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GMAS Presentations
* The following list of presentation topics are provided by Ron Lybarger, Ph.D. Click on any of the titles to learn more about the workshop.
- Collaboration for Kids Sake
- Self-Care for Care Givers
- Linguistic Competence and Mental Health
- Hearing Loss, Language, and Social Emotional Development
- Self-Care for Educational Interpreters
- Unique Challenges: Fostering Resiliency in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children
- Empowering Children: Parenting that Fosters Independence
- Facilitating Social-Emotional Development Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
- A Talk with the Doc
- Building Stronger Families through Positive Behavior Management
- Enhancing the Social and Emotional Development of Children with Communicative Disorders
- Raising an Emotionally Health Child
- Developing Resiliency for Sign Language Interpreters
- Interpreting for the ADHD Student
- Empowering Children: Teaching that Fosters Independence
- What About Us?
- Evaluating Social/Emotional Skills With Children Who Have Hearing Loss
- Psychological Evaluation and Children With Hearing Loss
- OH! The Things I've Seen: Tales from Four Years of Working with GMAS
- Preparing for Success: Transition Issues for Students with Hearing Loss
- To Sign
or Not to Sign: Language Development and Children with Cochlear Implants
Collaboration for Kids Sake
D/deaf and hard of hearing children frequently have very complicated
issues. Typically, more than one professional is involved in the assessment
of a child. The more information that we have about individual children's
strengths and areas of need, the more successful we can be at planning
and implementing interventions. Sharing information effectively is essential.
This interactive workshop will focus on professionals collaborating with
each other to enhance the education and social-emotional development of
D/deaf and hard of hearing children. Participants will have the opportunity
to discuss their unique role in the evaluation of children and share strategies
for effective collaboration.
Self-Care for Care Givers
Providing care to Deaf and hard of hearing children can be an extraordinary
and rewarding experience. It is also very stressful and demanding. In
this interactive workshop, Dr. Lybarger will discuss the physical, emotional,
and mental health risks of providing care to children. He will also describe
effective self-care strategies and ways to identify and intervene when
a personal problem has arisen as a result of providing care to others.
Linguistic Competence and Mental Health
Language acquisition impacts cognitive development which in turn affects
overall learning, academic achievement, social/emotional development,
and mental health. Dr. Lybarger will facilitate an interactive workshop
that will offer participants the opportunity to explore the connection
between linguistic competency and mental health. Implications for the
identification of individuals who have mental health issues which have
been impacted by delayed language acquisition and development will be
addressed. Participants will also have the opportunity to share strategies
for effective intervention, treatment and ongoing support of patients/clients
with mental health diagnoses and limited linguistic abilities.
Hearing Loss, Language, and Social Emotional Development
Hearing loss impacts language acquisition and development which in turn
affects the development of social and emotional skills among children.
Social and emotional skills are essential to a child's happiness and quality
of life. In this interactive presentation, Dr. Lybarger will lead a discussion
focusing on ways to enhance language acquisition and development and increase
social/emotional skills with deaf and hard of hearing children.
Self-Care for Educational Interpreters
Interpreting in the educational setting can be a stressful, intense
and challenging job. The roles and responsibilities of interpreters are
frequently misunderstood, and expectations of their job duties are often
unclear. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Lybarger will facilitate a
discussion of the challenges and demands associated with educational interpreting
and offer strategies for effective problem solving and self-care for interpreters.
An emphasis will be placed on helping interpreters identify how their
job affects their physical and mental health. Attendees will be encouraged
and guided in the process of establishing personal self-care plans.
Unique Challenges: Fostering Resiliency in Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Children
Overcoming obstacles created by a hearing loss is a daunting and lifelong
challenge. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Lybarger will discuss strategies
to help parents, family members, teachers, professionals, and others enhance
the education and social-emotional development of children who are D/deaf
or hard of hearing. He will also address behavioral intervention strategies
that promote resiliency. Participants will have the opportunity to share
experiences and explore options for resolving issues related to coping
with and overcoming the many barriers that D/deaf and hard of hearing
children face.
Empowering Children: Parenting that Fosters Independence
Parenting children who have hearing loss is a challenging and rewarding
endeavor. Helping children develop skills that allow them to be independent,
resilient and responsible provides them with the ability to be productive,
happy human beings. Dr. Lybarger will lead an informal and interactive
discussion focusing on parenting strategies/skills that teach children
independent thinking skills, problem solving strategies, personal responsibility
and social/emotional skills. Participants will have the opportunity to
discuss specific parenting issues/challenges and share the successes they
have experienced.
Facilitating Social-Emotional Development Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Students
Deaf and hard of hearing students in mainstream settings frequently
experience difficulty connecting with their peers and enjoying social
situations. Their hearing loss and its impact on their ability to interact
with hearing peers creates a number of frustrations and obstacles. Dr.
Lybarger will facilitate an interactive discussion of the nature of social-emotional
development among deaf and hard of hearing children. Strategies to enhance
opportunities for these children to become more effective and confident
in their abilities to connect with others will be an emphasis. Participants
will share specific approaches that can be incorporated into educational
plans to help improve the quality of deaf and hard of hearing children's
social-emotional development.
A Talk with the Doc
This gathering will offer participants the opportunity to discuss
issues that are relevant to them. Dr. Lybarger will facilitate a discussion
of topics generated by workshop participants in an unstructured and informal
setting. Attendees are encouraged to come prepared to ask questions and
raise issues that are of interest to them.
Building Stronger Families through Positive Behavior Management
Parenting is a challenging, difficult, and rewarding process. Choices
parents make about how to deal with behavior problems and discipline have
a profound and long-lasting effect on their children and on the family
as a whole. In this interactive presentation, Dr. Ron Lybarger will lead
a discussion on positive approaches to conflict resolution, behavior management
techniques and effective discipline. Emphasis will be placed on effective
communication, establishing consistency and mutual respect.
Enhancing the Social and Emotional Development of Children with Communicative
Disorders
Social/emotional development is a key component in the well-being
and future success of children. Communicative disorders frequently present
barriers to children in their efforts to develop effective social relationships
and emotional skills. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Lybarger will
discuss the importance of enhancing the social/emotional development of
children who have communicative disorders. He will share strategies and
resources for evaluating and meeting the needs of individual children
and participants will have the opportunity to discuss specific cases.
Raising an Emotionally Health Child
Social/emotional development is a key component in the well-being
and future success of children. Communicative difficulties frequently
present barriers to children and their families in their efforts to develop
effective social relationships and emotional skills. In this interactive
workshop, Dr. Lybarger will discuss the importance of enhancing the social/emotional
development of children. He will share strategies and resources for evaluating
and meeting the needs of individual children. Participants will have the
opportunity to discuss specific situations.
Developing Resiliency for Sign Language Interpreters
Interpreting is a challenging and stressful profession. Interpreters
can experience many social, emotional, and psychological stressors as
a result of this uniquely difficult work. These occupational hazards are
natural, predictable, and manageable through self-awareness, connection
with others and ongoing self-care strategies. In this workshop Dr. Lybarger
will discuss signs and symptoms that can lead to secondary trauma, burnout,
as well as mental health and interpersonal problems for interpreters.
The workshop will be interactive and information will be presented to
assist interpreters in developing individual self-care plans.
Interpreting for the ADHD Student
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) have unique
educational and communication needs. Traditional models of interpreting
frequently do not provide adequate guidelines for working with these children.
Dr. Lybarger will define ADHD, discuss implications of the diagnosis,
describe common co-occurring disorders, review medications, outline positive
behavior management techniques and discuss strategies for effective communication.
This interactive workshop will offer participants the opportunity to discuss
specific students as well as general strategies.
Empowering Children: Teaching that Fosters Independence (next to the
parenting with the same topic)
Teaching and working with children who have hearing loss is a challenging
and rewarding endeavor. Helping children develop skills that allow them
to be independent, resilient and responsible provides them with the ability
to be productive, happy human beings. Dr. Lybarger will lead an informal
and interactive discussion focusing on strategies/skills that teach children
independent thinking skills, problem solving strategies, personal responsibility
and social/emotional skills.
Back to the top
What about us?
Deaf/Hard of hearing children frequently face many educational and social
challenges. In this interactive workshop, Dr. Lybarger will address some
of the unique dilemmas that deaf/hard of hearing children and their families
confront. The group will discuss ways to effectively overcome educational
and social/emotional development obstacles that deaf/hard of hearing children
tend to encounter. Participants will have the opportunity to ask specific
questions and share their trials, tribulations and personal successes.
Back to the top
Evaluating Social/Emotional Skills With Children Who Have Hearing Loss
Effectively evaluating the social/emotional skills of children who have
hearing loss can be a daunting and complicated process. Currently available
standardized measures are frequently not appropriate for the assessment
of social/emotional skills among D/deaf and hard of hearing children.
During this interactive presentation, Dr. Lybarger will discuss the process
of evaluating and reporting on the social/emotional skills while placing
an emphasis on meeting existing state criteria.
Psychological Evaluations and Children with Hearing Loss
During this interactive, family friendly presentation, Dr. Lybarger will
discuss why and how he conducts evaluations with children who have hearing
loss. He will address reasons children are referred for evaluations, describe
techniques he uses to evaluate children and discuss implications of testing
results. Dr. Lybarger will discuss cognitive, learning/educational, social/emotional
and mental health related evaluations. Participants will be encouraged
to discuss specific issues and ask questions.
OH! The Things I've Seen: Tales from Four Years of Working with GMAS
Dr. Lybarger has been providing Psychoeducational Evaluations on behalf
of the Greater Minnesota Assessment Service for the past four years. He
has seen over 150 students in virtually every part of the state. In this
interactive presentation, Dr. Lybarger will discuss various aspects of
his work with Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in Minnesota. He will
describe common issues and address areas of strength and weaknesses in
Deaf Education in Minnesota.
Preparing for Success: Transition Issues for Students with Hearing
Loss
Making the transition from high school to a post-secondary setting can
be a challenging and stressful process for students with hearing loss.
In this interactive workshop, Dr. Lybarger will discuss ways to help students
identify their strengths and weaknesses, improve their coping and problem
solving skills and become more effective self-advocates.
To Sign or Not to Sign: Language Development and Children with Cochlear
Implants
Language acquisition and development are vital to children's cognitive,
social/emotional and academic progress. Children with hearing loss face
unique challenges related to language development. Many children with
hearing loss are receiving cochlear implants. Opinions vary widely regarding
whether sign language should be used with these children or if "auditory
only" approaches are more beneficial. Dr. Lybarger will lead an interactive
discussion focusing on the issues associated with the use of sign language
with children who have cochlear implants.