keynote speaker

HARNESS THE ADVANTAGE OF LEARNING DIFFERENCES

DJ Cunningham

Please join us for a half hour chat with DJ Cunningham.  DJ was diagnosed with both an LD and ADHD at a young age.  Hear how he has learned to harness the advantage of both disabilities to propel him to a life of personal and business success. 

DJ is the CEO of LEARNstyle Ltd.  His unbridled passion and expertise grows out of a deep personal understanding of both the positive and negative impacts of learning. His own learning disability set him on a path to discover ‘how he learnt’. When he unlocked that, his life changed forever. At the age of 24, DJ went on to co-found LEARNstyle Ltd, Ontario's fastest growing K-12 educational training company. As a result he has shared his story at Microsoft, Google and TedX Toronto and received the Young Leader award from Trent University and the company continues to be listed on Deloitte FastTech 50.  

keynote speaker

Executive Functions in Everyday Life: Relationships with Anxiety and Social-Emotional Development

Dr Tori Cordiano

This talk will provide an overview of executive functions, including what they are, when they develop, and how they impact activities and relationships. Special focus will be given to the interplay between executive functioning and anxiety and managing executive functioning demands during these unprecedented times. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of executive functions and ideas to support their development in children of all ages.

Dr. Cordiano is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in the emotional, psychological, and behavioral development of children and adolescents. She maintains a private practice in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, where she provides comprehensive evaluations and psychotherapy. Dr. Cordiano is also a consulting psychologist for Laurel School, an independent K-12 girls’ school with a co-ed pre-primary, and the Director of Research for Laurel School’s Center for Research on Girls. She writes and speaks frequently on the topics of child and adolescent development and social-emotional and executive functioning.

Keynote Speaker

Sleep, Stress, and Learning differences

Ashley Olivine

Ashley will share her personal story with her own health battles, her educational journey complete with monsterous challenges, and supporting her child in navigating learning, social, and emotional differences.

She will also discuss a crucial and often overlooked piece of the puzzle when it comes to sleep, stress, and learning differences, the biggest mistake often made when addressing sleep challenges, and the cycle of sleep, stress, and life and the secret to reversing the downward spiral. There will be action steps to support quality sleep and great days, time for questions, and a special offer for summit attendees.

Ashley Olivine is a sleep and stress expert and cognitive behavioral therapy specialist at Epigen Wellness Group, a company that helps people fall asleep, stay asleep, and manage stress without medications. She is also a mother of two girls, American military wife living overseas, and psychology PhD candidate.

Keynote Speaker

Your Everyday Technology to Help Your Child Learn at Home and School

Sam Goving

Sam is an educator and an entertainer. He is also a member of the Ontario College of Teachers and has over a decade of educational experience. His areas of expertise include educational tech, English as a second language, literature, and boring students with bad puns.

He is also currently an Assistive Technology Advisor with the Ministry of Education where he am able to explore and experiment with various digital platforms. 

Self-Care: Parents taking care of themselves in order to take care of their loved ones

This talk will help parents understand the signs of burnout and ways to prevent it. It will also discuss understanding your own boundaries in order to set time aside to practice self-care. During this talk self-care tools will be introduced in order to help parents reduce their stress levels.

Sarvie is a Registered Social Worker and a Registered Psychotherapist. She has been working in the field of Social Work since 2004. Sarvie is passionate about working collaboratively with individuals, couples, and families to support them as they overcome struggles that they encounter in their lives. When working with families, Sarvie helps to empower parents to be the strongest allies on their loved one’s journey to health and quality of life.

 Susan Schenk

Open discussion workshop

We will answer your questions and provide resources to support you as a parent and professional during our open discussion time.

Susan Schenk is the author of Beyond OK from Invisible to Invincible | Co- founder of Shift Your Thinking | Occupational Therapist passionate about learning differences.

Sperry Bilyea

Cofounder of Shift Your Thinking | Parent

Welcome/Closing the Summit

Sperry will welcome you and open the doors to our Summit with her parent perspective and her journey of supporting her three children.

She will also guide you through connection with others during our group time online.