Square Peg – Round Holes: Dare to be Different

Square Peg - Round Holes: Dare to be Different

The Help Group’s 2019 Advance LA Conference, Square Peg - Round Holes: Dare to be Different featured internationally prominent experts whose research and practice support young adults with autism, learning differences, and ADHD. 2019's conference focused on neurodiversity, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), LGBTQ+ research and support, social skills, career paths, executive functioning, and more.

The Help Group’s 2019 Advance LA Conference, Square Peg - Round Holes: Dare to be Different, took place on Friday, May 10 at the American Jewish University and featured 20 internationally prominent experts whose research and practice support young adults with autism, learning differences and ADHD. This year’s conference theme focused on neurodiversity, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), LGBTQ+ research and support, social skills, career paths, executive functioning, and more. More than 300 parents, educators, clinicians, researchers, graduate, and undergraduate students were in attendance.

Our Keynote Speaker, Steve Silberman discussed the growing movement to frame autism and other conditions, such as dyslexia and ADHD, as natural human variations that deserve support and accommodations, rather than disorders that need to be eradicated from the human genome. Silberman advocates that neurological differences are authentic forms of human diversity, that all human lives have value, and that atypical forms of brain wiring can also convey unusual skills and aptitudes. He argues that society should help individuals make the most of their native strengths and special interests, rather than focusing on trying to correct their deficits or normalize their behavior.

In addition to Steve Silberman, other featured sessions and speakers included a popular DBT track by Sasha Ginsburg-Gutstein, LCSW and Erin Lotz, LCSW, Luncheon Speaker Rabbi Sherre Hirsch, and our afternoon keynotes Dr. Anthony Rostain and Dr. B. Janet Hibbs who showed fascinating video footage from a young adult’s perspective on transitioning into college and adulthood. There was also a highly attended session by two young adults discussing their unique friendship and advice on how to form lasting connections.

To check out select presentations from this conference, click here.

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