Equity Without Exception: Skills for Supporting Diverse Students
Thursday, November 10th -Friday, November 11th, 2022
Hilton Polaris (Columbus, Ohio)
Thursday, November 10 th
Morning Session
ODE/OEC Update: Hear about the latest guidance and regulation updates from ODE’s Office for Exceptional Children
Legal Update: Pamela Leist, attorney at Ennis Britton, will discuss recent case law affecting the educational access of students from minoritized groups.
Afternoon Session
Preshuslee Thompson, MSW,LSW
Presli Equity Group Consulting, LLC Founder and CEO
The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, Training and Facilitation Specialist
Preshuslee Thompson is a Columbus, Ohio native and two-time graduate of The Ohio State University. She has a passion for social work and creating spaces for collective healing and transformative conversation. Preshuslee has dedicated her career to the public service sector. She has worked with Youth and Adults healing from mental illness, alcohol, and drug addiction, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, being without shelter, as well as foster care and incarceration. She has provided over 300 trainings reaching more than 3000 people across North America. Preshuslee is a co- author of the report A Workforce for the Modern Woman: Strategic Planning for a Fair and Equitable Future and has published interviews on racial bias with both local and national news outlets.
This session is about progressing from awareness of principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and implicit bias to action. School psychologists are in a position to help school systems conceptualize, construct, and champion an equitable future through fostering collective healing and respect for human dignity. It is apparent that students of color and students with disabilities area affected by implicit bias in their educational careers. In this training participants will be provided with the necessary background to
understand the complex ways in which implicit bias permeates education, and will leave with strategies to create an equitable environment that can be applied to the educational setting and personal lives.
Friday, November 11 th
All-day Speaker
Amy Cannava, Ed.S., NCSP
NASP LGBTQI2-S Committee Chair
Amy Cannava is in her 20th year of practice as a school psychologist and the recipient of the 2019 NASP Presidential Award in recognition of Exceptional Service to Children and School Psychology. For the last decade she has specialized in LGBTQIA+ youth. She has authored book chapters for NASP on LGBTQIA+ youth, worked with The Trevor Project, GLSEN, Gender Spectrum, HRC, PBS Frontline, HBO, and Project Thrive representing NASP.
Inclusive Schools and Counseling Supports
The climate of acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals is slowly improving in the United States, but many schools remain blind, biased, and unreservedly discriminatory toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ+) individuals. School psychologists are charged with upholding professional ethics and best practices to protect the dignity and rights of LGBTQ+ youth and ensure an equal educational opportunity.
This presentation will give attendees an opportunity to explore their own beliefs around issues which affect LGBTQ+ youth, teach school psychologists to employ the WAIPER Framework, and provide an overview of affirming mental health practices. NASP and other affirming resources related to meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ youth will be identified and shared with attendees.
Afternoon Session
Crisis Intervention
The pandemic has brought to light many of the disproportionate risk factors experienced by LGBTQIA+ youth. They have higher rates of homelessness, victimization, abuse,
neglect, underachievement, and substance use (Kosciw, et al., 2020). Geographic isolation and perceived loss of social supports through school staff and peers lead to increased rates of suicidal ideation and self-harm (The Trevor Project, 2020). School psychologists have the needed expertise in development, counseling, consultation, social justice, and restorative practices which can support LGBTQIA+ youth before, during, and following a crisis. The NASP PREPaRE (NASP, 2016) framework provides an excellent model for recognizing and understanding the impact of emotional proximity, psychological trauma, and how to respond to psychological needs. This presentation will both inform and empower school psychologists to be aware of situations which can create chaos and use empirically-validated practices to produce compassion.
