During the academic year, ASCEND hosts speaker meetings on at least a bi-monthly basis. Speaker meetings are free to ASCEND members and open to nomembers for a $5 entrance fee. PLEASE JOIN US!

OCTOBER SPEAKER MEETING

When: Tuesday, October 10, 2006, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Grace Chapel, Darby & Eagle Roads, Havertown, PA
Cost: FREE for members; $5 for nonmembers

Speaker: Brad Norford, Ph.D.
Dr. Norford is a Licensed Psychologist with a full-time private practice in Bryn Mawr. He and his colleagues treat the full range of ages and psychological issues; however, they specialize in work with children on the autism spectrum and their families. Dr. Norford has formerly held clinical positions with Devereux and Community Mental Health Center of UMDNJ, as well as in juvenile justice and on NIMH projects to help families of challenging children. For the past decade he has been active in lobbying state legislators for managed care reform and other mental health causes.

Topic: “Handling Bullies 101”
Few things are more distressing to parents of special needs children than hearing that their child is being bullied. Youngsters on the Autism Spectrum are easy targets for teasing, exclusion, and insensitivity by their peers. Their social differences, limited friendships, and lack of effective responses leave them easy marks. This talk will focus on how to strengthen the responses of our children when they experience bullying and how to effectively advocate for them as parents.