Professional Workshops and Community Presentations

For teachers and parents, psychology practices, physician’s offices, professional organizations, and schools/educational programs.

Our Professional Workshops and Community Presentations, tailored to your group, increase understanding of child development and how to successfully implement strategies to help children succeed. Presentations are completely customized so that the material is tailored to the specific needs of your organization. Workshops can be planned as a one-time event or set up to be a series of on-going trainings. Typically a presentation includes 45-60 minutes for lecture and application, plus 15-30 minutes for questions and answers. More in-depth programs, up to full-day, can be arranged. Please contact Brittni Winslow (brittni@emergepeds.com) to inquire about available presentations, dates, and rates. CEUs are available for some workshops.

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Workshops Offered

Below you will find a list of workshops we have previously offered. If you are unsure of the workshop that best fits your needs, we will work with you to find the best option. Each workshop is customized to fit your group to address your concerns. Don’t see a workshop below that works for you? Give us a call and let us create a new, personalized program tailored specifically to your setting!

Woman taking notes at a coffee shop meeting with others

Understanding Sensory Processing

A basic overview of sensory processing and integration with an introduction to foundation sensory systems (vestibular, tactile, proprioceptive). This presentation includes information about how sensory processing impacts a child’s behavior and performance in school, and ideas for modifying the classroom environment.

Supporting Preschoolers with Sensory Needs in the Classroom

This presentation provides an overview of sensory processing, with information about how sensory processing impacts classroom performance. This presentation gives specific strategies for modifying the classroom environment, including activity ideas, materials, and classroom set-up.

Understanding Speech and Language Development

An overview of speech/language skills, with a summary of the various types of difficulties students face (articulation, expressive and receptive language, social communication, speech fluency, pragmatics, voice, auditory processing). This presentation provides information on ages to expect acquisition of various speech sounds. It also describes how to recognize problems in the subtleties of language use, including syntax (grammar), semantics (knowledge of word meanings), and pragmatics (back-and-forth language use for social interaction).

Speech/Language Development: Birth to Five

This presentation delves deeper into early speech/language development. Attendees are provided with more in-depth information about developmental milestones and speech/language challenges facing children during the preschool years.

Getting Your Child Ready for Kindergarten

This presentation is great for preschool staff and parents of preschoolers who are transitioning into Kindergarten. In this presentation attendees learn about the various expectations of students in Kindergarten and are provided with developmentally appropriate activities to support development in the following areas: independence and self-care, fine motor skills, early literacy, and play.

Developing Fine and Visual-Motor Skills: The Foundations for Writing

Designed for teachers/parents of 3-6 year olds, this in-service provides an introduction to the motor skill foundations needed before children learn to write. Topics include: developing a mature pencil grip, bilateral skills, hand dominance, coloring and drawing, and learning to cut.

Supporting Students with OT and Speech Challenges in the Classroom

This presentation includes an overview of development from the OT and speech perspectives. Attendees will learn what sorts of red flags to look out for, and strategies to accommodate for sensory, motor, and speech/language challenges, as well as ideas for classroom activities to build these skills.

Being a Friend: Celebrating and Understanding Differences (for a school aged population)

This presentation is geared towards a younger population. The presenters will briefly explain how we all experience our worlds differently through our own sensory systems and what that may mean for themselves and their peers. We also explore how to better understand and include our friends who experience their world much different that they may.

Supporting the Development of Social Skills

This presentation provides information on social skills, how they are learned, and their role in development. Education is provided on social programs used at Emerge, including Michelle Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking® and Leah Kuypers’s Zones of Regulation®.

Understanding the IEP Process

This presentation is designed to help parents and professionals working outside of the public school system to understand the intricacies of the IEP process, including the timeline, paperwork involved, and parents’ legal rights as well as the school’s responsibilities.

two young girls working on a pencil drawing

Short Courses

Emerge has developed short courses for local schools as therapeutic enrichment for their students. Some of these short courses have included:

Bullying
Being a Friend
Carrying on a Conversation
Understanding Differences
A Zones of Regulation® based curriculum (Size of the Problem, etc.)

Consultation

Emerge also offers consultation/observation to schools regarding general and/or specific questions/concerns. More and more schools are finding that the children they serve are presenting with more complex and challenging behaviors. Many of these children have sensory processing difficulties that interfere with the child’s ability to successfully meet classroom demands. Other children struggle with learning to write. An OT can often offer on-the-spot recommendations to help the child be more successful. While a one-time visit may be all that is necessary, some larger school programs may find it valuable to contract for 2-4 hours of on-site consultation monthly. Please contact Brittni Winslow (brittni@emergepeds.com) for more information about scheduling and rates.