Down Syndrome Guild to kick off free educational series

(Dallas) The Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas will kick off its 2012 S.P.R.I.N.G. (Sharing Possibilities Resources Information Needs Goals) Educational Series on Saturday, Jan. 28, featuring a different speaker and topic each month.

The 5-part series is free and continues through May 2012, offering up-to-date information, resources and support for people with Down Syndrome, their families and the community. Meetings begin at 10 a.m. at the Region 10 Abrams location, 904 Abrams Road in Richardson, TX.

The topic on Jan. 28 will be Speech & Language: Talking, Thinking, Reading, Writing and Behaving, presented by Lynn Campbell, M.S., CCC-SLP and Jennifer Foster, M.S., CCC-SLP. They will discuss speech and language development, how children with Down Syndrome think and learn to talk, and the relationships between learning, talking, reading, written language and behavior.

Campbell and Foster will share their approach, which takes into account current neurobiological re-search information, to help people with Down syndrome develop language and function as lifelong learners. Examples and practical tips for educators and parents will be provided.

The next meeting in the series will be a Kindergarten Round-Up on Saturday, Feb. 25. A panel of educators and parents will share helpful information about the important transition into kindergarten.

On March 24, the topic will be How to Build a Healthy Child from the Inside Out, presented by Dr. David Erb, D.C., CCCN. Dr. Erb will speak about children’s nutrition building natural immunity, top foods that destroy a child’s mental focus, and learning how the body is hard wired to be fueled and to thrive.

Helping your Child with Money and Time will be the topic at the Saturday, April 14 meeting. Carla Austin, OTR, Occupational Therapist, will discuss time and money management skills which are critical to integrative activities of daily living. The person with Down syndrome requires these skills to increase independence in their community. These skills affect many areas: shopping, transportation, cooking, budgeting, work and leisure.

Austin will discuss the skills that go beyond telling time and identifying and counting money, methods and resources to work on these skills at home and school, and IEP goals that incorporate learning these skills into a child’s educational plan.

On Saturday, May 5, the topic will be Toilet Training 101, presented by Shannon Anderson, LOT, Our Children’s House at Baylor in Allen. Anderson will discuss strategies and problem solving to help parents develop techniques to assist in toilet training a child with developmental challenges.

Source: Down Syndrome Guild of Dallas, located at 1702 N. Collins Blvd., Suite 170, Richardson, TX 75080.

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