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Addressing Challenging Behaviors: Neurodiversity-Affirming Strategies for Schools
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 @ 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm EDT
Presented by Duncan Scherer, Former Chief Schools Officer for Democracy Prep Public Schools, School Leadership Consultant, and Superintendent-in-Residence at Social Cipher; and Lucas Harrington, Psy.D., Clinical Psychologist and SEL, Social Cipher
Moderated by Vanessa Castañeda Gill, CEO and Co-Founder, Social Cipher
Sponsored by Social Cipher
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The goal of this edWebinar is to share neurodiversity-affirming strategies that school leaders and educators can use to address challenging behaviors. Viewers learn:
- What “neurodiversity affirming” means
- The difference between traditional behavior management and neurodiversity-affirming approaches
- The root causes of common behaviors displayed by neurodivergent students
- How to address challenging behaviors using strategies that affirm and empower neurodivergent youth
Viewers gain valuable insight into neurodivergent students’ needs and how unmet needs translate into behaviors. The actionable strategies shared empower educators and school leaders to make changes to decrease behavior incidents, creating a positive and safe learning environment for everyone. After the session, viewers receive a guide that includes proactive and reactive ways to address common behaviors.
This recorded edWebinar is of interest to middle school teachers, school leaders, and district leaders.
About the Presenters
Duncan Scherer is a K-12 Education Leader and Superintendent-in-Residence at Social Cipher. After serving as a special education teacher, Duncan sought to make an impact on a larger scale by starting a middle school academic program specifically for students with exceptional learning needs. This school program placed a strong emphasis on student advocacy, the explicit teaching of social and emotional skills, and identity affirmation. His advocacy and desire to make a larger impact led him to school systems leadership. In his most recent role as Chief Schools Officer at Democracy Prep Public School, he oversaw school leadership in 18 schools across three states. At Social Cipher, Duncan engages with district administrators to bring Social Cipher’s SEL curriculum and online game Ava to neurodivergent youth throughout the country.
Lucas Harrington, Psy.D. is an accomplished clinical psychologist, published author, and autism specialist. His academic background along with his personal experience as an autistic person with ADHD allow him to support autistic youth and their families from a place of deep understanding. His clinical areas of expertise include disruptive behavior, emotional regulation, and school avoidance. Dr. Harrington leverages his expertise to enhance Social Cipher’s SEL curriculum and ensure their resources are engaging, effective, and neurodiversity affirming.
About the Moderator
Vanessa Castañeda Gill is the Co-founder and CEO of Social Cipher, an EdTech company that makes social and emotional learning curricula and video games for neurodiverse youth and the professionals who work with them. Inspired by her own journey as an autistic/ADHD individual and her time as a neuroscience researcher, Vanessa decided that social skills were a cipher worth solving and assembled a neurodiverse team of researchers, game developers, educators, and artists to form Social Cipher. Vanessa and her team have earned recognition as Forbes 30 Under 30s, Facebook Global Gaming Citizens, and, most recently, LEGO Foundation Partners.
Learn more about viewing the live presentation and the recording, earning your CE certificate, and using our new accessibility features.
Join the Supporting Students with Special Needs community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.
Social Cipher creates social and emotional learning (SEL) online games and curricula for neurodivergent youth ages 10-15. Each lesson and game module is carefully designed based on the latest research in social and emotional learning, neurodivergence, and education. As students play the game, they learn essential SEL skills to help them navigate challenging situations, often resulting in an improvement in behavior, academic performance, and overall well-being. As a 40% neurodivergent team founded by an autistic founder, autistic and ADHD perspectives inform game and curriculum development to ensure they are engaging, educational, inclusive, and empowering for neurodivergent youth.
