Program A (Day 1) Overview:
The Program A on-demand series offers 18 contact hours (1.8 CEUs) and features 7 sessions recorded on Day 1 of the 2nd Annual Birth to Three Conference on March 20, 2025. Download the brochure here.
Unable to join us for the live Birth to Three Conference? No problem, we have you covered with the on-demand version. This is your opportunity to gain new skills, insights and strategies that will empower you to meet the challenges and needs of your young patients and families. Rewind, pause, reflect and go at your own pace. Focused on the birth to three population through a multi-disciplinary lens, Program A (Day 1) of the conference will delve into Early Infant Development, Toe Walking, Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy, Neurologic Disorders and the Sensory Emotional Connection.
These sessions and expert faculty give you the knowledge you need, paired with practical interventions you can begin implementing right away. Bring that momentum back to your team and keep it moving forward!
“Michele Parkins presentation on Connecting with Caregivers was enlightening and will truly help my ability to work alongside caregivers and match their needs”
“I loved Liesa Ritchie-Persaud’s presentation on Toe Walking. I feel like I have applicable strategies and the science/reasoning behind them. I really appreciate the case studies and videos”
“Holly Schifsky’s presentation was a very informative session that helped provide a preface for the types of children who I typically see in an outpatient setting after NICU discharge. This is helpful in knowing why these kiddos present as they do and why they respond or don’t respond to certain treatment methods.”
Audience:
This intermediate level conference is for PTs, PTAs, OTs, OTAs, SLPs and special educators working with the birth to three population.
On-Demand Group Rates:
- Purchase one $699 2-Day Conference, register up to 9 additional participants for $145/person
- Purchase one $399 Program A or Program B, register up to 9 additional participants for $95/person
*Please contact our office in order to register your on-demand group. Email info@educationresourcesinc.com or call 888-314-0122. Please share this offer with your colleagues and staff!
The 7 Sessions of Program A (Day 1) Include:
Connecting with Caregivers: Strategies to Lessen Barriers and Enhance Engagement to Boost Outcomes
Michele Parkins, OT
NICU Graduates: The Impact of Prematurity and Prolonged Hospitalization on Early Infant Development
Holly Schifsky, OT
Toe Walking: Early Action Makes a Difference!
Liesa M. Ritchie-Persaud, PT
Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing: Treatment Strategies Focusing on Postural Alignment, Respiratory Coordination, and Oral and Pharyngeal Function
Rona Alexander, SLP
Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy: Understanding Gestalt Language Processing and other Affirming Strategies
Laura Strenk, SLP
The Sensory Emotional Engagement Model: Connecting Sensation, Emotion, Action & Personality to Enhance Connection
Michele Parkins, OT
Bright Futures: Navigating and Treating Pediatric Neurological Disorders
Meghan Moore Burk, PT
Michele Parkins MS, OTR is an Occupational Therapist endorsed as an Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist. She specializes in working with children and families with differences in sensory processing and integration and challenges in social-emotional development at her practice Great Kids Place in New Jersey. She is the founder of the Sensory Emotional Engagement Model connecting sensation, movement, emotion and personality to support relational health in children and caregivers. She is also a parent of two sensory emotional kids.
Michele is a fellow of Dr. Lucy Jane Miller, OTR and served as faculty for the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute under Dr. Miller, where she assisted in the design of the certification courses in Sensory Processing and Integration assessment and treatment for therapists worldwide. She is assisting with the standardization and development of the latest assessment for Sensory Processing Disorder – the Sensory Processing Three-Dimensions. She serves on the board of the New Jersey Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Association where she co-chairs the training committee creating curriculum that brings multi-disciplinary approaches to understanding mental health and early relational health.
Michele is passionate about working with families and other therapists and continues to do so as a clinician and educator. She educates therapists from all over the country and world and continues to provide consultation to schools on treatment for sensory processing disorder. Michele is leading research on the bidirectional relationship of sensory motor and social emotional experience. Michele has co-authored a chapter in the 3rd edition of Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice, the textbook for sensory evaluation and treatment, alongside world-renowned pioneers in the field, and is currently writing a parenting book and children’s books to support parents and families in understanding the impact of sensory processing differences on social emotional capacities including family dynamics and relationships and day to day routines and activities. She hopes to help everyone – children and adults- understand their Sensory Emotional Personality style and ways to find strength and joy within them.
Michelle Parkins receives an honorarium from Education Resources.
Michelle Parkins has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Holly Schifsky, OTR/L, CNT, NTMTC, CBIS, has worked in pediatrics for the past 28 years with the past 17 years in a level IV NICU. She is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, Certified Neonatal Touch and Massage Therapist, Certified Brain Injury therapist, a member of National Association of Neonatal Therapists, and has completed 6-month mentorship in infant/child NDT.
She has worked within the NICU and NICU follow-up clinic to maximize patient and family outcomes for the most complex premature and medically-fragile term infants. Holly received her BS in OT from the University of North Dakota. She is a faculty member for the Neonatal Touch and Massage certification; and Manuel Edema Mobilization training. She is the recipient of the National Association of Neonatal Therapists Clinical Excellence award in 2018, due to her clinical expertise and dedication to advancing the therapeutic interventions for NICU infants with cardiopulmonary conditions.
Financial Disclosures: Holly Schifsky receives a speaking fee when she teaches for ERI.
Non-Financial Disclosures: Holly Schifsky has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Liesa Ritchie-Persaud, PT, DPT, PCS, is a licensed physical therapist with 33 years experience in the field of pediatric therapy. Liesa is the owner of "Know To Change," an organization dedicated to advancing the knowledge and skills of clinicians in pediatric practice. Both nationally and internationally, she has educated healthcare professionals in advanced treatment techniques, performed specialized practical training and provided consultative services. Liesa has worked in a variety of settings, including private pediatric clinics, schools, private homes, hospitals and long-term care facilities, as well as facilities overseas. Dr. Ritchie-Persaud is a Credentialed Clinical Instructor and also taught human anatomy, physiology. She received her Associate degree in 1993 and worked as a Physical Therapist Assistant while earning her B.S. in Organizational Leadership from Southern Nazarene University in Tulsa, OK. Dr. Ritchie-Persaud earned her Master’s degree in Physical Therapy from the University of Findlay in Findlay, OH in 2003. She received her post-graduate Doctorate from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in 2011 and is a Board Certified Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy. Liesa’s passion for helping others extends into her private life. She has volunteered as a Call Rape Advocate and Salvation Army volunteer. Her passion for travel has led her to teach and treat in Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, the Arab Emirates and Mexico, plus organizing and participating in mission work in Mexico, Ukraine and Palestine. Liesa’s wide range of clinical experience, organizational leadership, proficient teaching skills, motivation to improve the standard of care and enthusiasm and passion for her field make her an exciting and compelling instructor.
Rona Alexander, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, C/NDT is a speech-language pathologist specializing in the assessment and treatment of oral, pharyngeal, feeding/swallowing, and respiratory coordination function in infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with primary neuromotor, musculoskeletal, and sensory systems impairments. She maintains a private practice; provides consultation services; provides short-term treatment intensives; and conducts workshops/courses/seminars/webinars on oral movement, oral sensory, pharyngeal, feeding/swallowing, and thoracic cage/respiratory coordination development, assessment, and treatment.
Dr. Alexander is an active advanced speech instructor in Neuro-Developmental Treatment (NDT). She has contributed chapters on oral, pharyngeal, feeding/swallowing, and rib cage/respiratory coordination function to numerous publications; is co-author of the book entitled, Normal Development of Functional Motor Skills: The First Year of Life; is author of the CEU product, Focus on the Rib Cage for Improvement of Respiration, Phonation, Movement, and Postural Control; and is co-developer of the CEU product, The ABCs of Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing.
DISCLOSURES:
Rona Alexander receives an honorarium from Education Resources, Inc., as well as royalty payments from Clinician's View and a co-author of the book published by The Hammill Institute on Disabilities.
Non-Financial: She is a member of the NDTA and the NDTA Instructor Group.
Laura Strenk, MS, CCC-SLP is a pediatric speech-language pathologist who has built a career committed to providing children from diverse backgrounds and with a wide range of communication differences access to the most current and effective evidence-based practices. Laura’s passions lie in the areas of autism, neurodiversity-affirming care, apraxia of speech, and literacy. In addition to providing treatment in a private, outpatient clinic for children from ages 1-16+, Laura serves as her clinic’s Program Development Coordinator, allowing her to support the growth and development of a variety of programs, including student programming (including internships, fieldwork placements, etc.) and clinical/advocacy programs (including social clubs, DEI committees, etc.). Through this position, Laura developed a love for educating others, which led her to an Adjunct Teaching position within UNC-Chapel Hill’s Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, where she taught a Pediatric Speech-Sound Disorders course to first-year graduate students.
Laura Strenk receives payment from Education Resources, Inc. for teaching this course.
Laura Strenk has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Dr. Meghan Moore Burk PT, DPT, PhD, is a Physical Therapist III at Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHC). She honed her expertise through a residency in Neurological Physical Therapy at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) and served as a teaching assistant and clinical instructor in the University of Delaware PT program. She is a board-certified Neurological Clinical Specialist. Dr. Moore’s clinical and research interests center on neuromuscular and other pediatric neurological conditions. At CHC, she is part of the Neuromuscular Program for Muscle Disorders and works as a Research Therapist on clinical trials investigating antisense oligonucleotides, gene therapy, and myostatin inhibitors. Her research focuses on the impact of these therapies on patients with neuromuscular diseases, using functional outcomes measures.
Dr. Moore is also an accomplished author, contributing to research articles and presenting at national and international conferences. She is actively involved in industry-sponsored advisory boards that shape physical therapy standards of care. She earned her PhD in Health Science with a focus on Neurologic Rehabilitation in 2024 from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. Dr. Moore completed her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of California, San Francisco, and San Francisco State University.
Financial Disclosures: Meghan Moore Burk receives a speaking fee when she teaches for ERI.
Non-Financial Disclosures: Meghan Moore Burk has no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.
Continuing Education Hours for disciplines not listed below: 18 contact hours (1.8 CEUs). Intermediate level. License #______________.
Education Resources Inc. is an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development. Course approval ID# 11368. This Distance Learning-Independent Course is offered at 18 contact hours 1.8 CEUs (Intermediate Level, OT Service Delivery & Foundational Knowledge). AOTA does not endorse specific course content, products or clinical procedures. This course can be used toward your NBCOT renewal requirements for 18 units. Provider for the FL Occupational Therapy Association CE Broker for 20.5 CE Hours.
ASHA CE Provider (Intermediate level). Application has been made to ASHA for 1.8 CEUs. ASHA CE Provider approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures.
Application has been made to the FL Physical Therapy Association for 20.5 CE Hours. Application has been made to the MD State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners for 18 Continuing Education Hours. Application has been made to the MN Board of Physical Therapy. Application has been made to the NJ State Board of Physical Therapy Examiners.
Approved sponsor by the State of IL Department of Financial and Professional Regulation for Physical Therapy for 20.5 contact hours. Application has been made to the Illinois Early Intervention Training Program. Approved provider by the NY State Board of PT for 20.5 contact hours (2.05 CEUs).
Application has been made to the OH PT Association.
Education Resources is an approved agency by the PT Board of CA for 18 contact hours. This activity is provided by the TX Board of PT Examiners accredited provider #2210017TX for 18 CCUs and meets continuing competence requirements for PTs and PTAs licensure renewal in TX. Approved Provider for OK State Board of Medical Licensure & Supervision #BAP202310003.
12 hours of this course qualify towards the discipline-specific hours for the 20-hour requirement for NDTA re-certification. They do NOT qualify towards the 8-hour NDTA Instructor requirement for re-certification.
The following state boards of physical therapy accept other states’ approval: AK, AR, AZ, DC, DE, GA, HI, ID, IN, KS, KY, MA, MI, MO, MS, NC, OR, PA, RI, SC, UT, VA, VT, WI, WY. The following state boards of physical therapy either do not require course pre-approval or do not require CEUs for re-licensure: AL, CO, CT, IA, ME, MT, NE, ND, NH, SD, WA.
Education Resources Inc., 266 Main Street, Suite 12, Medfield, MA 02052 508-359-6533
