York Hills Centre for Children, Youth and Families

Connecting the Dots Film
2023-05-01 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto) | York Hills Centre for Children, Youth and Families, 402 Bloomington Road, Aurora, Ontario, L4G0L9, Canada
We are hosting a screening of a new documentary @ConnectingTheDotsFilm
from award winning filmmaker Noemi Weis.

We are hosting a screening of a new documentary @ConnectingTheDotsFilm
from award winning filmmaker Noemi Weis. #RaiseYourHand and join the global
conversation about youth mental health!

Speaking of Social Skills
2023-05-02 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Toronto)
A Speech-Language Pathologist’s Lens on Skills for Building Healthy Relationships

Presented by: Vibhuti Jethava – Speech-Language Pathologist
Social skills are complex! We use many different skills (thinking skills, language skills and emotional skills) to build and maintain healthy relationships. As a result, when our children/youth struggle with social skills, it can be hard to know how to help!

Participants who attend this workshop will learn about the development of different social skills. They will leave with strategies, tips and tricks on how to build up these skills in our children and youth.

Addressing Mental Health Challenges for Children and Youth with ASD
2023-05-03 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Addressing Mental Health Challenges for Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Presented by: Neil Walker (COMPASS Manager)
Addressing Mental Health Challenges for Children and Youth with ASD

People diagnosed with autism, are 4-5 times more likely to develop a mental health concern compared to the general population. This webinar will discuss the inherent characteristics of autism that can lead to the development of mental health diagnoses such as Emotional Dysregulation, Anxiety, Depression, Oppositional Defiance, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Suicidality. The presentation will include strategies for mental illness prevention, recognizing and diagnosis mental health concerns and methods of adapting evidenced-based mental health treatment approaches for children & youth with autism.

Identity and Mental Health
2023-05-04 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Toronto)
Identity and Mental Health presented by York Hills and York Region District School Board.

Presented by:
Missy Mae-Ng (she/her), YRDSB – speaking on 2SLGBTQI+ identities and communities
Carolynne Warton, York Hills – speaking on Indigenous identities and communities
Habibi E. Feliciano Perez, York Hills – speaking on 2SLGBTQI+ identities and communities and intersection with race
Charmaine Lane – speaking on Black identities and communities
Nijatha Subramaniam (she/her), YRDSB – speaking on Tamil identities and communities
This session will feature mental health clinicians from a variety of backgrounds speaking on the importance of understanding the connections between who we are and our experiences of mental health. Join us in learning how race, culture, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other parts of who we are intersect and impact the ways in which we experience mental wellness, and how you can access supports that affirm your child and family’s identities. Approaches to talking with your child about their own unique identity and experiences of mental health will be discussed, as well as how to support the development of a positive sense of self.
Objectives: participants will leave the session with:
– An increased understanding of some of the ways identity can impact mental health wellbeing and how to access to affirming services.
– A idea of what to look for when seeking identity affirming mental health services.
– An increased awareness of resources available for children and families within the school board and in the community.
– Some tips/tools for talking children, and how to and understand and support their development of identity and mental health.

Triple P Seminar #3 - Raising Resilient Children
2023-05-11 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-07-25 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Triple P Seminar #3 – Raising Resilient Children

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
Power of Positive Parenting seminars are a series of three workshops for parents of children birth to 12 years of age. Kids don’t come with an instruction manual! Many familiar parenting problems have very simple solutions that can be applied with some effort and focus. Triple P’s easy-to-understand and practical strategies have been shown to help families in all types of situations.
Seminar #3 – Raising Resilient Children
This seminar focuses of: learning strategies to help build positive feelings in your child and help your child recognize and accept feelings, deal with negative feelings and upsetting stressful life events.
**This is a 3-part seminar. Participation in all 3 dates is strongly recommended.**

Exploring and Understanding the Inattentive Brain
2023-05-17 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Toronto)
Unwrapping the Gifts of a Distracted Mind – Part 2 Exploring and Understanding the Inattentive Brain

Presented by: Rick Rotchild and Erika Silveira (PATH Workers)
Three-part series on ADHD
“Unwrapping the gifts of a distracted mind” a series of webinars to help you better understand the person you love. The more you know, the better able you will be equipped to build on the strengths and unique traits, as well as tackle areas of challenge or lagging skills in your child or adolescent.
Part 2 – Exploring and Understanding the Inattentive Brain. Join us to hear about the intricate working model of the ADHD brain, the benefits of choice and the importance of co-regulation to build self-regulation.

Teen Triple P Seminar #1 - Raising Responsible Teenagers
2023-05-25 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-08-10 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-09-06 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Teen Triple P Seminar #1 – Raising Responsible Teenagers

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
The Triple P Teen Seminar series targets everyday concerns, such as how to encourage responsible and independent behaviour, improve family relationships, and manage concerns at school and/or with friends. Your youth is almost an adult, or at least that’s how they feel, and this can make life at home a little strained. Maybe your 13-year-old son grunts instead of speaking to you. Or your 14-year-old daughter wants to go to parties with people you don’t even know. It’s not the you’ve got a “wild” kid, but you want to make sure that you plan ahead and continue to connect with them during this important time in their lives.
Seminar # 1 – Raising Responsible Teenagers
Find out what makes teenagers tick! You’ll come away with new ideas to encourage your teenager to make good decisions, be respectful, considerate, reliable and involved in family life.
**This is a 3-part seminar. Participation in all 3 dates is strongly recommended.**

Many Faces of Anxiety
2023-05-29 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Many Faces of Anxiety – Understanding and supporting children who live with worry

Presented by: Mun Yee Lee and Jo Allison (Child and Family Therapists)
The goal of this workshop is to provide valuable information to support caregivers of children and adolescents who experience anxiety. Topics include: Understanding different types of anxiety, causes, how the mind and brain are connected, coping strategies for caregivers; and what caregivers can do to help.

Teen Triple P Seminar #2 - Raising Competent Teenagers
2023-06-01 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-08-24 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-09-13 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Teen Triple P Seminar #2 – Raising Competent Teenagers

Presented by: Uma Bhatts (Community Outreach Worker)
The Triple P Teen Seminar series targets everyday concerns, such as how to encourage responsible and independent behaviour, improve family relationships, and manage concerns at school and/or with friends. Your youth is almost an adult, or at least that’s how they feel, and this can make life at home a little strained. Maybe your 13-year-old son grunts instead of speaking to you. Or your 14-year-old daughter wants to go to parties with people you don’t even know. It’s not the you’ve got a “wild” kid, but you want to make sure that you plan ahead and continue to connect with them during this important time in their lives.
Seminar # 2 – Raising Competent Teenagers
Set your teenager up for life with the strategies in this seminar which focuses on helping your child get the most out of their school years. Find out how to help them communicate well, develop self-discipline and good routines, follow rules and solve problems.
**This is a 3-part seminar. Participation in all 3 dates is strongly recommended.**

Understanding and Managing Challenging Behaviours
2023-06-05 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Understanding and Managing Challenging Behaviours

Presented by: Parastoo Roshany and Jordanna Guida (Child and Family Therapists)
Understanding challenging behaviours and where they stem from is the first step to being able to better manage them. This workshop is for parents/caregivers of youth 12 years and older, and will focus on how behaviours function in a teen’s brain. We will discuss and demonstrate the use of tools/strategies to manage challenging behaviours, and how to improve parent/teen relationships.

Mindful Compassion
2023-06-12 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Promoting and Practicing Self-Compassion for Caregivers

Presented by: Rick Rotchild (PATH Worker) and TBD
Tackling Parental Burnout! – How caring for yourself is caring for your child/youth.
Do you sometimes find yourself more critical than you would like? Do you sense that you need a break but can’t seem to find the time? Or, are you just generally struggling as a caregiver/human these days? You are not alone! Join us for this webinar to learn about how self-compassion increases well-being and resilience to stress, as well as empowers us to set healthy boundaries. This overview of self-compassion and self-care practices for daily life, can also help us share these strategies with the children and youth in our lives.

Parenting a Child with Attention Deficit Disorder
2023-06-14 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Toronto)
Unwrapping the Gifts of a Distracted Mind – Part 3 Parenting a Child with Attention Deficit Disorder

Presented by: Rick Rotchild and Erika Silveira (PATH Workers)
Three-part series on ADHD

“Unwrapping the gifts of a distracted mind” a series of webinars to help you better understand the person you love. The more you know, the better able you will be equipped to build on the strengths and unique traits, as well as tackle areas of challenge or lagging skills in your child or adolescent.
Part 3 – Parenting a Child with Attention Deficit Disorder. Do you find yourself wavering on what to do in a given situation, and reverting back to extremes? This webinar will help bring back the balance of understanding and parenting from an attuned perspective.

Teen Triple P Seminar #3 - Getting Teenagers Connected
2023-06-15 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-08-31 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Teen Triple P Seminar #3 – Getting Teenagers Connected

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
The Triple P Teen Seminar series targets everyday concerns, such as how to encourage responsible and independent behaviour, improve family relationships, and manage concerns at school and/or with friends. Your youth is almost an adult, or at least that’s how they feel, and this can make life at home a little strained. Maybe your 13-year-old son grunts instead of speaking to you. Or your 14-year-old daughter wants to go to parties with people you don’t even know. It’s not the you’ve got a “wild” kid, but you want to make sure that you plan ahead and continue to connect with them during this important time in their lives.
Seminar #3 – Getting Teenagers Connected
Help your teenager develop good, supportive friendships. You’ll learn ways to build their confidence, encourage social skills, help them to plan and meet commitments and encourage them to take care of others.
**This is a 3-part seminar. Participation in all 3 dates is strongly recommended.**

Our Family Our Rules
2023-06-21 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Triple P Tip Sheet Discussion

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
Come and learn why parenting teenagers can be challenging as well as rewarding, why balancing responsibility and freedom for teenagers can be a ‘tricky’ business! As teenagers grow, thrill seeking behaviours may be considered typical, however, it is also a main safety concern for the caregivers because teenagers may have different understanding when it comes to safety. During this developmental stage ‘direct teaching’ may need to change in to guiding, negotiating, conveying and clarifying parental expectations. Having clear family rules that are negotiated, discussed and developed with the family helps to clarify expectations and provides boundaries that guide teenagers. Adding to the family rules, using collaborative problem solving approach will further teenagers ability to explore the new found world as well as learn and utilize their problem solving / solution seeking skills.

Promoting Resiliency in Teens
2023-06-22 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Promoting Resiliency in Teens

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
Promoting Resilience in Teenagers

Teenage years are full of constant changes, challenges and demands. While growing up, teenagers have hopes, dreams and goals and sometimes experience disappointments. They also face new demands from their caregivers and school.

This presentation talks about ways caregivers can nurture resilience in teenagers so they can attain the skills they need to handle new challenges and struggles. Resiliency allows teens to persevere, function and learn from their life experiences.

Understanding and Managing Anxiety in Children/Youth Living with ASD
2023-06-28 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Understanding and Managing Anxiety in Children/Youth Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Presented by: Neil Walker (Autism Consultant)
Many children/youth living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience severe anxiety resulting in the development of challenging behaviours. This webinar will review the types and causes of anxiety in persons with ASD, and will introduce support strategies that can help to reduce anxiety and teach self management skills.

Triple P Seminar #1 - The Power of Positive Parenting
2023-07-11 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-09-11 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
The Power of Positive Parenting

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
Power of Positive Parenting seminars are a series of three workshops for parents of children birth to 12 years of age. Kids don’t come with an instruction manual! Many familiar parenting problems have very simple solutions that can be applied with some effort and focus. Triple P’s easy-to-understand and practical strategies have been shown to help families in all types of situations.
Seminar # 1 – The Power of Positive Parenting
This seminar focuses on : ensuring a safe engaging environment for children by: creating a positive learning environment, using assertive discipline, having realistic expectations and taking care of yourself as a parent.
**This is a 3-part seminar. Participation in all 3 dates is strongly recommended.**

Triple P Seminar #2 - Raising Confident Competent Children
2023-07-18 18:30 - 20:30, 2023-09-18 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Triple P Seminar #2 – Raising Confident Competent Children

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
Power of Positive Parenting seminars are a series of three workshops for parents of children birth to 12 years of age. Kids don’t come with an instruction manual! Many familiar parenting problems have very simple solutions that can be applied with some effort and focus. Triple P’s easy-to-understand and practical strategies have been shown to help families in all types of situations.
Seminar # 2 – Raising Confident and Competent Children
This seminar focuses on encouraging respect and cooperation, learning to be independent, developing healthy self esteem and learning how to be a good problem solver.
**This is a 3-part seminar. Participation in all 3 dates is strongly recommended.**

Children and Restorative Sleep
2023-07-24 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Children and Restorative Sleep

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Workers)
Is your child afraid of going to sleep because they were frightened by a nightmare? It can be difficult for caregivers to know what to do when they find their child upset aft a nightmare or having experienced night terrors. This webinar will look a the difference between nightmares and night terror, and will provide strategies to develop a night time routine that will assist in increasing a child’s sense of safety and comfort.

Sibling Rivalry to Sibling Relationship
2023-08-21 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Sibling Rivalry to Sibling Relationship

Presented by: Uma Bhatt Community Outreach Worker)
Come and learn! This workshop will discuss what sibling rivalry is, what causes it, and what parents can do to build and strengthen this important relationship.

Explore the meaning of ‘fairness’ from a child’s perspective, and learn how to handle each child’s feelings.
Learn how to respond to challenging behaviours, and how to balance the parental role of being a ‘coach and a referee’.
Learn the value of ‘cooling off time’, and teach your children to use ‘quiet spaces’ for calming and learning to work together with a sibling to problem solve.
Learn ways to encourage positive and respectful sibling relationships.
Learn additional ways to cope and manage when one/both siblings have mental health challenges.

Parenting Traps and Strategies
2023-08-29 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Small Changes, Big Differences

Presented by: Uma Bhatt (Community Outreach Worker)
This workshop is informed by the evidence based parenting program Triple P. While parents hope to have positive relationships with their children, these relationships can sometimes be difficult to navigate when power struggles and challenging behaviours are encountered.
Come and learn about how to identify and respond to children in order to avoid power struggles, and develop strategies that will work for your family.

Understanding ASD Learning Styles and Effective Teaching Strategies
2023-09-19 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder Learning Styles and Effective Teaching Strategies for Home & School

Presented by: Neil Walker (Autism Consultant)
This webinar will provide an overview of the unique learning strengths and challenges of children & youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and how to accommodate these learning styles. Participants will be provided with specific teaching strategies proven to be effective in helping children & youth with ASD learn new skills.
