Photo: Submitted Photo Layne Pethick will be at WJ Berezowsky School for a presentation on April 27. / Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Prince Albert Daily Herald
If you have ever wondered why children behave like they do the Saskatchewan Rivers School Division, Prince Albert Early Years Family Resource Centre and KidsFirst have a presentation for you.
The two organizations are joining forced to bring in speaker Layne Pethick an internationally recognized expert on education, autism spectrum disorder, mental health in learning and schools.
Originally from Saskatchewan, Pethick is now a behaviour and autism consultant for the State of Texas. He will speak at WJ Berezowsky School on April 27.
“He does presentations in various parts of the world, but he does have a heart for Saskatchewan because it is his home,” said Barb Hunter, the Program Designer for the Early Years Resource Centre.
Hunter said that she has not heard Pethick speak in person but has talked to a few people who have and they found his work helpful.
“He just has a ton of knowledge about behaviours in kids,” Hunter said. “He’s really engaging and has practical strategies and knowledge because of all his work in that area over the years.”
The presentation is called The Brain Builds the Child: Neuroscience for Parents, Educators, and Communities.
“In this fun and interactive talk we’ll pull back the curtain on child and adolescent development through the lens of neuroscience, exploring how stress, trauma, relationships, executive functions, and environment shape the growing brain,” reads a description provided to the Herald.
This is the second time the partnership has hosted a discussion on this topic. Hunter said families are always looking for, strategies and suggestions and help in this area, so bringing in an internationally-acclaimed expert made sense.
“There are high rates of autism, but there’s also neurodivergent, which is a more of an term that’s being used more recently,” she explained. “It just covers a wide range of various challenges that may come up with families and their children.
“Educators as well as anybody who has children or works with kids, they’re always looking for strategies that’ll work for the child, meet them where they’re at, and help them meet their capacity.”
Through the partnership with Saskatchewan Rivers, Hunter said they were able to host the presentation in local schools like Berezowsky. She said that Saskatchewan Rivers picks the schools and KidsFirst helps to pay to bring in the speaker.
“It is open to the community and any agency or family, regardless of where they go to school,” Hunter said.
“We’re really excited to bring in Dr. Pethick because he is really well versed in this area and has lots of experience. I’ve heard that he’s a fantastic and engaging speaker so we’re just happy to bring in people that can help families and children.”
The presentation is on April 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at WJ Berezowsky School.