Experts to Gather at C.W. Post for Conference on Educating Developmentally Disabled Children

Brookville, N.Y. -- How to best educate youngsters with disabilities will be the focus of a two-day conference that features experts in the fields of special education, developmental disabilities and communications disorders, including Dr. Kathleen Feeley and Dr. Sanja Cale of the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

The fourth annual conference on Best Practices in the Education of Young Children with Developmental Disabilities will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 20 and 21 in Hillwood Commons at the C.W. Post Campus, 720 Northern Boulevard in Brookville.  Pre-conference workshops will be offered October 19. The C.W. Post School of Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Department of Psychology and the  The Down Syndrome Advocacy Foundation are sponsors. Co-sponsoring is the Long Island Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Feeley, an assistant professor in the School of Education, will present a pre-conference workshop, “Developing Behaviorially-Based Programming and Community Participation for Children with Developmental Disabilities,” October 19 at 9 a.m. She will be joined by Dr. Meryl Zaglin of the Suffolk County Department of Health Services. She also is scheduled to present “Success in Community Preschools,” at 1 p.m. October 20, and co-lead the workshop "Off to a Good Start--Addressing the Needs of Infants with Developmental Disabilities" with Patricia Pollon Schwartz that same day at 3:30 p.m.

An instructor in the Special Education Graduate Program at Long Island University, Cale will present "Strategies for the Successful Inclusion of Students with Developmental Disabilities" October 19 at 9 a.m. She will repeat the session at 1 p.m.

Dr. Diane Bricker of the University of Oregon, who is internationally known for her work on assessment and evaluation, will be the keynote speaker at the conference, which also features workshops by Dr. Edward Carr of Stony Brook University and Dr. Joe Reichle of the University of Minnesota.

The conference is open to professionals, students and families of disabled children (limited, on-site child care will be available). For more information about workshops, the schedule or fees, contact Kate Curcio at (516) 299-2231. Deadline for required registration is October 12.

Posted: September 29, 2006