Young Child Expo & Conference

Dr. Craig T. Ramey - Distinguished Professor and Early Childhood Research Scholar

Craig T. Ramey, Ph.D., is Distinguished Research Scholar of Human Development at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, Professor of Psychology at Virginia Tech, and Professor of Pediatrics at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. He specializes in the study of factors affecting children’s health and the development of intelligence, social competence, and academic achievement. Over the past 40 years he and his wife, Sharon Landesman Ramey, have led multidisciplinary longitudinal research with more than 100,000 children in over 40 states. He is the Founding Director of several frequently cited early intervention programs including the Abecedarian Project, Project CARE, the Infant Health and Development Program, and the National Head Start Transition Study. He currently is focusing on The Roanoke Brain Study – a functional mapping of the human brain from infancy to old age and the role of genetics and experience. He will speak on the Abecedarian Approach to Early Intervention: Ideas and Outcomes.

H. Melvin Ming - President and CEO Sesame Workshop

As President and CEO of Sesame Workshop, H. Melvin Ming leads the nonprofit educational organization in its mission to create innovative, engaging content that maximizes the educational power of media to help children reach their highest potential. He directs the Workshop’s efforts around Sesame Street’s global presence as well as initiatives that address a wide range of issues for children and families including literacy, health, and military deployment. He was appointed President and CEO in October 2011. He will speak on how the use of the media can help prepare children for school and for life.

Dr. Becky A. Bailey -President, Loving Guidance, Inc. Creator, Conscious Discipline® an award-winning social emotional intelligence program.

Dr. Becky Bailey is an award-winning author, renowned teacher and internationally recognized expert in childhood education and developmental psychology. Her workshops touch thousands of lives each year, and her top selling book titles have over 400,000 copies in circulation. Dr. Bailey is the founder of Loving Guidance, Inc., a company dedicated to creating positive environments for children, families, schools and businesses. She is also the developer of the Conscious Discipline® program which is used internationally in public and private schools, child development centers, military bases, and homes. She will speak on managing emotional mayhem and the development of social skills.

Dr. Serena Wieder - Clinical Director, Profectum Foundation

Dr. Serena Wieder is a clinical psychologist and the Clinical Director of the Profectum Foundation dedicated to the advancement of individuals with special needs through training and educational programs. Dr. Wieder co-authored Engaging Autism, The Child with Special Needs, and Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, with Stanley Greenspan. They founded the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL) and she directed the DIR® Institute. Dr. Wieder also serves on the Board of Zero to Three – the National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families and the Scientific Advisory Boards of First Signs. Dr. Wieder conducts national and international training, consults to intervention programs, and publishes widely. Her research has focused on diagnostic classification, emotional and symbolic development and the long term follow up of children treated with DIR. She will speak on pathways to progress for children with ASD: DIR® Floortime.

Dr. Samuel Goldstein – Assistant Clinical Professor, University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Samuel Goldstein is an Assistant Clinical Instructor at the University of Utah School of Medicine and on staff at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute and Clinical Director of the Neurology Learning and Behavior Center where he conducts evaluations and consultations as well as providing treatment services to approximately 200 individuals each year. Dr. Goldstein has authored forty texts as well as over fifty book chapters and peer reviewed research articles. He currently serves as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Attention Disorders and sits on the editorial boards of six peer reviewed journals. He is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Child Development and co-author of the Autism Spectrum Rating Scales, Comprehensive Executive Functioning Inventory, Rating Scales of Impairment and the Cognitive Assessment System Second Edition. He will speak on autism assessment and treatment.

Dr. Susan M. Swearer – Professor of School Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Co-Director Bullying Research Network

Dr. Susan M. Swearer is a Professor of School Psychology at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and Co-Director of the Bullying Research Network (http://brnet.unl.edu). She is the principal investigator on the Target Bullying: Best Practices in Bullying Prevention and Intervention Project (www.targetbully.com) and has worked with school districts nationwide since 1998 to reduce bullying. Dr. Swearer has developed and implemented a data-based decision-making model for responding to bullying among school-aged youth and has conducted staff trainings with the goal of helping school personnel establish cost-effective and data-based strategies to reduce bullying behaviors. She will speak on bullying and what we can do to prevent it.