In This Issue | Spring 2018
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In this edition of the Brazelton Touchpoints Center's quarterly newsletter, we
pay tribute to
the legacy and impact of Dr. T. Berry Brazelton (d. March 13, 2018),
do a roundup of the symposium and celebration held in Dr. Brazelton's honor, and
share exciting news and updates about programming, partnerships, and impact!
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Saying Goodbye to a Legend
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The world said goodbye to a true legend and advocate for children and families with the peaceful passing of Dr. T. Berry Brazelton on Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at his home in Barnstable, Massachusetts. At 99 years old, Dr. Brazelton was just a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday, which he would have celebrated on May 10th.
Rarely does an individual have such an impact on society that they manage to fundamentally alter the trajectory of humankind - for the better. By definition, a revolutionary is someone - a catalyst - that causes dramatic change. Few people achieve revolutionary status, and fewer still leave an indelible mark that is forever written into our collective history.
T. Berry Brazelton was one such person, and a friend to all of humanity. As a leading authority on child development, Dr. Brazelton's ground-breaking research fundamentally changed how we think of babies, earning him the nickname of the "Baby Whisperer" for his keen insights and observations of newborns. Author of forty books and over 200 scholarly articles, Dr. Brazelton has inspired more than 1,000 research publications around the world, while his passionate advocacy led to the passage of legislation that ushered in a new deal for American parents and children. Breaking tradition, as a practicing pediatrician, Dr. Brazelton threw open the doors of hospitals and nurseries to parents, and empowered them to become active participants in their children's care, while founding the Brazelton Touchpoints Center to train family-facing providers to do the same.
While Dr. Brazelton is sadly missed and his passing a true loss, his legacy lives on in all of our work and in our collective impact.
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Read some of the tributes from around the world written upon Dr. Brazelton's passing, and watch our lifetime tribute slideshow below
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The 2018 National Forum:
Celebrate the Legacy, Empower the Future
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Over three days in April in Newton, Massachusetts, BTC held its 2018 National Forum: Celebrate the Legacy, Empower the Future.
On Monday, April 23rd more than 250 practitioners, educators, and family-facing professionals gathered for the Dr. T. Berry Brazelton Symposium and Celebration. The Symposium featured speakers working on the front lines of social justice with children and families in communities all across the country, and who are, in their own ways, carrying forward Dr. Brazelton's legacy.
The day began with a traditional native blessing and the reading of a poem to honor and remember Dr. Brazelton. Tarajean Yazzie-Mintz of the American Indian College Fund led off with a dynamic talk about the quest for equity in Indigenous early childhood opportunities, with Sandra Gutierrez of Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors following with a focus on empowered parents as agents of change. Later that afternoon, Dr. Renee Boynton-Jarrett of Boston Medical Center inspired the crowd with the power of networks to achieve shared community objectives, while Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone provided powerful testimony to what's required and what's gained by investing in the strength and resiliency of communities.
Before lunch, a delegation representing Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey paid tribute to Dr. Brazelton for his lifetime of accomplishments to American society, and presented a flag that had flown over the US Capitol building to Dr. Brazelton's children and grandchildren - what a true honor!
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View the Dr. T. Berry Brazelton Lifetime Tribute Video
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Thank you to our sponsors!
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Rob Reiner Honors Dr. Brazelton
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Not only is Rob Reiner an award winning actor, writer, producer and director, he is also a passionate advocate for children and families. As a dear friend and colleague of Dr. Brazelton’s, Rob created this video to pay tribute to their work, partnership, and friendship, and shared it with us for Dr. Brazelton’s birthday. And today, we share it with you!
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Touchpoints training is hitting the road in 2018 and coming soon to a community near you!
Chicago, Illinois
August 1st to August 3rd
Little Company of Mary Hospital
Albuquerque, New Mexico
August 28th to August 30th
University of New Mexico
Los Angeles,
California
- DATES COMING SOON
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Attend an Upcoming Community Level Training
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Loveland, Colorado
August 6th to August 10th
Residence Inn
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Join Us in Welcoming the Newest Members of the BTC Site Network!
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Team Members: Holly Huffman, Amy Bond, Margaret Desormes
Comox Valley Community, Vancouver, Canada
Team Members: Jan Ference, April Statz, Theresa Wilson, Jenny Nijhoff
Team Members: Staci Sontoski, Cindy Muhar, Connie Dunlap
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Continuing Medical Education credits (CMEs) are available for ALL BTC Individual-level Trainings (ILTs) no matter where you attend!
The ILT offers healthcare providers and family-facing professionals an evidence-based approach to supporting families in understanding and responding to their child's behaviors and strengths.
In the ILT, participants learn:
- Strategies to build partnerships with parents that promote family strengths
- Tactics for helping parents understand their child’s development and navigate its ups and downs
- Techniques for talking with families about child development concerns
- Strategies for active listening, collaborative problem-solving, and relationship building
CMEs are awarded through Boston Children's Hospital, a BTC partner.
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Spotlight: BTC's Parenting Program
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The BTC Parenting Program offers a practical, preventative curriculum that supports positive parent-child relationships. Over one-and-a-half days of interactive training, providers and family-facing professionals learn:
- Methods for engaging parents about their child's development
- Strategies for supporting parental mastery of new parenting skills
- Techniques for facilitating groups of parents in constructive and strengths-based dialogue
This course meets the Head Start Program Performance Standard for Parenting Curriculum. For more information on the curriculum or training opportunities, contact
Debby Sosin, LICSW, Program Manager.
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We've been sharing a bunch of interesting articles and publications on social media that highlight new research and knowledge about early child development, family engagement, and more. Here is just a sampling of some of the things we're sharing within our community -
join us on Facebook today
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BTC faculty and staff are actively engaged in communities far and wide, working to build strong families and responsive systems of care. Here's just a sample of some of what our faculty are busy doing!
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BTC Director, Joshua Sparrow, MD
, offered advice on how to discuss the death of a parent with young children for the
Ask Amy column in
The Washington Post. Josh gave several keynote addresses, including at the West Virginia Early Childhood Training Connections and Resources 21st Annual Celebrating Connections conference, and the Venir au Monde entre Nature et Technologie in Switzerland. Additionally, Josh lent his expertise to several convenings, including the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Mental Health and Education Roundtable in Palo Alto, California, and the MIT Media Lab's Native Space-Farer: From Pregnancy to Early Childhood Development in Space Workshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
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Cathy Ayoub, RN, EdD, BTC's Director of Research and Evaluation, participated in a webinar on maternal depression for the Center of Excellence for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultants. Cathy was also a presenter for the OHS Training & Technical Assistance Professional Development Meeting and the Annual Grantees Meeting of Administration of Children and Families' Grants in Child Maltreatment, both in Washington, D.C.
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Jayne Singer, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and BTC Faculty member
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in her role as an active commissioner on the Massachusetts State Commission on Post-Partum Depression, joined the work of the subcommittee on Substance Use Disorders pertaining to maternal-infant health. Jayne gave a presentation on the integration of the Touchpoints Approach into DULCE (Developing Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone) methodology at the Annual Project DULCE All-Site meeting in California, delivered the keynote address to the Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children, and hosted a one-day professional program for the Maine Association for Infant Mental Health.
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Through the
BTC Speakers Bureau
, our renowned faculty - including Josh, Cathy, and Jayne -
draw on decades of clinical expertise, professional experience and contemporary research in healthy child and family development to deliver presentations and keynote addresses, facilitate workshops, and participate in panel discussions. Topics covered by our faculty include childhood trauma, early learning and care, child maltreatment and abuse, mental health and the opioid epidemic, and strengths-based interventions to parent empowerment.
Learn more about the benefits of engaging BTC Faculty for your next conference, convening, panel discussion, or workshops -
contact us today
!
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Interact with us on social media! Follow us on Facebook, connect with us on LinkedIn, and watch our archive of videos on Vimeo.
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Donations to the Brazelton Touchpoints Center enable thousands of people each year to attend our professional development programs and trainings, and gain access to the knowledge and skills that Touchpoints provides to practitioners and family-facing professionals in every field and every community across the country.
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Brazelton Touchpoints Center
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