom routines that promote critical thinking and how to build applications that encourage students to experience and sustain "intellectual character."

Ron Ritchhart, Ed.D., Research Associate, Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education; author of Intellectual Character: What it is, Why it matters, How to get it (2002) and co-author of Teaching in the Creative Classroom (2002)
Lisa Marin-Burkhart, M.S., Ph.D. Candidate, Claremont Graduate University; teacher of science and child development at Vista High School and the University of La Verne, CA, whose graduate studies include the development of scientific and critical thinking skills among adolescents

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Sense of Self: The Importance of Self-Reflection & Self-Awareness

Employing the literature of psychology and philosophy, this session explores a piece of the human journey, and in particular examines the role of affirmation in the development of the individual's sense of self. It will examine the roles of intimacy, morality, ethics, and self reflection. Affirmation, it will be argued, is absolutely fundamental to the development of self-awareness and self-reflection, the ability to be aware that one is aware of one's self.

Thomas J. Cottle, Ph.D., Sociologist; Clinical Psychologist; Professor of Education, School of Education, Boston University; author of When the Music Stopped: Discovering My Mother (2004), Sense of Self: A Work of Affirmation (2003), and MindFields (2001)

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The Impact of Perceptual Development on Metacognitive, Reflective, & Regulatory Functioning

This presentation will elucidate and explore how perceptual development impact metacognitive functions, including reflective and regulatory capacities. The presentation will also provide educators, learning specialists, and mental health practitioners with information and experience that will increase their capacity to foster students’ metacognitive skills through the use of perceptual awareness activities. Hands-on activities, appropriate for students of all ages and capacities, will be shared with participants.

Sarah-Hahn-Burke, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist; Director, PerDev Perceptual Development Center, who works in the treatment, evaluation, and advocacy for children and families with learning and developmental differences
Shemer Arzi, M.A., Learning Specialist, PerDev Perceptual Development Center; Founder and Director, Keysure Developmental and Educational Treatment Center in Israel; Program Planner for the Learning Disabilities Treatment Center at Tel-Hashomer Hospital

 

 

To Change Mindsets, Metaphors, & Stories: Strategies to Nurture Motivation & Resilience

This talk will examine the mindsets, metaphors, and personal stories of children and adults struggling with learning and attention problems. Strategies will be presented for replacing self-defeating perspective with a mindset that promotes motivation, self-discipline, effective coping and problem-solving skills, and resilience.

Keynote: Robert B. Brooks, Ph.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School; co-author of The Power of Resilience (2004), Angry Children, Worried Parents (2004), and Raising Resilient Children (2002)

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Rewards, Risks, & Adolescent Brains: Insights from Neuroscience

Examine new brain research that explains why it takes a lot to motivate teenagers, and how their brain's reward center is different from adults.

James M. Bjork, Ph.D., Research Fellow, Laboratory of Clinical Studies, Section of Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health

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Boosting Motivation & Academic Performance in the Teen Brain

By using an appropriate mix of motivation, attention, emotion, and different forms of memory, learn how to design lessons, reviews, and assessments to maximum student performance.  This talk will focus on application of key mind-brain theories that can be implemented in the classroom.

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming; middle and high school biology teacher; memory researcher and author of Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)

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Motivating the Mind, Brain, & Body: Creating Optimal Learners in the Classroom

Find out in this lively and accessible workshop about substantive research showing how emotions, motivation, and the tools of meta-cognition can create optimal learning in all of us. Significant bodies of research in neuroscience demonstrate how human learners acquire new skills and knowledge. Correlating studies in the fields of cognitive and educational psychology reveal that optimal learners possess specific learning beliefs and goals, and they practice distinct learning behaviors. What happens when teachers combine the natural biology of human learning design with educational practices that elicit the psychology of motivation and optimal learning behaviors?

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M., Director, Brainergy, Inc; Consultant for schools and businesses on optimizing learning, brain health, and brain-compatible teaching; Education Committee Chairman, Board of Directors at The Cambridge Center of Adult Education

 

Language in Mind: The Role of Gestures in Thinking, Language, & Instruction

When people talk, they gesture. We now know that these gestures are associated with learning. They can index moments of cognitive instability and reflect thoughts not yet found in speech. In this talk, explore the possibility that gesture might do more than just reflect learning - it might be involved in the learning process itself. Consider two non-mutually exclusive possibilities. First, gesture could play a role in the learning process by displaying, for all to see, the learner's newest, and perhaps undigested, thoughts. Parents, teachers, and peers would then have the opportunity to react to those unspoken thoughts and provide the learner with the input necessary for future steps. Second, gesture could play a role in the learning process more directly by providing another representational format, one that would allow the learner to explore, perhaps with less effort, ideas that may be difficult to think through in a verbal format. Thus gesture has the potential to contribute to cognitive change, directly by influencing the learner and indirectly by influencing the learning environment.

Susan Goldin-Meadow, Ph.D., Irving B. Harris Professor of Psychology, University of Chicago; President, Cognitive Development Society; author of Hearing Gestures: How Our Hands Help Us Think (2003); co-editor of Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Thought (2002)

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Motivating Children to Read: Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction

This talk will focus on the development of elementary school-aged children’s motivation for reading and how it is influenced by instructional practices in the classroom. The major focus of the talk will be a presentation of Concept Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI), a reading comprehension instructional program for elementary school students. CORI integrates science and mathematics, teaches a set of reading strategies shown to be effective in improving comprehension, and includes a set of motivational practices designed to foster children’s engagement in reading. Studies of CORI’s effects on children’s reading motivation and comprehension will be presented. These studies show that CORI increases children’s motivation and comprehension to a greater extent than either traditional reading or strategy instruction programs which do not include the motivation enhancing practices.

Allan L. Wigfield, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Human Development, University of Maryland; co-author of The Development of Achievement Motivation (2002); co-editor of, Motivating Reading Comprehension (2004)

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Effects of Evidence-Based Reading Instruction for Children with Reading Disabilities

Learn about a reading intervention program developed by Benita Blachman and FMRI brain activity studies at Yale University that show her program to be more effective than other interventions.

Benita A. Blachman, Ph.D., Trustee Professor of Education and Psychology, Reading and Language Arts Center; Coordinator, Graduate Program in Learning Disabilities, School of Education, Syracuse University; author of Road to the Code: A Phonological Awareness Program for Young Children (2000) and Foundations of Reading Acquisition and Dyslexia (1997)

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Written Language Disorders in the Mind: Diagnoses & Intervention

This presentation will assist educators and diagnosticians in pinpointing specific breakdowns in the written-language process and writing disorders, and the implementation of effective remediation techniques based upon the integrity of the brain's neural pathways.

Steven G. Feifer, Ed.D., NCSP, Neuropsychologist; school psychologist; co-author of The Neuropsychology of Written Language Disorders (2001) and The Neuropsychology of Reading Disorders: Diagnosis & Intervention (2000)

 

 

The Role of Executive Function in Classroom Learning & Behavior: Strategies for Assessment & Intervention

This presentation will take a practical approach to the neuropsychology of the cognitive processes now being labeled as "executive functions" and the classroom behaviors reflected in the use, or disuse, of these processes.  Definitions, assessment methods, and classroom and home intervention strategies for children ages 4-18 will be discussed. Case studies demonstrating executive function difficulties will be discussed throughout the presentation.

George McCloskey Ph.D., Professor; Co-Director of Research, Department of Psychology; Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Director of the SPARK Project (School Psychologists Adopting Refined Knowledge) for the New York City Department of Education

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What's Being Left Behind in 'No Child Left Behind' - The Role of the Executive Functions In Teaching & Learning

Learning that expands and utilizes the brain's executive functions must engage actor-centered decision making. This type of teaching requires that educators make fundamental changes in three areas: 1.) Create the optimum social/emotional climate for learning 2.) Create the optimum teaching approach that emphasizes student decision making, and 3.) Develop questioning and feedback skills that engage and enhance the executive functions of the brain.

Renate N. Caine, Ph.D., Executive Director, Caine Learning Institute; Professor Emeritus of Education, California State University, San Bernardino; co-author of 12 Brain/Mind Learning Principles in Action (2004), Mindshifts (1999), and Unleashing the Power of Perceptual Change (1997)

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Misunderstood Minds: Executive Function Deficits in Juvenile-Onset Bipolar Disorder

“Executive functions" is an umbrella term for a whole range of adaptive abilities and behaviors – central control processes of the brain that connect, prioritize, and integrate functions needed for self-regulation, such as planning, sequencing, multitasking, introspection, the capacity to remember delayed intentions (prospective memory), and how information is stored and retrieved from memory. An individual's executive functions emerge in early childhood as the pre-frontal cortex develops and continue to evolve in adolescence and into early adulthood. Because demands to use these abilities are not presented to the child until the middle years, which are then called upon increasingly with each succeeding year, executive function deficits are often hidden during early development. Emerging research is beginning to suggest that early measures of executive dysfunction may even be predictive of later psychiatric illness. Dr. Papolos will present an overview of executive functions, and describe recent research aimed at assessment and impact of executive deficits in children diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with particular emphasis on performance in the classroom.

Demitri F. Papolos, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Co-Director of the Program in Behavioral Genetics; Director of Research, Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation; co-author of The Bipolar Child: A Comprehensive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder (2000) and Overcoming Depression (1997)

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Executive Function, Self-Regulation, & Language Disorders in School-Age Children

In this talk, executive functions and self-regulation will be defined and the reciprocal influence of these factors on the performance of students with language-learning disorders (LLD) will be explored. Learn how to integrate executive functions (motivation and goals), self-regulation (beliefs and actions), and language processes within speech and language assessment and intervention.

Anthony S. Bashir, Ph.D., Director of Academic Support Services; Disability Services Coordinator; Associate Professor, Department of Communication Disorders, Emerson College
Bonnie D. Singer, Ph.D., Speech-Language Pathologist; President, Innovative Learning Partners, MA

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Creativity and Executive Function: Implications for Teaching & Behavior

Discover the biological basis of creativity through a combination of animal and human studies and its connection to the executive function. Examine research that suggests that it is difficult to generate highly creative ideas while the evaluative portion of the frontal lobes is activated (including the prefrontal cortex that compares one's current behavior to socially acceptable behavior) and its connection to antisocial behavior. Examine the question of how to keep the creative ability and still promote pro-social behavior in children.

Shelley H. Carson, Ph.D., Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University; researcher on the brain and creativity

Bridging Mind, Brain, & Education:
Lessons for Education from the Study of Two Boys with Half a Brain

Have you ever wondered what life would be like with only half of your brain? Through the examination of video clips and data, participants will explore the implications for development in two adolescent boys who have suffered the surgical removal of an entire brain hemisphere to control severe seizures. Focusing especially on the boys' abilities to understand and produce emotion in speech and on faces, we will discover some basic principles of brain development and function, as well as uncover important implications for the education and development of "normal" children.

Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, Ed.D., Mind, Brain & Education Program, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; researcher on the learning of two boys each with a hemispherectomy; co-editor with Kurt Fischer of Mind, Brain & Education in Reading Disorders (2006)

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If the Brain Isn't a Digital Computer, Then What Is It? How Neuroscience Can (and Cannot) Inform Education

This session will overview popularized neuroscience-education notions (right-brain/left-brain curricula, Mozart effect, etc.) and what's wrong with them. Discuss how this type of research and application can perhaps be done better, and some key roles for educational researchers and practitioners in that process.  Explore examples of promising neuroscience-education connections (such as the knowledge transfer) to improve learning.

Michael W. Connell, Ed.M., Ed.D. Candidate at Mind, Brain & Education Program, Harvard University Graduate School of Education; Research Associate, Lexia Learning Systems, Inc.; co-author with Howard Gardner of "On Abilities and Domains" (2003, Psychology of Abilities, Competencies & Expertice); and co-author with Kurt Fischer of "Two Motivational Systems that Shape Development" (2003, British Journal of Educational Psychology)

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Motivating Minds & Memory: Helping Students Make Meaning from Learning

How do we guarantee that our students collect information so that they retain and use it later?  There are a number of factors, but the key finding of cognitive science and brain research is that the student has to do the processing (meaning-making).  Traditional schooling practices such as lecture and textbook reading, where the focus is on transmission rather than meaning-making, are therefore ineffective.  In this lively session, you will learn how to use prior knowledge, the framing of relevance, pattern-detection, and processing activities to foster intrinsic motivation, deep connections, and long-term retention. Intended Audience: Teachers of all grades and content areas.

Willy Wood, M.A., President, Open Mind Technologies; former high school and university teacher; national speaker on brain-based teaching; former language arts consultant for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)

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Best Ideas & Practices from Learning & the Brain: Putting Them to Use in the Classroom

If you've ever wanted a way to pull all of a conference together don't miss this. This will be a culmination of the conference's best ideas and practices brought together in a single workshop.  Participants will develop, share, and discuss practical--REAL-- applications at their instructional level, and walk away with a host of new ideas, ready to use. 

Jeb Schenck, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of Wyoming; middle and high school biology teacher; author of Learning, Teaching and the Brain (2003)

 

A Young Mind in a Growing Brain: Milestones of Child Growth & Development

Examine the psychological milestones of human development during its first decade and what has been learned about brain growth. Discover how development is the process of experience working on a brain that is undergoing significant biological maturation. Experience counts, but only when the brain has developed to the point of being able to process, encode, and interact with these new environmental experiences.

Jerome Kagan, Ph.D., Daniel and Amy Starch Professor of Psychology Emeritus, Harvard University; renowned expert in child development and temperament; co-author of A Young Mind in A Growing Brain (2005), The Long Shadow of Temperament (2004); author of Surprise, Uncertainty, and Mental Structures (2002)

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Developing Your Mind: How Exercise Can Boost Thinking, Memory, Attention, & Learning

Examine new research that shows the importance of physical and mental exercise in sharpening memory, attention, and thinking, and how inactivity and stress affect a child's ability to learn.

John J. Ratey, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of 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 Driven to Distraction (1995)

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Achieving Optimal Memory: From Molecules, to Mind, to Medication

Learn how memory works from the neurons to the molecules, and new medications to enhance memory. Discover prevention and proactive strategies to improve and optimize memory at any age and the future of memory treatment ("cognitive enhancers," gene therapy, and stem cell transpants, etc). Discover how stress, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, and lifestyles affect memory.

Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Director, Kosik Laboratory of Cellular Neurobiology, Harvard Institutes of Medicine; Co-Director, Neuroscience Research Institute; University of California, Santa Barbara
Aaron P. Nelson, Ph.D., ABCN/ABPP, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Chief, Neuropsychology, Division of Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital; co-author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Achieving Optimal Memory (2005)

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Memory from a Developmental Neuropsychological Perspective: Implications for Instruction in Regular & Special Education Classrooms

This session will present a neuropsychological perspective on the development and use of cognitive processes involved in what we commonly call “memory,” including the encoding (initial registration), manipulation, storage, and retrieval of information.  The involvement of memory processes in classroom instruction will be discussed along with appropriate interventions and classroom accommodations for students thought to have memory problems.  The integrated nature of “memory,” attention, and executive functions also will be discussed at length, as well as how memory is used in classroom learning, studying, and test-taking. 

George McCloskey Ph.D., Professor; Co-Director of Research, Department of Psychology; Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine; Director of the SPARK Project (School Psychologists Adopting Refined Knowledge) for the New York City Department of Education

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The Neuroscience of Innate Wisdom: Improving Mind, Metacognition, & Meditation

We live in a nervous world at a nervous time, and it is wreaking havoc with our children’s minds, brains, and bodies. Educators must develop curricular practices and classroom strategies that can help children restore their emotional equanimity and strengthen and maintain the integrity of their central nervous systems. Learn simple tools to reduce daily stress, increase reflection, judgement, and higher order cognition and deeper knowledge, and provide emotional resilience in children.

Gessner Geyer, M.A., Ed.M., Director, Brainergy, Inc; Consultant for schools and businesses on optimizing learning, brain health, and brain-compatible teaching; Education Committee Chairman, Board of Directors at The Cambridge Center of Adult Education

The Mind of Autism: Is Autism an Extreme of the Male Brain?

Autism affects males far more often than females. This is especially true for the related condition of Asperger Syndrome (AS), where the sex ratio may be at least 10:1 (male:female). Why might this be? One possibility is that autism is an extreme form of the male brain. This theory was first proposed by Hans Asperger, but our recent work puts it to the test. First we define what we mean by the male and female brain. This is discussed in terms of two processes, empathizing and systemizing. We look at evidence for sex differences in these processes. Then we look at whether autism involves deficits in empathizing together with talents in systemizing. Some of the biological mechanisms underlying this are also tested and discussed. Finally, a new theory about the genetic basis of autism is described: the assortative mating theory, which views autism as the genetic result of having parents who are both hyper-systemizers.

Simon Baron-Cohen, Ph.D., Professor of Developmental Psychopathology; Departments of Experimental Psychology and Psychiatry; University of Cambridge, UK; Co-Director of the Autism Research Centre; author of The Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain (2003), Teaching Students with Autism to Mindread (1999), and Mindblindness (1995)

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Understanding Other Minds: New Research on Autism, Language, & Theory of Mind

Two decades ago, the theory of mind hypothesis of autism was first proposed by autism researcher Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues.  This hypothesis generated enormous interest in both theory of mind and autism because it was able to explain so much about autistic symptoms.  At the same time, every study found that some children with autism were able to pass classic theory of mind tasks. In this presentation, autism researcher Helen Tager-Flusberg will focus on the role of language in explaining the variability in performance on theory of mind tasks among children with autism and review current theories regarding the nature of what is impaired in autistic understanding of other minds.

Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., Director and Principal Investigator; Laboratory of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience; Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine; Professor, Department of Psychology, Boston University; author of Autism and William Syndrome (2005) and co-editor with Simon Baron-Cohen of Understanding Other Minds (1996)

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The Bipolar Child: Diagnosis & Comorbidities

Abrupt swings of mood and energy that occur multiple times within a day, intense outbursts of temper, poor frustration tolerance, and oppositional defiant behaviors are commonplace in juvenile-onset bipolar disorder. These children veer from irritable, easily annoyed, angry mood states to silly, goofy, giddy elation, and then just as easily descend into low energy periods of intense boredom, depression and social withdrawal, fraught with self-recriminations and suicidal thoughts. Recent studies have found that from the time of initial manifestation of symptoms, it takes an average of ten years before a diagnosis is made. Complicating diagnosis and appropriate treatment, these children are commonly first diagnosed with many of the other childhood psychiatric conditions that typically co-occur with childhood-onset bipolar disorder and are more easily recognizable, including; separation anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity, oppositional-defiant disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, intermittent explosive disorder, and major depression. In this talk, Dr. Papolos will present a historical overview of the condition in childhood, describe the current diagnostic conundrums and therapeutic pitfalls in the context of a wide spectrum of comorbid conditions, and present data that will help mental health professionals and educators more easily recognize childhood-onset bipolar disorder in their practices and in the classroom.

Demitri F. Papolos, M.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Co-Director of the Program in Behavioral Genetics; Director of Research, Juvenile Bipolar Research Foundation; co-author of The Bipolar Child: A Comprehensive and Reassuring Guide to Childhood's Most Misunderstood Disorder (2000) and Overcoming Depression (1997)

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Delivered From Distraction: Teaching & Treating Children and Teens with ADHD

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. Defining ADD as a collection of traits, some positive, some negative, Dr. Ratey 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.

John J. Ratey, M.D., Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; author of 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 Driven to Distraction (1995)

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