1. Voices of Children and Adolescents (offered Morning and Afternoon)
Children with chronic health conditions require accurate knowledge and understanding of their illness or disability to develop effective self-management and self-advocacy skills. This session will provide a brief review of the literature related to the development of illness understanding in children. Through video and panel presentations, children and adolescents will discuss their experiences with different health conditions and describe both helpful and unhelpful ways in which parents and professionals have attempted to promote their understanding of these conditions.
Deb O'Rourke, parent, educator, physical therapist, researcher
Ruth Dennis, educator, researcher, occupational therapist
A Panel of Adolescents

2. Families on the Internet: Being a Wise Consumer of Information (offered Morning and Afternoon)
The Internet is a major information resource for many people, including families of children with disabilities. The Internet is growing so fast, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of websites, mailing lists, and chat rooms. How can families make more efficient use of their online time and how can they ensure that the information they find is credible? This workshop will include a live demo of the Internet. Participants will learn how to perform advance search queries and learn about useful web sites that don't show up on search engines. We will discuss how to evaluate information, whether it's a virus warning showing up in your email or a website promising a cure for your child's disability.
Linda Rowley, Coordinator of the Family Village Project  http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/

3. How to Stay Well for the Health of It! (offered Morning and Afternoon)
An overwhelming majority of people seen by doctors today have stress related illness. Knowing the proper balance of stress for your body and how to develop a wellness life style is crucial for healthier living and burnout avoidance today. This workshop will present a wholistic approach to managing stress that includes how your belief systems and thought can increase or decrease your stress rate. It's your choice and it's that simple! Come prepared to learn, laugh, and to be fully relaxed.
Jennie Trotter M.ED., Child Advocate, Counselor, Educator, Preventionist http://www.mindspring.com/~wholistic

Workshops 1, 2, and 3 are offered both Morning and Afternoon; Morning Workshops: 10:45 - 12:15 and Afternoon Workshops: 2:45 - 4:15

4. On Behalf of One or Many (Morning Only)
"Parents of children with special needs are changing the landscape of this country", states Judy Heumann, Assistant Secretary of Special Education, US Department of Education. Through advocacy on behalf of one child or of many, parents can and do have a significant impact on schools and communities. The Vermont Parent Information Center offers several programs to encourage and support families in the pivotal role they play in their children's lives. Connie will provide an overview of current legislation affecting the education of children with special needs and will discuss and apply lessons learned about advocacy from parents, professionals and people with disabilities.
Connie Curtin, Director of Vermont Parent Information Center www.vtpic.com

5. Adding Your VOICE! (Afternoon only)
Learn how you can become involved in developing policy and creating systems that work for individuals and families in Vermont. Federal legislation mandates family and individual participation in program design, assessment and monitoring. In addition, advocates are joining together to strengthen the power of their voices. You will leave this session with concrete examples of how your voice can be heard.
Julie Beckett, Nationally Recognized Speaker, Author, Lecturer; Peter Youngbear, Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights; Susan Yuan, Parent, Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, Vermont Council for Families with Children with Significant Disabilities

There are so many components to making sure that your child's care is family-centered and child friendly. This event will allow audience participants to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding the many facets of family-centered care using a game-show format. Have fun and learn something new by being a part of the action.
You'll never know what you could 'win' unless you come and play!
Dr. Lewis First, Emcee & Pediatrician

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WORKSHOP #2
Linda Rowley is the Coordinator of the Family Village Project.   The Family Village is an award-winning web site designed to help parents of children with disabilities find information and communicate with other families in similar circumstances.  Ms. Rowley has been involved in the Information & Referral field for several years and has a strong interest in the use of technology and telecommunications as a method to empower and support parents of children who have disabilities or chronic health conditions.
      Before coming to the Waisman Center in 1995, Ms. Rowley worked at the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities for several years.  There she held a number of positions, including Director of the Wisconsin First Step Project.   In addition to her professional duties, Ms. Rowley is also involved in a number of volunteer activities, including acting as the Wisconsin Coordinator for Family Voices, a national grassroots organization speaking out for children with disabilities  and as a member of the National Parent Leadership Coalition.   Ms. Rowley is the parent of a child with physical disabilities and who is medically fragile.

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WORKSHOP #3
Jennie Trotter, founder and director of Wholistic Stress Control Institute of Georgia,  is a child advocate, licensed counselor, educator and preventionist.  She earned her Master's Degree in counseling and education from Bank Street College of Education in New York.  She has been married over 29 years and has three beautiful young adult children.
     Her former work includes teaching and counseling at educational institutions, community programs and mental health enters.  She has developed prevention programs, children's literature, videos and curricula on stress education for children, parents, and teachers.
     Ms. Trotter has received many awards for her development of exemplary model programs for children including the prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award for youth violence prevention.  http://www.mindspring.com/~wholistic

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WORKSHOP #4
Connie Curtin is the director of the Vermont Parent Information Center (VPIC).  She has worked in the field of family support and advocacy for 15 years.  She served on the board of the National Parent Network on Disabilities for 6 years where she worked on federal disability legislation and policies.  In 1997, she attended the signing of the Individuals with Disabilities Act at the White House. A self-taught advocate, she learned the ropes from her son, who at 3½ challenged his mother to find the power within.

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WORKSHOP #5
Susan Yuan is the mother of three grown bi-cultural children.  Her son, Andreas, has significant disabilities and lives at home.  Susan is active in systems change activities for family support, serving as consumer liaison to the Legislative Affairs Committee of the American Association of University Affiliated Programs.  She participated in drafting the federal Family Support Bill in 1994, now reauthorized as part of the Developmental Disabilities Act of 2000.  She serves on the Advisory Council for the National Center for Family Support, and the Vermont Council for Families of Children with Significant Disabilities.  As a member of the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights, she monitors legislative activity and frequently testifies on family support and disability issues in the Vermont Legislature.

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WORKSHOP #1
Deb O'Rourke joined the Department of Physical Therapy faculty at the University of Vermont in 1987 and is a Clinical Associate Professor. Prior to moving to Vermont, Debbie worked for many years as a physical therapist in the provinces of Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Ontario. She received a B.Sc. and M.Cl.Sc. in Physical Therapy from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of Vermont. Debbie’s teaching, clinical work and research focuses on issues related to childhood chronic illness and disability. Since 1995, Debbie has been a faculty member with the Vermont Interdisciplinary Leadership Education for Health Professionals (VT-ILEHP) Program. This innovative training program if funded by the federal Bureau of Maternal and Child Health provides evaluation, consultation, training, and technical assistance to Vermont community professionals and agencies serving children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and their families. On a personal level, Debbie lives in Burlington with her husband, Bernie, and children, Matthew and Sarah. Matthew was diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes in 1991 when he was 7 years-old.  Debbie is a supporting parent with Parent to Parent of Vermont and a former co-coordinator of the Burlington area Diabetes Family Support Group.