Meeting Children’s Needs in Educational Settings: Neurodevelopmental & Neurodivergent

Speaker

YVETTE HYTER, PH.D., CCC-SLP

Yvette D. Hyter, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, USA, and a Fellow of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. Dr. Hyter’s clinical research focuses on social pragmatic communication in children who speak African American English and children with histories of maltreatment. She was most recently a co-director of the Resiliency Center for Families and Children (2021 – 2023), and has developed a social pragmatic communication assessment battery for young children. She has expertise in culturally responsive, trauma informed, and globally sustainable practices. As Co-Director of a nonprofit, Cultural Connections: Transnational Research and Education Laboratory, she co-taught study-abroad courses for students and community members in West Africa and in the U.S. Midwest about the causes and consequences of globalization on systems, policies, and practices. She has published articles underscoring the need for different conceptual frameworks guiding practice in culturally responsive and globally sustainable ways, a co-authored textbook on culturally responsive practices, articles on the impact of childhood trauma on language and communication, and served in national and international leadership positions regarding global practice, diversity, inclusion, and equity. Dr. Hyter also owns Language and Literacy Practices, where she provides culturally and linguistically responsive, trauma-informed presentations and educational consultations, and offers an Institute for Child Trauma and Communication. Dr. Hyter is a founding member of the Speech, Language, Hearing Scientists Equity Action Collective, whose members work to transform speech, language, and hearing sciences by infusing equity, intersectionality, and social justice into education, research, clinical practice, and policies using critical science approaches and is a co-founder and co-managing editor of the Journal of Critical Study of Communication & Disability (JCSCD).

Disclosure: Financial: Dr. Hyter will receive a small stipend from AEP for delivering this course.
Non-Financial: Dr. Hyter is co-founder of a child trauma center, co-director of a resiliency center, and runs an institute for child trauma and communication.

Objectives

1. Define trauma and identify the various types and causes of trauma.
2. Compare and contrast the meanings of neurodevelopmental and neurodiversity.
3. Discuss the impact of trauma on brain functioning, neurodevelopment, and social pragmatic communication.
4. Differentiate a medical model from a social model of practice.
5. Analyze ways that educational institutions positively and negatively impact the lives and learning of children with neurodevelopmental challenges and those who are neurodivergent.
6. Construct a list of ways to transform educational settings to be more equitable, inclusive, using strength-based practices.

Schedule

EASTERN TIME

12:00 pm – 1:10 pm     Introduction: Trauma, Neurodevelopment, and Neurodivergence

1:10 pm – 1:25 pm       Break

1:25pm – 2:05 pm      Promoting a culturally responsive, trauma informed, and social model of practice

2:05 pm – 3:05 pm    Meeting children’s needs in educational settings

3:05 pm – 3:15pm      Discussion/Questions & Answers

Professional Development Offerings