TRAINING AND SEMINARS FOR PARENTS AND PROFESSIONALS
Dr. Michelle MacAlpine is executive director of Brain Training Associates and has lectured across the world on topics related to brain development and education for over 17 years. Parent or professional groups can choose from the following popular topics, or request a custom presentation.
Recognizing and Treating the Underlying Causes of Attention Deficit
Attention deficit, like autism, is frequently overdiagnosed and misunderstood. Before we can become consciously aware of something, the brain must have determined that it is both meaningful and important. Experiences that are assessed as meaningless, redundant, irrelevant, or unlikely, are ignored. While this process allows the brain to focus on important parts of the sensory landscape and ignore irrelevant details, it also produces "perceptual blindness," "change blindness" and "attention deficit." In this seminar we will explore how brains pay attention, why normal brains can fail to see and hear, and the role that sensory processing plays in attention, learning, and behavior.
Sensory Processing Disorders and Their Effects on Learning and Behavior
In this seminar we consider how brains turn sensory experiences into knowledge and skills, and how abnormal sensory experiences can lead to attention deficit, autistic behaviors, language delays and behavior problems. Participants will learn how to recognize sensory processing problems in children and teens and how to improve learning, social and emotional development.
Stages of Development in Learning, Language and Social Skill Acquisition
Neuroscientists have discovered that every skill, regardless of whether it is motor, language, cognitive or a specialized skill like writing, develops in stages. Matching information and task demands to the stage of development can greatly improve both education and rehabiltiation efforts. In this seminar we will explore the stages through which skills develop, how to identify the stage of development in various skill areas and how to chart progress, and effective techniques for providing information at each stage.
Creating High Level Cognitive Skills in Students
Perhaps the most important (and neglected!) skills in education are high-level cognitive skills like problem solving, analytical reasoning, critical thinking, and creativity. These skills, which are functions of the frontal lobes of the brain, can easily be developed through a series of games and activities. In this seminar we will explore how high level cognitive skills develop, teaching techniques and activities that help develop these skills, and why they are critical for a modern workforce.
Brain Based Education
Traditional American education is based on Behaviorism, an early 20th century philosophy that denied the existence of cognitive skills and memory, claiming that all actions were behaviors that existed because they had been reinforced by punishments or rewards. This archaic idea has permeated American culture and education to the point that it is no longer questioned. Unfortunately, the ideas of Behaviorism directly contradict what neuroscientists have discovered about how brains learn and develop. In this seminar we will explore the evidence against Behaviorist education and consider a new model of education that is based on the neuroscience of learning and how to provide activities and information that promote high-level cognitive and academic skills in students.
Custom Seminar
Design a seminar or training session that meets your specific needs. Topics can involve any subjec related to learning, development, brain based education, rehabiltiation, developmental delays, brain injuries or aging, memory, attention, or sensory processing.
SEMINAR COSTS: $1500 per day, plus travel. Costs for school districts can be reduced to meet budget requirements.
To schedule a seminar or training, please contact Dr. MacAlpine at braintrain@aol.com or at 972-964-8510 |