2012 Lectures
The Center for Children and Families welcomed parents and professionals to campus this spring for its fourth annual series of lectures examining different aspects of children’s health and development.
| Noah Sasson, Ph.D. “The Evolving Diagnosis of Autism” |  |
Discussion of the characteristics that now define autism, how the definition of autism has evolved over the decades based on important research findings, and the upcoming changes to the diagnostic criteria of autism.
| Jackie Nelson, Ph.D. “Why Feelings Matter: The Importance of Emotional Competence in Childhood” | |
Discussion of aspects of emotional competence in early childhood, how emotional competence is related to children’s overall well-being, and how parents and professionals can facilitate positive emotional development in children.
| Toosje VanBeveren, Ph.D. “The Legal Drug – Alcohol – and Child Development” | |
The legal drug alcohol is one of the most damaging substances a woman can consume during pregnancy. The effects of maternal alcohol use on the unborn child are known as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and are characterized by a pattern of physical abnormalities, pre- and post-natal growth retardation, and central nervous system dysfunction.
| Deborah Wiebe, Ph.D. “Parenting Adolescents With Chronic Health Needs” | |
A review of recent research on how parents facilitate healthy adolescent development and discussion of how to translate these strategies into effective parenting of adolescents with chronic health care needs.