The month of October marks Learning Disabilities Awareness Month, a time reserved to pay particular attention to children and adults with learning disabilities. The Help Group Summit: Advances and Best Practices in Autism, Learning Disabilities and ADHD is a cutting edge conference that features leading experts in basic and applied research, and evidence-based best practices in assessment, intervention and treatment of learning disabilities.

This year’s Summit 2016 is scheduled for Friday, October 14 and Saturday, October 15 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. A few highlights of the program include:

Dr. John Piacentini is the professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA School of Medicine and the director of Child OCD, Anxiety and Tic Disorder Program at UCLA Semel Institute. On day one of Summit, Piacentini will present a session on “Anxiety in Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities.” His presentation will provide an overview of the most common childhood anxiety disorders, how to recognize anxiety disorders in children with ADHD and learning disabilities, and describe the most common approaches for effectively treating youth with anxiety.

Also during Friday afternoon, Dr. Fumiko Hoeft, Associate Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at USCF Weill Institute for Neurosciences and Director of Hoeft Laboratory for Educational Neuroscience at UCSF, will present “Cognitive and Socio-emotional Resilience in Individuals with Dyslexia.” Dr. Fumiko’s talk will address the importance of an integrated approach in understanding all children, but in particular those with learning disabilities such as dyslexia: from genetics and brain networks to behavior, from reading to socio-emotional skills from risk to protective factors.

Later in the day, LD Keynote speaker Dr. Maryanne Wolf’s presentation, “How the Reading Brain Reframes our Concept of Dyslexia and its Intervention” will describe the principles of the reading brain and provide an alternative conceptualization of dyslexia and a circuit-based approach to intervention. Dr. Wolf is the John DiBiaggio Professor of Citizenship and Public Service, Director of the Center for Reading and Language Research, and Professor in the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts University.

On day two of the Summit, Dr. Claudia L. Kernan, will present “Using Neuropsychological Assessment to Help Children with Learning Difficulties Thrive: A Guide for Parents, Educators and Clinicians.” Dr. Kernan is the Director of The Help Group-UCLA Neuropsychology Program and Assistant Clinical Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Her workshop is designed to help parents, educators, and clinicians understand how the pediatric evaluation process is used to help children with learning difficulties.

To learn more about these sessions and register for The Help Group Summit, please click here.

Left to Right 

  1. Dr. John Piacentini
  2. Dr. Fumiko Hoeft
  3. Dr. Maryanne Wolf
  4. Dr. Claudia L. Kernan