IMDSA Conference 2007

Conference Workshops June 30 & July 1, 2007
  • Youth will have a variety of topics addressed from how to dance to interviewing for a job!
  • Children will have a fantastic time with our Genetic Counseling Students! Fun and exciting activities will be planned throughout Saturday and Sunday!
  • Professionals will learn about new treatments and current research
  • Everyone will have a wonderful time throughout the weekend interacting with others and learning new ways to help your loved one!


These are just a few of the topics you will hear throughout the weekend

Some topics of discussion will be:

  • Speech & Feeding
  • Sexual and Social relationships
  • Spiritual Strength
  • Teaching your child to read
  • Alzheimer disease
  • Understanding MDS

(current research)

  • Inclusion in the classroom
  • Transitioning to college
  • Neurodevelopmental Approach
  • Financial Planning (a life-span program)
  • Handwriting Development
  • Sensory Development
  • Medical Needs

Meet Our Presenters!!!!!

Sharon Kaye, OT - IMDSA Advisory Board Member, Occupational Therapist, Mother of son with MDS, Silver Spring, MD

Ann Kane, - Certified Neurodevelopmentalist for Hope and a Future. Mother of son with special needs Ogden, UT

Mary Anne Ehlert, CFP, - Founder of Protected Tomorrows. Financial planning expert. Experience in the disability field extends to her sister with special needs. Lincolnshire, IL

Denise McGhee - Director of Special Services- Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell. Roswell, NM

ReBecca Kutcher - National Board Certified teacher. Middle school teacher of the year at Cario Middle School. Mother of daughter with Ds. Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Dr. Warren Zigman Ph.D - Senior Research Scientist, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities and aging and Alzheimer disease. Staten Island, NY

Cynthia Jones - IMDSA Advisory Board Member. Special Educator for Simon Kenton High School. Mother of daughter with special needs. Covington, KY

Dr. Harry Gewanter MD - General pediatrics and pediatric rheumatology Virginia Commonwealth University. Father of son with Ds. Richmond, VA

Melissa Jane Bishop - Self-Advocate with MDS. Will speak on her life as a wife and mother in Baltimore MD.

Dr. Colleen Jackson-Cook, Ph.D., FACMG - IMDSA Advisory Board Member. Director of the Cytogenetics Diagnostic Laboratory Associate Professor of Pathology Graduate School Medical College of Virginia Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Siegfried Pueschel, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, J.D – Author of A Parents Guide to Down Syndrome: Toward a Brighter Future (2nd Ed.); researcher and physician, DS Program, Rhode Island Hospital; father of son with DS; East Greenwich, RI

Libby Kumin, Ph.D., CCC-SLP – IMDSA Advisory Board Member.Author of Early Communication Skills for Children with Down Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, (2nd Ed.); Current research for speech and computer communications Columbia, MD

Dennis McGuire, Ph.D –Co-author of Mental Wellness in Adults with Down syndrome . Director of Psychosocial Services; Adult Down Syndrome Center of Lutheran General Hospital; Park Ridge, IL

Sara Rosenfeld-Johnson, MS, CCC-SLP - Author of Oral-Motor Exercises for Speech Clarity, Assessment and Treatment of the Jaw-Putting it all Together: Sensory, Feeding and Speech, The HOMEWORK Book and others. Founder of TalkTools ® /ITI / Innovative Therapists International Sara R. Johnson & Associates, Tucson, AZ

Nina Fuller - Author of Special Strength for Special Parents: 31 doses of spiritual therapy for parents. Founder of S.M.I.L.E on Down syndrome. Mother of two children with Down syndrome. Newburgh,IN.

Denise MacDonald BA (Hon.) Psych - President and Founder of MacDonald Learning & Resource Centre. Speaker for Out-of-the-Box Reading. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

Karen Evershed - Co-speaker for Out-Of-the-Box Reading. Mother of child with Ds. Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.