1:00 - 3:00 pm: Professional Development Experience- four sessions to learn from your colleagues!

All members are welcome to freely attend the 2026 MASP PD! You can join in person or virtually (the event will not be recorded).

Also please consider attending the MASP AGM that follows. You can register for the AGM here.

PD sessions topics (each session will be 20-30 minutes each):

• Session 1: Keith Moen (Louis Riel School Division). Teaching Attention- Many students, especially those with ADHD and executive functioning difficulties, biologically struggle with attention skills. Yet, as practicing mindfulness is “paying attention on purpose,” there is also a skill component. You'll experience part of a classroom lesson meant to grow a student's attentional skills to their personal potential.
• Session 2: Brianne Curtis (Louis Riel School Division). PDA- Informed Practice: What Changes When We Change the Frame? Pathological Demand Avoidance is becoming increasingly common as a consult request in schools. Many students with PDA profiles struggle to attend class and it can be challenging to find meaningful solutions. We will discuss new ways to look at PDA profiles that can help inform interventions and empower staff and students.
• Session 3: Sara Williams and Diana Martyniuk (Winnipeg School Division). A discussion about ASD assessment best practice, and what the process looks like within Winnipeg School Division’s Autism Spectrum Diagnostic Services team. Discussion will include interviewing and assessment measures, with a brief look into the ADOS-2.
• Session 4: Chantal Wiebe (Behaviour Psychology Services in the Department of Families). Intellectual Disability: What’s There to Talk About? Most cases of intellectual disability are mild and require the highest level of clinical judgment to discern. Based on recent literature review for doctoral research, this discussion reviews implications for assessment and diagnosis of intellectual disability considering factors such as the stability of IQ, the weight of adaptive functioning, evidence-based assessment practice, and legislation.

Download and share the PD and AGM poster here!