Discover Conference 2010
Save the Date: October 23, 2010
The Discover Conference is for families of school age children who are blind, visually impaired and deafblind, including those with additional disabilities. It will be held at Perkins’ Watertown, MA campus (directions). The focus of our 2010 conference is on helping families build networks and find support from each other.
This year's conference discussions topics will include: strategies to take care of ourselves and our relationships; sharing ideas about how to help kids make the most out of their free time; supporting brothers and sisters; making decisions about the focus of your child’s educational program; dreams, hopes and fears about life beyond school; what every parent needs to know about sex education.
Online registration coming in September 2010.
Take it from Sandy: Laughing Matters
While parents can expect many informative sessions on important topics, they should also come to this year’s Discover Conference expecting some hearty belly laughs. A special laughter session with former Perkins employee Sandy Boris Berkowitz has been added to the day’s schedule.
Berkowitz, a certified laughter yoga leader, worked at Perkins for 27 years before making a life change and starting her business, Laughing Matters. She helps people relieve stress and “live in the moment” through laughter and relaxation. Parents of children with disabilities can sometimes get overwhelmed preparing for the future. No one knows what will happen tomorrow but today we can live here and now. And we can laugh.
“My hope is that during my session people can let go and just be in the moment. It’s an opportunity for parents to laugh together,” Berkowitz says.
Learn more about “Laughing Matters.”
Meet Our Keynote Speaker: Marlyn Minkin
Parents make countless decisions affecting the care of their children every day. For parents of children with disabilities such as blindness, visual impairments, or deafblindness, making these choices can be intensely overwhelming, impacting all aspects of family life.
Marlyn Minkin, a licensed family therapist and mental health counselor, helps families of children with these disabilities by providing emotional support and helping them to realize they are not alone. Minkin will give a keynote address and facilitate parent discussion groups at Perkins School for the Blind’s 2010 Discover Conference.
Minkin began her career as a teacher of the deaf and soon realized that providing support to parents enhanced the lives of her students as well as the whole family.
“The more support parents can have for their own individual well being the better they can make decisions for their children,” explains Minkin.
Every expecting parent dreams about the future. When a child is born with disabilities the reality of seeking out specialists, accessing treatments, and sorting through new information is beyond anything most parents had in mind.
Minkin has nearly 30 years of experience spanning the globe working with families of children who are blind, visually impaired or deafblind, including those with additional disabilities. She facilitates parent groups and offers individual and family counseling. Over the course of her career, Minkin has interviewed and surveyed such families across the nation and identified common themes that parents face.
Feeling overwhelmed is natural, says Minkin, who once conducted a survey of how many professionals – including school personnel, medical specialists, and therapists – were involved in the lives of children with these disabilities. The average number was 26. Parents are inundated with information and to do lists from all of these sources and they must decide what to do first.
“Everybody has their child’s best interest at heart,” Minkin said. “The less overwhelming we can make it for families, the more parents can just be parents and children can just be children.”
Another common theme Minkin has found is what she termed the “installation of hope.” In Minkin’s experience, giving families the opportunity to talk about the impact their child’s disability has on their lives helps them begin to see what is possible and overcome limiting beliefs about their child’s future.
“We know so much more about Charge Syndrome than we did in the early years,” Minkin offers as an example.
Minkin also helps parents cope with the challenge of faring out good and accurate information about their child’s diagnosis and treatment options. She said it is important for parents to collaborate with professionals and develop a mutual respect of each other’s role in the child’s life.
“Parents are the best resources for their children and if they’re able to sort out the information for themselves then they’re able to get the services,” says Minkin.
Families can also learn from each other and take comfort in the fact that even though their experience is unique they share common challenges and concerns.
“Once people get to know each other life is easier. They talk to other parents and they share their experience. It’s important for parents to know they are not alone.”
The Discover Conference is presented by: Perkins School for the Blind, the National Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (NAPVI), and the New England Consortium Deafblind Project (NEC)
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