Dedicated to Improving the Health and Quality of Life for the People of North Carolina
 Celebrating 88 Years of Health Advocacy and Community Service

Symposium 2004, Learning Differences;
Ensuring Success for Every Mind

Dr. Mel Levine
Tuesday, November 9
1:00 p.m.

10:00 A.M. Morning Sessions (concurrent)with Jennifer Tolle Whiteside, Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina and William Lassiter, Department of Juvenile Justice. See below.

Far too many children have been told they "will never amount to anything" because of their learning difficulties.  These feelings often last through adolescence and into adulthood, resulting in poor family relationships, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, and anti-social behavior that drains resources from our society.

Often the tragedy is that the way students process information is incompatible with the way they learn.  When weaknesses are identified and educational processes are built on strengths of the child, the potential for growth is enormous.  Dr. Levine co-founded All Kinds of Minds® with a mission to help families, educators, and clinicians understand why a child is struggling in school and to provide practical strategies that help every child "...to prosper in the face of life's challenges." Dr. Mel Levine, A Mind At A Time

Dr. Mel Levine: A Rhodes scholar and graduate of Harvard Medical School, Mel Levine, M.D., is professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina Medical School and Director of the University's Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning.  He is co-founder of All Kinds of Minds® , a non-profit institute devoted to the study of learning differences.  Dr. Levine is also author of A Mind At A Time and The Myth of Laziness.

Dr. Levine's A Mind at a Time® strategies include:

• Accepting children's approach to concentration

• Cultivating children's memory

• Developing children's language skills

• Helping children become better organized

• Helping children adjust to slow motor skills

• Encouraging children to think outside the box

• Teaching children strong social skills

Click HERE to visit the All Kinds of Minds web site.

10:00 Morning Session
CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION

Jennifer Tolle Whiteside, the Executive Director of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina , will present a morning session at 10:00 a.m. designed to alert attendees to recognizing the signs of child abuse and neglect and what the appropriate responses and actions should be.  Ms Tolle Whiteside will outline the latest trends and prevention of child abuse and neglect by highlighting "multiple response" approach being piloted in North Carolina.

With a Masters' degree and over eighteen years experience in the human services field, Ms. Tolle Whiteside was instrumental in bringing intensive home visitation services to North Carolina.  In addition, she serves as co-chairman of the NC Child Fatality Taskforce, a legislative study commission providing recommendations for laws that effect children's safety.

William Lassiter, Safe-School Specialist with the Department of Juvenile Justice, Center for the Prevention of School Violence, will speak at 10:00 a.m. on Sportsmanship. 

Current research shows that participation in sports can have a lifelong positive impact on youth.  Mr. Lassiter will reinforce the premise that when properly instructed, athletic strategies can create success on the field as well as in the classroom.  However, the adverse effects of poor sportsmanship demonstrated by coaches, parents, and teammates can negate these benefits.

Lassiter is a graduate of NC State University with a Bachelors degree in Political Science and a Masters' degree in Public Administration.  He joined the center in 1998, and currently serves as a School Safety Specialist for the center.