Implementing Tools and Strategies with Neurodiverse Learners (Grades 9 - 12)

In this webinar presentation for education professionals, MAIA Education’s Founder and Executive Director, Sharon Thomas, will discuss the importance of fostering neurodiversity in the classroom and how strategic planning can best support organizational skill development. Participants will come away with specific tools and strategies they can put to immediate use in their classrooms, small groups, or in 1:1 support.

Topics discussed will include:

• How executive functioning and organization can present
• The importance of strategic planning and goal-setting for students and teachers
• Tangible and digital tools that support all learners
• Tips and tricks to building out classroom structures
• Skill-learning versus survival-learning

Sharon Thomas

Sharon Thomas is a Learning Specialist and Educational Consultant. She is the Founder and Director of MAIA Education Resource Center, an organization started over fifteen years ago to identify and provide timely educational services. As the leader of MAIA, which is named after her daughter, Sharon guides a team of talented teachers with general and special education training who are invested in the overall development and success of their students. MAIA works with students K-College with and without learning differences through 1:1 tutoring, executive function coaching, test preparation, school placement, and workshops. Sharon is passionate about giving all students access to learning. Her work and advocacy for individual students, families and in schools reflect her belief that healthy learning environments understand and prioritize individual development and best research based teaching practices. She currently serves on the board of Promise Project, a non-for-profit organization that helps at-risk children with learning disabilities obtain the support they need to learn. Sharon completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Georgetown University and earned a master's degree in Child Psychology at University College London as well as a master's degree in General and Special Education at Hunter College.

Paul Yellin

Dr. Paul B. Yellin is the Director of The Yellin Center for Mind, Brain, and Education in New York City. Dr. Yellin has dedicated his entire career to improving the well-being and development of young people. Dr. Yellin is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, where he serves as a member of the faculty of the program in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics. The Yellin Center is affiliated with the NYU School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and serves as a training site for its Developmental-Behavioral Pediatric Fellowship Program. Dr. Yellin has been an active member in the local and national leadership of the American Academy of Pediatrics, having served as President of the New York City Chapter as well as on several statewide and national committees. He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Center for Applied Special Technology and The New York Institute for Special Education.

Christina Nichols

Christina Nichols, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist. Dr Nichols works with neurodiverse students in both the school setting and in the practice she co-founded, Mind Matters Manhattan, to understand their learning profiles from a strengths based model. She is a school psychologist at Horace Mann and in her private practice she specializes in providing therapy and neuropsychological evaluations to children and adolescents. Dr. Nichols has additional expertise in working with students on executive function skills to set them up for success in school and in life.