Better Brains for Babies Webinars

{vertical_image_description}

Several times each year, Better Brains for Babies sponsors or co-sponsors webinars to educate the public about issues related to brain development. Check out our upcoming webinars, or listen to recordings of past webinars. Recordings of all webinars are archived on the BBB YouTube channel.


Upcoming Webinars

There are no upcoming webinars scheduled at this time. Please check back for future webinars.

Recent Archived Webinars

Promoting Children’s Resilience through Mindfulness and Social-Emotional Learning Practices

  • Date: September 5, 2024
  • Description: In this hands-on workshop you will explore what the latest research on resilience tells us about strategies for connecting with children. Utilizing group discussions, activities, and short presentation blocks you will learn how mindfulness practices, relationship science, and social emotional learning can give you and your clients tools for healthy connections and help grow healthy brains!
  • Presenter: Sarah K. Whitaker, Ph.D. Family & Community Engagement Specialist at the UGA Youth Development Institute
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Archived webinar
  • Link to slides

“Being with” Babies

Creating Safe and Brave Communities

Advancing Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) in Georgia

  • Date: May 11, 2023
  • Description: This webinar will provide knowledge on infant and early childhood mental health (IECMH) spectrum of services, promotion and prevention efforts in Georgia, the Georgia Association for Infant Mental Health: Birth to Five (GA-AIMH) efforts to support the workforce to address the social, emotional, and developmental needs of young children and their families, and Infant Mental Health Endorsement. This is a follow-up to the 2022 webinars introducing infant early childhood mental health (IECMH).
  • Presenter: Raynell Washington, Community Services Specialist at the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD) at Georgia State University (GSU) and leader of the Georgia Association of Infant Mental Health: Birth to Five (GA-AIMH)
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar
  • Link to slides

Supporting Families through Developmental Monitoring

  • Date: August 30, 2022
  • Description: In this interactive session we will explore how monitoring the development of young children helps to strengthen their families. We will explore free easily accessible resources for monitoring young children’s development, including the CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early. resources. We will discuss how to use these materials to help strengthen families’ engagement in their child’s early learning and development.
  • Presenter: Bridget Ratajczak, Child and Family Development Supervisor, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning: Bright from the Start and the CDC’s Act Early Ambassador for Georgia
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar
  • Link to slides

Supporting Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health in Georgia

  • Date: May 12, 2022
  • Description: This webinar will provide information about Georgia’s efforts to better support early childhood social and emotional health.
  • Presenter: Laura Lucas, Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Director, Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar
  • Link to slides

What is Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and Why Care?

  • Date: May 5, 2022
  • Description: This webinar will provide an overview of infant and early childhood mental health care, and will explain why mental health care is important for very young children.
  • Presenter: Therese Ahlers, Senior Policy Associate for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Georgetown University Senior Technical Assistance Specialist, ZERO TO THREE
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar
  • Link to slides

It’s All Connected: Integrating Clinical Foundations into Community Impact for Early Childhood Equity

  • Date: April 21, 2022
  • Description: This webinar focuses on the integration of maternal health, early childhood development, and racial equity as it pertains to Early Childhood Development. Infant mental health is impacted by epigenetics and executive functioning. The impact of genes and environmental conditions begin in utero and continue throughout the lifespan. Many cognitive and social emotional delays in early childhood can be linked to perinatal and social drivers of health. The webinar highlights environmental and genetic factors contributing to infant mental health and early childhood development.
  • Presenter: Renee Antoine, Senior Policy Associate for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Georgetown University Center for Human and Child Development
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar

How the CDA Supports Infants and Toddlers: Using Public Policy to Support Brain Development and Special Education

  • Date: March 8, 2022
  • Description: The Council for Professional Recognition, the organization that administers and awards the CDA will share policy interventions and strategies supported by the Childhood Development Associate Credential. This recorded webinar discusses the Special Education Setting available for CDA Candidates that are designed to serve children with moderate to severe special needs. Special Education in the ECE workforce. Participants will leave with identified solutions and a shared language in order to advocate for Neurodiverse Early Childhood Education.
  • Presenter: Brionnea Williams-McClary, Director of Public Policy for the Council of Professional Recognition
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar

Fostering Positive Behaviors

  • Date: September 23, 2021
  • Description: This recorded webinar provides learners with an understanding of the basics of human behavior and increases their knowledge on how to develop preventative strategies for infants, toddlers, and preschool aged children. In this session, you will learn about the basics of human behavior, the four functions of behavior, and strategies to promote positive behaviors.
  • Presenter: Tranae Harris-Bingham, Mental Health Specialist at Sheltering Arms
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Building Resilience in Rural, Low-income Families and Communities

  • Date: August 31, 2021
  • Description: This archived webinar provides an overview of how rurality affects resilience in rural, low-income families with children. The presenter discusses some of the main risks to rural communities and families (e.g. COVID-19, health insurance coverage, health care access, formal support networks) and how to build resilience to address these risks, using the Hidden Talents framework, in regard to children’s developing brains and cognitive operations.
  • Presenter: Bradford Wiles, Ph.D., Better Brains for Babies Master Trainer and Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Applied Family Sciences at Kansas State University.
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to archived webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Balancing ACEs with HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences)

  • Date: April 20, 2021
  • Description: This recorded webinar presents background information on the adverse health effects of ACEs and the research showing how key positive childhood experiences prevent and mitigate the effects of ACEs and toxic stress.
  • Presenter: Dr. Robert Sege, attending Pediatrician at Tufts Children’s Hospital, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, Director of the Center for Community-engaged Medicine
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides


Older Archived Webinars


The Stresses of Today’s World - Toxic Stress, ACEs, HOPE, and Brain Development in Young Children

  • Date: September 29, 2020
  • Description: This recorded webinar addresses the topics of stress, ACEs, and brain development within the world that includes COVID-19.
  • Presenter: Diane Bales, PhD, Faculty Member. Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia, Extension Human Development Specialist with UGA Cooperative Extension, co-leader of Better Brains for Babies
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Collaborating with Families to Understand and Identify Red Flags for ASD

  • Date: July 17, 2019
  • Description: This recorded webinar will explore how professionals can collaborate with families to identify delays in social communication that may be markers of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this session, you will learn about disparities in children receiving an ASD diagnosis, how families’ beliefs and family culture can affect the referral process, and what a true collaboration with the professional and families look like.
  • Presenter: Naima Bond, Marcus Autism Center
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Identifying Red Flags for ASD Related to Social Communication in Infants and Toddlers

  • Date: March 25, 2019
  • Description: This recorded webinar explores typical social communication in infants and toddlers so we will be able to identify differences and delays in social communication. In this session, you will learn about the definition of autism, how ASD characteristics appear in toddlers, and how to feel more confident in identifying signs of ASD in young children.
  • Presenter: Naima Bond, Marcus Autism Center
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Music and Your Brain: Listening to, Dancing with, and Playing Music on Neurological Development

  • Date: May 17, 2018
  • Description: This recorded webinar explores multiple cognitive and social-emotional developmental processes and their associated neurological pathways and locations in the brain that are strengthened when we listen to music, dance with music (and with others), and even learn to play musical instruments. The webinar provides a lifespan developmental view of the protective factors that music, dance, and playing an instrument provide. Implications for child development, adult development, and family practices will be presented, as well as an introduction to an Extension program, “Family Dance!”, aimed at leveraging the benefits of music and dance for families.
  • Presenter: Bradford Wiles, an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at Kansas State University and Better Brains for Babies Master Trainer in Kansas.
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to child development and the brain)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Defining, Identifying, and Instructing the Dyslexic Brain

  • Date: September 28, 2017
  • Description: This recorded webinar provides an introductory view into dyslexia, how to identify a child that may have characteristics of dyslexia and how to instruct the dyslexia reading brain and support quality language and literacy acquisition. Dyslexia is a language-based reading disability that is neurobiological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. Students with dyslexia usually have trouble with other language skills such as spelling, writing, and pronouncing words. According to various sources, including the Davis Dyslexia Association 5-20% the population have some symptoms of Dyslexia. Early identification and providing deep engagement with language is a key for preparing and instructing the Dyslexic brain.
  • Presenters: Comer Yates, Executive Director of the Atlanta Speech School, and Sondra Mims CCC-SLP, Chief Academic Officer and Lower School Director of the Wardlaw School
  • Level: Beginning (intended to support foundational knowledge for professionals related to defining, identifying and instructing the Dyslexic Brain
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Cognitive and Neurological Developmental Processes in the Context of Shared Adult-Child Interactions

  • Date: June 21, 2017
  • Description: This recorded webinar explores various cognitive developmental processes and their associated neurological pathways and locations in the brain when adults and children interact during different shared activities. Examples including emergent literacy, adult-child dancing, and others are presented to provide an overview of the differential areas of the brain at work during different, but shared activities.
  • Presenter: Bradford Wiles, an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at Kansas State University and Better Brains for Babies Master Trainer in Kansas.
  • Level: Intermediate (intended for professionals who already have a strong educational background in child development, and want to apply that knowledge to more complex concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Introduction to Autism Spectrum Disorder

  • Date: September 29, 2016
  • Description: This recorded webinar explains the basics of ASD and brain development. Autism is the fastest growing disorder in America. (CDC, 2014) On March 27, 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data on the prevalence of autism in the United States. This surveillance study identified 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children be screened for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at 18 and 24 months of age, but for many children it is not diagnosed until 3 to 5 years of age or later. In addition, recognizing the role of early detection as a key component to enhancing a child’s potential which means earlier access to intervention to all those diagnosed to lead productive, inclusive, and fulfilling lives.
  • Presenter: Shaneshia Roberson, Professional Development Specialist at Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers in Atlanta, and co-leader of Better Brains for Babies.
  • Level: Beginning (intended for people who are just learning about brain development, or want a review of basic concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Shifting the Paradigm: Preventing and Addressing Childhood Toxic Stress at the Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Levels

  • Date: May 3, 2016
  • Description: This recorded webinar provides an overview of the ACE Study findings and present a theoretical framework for the prevention of childhood toxic stress at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, as well as present current efforts that apply the framework.Early life toxic stress, such as childhood abuse, neglect, and serious dysfunction are common, interrelated exposures that are associated with multiple risk behaviors and adverse health outcomes starting in adolescence, going into adulthood. For over 20 years, data from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study, an epidemiological study, has demonstrated the relationship between these childhood toxic stressors with negative health sequelae throughout the lifespan.
  • Presenter: Shanta R. Dube, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, School of Public Health at Georgia State University
  • Level: Intermediate (intended for people who already have a strong educational background in child development, and want to apply that knowledge to more complex concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Supporting Executive Functioning in Infants and Toddlers

  • Date: September 24, 2015
  • Description: This recorded webinar provides the latest evidence and knowledge related to infants and toddlers’ capacity to develop the capacities they need to support early and later executive functioning. According to the Cognitive Complexity and Control (CCC) theory, the growth of executive function can be understood in terms of age-related growth in children’s ability to solve complex problems. Acquiring the early building blocks of executive functioning skills is one of the most important and challenging tasks of the earliest years. Having the right support and experiences from birth is essential for the successful development of these capacities.
  • Presenter: Holly Higgins Wilcher, Zero to Three
  • Level: Intermediate (intended for people who already have a strong educational background in child development, and want to apply that knowledge to more complex concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Light Up Your Baby’s Brain Through Language Play and Engagement

  • Date: June 5, 2015
  • Description: Rich early experiences matter for infants, because they have a decisive impact on the architecture of the brain and the extent of future learning capabilities. Have you ever wondered how to best support infant language development in ways that support a baby’s rapidly growing and absorbing brain? This recorded webinar focuses on how high-quality language experiences build important brain connections; lays the groundwork for the acquisition of complex language skills; and helps you learn how to “light up their brains” for present and future learning success. Whether you would like to learn more about language and the brain, or just need a refresher on the best ways to support language development, this webinar has information to help you.
  • Presenter: Sherron L. Murphy, MA, Better Brains for Babies Community Outreach Educator
  • Level: Beginning (intended for people who are just learning about brain development, or want a review of basic concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

The Ins and Outs of Adolescent Brain Development

  • Date: July 21, 2014
  • Description: Why do teenagers act the way they do? Some of the reasons for common adolescent behaviors, such as risk-taking and making less-than-wise decisions sometimes, relate back to their brain development. The prefrontal cortex, which controls higher-order thinking abilities, is not fully developed until very late in adolescence. Understanding adolescent brain development and finding ways to help teens develop good decision-making skills are important ways that adults support healthy adolescent brain development. This recorded webinar focuses on the development (and under-development) of various parts of the brain, the ways this brain development affects behavior, and ways to support adolescents as they finish the crucial period of brain development.
  • Presenter: Diane Bales, PhD, Faculty Member, Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia, Extension Human Development Specialist with UGA Cooperative Extension, co-leader of Better Brains for Babies
  • Level: Intermediate (intended for people who already have a strong educational background in child development, and want to apply that knowledge to more complex concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides

Toxic Stress and Brain Development: Why It Matters and What Adults Can Do

  • Date: March 18, 2014
  • Description: Stress is a part of life, but too much stress can have long-term negative effects on children’s brain development. Buffering young children from toxic levels of stress is an important way that adults support healthy brain development. This recorded webinar is an introduction to toxic stress and the brain. The webinar focuses on how the brain responds to stress, the potential negative effects of chronic stress, and ways that adults can reduce the effects of stress on the developing brain.
  • Presenter: Diane Bales, PhD, Faculty Member, Department of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Georgia, Extension Human Development Specialist with UGA Cooperative Extension, co-leader of Better Brains for Babies
  • Level: Intermediate (intended for people who already have a strong educational background in child development, and want to apply that knowledge to more complex concepts)
  • Link to recorded webinar
  • Link to webinar slides