Newton SEPAC and Newton Public Schools present: Jessica Minahan, M.Ed, BCBA who will speak on Reducing Anxiety in Kids.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that one in four thirteen-eighteen year olds has had an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. Without intervention, these children are at risk for poor performance, diminished learning, and social/behavior problems in school. Understanding the role anxiety plays in a student’s behavior is crucial and using preventive strategies are key to successful intervention. Effective behavior plans for these students must avoid the reward and punishment-based consequences from traditional behavior methods and focus instead on the use of preventive strategies and on explicitly teaching coping skills, self-monitoring, and alternative responses. Easy to implement preventive tools, strategies, and interventions for reducing anxiety, increasing self-regulation, executive functioning, and self-monitoring will be discussed. This event is free of charge.

Bio: Jessica Minahan, MEd, BCBA, is a board-certified behavior analyst and special educator and a consultant to schools nationwide (www.jessicaminahan.com). Jessica has over seventeen years of experience supporting students who exhibit challenging behavior in urban public school systems. She is a blogger on The Huffington Post, as well as the author of The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students, with Nancy Rappaport (Harvard Education Press, 2012) and author of The Behavior Code Companion: Strategies, Tools, and Interventions for Supporting Students with Anxiety-Related or Oppositional Behaviors (Harvard Education Press, 2014).

February 28th, 7:00 pm
Newton North High School Auditorium