OFN Workshops

All Ohio Family Network workshops are free to attend! If you attended our virtual annual conference or other Ohio Family Network workshops, please log in using the password you created. Otherwise, click on Log In then Create Account. You will have access to our virtual learning platform where all of our live and on-demand workshops will be available. For more information, contact Beth Thompson at beth@milestones.org.

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Upcoming Workshops

Charting the Life Course: New Tools for Education & Service Plans Workshop
Thursday, May 18, 2023, 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT

Join this FREE virtual workshop led by Beth Thompson, Milestones Autism Resources Program Director. Learn about new tools from Charting the LifeCourse that will soon be used for developing ISPs (Individual Service Plans) with County Boards of Developmental Disabilities and in many public schools.

Take this opportunity to familiarize yourself with these new tools that caregivers can use to help with transitioning to adulthood, finding respite, and accessing the community.

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Featured Workshop

On-Demand Workshops

To view any on-demand sessions, you will need to register for our virtual workshops. Once you have created an account you can access all of our online workshops, as well as attend any upcoming events.

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Charting the Life Course – The Nisonger Center and UC UCEDD
Originally aired January, 2021
Workshop Presenter: Barbara Sapharas from Nisonger Center-OSU

A framework to empower individuals and families of all abilities, and at any age or stage of life, to develop a vision for a good life, think about what they need to know and do, identify how to find or develop supports, and, with their team and those who support them, discover what it takes to live the lives they want to live. Families will leave with a structure and resources to advocate for the life they want. New ways to think beyond systems are offered in order to identify other supports and resources to create their desired life.

Socially Distanced Not Socially Isolated; Strategies for Maintaining Connections with Family and Friends
Originally Aired November, 2020
Workshop Presenters: Melissa Baker M.S., CCC-SLP, and Jennifer Blankenship, LISW, BCBA from Bright Futures Therapeutic Services

This timely workshop will provide ideas and strategies to support your child as they learn to manage the feelings associated with this time of social distancing, and offer suggestions for ways to help them continue to develop social skills and relationships with family members, friends, and those in the community.  Participants will take away valuable strategies that can be implemented immediately.  There will be time at the end of the workshop to ask questions.  

OFN and Milestones present: Families at the Center of a Connected Community 
Originally aired: October, 2020 
Workshop Presenters: Candice Jones-Peelman (Executive Director), Tim Vogt (Director of Mission and Scale),  and Bridget Vogt (Learning Network) from Starfire

Just like others in our communities, people with developmental disabilities experience less loneliness and stress when they can be known and respected for their contributions, not their negatively perceived labels. Social connection is one of our fundamental human needs and life satisfaction is linked with community connections. Almost thirty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act, what families and people with DD still need from services today are tools and ways to build long-term friendships and a sense of purpose and belonging in their communities.
Families of people with ID/DD learn tools and techniques to build a social network into the family’s life in order to reduce social isolation and bring the person with ID/DD and families’ gifts into the community by implementing an engagement project together with other citizens.

OFN and Milestones present: Growing Family Resilience
Originally aired September, 2020
Workshop Presenters:
Sarah Buffie MSW, LSW from Soul Bird Consulting
Claudia Lopez, MA from Profluence

Most humans live in stress about 70% of the time- in stress we are functioning in survival or reactivity mode. The Growing Family Resilience workshop will support parents and families in finding safe ways to navigate stress and connect to a felt sense of safety.
Stressful situations are an uncontrollable part of life. Controlling the way we react to situations brings power, promotes connection and improves our sense of well-being. This evening will combine knowledge about navigating stress with practices that we can take with us wherever we go to support our sense of calm and groundedness.

Parenting with Success:  The COVID Edition
Originally aired September, 2020
Workshop Presenter: Rachel Torrance, MEd, BCBA, COBA
Behavioral and Educational Expert, Services and Supervision Academy, LLC; Board Member Milestones Autism Resources

Whether your child’s school is in session, in a hybrid model, or your child is in virtual learning, school these days surely looks different, as well as everything outside of the school day, too.  Since the initial COVID pandemic hit, many of us have adapted to change and are now getting familiar with the “new normal”.  Some kids have had increases in interfering behaviors, and some are doing OK.  However, parenting these days likely looks different than it did 6 months ago.  In this presentation, parenting strategies will be shared to help you add additional supports to meet your child’s current needs while building their independence.  The speaker will review simple environmental strategies, “how to” language related to talking to your child about the pandemic, meeting social/emotional needs, and increase safety measures such as tolerating the mask, washing hands effectively and independently, and increasing tolerance to hand sanitizer.  These strategies are all practical and can be implemented across settings to help set the stage for success!