This virtual event will be packed with great information for families who have a loved one with Down syndrome or Down syndrome and Autism.

Terry Katz, PhD is a licensed psychologist and Senior Instructor with Distinction who has worked with people with neurodevelopmental differences and their families for over 30 years. In 2009 she co-founded the Sleep Behavior Clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Developmental Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine and continues to work in the clinic. Dr. Katz has helped develop several educational materials for caregivers. These include a toileting toolkit, ATN/AIR-P Parent's Guide to Toilet Training in Autism and a book on sleep, Solving Sleep Problems in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Guide for Frazzled Families. She also wrote a chapter on sleep in the book When Down Syndrome and Autism Intersect: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, Second Edition (edited by Margaret Froehlke and Robin Sattel), which can be found on Amazon. She is currently involved in a research project that is providing training to community providers to teach them ways to provide sleep education to families of children on the spectrum who have sleep problems.

Her presentation, Sleepless Children and Exhausted Parents—Understanding Sleep Problems and Exploring Solutions, is designed for parents and providers who want to learn more about sleep, why people with co-occurring Down syndrome and autism may have sleep problems, and what they can do to help everyone in the family sleep better. The session will provide information and suggestions that are relevant for people of all ages with sleep problems.

Karen Levine, Ph.D., is a Psychologist in private practice and a Lecturer on Psychiatry, part-time, at Harvard Medical School. She is an Expert DIR- Floortime provider, trainer, and clinical consultant with the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning. With Naomi Chedd she co-authored Attacking Anxiety: A Step-by-Step Guide to an Engaging Approach to Treating Anxiety and Phobias in Children with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities (JKP, 2015).

Floortime (also known as DIRFloortime®) is an approach used to promote an individual's development through a respectful, playful, joyful, and engaging process. It uses the power of relationships and human connection to encourage the development of the capacities for self-regulation, engagement, communication, shared social problem solving, and creative, organized, and reflective thinking and reasoning. It is based on the DIR® model for human development. It is used worldwide by teachers, occupational therapists, speech therapists, mental health professionals, parents, and many others that are caring for individuals with developmental challenges or other related needs. It is an evidence-based approach to promoting human development that is used with individuals of all ages...especially children on the autism spectrum.

Dr. Levine's presentation, DIR-Floortime: A strengths-based approach fostering social, emotional and communicative development and well-being, is an introductory overview to what the DIR-Floortime model is. The basic outline of the model will be presented as well as videoclips illustrating parents and therapists engaging in Floortime.

Down Syndrome Virtual Symposium ~ 11/16/24