1.5 CE Credits
Presented by:
Lisa A. Jacobson, Ph.D., NCSP
Pediatric Neuropsychologist
Kennedy Krieger Institute
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Sluggish Cognitive Tempo (SCT) is a construct that evolved from field trials for the ADHD criteria in DSM-IV. It includes such characteristic symptoms as lethargy, low initiation, mental "fogginess," and slowed speed of information processing. Although SCT shows some overlap with Inattentive ADHD symptoms, evidence is mounting for consideration of SCT as a separate, but related, construct. This workshop will review descriptive evidence for SCT as a separate clinical disorder and empirical data from a variety of research studies characterizing SCT and its related comorbidities and areas of impairment. The NIMH's Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project provides a framework for shifting our understanding of disorders from categorical to dimensional, taking development, multiple levels of assessment, and environmental expectations into account. Data will be presented that reflect a dimensional approach and the need for further behavioral clarification of the construct, but also suggest areas for potential intervention and/or accommodation within classrooms and daily activities.
After the webinar, participants will be able to:
- Describe the characteristic diagnostic and associated features of SCT.
- Explain the current empirical support for the construct of SCT.
- Identify assessment techniques for SCT symptoms and relevant supports.
Target Audience:This workshop is designed for practicing or research psychologists and neuropsychologists interested in understanding attentional disorders in children and developing their understanding of sluggish cognitive tempo. The workshop is of intermediate level in terms of assumptions regarding familiarity with clinical practice with youth with ADHD, current literature on ADHD, and child development.
Instructional Level:Intermediate
About Lisa A. Jacobson, Ph.D., NCSP
Lisa Jacobson received a B.A. in Psychology from Davidson College and earned an Ed.S. in School Psychology from the College of William & Mary in VA. She worked as a school psychologist for several years before completing her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology at the University of Virginia. She completed her predoctoral Clinical Psychology Internship at the Mailman Center for Child Development, in Miami, FL, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical Neuropsychology at the Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is currently Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a pediatric neuropsychologist in the Kennedy Krieger Institute Department of Neuropsychology, where she coordinates the executive function and neuro-oncology outpatient assessment clinics, is involved in training pre-doctoral interns and post-doctoral fellows, and conducts clinical research.
Dr. Jacobson is interested in brain development and attentional control, processing speed, and executive functions in children, and associations of these functions with learning and behavioral disorders. She is interested in studying children with identified disorders affecting executive functioning (e.g., ADHD, movement disorders, Spina Bifida, cancers and cancer treatment, etc.) as well as children at risk for developing executive dysfunction, and investigating ways in which parents and teachers can support children's development of EF skills. She is working to develop clinical screening tools for identifying children with executive dysfunction that can be used as part of typical medical care visits for specific clinical populations. She has collaborated on a variety of projects examining response variability in children with ADHD, characteristics of attentional disorders in referred children, influences of working memory on reading fluency in ADHD, neurocognitive profiles of childhood cancer survivors, executive functioning in spina bifida, and validation of the Kennedy Krieger Independence Scales - Spina Bifida Version (KKIS-SB). She is also involved in collaborations with the Maryland State Department of Education and Towson University designed to improve teacher training regarding neurodevelopment and interventions for children with various developmental disorders.
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