Caring for a loved one with a disability? You are not alone. Join us to connect with disability professionals who can guide you through available support for you and your family.
Be uplifted by inspiring speakers and meet other families who share your journey. Together, we can find strength and hope.
November 15th, 2024
4202 South Regal Street,
Spokane WA 99223
Click below for more information
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9:00-9:45
Attendee Check In / Resource Fair9:45
Welcome
Emcee: Katherine Titus, Wise10:00-11:00
Parent Panel11:00-11:45
Resource Fair11:45-12:00
Pick up lunch / return to table12:00-1:00
Keynote Address: Importance of Self Care
Speaker: Georgina Lynch, WSU Autism & Neurodiversity program1:00-2:00
Resource Fair2:00-3:00
Keynote Address: All Needs Planning
Speaker: Mary McDirmid3:00-3:30
Networking / Event Ends -
Description
This workshop helps families understand the numerous stages to be considered while developing a special needs master plan for their loved one experiencing disability. Top considerations we hear and help our clients with: government benefits, funding their lifetime, tax efficiency, insurance, housing, employment, trusts, and estate planning. -
This keynote talk will focus on what we are learning about responsiveness to interventions aimed at better understanding brain development, the whole child, and placing the parent at the center to help guide treatment and research priorities. New directions for clinical training, research, and community engagement to address critical needs will be discussed. Clinical work and partnerships with medical providers through the WSU Autism and Neurodevelopmental Program will be shared, offering hope to address some of the most pressing challenges facing families of children with disabilities, including access to care, social determinants of health, and training of the health providers serving children with complex needs. Within the state of Washington and beyond, there is a continued need to provide support to assure proper training, meet family level needs, and individualize treatment to realize a child’s full potential. Eastern Washington is beginning to see this vision realized through interprofessional training of health care providers, and collaboration between clinical entities, education, and advocates. Our message is: We are all in this together!
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Parent Panel
Theresa Van Pelt, PEACE NW - Facilitator
Kristina Smith, Fernanda Mazcot, Tami Leitz, Julie German-Murrey, Rolf Goetzinger
The Parent Panel is an opportunity to hear from veteran parents on topics that apply to all parent caregivers.
Keynote Speaker: Georgina Lynch
Keynote: “Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, Hope, & Innovation: Participatory Research to Guide Us”
Workshop Host: Mary McDirmid
This workshop helps families understand the numerous stages to be considered while developing a special needs master plan for their loved one experiencing disability. Top considerations we hear and help our clients with: government benefits, funding their lifetime, tax efficiency, insurance, housing, employment, trusts, and estate planning.
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Live Paperwork Assistance/Get Your Care Notebook/Individualized Assistance
DDA
Spokane Public Schools
PEACE NW
Informing Families
The Arc of Spokane
AS360
All Needs Planning
Parent to Parent
Isaac Foundation
Northwest Autism Center
And Many More…
Special Guests
Keynote Speaker: Georgina Lynch
Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences
Founding Program Director of the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Program of Excellence at Washington State University in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.
BIO
Georgina Lynch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and a founding program director of the Autism and Neurodevelopmental Program of Excellence at Washington State University in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s degree in communication disorders, and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in neuroscience/psychology. Dr. Lynch is a licensed speech-language pathologist, nationally certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. She has assessed and treated autism spectrum disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders for over twenty years. Within the WSU Autism Program of Excellence Dr. Lynch collaborates with a multidisciplinary team of medical providers with expertise in ASD diagnostics and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Her clinical research program focuses on the visual pathway and identifying biomarkers to support screening practices for ASD within routine developmental healthcare. This work also involves developing innovative interventions using technology. She and her research team use eye-tracking to measure outcomes related to social language treatment and to develop tools to support commonly used intervention practices. Her work has been presented nationally and her scholarship includes publications for peer-reviewed journals, edited books, and professional associations. Dr. Lynch has provided consultation in clinics to support intensive programs for individuals with significant communication needs involving the use of AAC and she has collaborated with BCBAs to create individualized treatment plans. Dr. Lynch also has extensive experience as a learning specialist with the public-school system, developing intervention programs for kids with disabilities from preschool through adolescence. She has provided state level trainings for educators and developed systems-based trainings which included inter-professional teams of school psychologists, SLP’s, OT/PT’s, and special educators. This work provided direct support for school administrators and IEP teams when challenges in daily learning opportunities required significant changes to a child’s educational programs due to significant communication needs, resulting in potential due process. Dr. Lynch is an advocate for children with disabilities and their families and works diligently to engage them in research to advance our knowledge toward better practices, and ultimately better quality of life.
Workshop Host: Mary McDirmid
Leadership at All Needs Planning
Volunteer advocate for kids with rare diseases.
BIO
When Mary isn’t helping families navigate the world of special needs financial planning, she is being a wife to Jay and a mom to Charlie and Ruth. In addition to her leadership role at All Needs Planning and a volunteer advocate for kids with rare diseases. She takes the title “Mom Boss’ seriously, just ask her! Mary understands the emotional and financial aspects of caring for a loved one with special needs because she is the parent of a child with a rare disease.
Mary will be leading a workshop to help families understand the numerous stages to be considered while developing a special needs master plan for their loved one experiencing disability. Top considerations we hear and help our clients with: government benefits, funding their lifetime, tax efficiency, insurance, housing, employment, trusts, and estate planning.