Sessions and Speakers

President of SweetenLife VIP Family Care

“Awakening to the Voice of the Parents”

For 50 years, Dr. Gary Sweeten's family system training has positively impacted families in over 80 countries, through Life Way Counseling Centers, Life Way Ministries, and Sweeten Life Systems. Not one to rest on his entrepreneurial laurels, Gary recently began focusing his efforts on mobilizing churches and community organizations to build support systems around families of children with disabilities. In this session he will focus on and share key insights from the parents and caregivers of children with special needs, and focus on what we can do to support them. As well as lower their stress, and increase their effectiveness and resiliency.

Sessions

• Scott Silver, Chris Collier
  CLU and Special Care Planners
  Paragon Financial, The Mass Mutual Financial Group
  Financial Strategies for the Special Needs Family
  
  Are you caring for a person with a disability or other special needs - a child, a spouse or a dependent parent? You may need to be concerned not only with unique health issues, but also long-term financial needs. Careful life care and financial strategies can make a difference in the quality of life for your loved one and other family members - including yourself. Come to this breakout session to learn from Cincinnati’s two premier Special Care Planners.
• Jim Donovan, Andrea Bowsher
  SweetenLifeSystems
  Listening Hearts Reveal New Solutions
  
  During a first of its kind, yearlong study, Sweeten Life Systems went beyond the surface with 12 couples that have children with special needs. The study addressed several topics including, stressful events, spiritual support needed and received, practical jobs, best practices, and barriers. In the study, parents revealed their deepest needs for support, prayer, and practical assistance. Presenters Jim Donovan and Andrea Bowsher will share those results as well as innovative solutions to help you build healthy relationships within your family and in the community.


• Cheryl Bowshier
  Special Needs Outreach Coordinator at School Choice Ohio
  
  Cheryl will be sharing information about the exciting opportunities for parents in relation to the Jon Peterson
  Special Needs Scholarship Program. This scholarship can be used for tuition at a private school, service at a private therapist or for tuition in other public schools outside of the student¹s home district. Cheryl will also be sharing information about the autism grant program as well. This is a very exciting and informative breakout
  session.

• Richard Dusterberg
  Attorney-at-Law
  Transition to Adulthood: Issues and Decisions
  
  When your child with disabilities becomes an adult new issues emerge. Parents must become familiar with public benefits available to the young adult and learn how to secure and maximize them. The several varieties of guardianship should be considered and addressed. Special needs estate planning can no longer be postponed; to do so puts public benefits at risk.
  
  Attorney Richard Dusterberg, a parent of a special needs daughter whose practice is dedicated to special needs families, will address these issues and respond to questions. Parents and siblings of teenagers and young adults with disabilities will profit from his remarks.
  
  ph. (513)-791-6500
• Ava Fried, Karen Schulte
  Family Resource Directory Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
  Special Needs Resource Directory
  
  Please join us and find out how to access the great resource and wealth of services provided by The Special Resources Directory and the Family Resource Center, available her in our own town.
• Julie Ellision
  Darkness to Light
  Darkness to Light: Stewards of Children
  
  Stewards of Children is the only nationally available program scientifically proven to increase knowledge, improve attitudes and change child-protective behaviors. This revolutionary program is for any responsible adult who cares about the welfare of children.
  
  ph. (843)-965-5444
• Trisha Heim, Suzy Rutkowski, Tina Spence
  Project Search, Project Search, Parent of Past Intern
  Project Search and Family Support
  
  Research shows that students who have a network of support achieve better employment outcomes. Families and friends play an important role during the Project SEARCH year in helping interns find success in their career paths. This Family Involvement Curriculum will assist families and friends in providing that support for their young adults during their Project SEARCH experience. The Project SEARCH instructor and a Family Liaison (a current or alumni parent to be identified by the instructor) will coordinate and implement the curriculum activities in a way that meets the particular needs and priorities of the students, families, and community.
• Joan Hoxsey
  The Art of Dealing With Grief
• Matt Johnson
  Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
  Planning Your Child’s Financial Future
  
  Among the many challenges that face parents of children with special needs is planning for the time when parents will no longer serve as primary caregivers. Proper planning can make all the difference in the life of a dependent with special needs. We will discuss and simplify the numerous of often complex issues that families should address.
  
  ph. (513)-366-3627
• Paul Juszczyk
  Juszczyk Chiropractic: A Creating Wellness Clinic
  Dealing with the Stress of Raising a Child with Special Needs
  
  The stress the occurs from raising a child with special needs can be huge, and have a large effect on one’s overall health. Join Dr. Paul Juszczyk as he shares with us the symptoms of stress, how stress affects the body’s overall health, and what we can do to relive stress both at work and at home, so that we can feel better and enjoy life more.
  
  ph. (513)-932-2955
• Tom Knestrict
  Xavier University
  Welcome to Holland: Faith and Family Resiliency
  
  Please come and hear the findings of Dr. Knestrict’s latest study of families who are raising children with special needs.
• Marcie Mendelsohn, Sharon Ramey
  Transition Coordinators, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
  Transitions Educational and Vocational Planning for Late Teens and Adults
  
  This session is intended for families, individuals and professionals who are interested in learning about educational and vocational planning as part of the transition process.
• Sara Melcher
  Xavier University
  Theology and Disability: Reframing our Perspective
  
  This presentation explores the biblical insights about disability that offers a new theological framework for those touched by disability.
• Rebecca Meyer
  Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Family Financial Advocate Department
  Waivers
  
  Confused, frustrated, or exhausted with the paperwork and waiting lists for Ohio’s waiver program? Trying to obtain services for your child with a disability? This training will focus on Home and Community based Waiver programs available to children in Ohio.
  
• Barbara Thomas
  The Tall Institute
  Don’t we ALL Deserve to be Healthy, Sexual Adults?
  
  Join us as we examine why we all deserve to be healthy, sexual adults, and identify basic concepts/skills that are necessary to be an advocate and support persons in the area of sexual rights and expression.
  
  ph. (513)-731-7077
  
• Robyn Traywick
  LRE vs. FAPE
  
  The workshop will go focus on providing parents with strategies, to advocate for their disabled children in public school settings; with focus on such ideas as “least restrictive environment”, and free and appropriate public education.
  
  ph. (937)-848-2698
  
• Tim Vogt
  Starfire Council
  “What’s Next?”
  
  Come join in the “What’s Next” café conversation on how we can authentically include people with differences systematically in both our personal and professional lives.
• Kathleen G. Winterman, EdD
  Xavier University
  Parent Partnership to Improve the Quality of IEPs for Students in K-12
  
  Gartin and Murdick (2005) contend that the cornerstone of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 is the IEP. With the 2004 reauthorization, changes have been enacted that bring IDEA 2004 into alignment with the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The presenter partnered to develop a rubric as an assessment tool to measure and assure compliance with these latest updates. Results of a pilot study indicate that the rubric does support teachers in determining if an IEP document contained all requirements under current federal legislation. Research participants were able to judge the quality of an IEP while also learning what steps to take when something was missing. Therefore, having a tool to evaluate IEP quality enhances the effectiveness of the IEP as a legal document. The presenter will discuss the effectiveness of the rubric as an IEP assessment tool and implications for further practice to support parents as being active team members during the IEP meeting.
  
  ph. (513) 745-1076