Children First Presents the 30th Annual OAICD Conference

The Power of Relationships: Families, Professionals & Policy Makers

Annual Conference ~ October 21st – 22nd, 2010

We are pleased to invite you to attend the 30th annual OAICD conference on October 21 & 22, 2010, hosted by Children First at Caesar’s Windsor Hotel and Casino, in Windsor, Ontario Our theme this year is The Power of Relationships: Families, Professionals and Policymakers. This conference provides a forum for networking, education and professional development for Infant and Child Development Consultants, Therapists, Psychometrists, Resource Teachers and Consultants, Early Childhood Educators and the Community. We are expecting more than 200 delegates from all areas of Ontario and USA. There will be a full day preconference on October 20th where professionals will not only obtain current knowledge of the topic but will takestrategies back to apply in their service delivery.

The upcoming conference will bring together theory, research and implications for clinical practice in early intervention. It will provide great opportunities for sharing among the inter and multidisciplinary teams that work with infants, young children, fellow professionals in allied disciplines, families, communities and policy makers. The presentations and professionals will cover a broad range of relevant topic areas related to family centred practice, collaboration and partnerships, ecology and intervention, culturally responsive practices, maternal mental health, parent child relationships in the early years and much more.

Opening Keynote Address

Dr. Clyde Hertzman
• Director of the Human learning Partnership (HELP), the College for Interdisciplinary Studies at University of British Columbia.
• Canada’s Research Chair in Population Health and Human Development.
• Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC
Dr. Hertzman will focus on The Power of Relationships in Infant and Child Development
“Recent research has demonstrated that relationships are more important determinants of child development than we had even understood before. At the intimate level, this involves the environments of stimulation, support, nurturance and participation. But relationships at broader levels of community and society profoundly affect the intimate environment of the child, too. This presentation will review our current knowledge, emphasizing the ways in which improving relationships at all levels can help infants and children thrive” (Hertzman, C. 2010).

Dr. Wendy Roberts and her research team
• Developmental Paediatrician
• Director, Autism Research
• The Hospital for Sick Children

Dr. Roberts and “Autism” research are inseparable. With her research team at the Hospital for Sick Children, Dr. Roberts’focuson early identification, diagnostic markers at early stages of life, monitoring of siblings’ development and much more will be presented in a morning workshop on Day 2. The workshop will also focus on strategies for intervention.

Dr. Deborah Weatherston
• Executive Director of Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health

Dr. Weatherston’s recent focus has been on Reflective Supervisory Relationship within an infant mental health framework. In her plenary session of day 2, Dr. Weatherston will focus on what the reflective supervision in the field of infant mental health looks like.

Dr. Peter Lévesque
• Knowledge exchange specialist of the Knowledge Exchange Centre of the Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
• Former deputy director of the Knowledge Products and Mobilization Division of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC),

Dr. Jean Clinton
• Child psychiatrist
• Associate Professor McMaster University
• Associate member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies.

Preconference

Dr. Julie Ribaudo
• Clinical Assistant Professor at School of Social Work, University of Michigan
• National and local trainer and consultant on infants and toddlers and their families.

Dr. Ribaudo will focus her workshop on relationship-based practice to strengthen Parent-infant relations.

This conference in the serene town of Windsor will provide great opportunities to its participants for social and professional networking and to have a time away from the stresses of daily chores. We are sure that this will be a great opportunity to refuel, rejuvenate and to be empowered with new information.

For more information, visit www.oaicd.ca