The Sprague Elementary School PTO has generously extended an invitation to the parents at P.A.W.S. to attend a special PTO sponsored evening on March 22 featuring author and child expert, Jessica Minahan. The title of her talk is, “Effective Strategies for Students with Anxiety-Related Behavior,” but she will also talk about strategies that can be used with children in situations where there is conflict, a need for self-regulation, and problem solving. We hope you will join us on Tuesday, March 22 at 7 PM at Sprague to hear her talk and ask questions. Please see the brief description and bio below. Jessica Minahan, M.Ed, BCBA “The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that one in four thirteen-eighteen year olds has had an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Without intervention, these children are at risk for poor performance, diminished learning, and social/behavior problems in school. Understanding the role anxiety plays in a student’s behavior is crucial and using preventive strategies are key to successful intervention. Effective behavior plans for these students must avoid the reward and punishment-based consequences from traditional behavior plans and focus instead on the use of preventive strategies and on explicitly teaching coping skills, self-monitoring, and alternative responses. Easy to implement preventive tools, strategies, and interventions for reducing anxiety, increasing self-regulation, executive functioning, and self-monitoring will be discussed.” Bio: Jessica Minahan, MEd, BCBA, is a board certified behavior analyst and special educator and a consultant to schools nationwide (www.jessicaminahan.com). Jessica has over seventeen years of experience supporting students who exhibit challenging behavior in urban public school systems. She is a blogger on The Huffington Post, as well as the author of The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students, with Nancy Rappaport (Harvard Education Press, 2012) and author of The Behavior Code Companion: Strategies, Tools, and Interventions for Supporting Students with Anxiety-Related or Oppositional Behaviors (Harvard Education Press, 2014). Sincerely, ‘Becca Z.
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