Marlborough, March 24th & 25th, 2021. The Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts (BIA-MA) Conference is for brain injury survivors, caregivers, families and professionals to gather and discuss the challenges faced by the brain injury community.
* Keynote Speakers – Pat & Tammy McLeod with Hit Hard: One Family’s Journey of Letting Go of What Was and Learning to Live Well with What Is. In 2008, Pat & Tammy McLeod received a phone call informing them that their son, Zach, had suffered an injury while playing football and was being airlifted to Boston Medical to undergo emergency brain surgery. Zach survived that surgery, but a portion of his brain did not. The McLeod’s marriage, family, and faith also survived, but everything changed. Their story reveals many of the physical, emotional, and relational challenges of living with an ambiguous loss – the experience of both having and not having someone the way you once had them.
* Exhibitors and vendors offer healthcare options and solutions for those in the community.
* Presenters will offer the latest research in the field of brain injury, discuss new and exciting therapies, and provide support and guidance for those affected by brain injury.
For more information visit the BIA-MIA Brain Injury Conference page or contact BIA-MA at
508-475-0032 or email education@biama.org
2021 Speaker topics include:
- Motivational Interviewing and Brain Injury Rehabilitation: An Overview and Implications for Practice
James L. Soldner, PhD, CRC, BCBA-D and Dimity Peter, PhD, CRC; both Associate Professors from the
University of Massachusetts Boston - Behavioral Strategies for the Non-Behaviorists: Caregivers, Families and Other Specialties
Joseph N. Ricciardi, PsyD, ABPP, BCBA-D, CBIST, Director of Clinical Services, Seven Hills NeuroCare, Seven
Hills Foundation - COVID-19: Neurocognitive & Psychological Effects – Gordon Horn, PhD, National Deputy Director of Clinical Outcomes, NeuroRestorative
- When it is Time to Adapt Your Home – Catherine Frasco, MSPT, DPT, Senior Director of Clinical Services and Operations, VNA Care
- Sonata for Piano: A Stroke Survivor’s Story – Patricia Mulholland, MA, MT-BC, NMT, Be Your Note Music Therapy Services, Tina & Tom Callahan
- Sonata for Piano: A Stroke Survivor’s Story – Patricia Mulholland, MA, MT-BC, NMT, Be Your Note Music Therapy Services, Tina & Tom Callahan
- Artistic Expression: Expressive Healing – Philip Hasouris, Poet, Author, Co-Founder and CPO: Soar Without Limits; Heal Through the Arts
- Bottom Up Approach to Cognitive Recovery: The Body-Brain Connection – Karla McAuliffe MA, CCC-SLP, CBIS and Julia Krasheninin MS, CCC-SLP; both Speech-Language Pathologists, Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital
- Successful Caregiver Involvement in Supporting Rehab Outcomes and Functional Gains
Allison May, MS, OTR/L CBIS, and Gwendolyn Larsen, PT, MSPT, NCS; all from Community Rehab Care - Clinical Trials – Are They Right for Me? Lynne Becker, MSPH, CEO/Founder, Power of Patients
- Limited Guardianship, Supported Decision Making, and ABLE Accounts Offer New Possibilities and
Greater Independence for Survivors – Stephen J. Spano, MBA, JD, CELA, Board Certified Elder Law Attorney and Adjunct Professor of Special Needs Law, Andrea A.J. Witt, Esq., both from Spano & Dawicki, LLC - From Darkness to Light: One Man’s Journey – Glenn Hartmann, Assistant Controller, UMass Amherst
- Providing Functional Treatment and Effective Documentation to Memory Impairments After ABI
Stephanie Gilbert MS, CCC-SLP CBIS, Speech-Language Pathologist, Community Rehab Care - Diagnosis, Prognosis and Rehabilitation of Persons With Severe TBI: What Should We Do? Douglas Katz, MD, Professor of Neurology, Boston University, Medical Director ABI, Braintree Rehabilitation
- Diagnosis, Prognosis and Rehabilitation of Persons With Severe TBI: What Should We Do? Douglas Katz, MD, Professor of Neurology, Boston University, Medical Director ABI, Braintree Rehabilitation
- QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Suicide Prevention – Arianna Setzco
- Opioid Use Disorders and Brain Injury: New Opportunities for Referral Pathways – Lisa Blanchard, MA, LMHC, VP of Clinical Services and Lynn LeBlanc-Marrone; both from Spectrum Health
Systems - .Is a TBI for Girls and Women Different From a TBI for Boys and Men: What Do We Know? What Do We Still
Need to Learn? Yelena Goldin, PhD, ABPP-CN, Senior Neuropsychologist, JFK Medical Center and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabiliation at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School - Enabling Functional Outcomes Through Educational Rehabilitation – Christianna Gilbert, MA, CCC-SLP and Co-Author Natalie Gilmore, MS, CCC-SLP; both from Boston University, Swathi Kiran, PhD, CCC-SLP
- Barriers to Accessing the Community-Based Yoga Programs for People with Traumatic Brain Injury and
Caregivers – Kyla Pearce, PhD, MPH, CBIS, RYT-200 and Kaitlyn Cashman, PT, DPT, RYT; both from Love Your Brain Foundation - Think Outside the Facility: Home and Community-Based Long-Term Services and Supports Available
Through MassHealth – Amy Bernstein, LSW, MMHS, Erica Menz, MPA, and Susan Ciccariello, MSPA; all from the Executive Office of Health and Human Services - Healthy Eating: One of the Most Powerful Tools for Preventing Chronic Disease – Scherrie Keating, RN, CDCES, CDP, CDC, NDPP, Lifestyle Coach, Ageless Grace Educator, Diabetes Kare Consulting, LLC
- Cognitive Exercise and Neuroplasticity – Therese M. O’Neil-Pirozzi, ScD, CCC-SLP, Associate Professor, Northeastern University and Clinician/ Researcher, Spaulding/Harvard TBI Model System; Co-Presenters Lauryn Armstrong, Zehra Husnain, Christine Brennick
- Estate Planning is a Reality for Survivors of Brain Injury and a Necessity for Loving Caretakers
Stephen J. Spano, MBA, JD, CELA, Board Certified Elder Law Attorney and Adjunct Professor of Special
Needs Law and Andrea A.J. Witt, Esq.; both from Spano & Dawicki, LLC - The Power of Friendships-Celebrating the Ordinary and Making connections through Pathways to
Friendship – Katie Driscoll and Meg Gaydos, Friendship Facilitator Consultants, Pathways to Friendship Arc of
Massachusetts - At the Intersection: Bridges Between Brain Injury and Substance Use Disorder – Sandy Biber, LMHC, LRC, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
- Neurologic Music Therapy: A Telehealth Application Neurologic Music Therapy – Brian Costa, MA, MT-BC, NMT/F, Music Therapist, Med Rhythms, Inc.
