NASP Summer Conferences

Nashville, TN: July 26-28, 2010

Concurrent Breakout Sessions

Presenter biographies are available here.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 1:30–4:45 p.m.; repeated on
Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 8:30–11:45 a.m.

1. Responding to Self-Injurious Students: Prevention and Intervention Strategies for School Psychologists (3 credit hours)
Richard A. Lieberman, PhD, NCSP, Los Angeles Unified School District, CA

Self-injury (SI) is a complex variety of behaviors separate and distinct from suicide that fulfills a multitude of needs in children and adolescents. There is alarming evidence that there in an increasing number of adolescents exhibiting a spectrum of impulsive self-injurious behaviors, cutting and burning in particular. Younger students are engaging in high-risk games such as the choking game. It is estimated that three million Americans engage in some form of self-injury and 90% began cutting as teenagers. The referrals of these students present significant challenges to school mental health personnel.

This workshop will focus on:

1. The interaction between cognitive, affective, behavioral, environmental, biological, and psychological dimensions in the etiology of SI youth.
2. Creating effective treatment plans.
3. School prevention and intervention strategies such as training of staff, working within crisis teams, utilizing no harm agreements, and responding to contagion on campus.

2. Ethics for School Psychologists: A Readers Theater Approach (3 credit hours)
Philip B. Bowser, NCSP, School Psychologist, Roseburg, OR

This workshop employs a “readers theater” format to place participants into situations where they can practice making on-the-spot ethical decisions and discuss the underlying principles and alternatives within a safe setting. The general goal of this session is to provide practical suggestions to avoid ethical violations and to protect the rights and welfare of children while advocating for their best interests. Participants will earn 3.0 CPDs to fulfill the ethics and professional practice requirements for NCSP renewal.

Using actual cases, participants in this workshop will:

1. Increase their knowledge and understanding of NASP’s ethical principles.
2. Develop confidence in their ability to quickly analyze ethical situations.
3. Learn a useful strategy for applying theory to the workplace.
4. Enjoy the camaraderie that results from active participation in group activities.

3. Educating and Treating Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Implications for School-Based Practitioners (3 credit hours)
Richard J. Cowan, PhD, NCSP, Kent State University, OH

This workshop will focus on a “best practices” approach to the assessment and education of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It will begin with a brief overview of the symptoms associated with ASD, followed by a brief overview of tools to aid educational teams in performing comprehensive assessments to inform the education and treatment of children with ASD.

Participants in this workshop will learn:

1. Practical solutions to ongoing progress monitoring across multiple academic/behavioral domains.
2. The latest findings regarding promising versus questionable interventions for children with ASD.
3. Valuable resources to keep school psychologists informed about the latest research and technologies available to parents, educators, and related professionals.

4. RTI at Tier 3: A Case Study Approach (3 credit hours)
Kathy McNamara, PhD, NCSP, Cleveland State University, OH; Sawyer A. Hunley, PhD, NCSP, University of Dayton, OH

Assessment and intervention at Tier 3 are best accomplished through a case study approach, which pinpoints the reasons why a student has not responded to less intensive intervention at Tiers 1 and 2. This presentation offers a step-by-step guide to conducting a case study, based on a rubric that provides a framework for identifying problems, testing intervention strategies, and evaluating student outcomes. Results of a research study examining relationships between the quality of case studies and actual student outcomes will be shared.

Participants of this workshop will learn how to:

1. Create and test hypotheses explaining students’ skill and performance problems.
2. Select interventions targeting factors amenable to change.
3. Evaluate case study outcomes using methods such as effect size, visual analysis, and goal attainment scaling.
4. Link case study findings with special education eligibility determination.

5. Current Topics in Pediatric Neuropsychiatric Conditions: Diagnoses, Treatments, and School Psychology (3 credit hours)
Steven R. Shaw, PhD, NCSP, McGill University, Montreal, QC

Neuropsychiatric conditions affecting school children are among the most challenging aspects of professional psychology. Not only are these conditions inherently complex and multisystemic in nature, but research into new interventions is ever changing.

By participating in this workshop, attendees will be better able to:

• Understand research findings on the nature of neuropsychiatric conditions in children (i.e., development, etiology, genetics, presentation, and prognosis) and the upcoming changes in DSM and ICD.
• Understand supporting evidence, unintended effects, misuse, and prescribing trends for psychopharmacological treatments.
• Apply specific school-based therapeutic interventions, best practices in interdisciplinary collaboration, and classroom-based academic interventions.