Is your child struggling with pandemic-related anxiety? Is time at home during quarantine increasing your child’s impulsivity? Join Dr. Kimberly Burkhart of Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital as she teaches behavior management strategies. In addition, parents and caregivers will learn ways to teach children to monitor and modify their own behavior.

Connecting for Kids

Episode 88: Anxiety and Attention Series: Helping the Child Who Struggles with Impulsivity

Racism has a negative effect on the well-being of non-white children and their caregivers. To help protect your child from the harmful effects of racial trauma, you must know what the roadblocks are and how to work through them. Join CFK's Family Education Research Analyst Nikki Montgomery, M.A., M.Ed, GPAC to learn five ways to effectively work towards solutions.

Episode 87: 5 Ways Black Mothers Can Deal with Racism in Healthcare and Education Systems

All parents worry about their children’s friendships. But for parents of children who lack social skills the concerns are especially pressing. Making and keeping friends requires hundreds of skills and it is easy for a child who struggles to fall behind. Ellen Spear, MA, CCC-SLP, of Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC, will teach parents and caregivers strategies to help their child develop and maintain friendships. She will discuss the complicated nature of social skills as it relates to a variety of diagnoses.

Episode 86: Social Series: Friendship 411

Do you wish you had a kit filled with “tools” you could use to stop meltdowns before they start? Do you want strategies to motivate your child toward positive behavior? Join us each month to learn how to use one of the tools in our Tantrum Tamer Toolbox to help your child aged 18 months – 6 years control behavior and manage emotions. This program is designed for children with or without identified development concerns. Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox. She will explore emotional regulation tools including a calming social story as well promote strategies to help your child cope with anger.

Episode 85: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 4: Emotional Regulation Tools

Do you wish you had a kit filled with “tools” you could use to stop meltdowns before they start? Do you want strategies to motivate your child toward positive behavior? Join us each month to learn how to use one of the tools in our Tantrum Tamer Toolbox to help your child aged 18 months – 6 years control behavior and manage emotions. This program is designed for children with or without identified development concerns. Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox - the Behavior Reward Chart. Ochanya will walk you through strategies to manage behavior at home as well as to help find other ways to respond to your child. She will answer your questions on a variety of topics, which can be asked during the program or submitted upon registration.

Episode 84: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 3: Behavior Reward Chart

¿Te gustaría tener un kit, listo para usar, lleno de herramientas que puedes usar para ayudar con los problemas de comportamiento? Únete con Abi Mendez, M.A. CCC-SLP patóloga del habla y lenguaje bilingüe de MetroHealth, para aprender a usar horarios visuales, tablas visuales de primero…luego, letreros y otros materiales para ayudar a tu hijo(a) en edades desde los 18 meses a los 6 años, a controlar su comportamiento. Además, aprenderás como ayudar a tu hijo(a) a adquirir habilidades para regular y manejar las emociones.

Episode 83: Serie de Comportamiento: “Kit de Primeros Auxilios” para el Comportamiento

Would you like to apply for funds to help with your child’s expenses but aren’t sure where to begin? How do you even determine which funding sources you are qualified to receive? Join Karla Fitch, MTSC, of Connecting for Kids as she takes participants through the Connecting for Kids "How to Find Funds for Therapy" guide which offers a step-by-step approach to the process.

Episode 82: How to Apply for Grants and Other Funds

Join Ochanya Wells, M.Ed., Director of Quality Assurance and Community Engagement at STEPS Educational Group, as she leads you through another tool in the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox - the ABC Checklist to manage behavior at home as well as to help find other ways to respond to your child.

Episode 81: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 2: ABC Checklist

Has this pandemic increased the anxiety level of your child? Is mask wearing, social distancing and all of the new restrictions creating stress? Or has your child always been anxious and you are eager to learn some new strategies to help? Tierney Payne, LPCC, manager of Africancentric Services at The Nord Center, will talk about practical things families can do to help a child who struggles with anxiety. Learn how creating structure, providing coping skills and developing an action plan to overcome fear can lead to a calmer and happier child. Join the community of families with an elementary-aged child who struggles with attention and anxiety.

Episode 80: Helping the Child who Struggles with Anxiety

Problems come in all different shapes and sizes and can range from a small “glitch” to a huge catastrophe! As social thinkers, it is not only important to rate our problems but also to match our reaction to them in a socially appropriate way. Ellen Spear, MA, CCC-SLP, of Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC., will teach you skills to assist your child in determining how big or little a problem is and then know what strategies will work to help deal with that problem. This program is for parents and caregivers of children ages 7-12.

Episode 79: Social Series: Assessing and Reacting to Problems

Do you wish your children had a close bond? Is it difficult for your typically developing child to interact with your child who struggles? Join local pediatrician, Dr. Alaka Chandurkar, and licensed clinical psychologist, Heather Dukes-Murray, Ph.D., of Meghan Barlow & Associates, to learn five ways you can work with your typical child to build a relationship with a sibling who struggles.

Episode 78: Five Things Families Can Do to Foster Relationships Between Children who Struggle and Typically Developing Siblings

Does your child often say things that are either inappropriate or hurtful to someone’s feelings? Deciding what is OK to say or not say in a social situation can be tricky. Ellen Spear, MA, CCC-SLP, of Lakeshore Speech Therapy, LLC, will teach parents and caregivers ways to help their child understand how words and actions can affect others. Learn about “brain filters” and other tips to guide your child ages 7-12 in knowing what is socially appropriate.

Episode 77: Social Series: Using Your Social Filter

Are there ways to stop your child from toggling between games and classwork when they are distance learning? Should you limit screen time when it’s your child’s only way to connect with friends? Jay Berk, PhD, psychologist, author, and international speaker of Jay Berk, PhD and Associates, will discuss the most common concerns elementary-aged families have raised about electronics during this pandemic.

Episode 76: Anxiety and Attention Series: Electronic Addiction and Distance Learning

Do you wish you had a kit filled with “tools” you could use to stop meltdowns before they start? Do you want strategies to motivate your child toward positive behavior? Join us each month to learn how to use one of the tools in our Tantrum Tamer Toolbox to help your child aged 18 months – 6 years control behavior and manage emotions. CFK Early Intervention professionals Paula C. Papp, M.A.Ed., and Neysa McKenney, M.A., CCC-SLP will discuss the contents of the Tantrum Tamer Toolbox and answer questions on a variety of topics.

Episode 75: Stop the Meltdown Before it Starts! Part 1: Tantrum Tamer Toolbox Overview

The ongoing stress and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic can wear anyone down, but children may have an especially tough time coping emotionally. Do you see signs of stress and struggle in your child? Finding the right mental health provider for your child can be overwhelming. Join Karla Fitch, MTSC, of Connecting for Kids as she introduces CFK's framework for finding a mental health provider to work with your family.

Episode 74: Ask Us! How to Find a Mental Health Provider

Connecting for Kids educates and supports families with questions or concerns about their child.