The views, information, and opinions expressed by guest speakers during conferences and masterclasses are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent those of Bilinguistics and its employees.

Beth Bergstrom, MS, CCC-SLP, is a Senior Instructor at Eastern Illinois University in the Communication Disorders & Sciences Department. She teaches content in the areas of Cleft Lip and Palate, Pediatric Feeding, Evaluation and Therapy, and Clinical Techniques & Diagnostics. She supervises both undergraduate and graduate students in clinical practicum. Mrs. Bergstrom supervises clients with a variety of disorders, including individuals who have developmental trauma. She serves the multidisciplinary evaluation team for autism at the EIU Autism Clinic.

Financial: B & B SLP Teachers Pay Teachers Store and B&B Boutique: Financial – Intellectual Property Rights, Royalties

Non-financial – No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.

Developmental Trauma, caused by adverse childhood experiences, is often misdiagnosed as disorders such as ASD, ADHD, or mental health. However, it is important that children get the correct diagnosis so that teachers, therapists, and parents understand the underlying cause. Dysregulation in children with developmental trauma is due to a fear response and can result in fight, flight, freeze, and/or fawn behaviors. It is important to identify the type of behavior so that appropriate regulation strategies can be used. This presentation includes information on a tool that will help identify a profile of fight, flight, freeze, and/or fawn behaviors specific to a child. This tool also includes options of regulation strategies specific to the type of dominant F/F/F/F behaviors. Case studies and videos demonstrating how regulation strategies can be used with clients are included. Finally, the importance of educating families and other professionals is emphasized throughout the presentation.

Participants will be able to:
• Describe overlapping and differentiating diagnostic criteria for developmental trauma.
• Explain how to profile behaviors according to fight, flight, freeze, or fawn and choose appropriate strategies for regulation.
• Utilize the COPING framework for diagnosis and treatment.
• Describe the importance of educating families, educators, and other professionals on recognizing the cause of dysregulated behaviors and how to best support the child across environments.

Time-Ordered Agenda
20 min What is developmental trauma and the importance of differential diagnosis
10 min The C.O.P.I.N.G Framework
10 min Case History: What to look for and case examples
15 min Observation & Profile: What to look for and how to profile behaviors into F/F/F/F; case examples
20 min ID Behaviors, Name Behaviors, and Get Practice: Treatment and case examples
10 min Importance of educating families and other professionals
05 min Q&A: Assessment of learning objectives