Coordinated by Mark DeAntonio, M.D.
Wednesday, October 24
8:00 – 11:00 a.m. (open)
Media Theatre 1
SingSOS: A Musical Exploration of Autism and the Family’s Journey
Daniel Siegel, M.D., John O’Neil, Jon Fried, Deena Shoshkes
SingSOS is a nonprofit group that is working to raise awareness of autism, along with funds for research and improved care, by recording a CD of songs about autism performed by well-know musicians. The SOS stands for Songs of the Spectrum; it also is meant to convey the sense that autism represents a significant public health emergency. This Media Theatre offers the writers and composers an opportunity to connect with the child psychiatry community in communicating these important issues regarding the journey of families and their children with autism. Dr. Siegel and John O’Neil, song writer, journalist, and father of a child with autism, discuss the general aspects of the disorder. The discussions alternate with live musical performances given by Deena Shoshkes and Jon Fried who composed the music.
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. (open)
Media Theatre 2
Enabling Expression: Music as the Ultimate Human Interface
Tod Machover
Music is one of the most powerful forms of human expression, and is increasingly recognized as a profound source of health and well-being far beyond its entertainment value. But music works its magic most fully through active engagement – rather than through the passive, background listening described in the “Mozart Effect” – and this requires new tools and environments that enable people of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels to participate. Hyperinstruments, initially invented at the MIT Media Lab to increase the performance virtuosity of great musicians from Yo-Yo Ma to Prince, have evolved into the Hyperscore composing software for kids as well as the smash hit video game Guitar Hero. Such technologies are now being further extended to give “voice” to those most in need, including the mentally and physically disabled and seniors with and without pathologies. using specially designed “Personal Instruments” that adapt to anyone’s individual skills and limitations. A recent performance using such an instrument will be shown, and a sneak preview will be given of an opera-in-progress that demonstrates the power of music for “personal identity archiving” in the physical and virtual worlds.
Tod Machover – called “America’s Most Wired Composer” by The Los Angeles Times – is widely recognized as one of the most significant and innovative composers of his generation, and is also celebrated for inventing new technology for music. He studied with Elliott Carter at The Juilliard School, was the first Director of Musical Research at Pierre Boulez’s IRCAM in Paris, and is currently Professor of Music and Media at the MIT Media Lab and also Visiting Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Machover’s music has been commissioned and performed by many of the world’s most prominent soloists and ensembles, including Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, the BBC Symphony, the Ensemble InterContemporain, the Boston Pops, the Ying Quartet, and cellist Matt Haimovitz. He has been particularly noted for his large-scale interactive media projects such as the science ficton opera VALIS, the Brain Opera, and Toy Symphony, as well as for the design of creative music tools such as Hyperscore, and is currently working to launch a major initiative in Music, Mind and Health at the MIT Media Lab. In addition, Machover is working on two new operas: the “robotic” Death and the Powers, with an original libretto by U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky, and Skellig, based on the award-winning novel for young adults by David Almond.
7:00 – 10:00 p.m. (open)
Media Theatre 3
Freedom Writers: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Gang Termination
Toi B. Harris, M.D., A. John Sargent, M.D., Rev. Dennis W. Young
Freedom Writers, released in 2007, is based on a neophyte high school English teacher’s experience with minority youth in Long Beach, California. Participants acquire knowledge regarding how they can effectively interface with community partners (educators, religious and civic leaders, etc.) to identify those at risk for gang membership, and employ non-traditional strategies leading to gang prevention and termination. Dr. Harris facilitates the discussion and provides a review of the current scope of gang membership in the United States. Dr. Sargent explores the role of mental health professionals in the context of interfacing with school professionals and community leaders. Rev. Young reviews the role of religious and civic leaders in gang prevention and intervention.
Thursday, October 25
8:00 – 11:00 a.m. (open)
Media Theatre 4
We Are Dad: HIV-Positive Children and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender Parenting
R. Kaan Ozbayrak, M.D., Marshall Forstein, M.D., Warren Y.K. Ng, M.D.
We are Dad, a fascinating 2005 documentary by Michael Horvat, tells the story of two gay men raising five HIV-positive children as foster parents. As successful as they have been as foster parents, they are not legally allowed, in Florida, to adopt one of the children they have raised, when the child became HIV-negative. The state would rather take the child away from the parents who have raised the child, and make the child available for adoption by a new set of parents who are heterosexual. This Media Theatre addresses the complex issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) parenting along with a perspective of HIV-positive children and their psychosocial makeup. Dr. Ng discusses HIV-positive children, Dr. Ozbayrak looks at the planning process of becoming LGBT parents, and Dr. Forstein explores raising children as LGBT parents.
Sponsored by the AACAP HIV Issues Committee and the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Committee
2:00 – 5:00 p.m. (open)
Media Theatre 5
Smoke Signals
Eli Breger, M.D.
Winner at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998, Smoke Signals is about two Native American young male adults. Though they have lived their entire lives in a small Native American community in Idaho, they could not have less in common. One is a product of a dysfunctional family, with an alcoholic father who is abusive to the mother. The other is studious and is raised by his grandmother. This unlikely pair leaves home on what becomes an unexpected, unforgettable adventure of growing friendship, discovery, and a window into growing up Native American in contemporary America. Awareness of Native American culture for late adolescence and confliction issues of a youth leaving the reservation are discussed.
Sponsored by the AACAP Native American Child Committee
6:00 – 9:00 p.m. (open)
Media Theatre 6
Napoleon Dynamite: Kids Called Nerds
Nicholas Putnam, M.D., Peter E. Tanguay, M.D., Robert K. Crabtree, J.D.
Napoleon Dynamite, selected “Best Movie” at the 2005 MTV Movie Awards and receiving the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, has attracted a wide following of older children and adolescents who adore the characters and memorize the lines. It provides an excellent illustration of many of the challenges these children who are labeled “nerds” face by their peers, from developing and maintaining friendships, responding to bullies of all ages, and dating. Kids called nerds may actually fall somewhere in the continuum of pervasive developmental disorders. Dr. Putnam provides an overview of the treatment of “nerds” in popular culture and points out the relationship between the “nerdy” behaviors easily recognized by other children and the continuum of so-called social incompetency syndromes such as Asperger’s Disorder, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, and High Functioning Autism. Dr. Tanguay provides the wisdom of a nationally recognized expert on autism spectrum disorders and theory of mind. Mr. Crabtree, who specializes in education law and special education law, highlights the way in which the public schools currently do or do not identify and support the needs of teens like Napoleon.
Friday, October 26
8:00 – 11:00 a.m. (open)
Media Theatre 7
Swimming Upstream
Marjorie L. Shuer, M.D., FRANZCP, Lenore Terr, M.D., Tony Fingleton
This movie is an uplifting autobiographical story of Tony Fingleton’s tremedous resiliency. The film details his family’s survival of an abusive, alcoholic, and bullying father in Brisbane, Australia, in the late 50s and early 60s. Finding a talent in competitive swimming, Tony envisions a “way out” of poverty and abuse through sport. Winning the Australia Championships in the 100 meters backstroke, his hopes and dreams for an Olympic Berth are challenged by his father’s willful manipulation, pitting brother against brother in the lead up to the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games. This film also contains subtext providing discussion of psychological and physical abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the never ending quest for parental approval. Drs. Shuer and Terr discuss these various themes with participation from the audience. Tony Fingleton, the author has generously agreed to participate and discuss the making of the film and its impact on his life.
1:00 – 4:00 p.m. (open)
Media Theatre 8
C.R.A.Z.Y., Coming-of-Age Feeling Different
Edgardo J. Menvielle, M.D., M.S.H.S., Sarah E. Herbert, M.D., M.S.W.
C.R.A.Z.Y. is a wonderfully insightful coming of age story of an adolescent boy growing up in a working class French-Canadian family and struggling with his sexual orientation. The film realistically depicts the young man’s struggle to establish his identity and to work out a loving, but complicated relationship with his father. This film could be a valuable teaching tool for child and adolescent psychiatrists as well as patients struggling with similar issues. This is a very interesting and wonderful film. It provides for much discussion with the audience.
Sponsored by the AACAP Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Committee
6:30 – 9:30 p.m. (open)
Media Theatre 9
Stranger than Fiction: Narrative, the Brain and Personality Development
Aubrey Henderson, B.A., Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., Erica Ellis, M.A.
The film, Stranger than Fiction, involves the story of the three main characters whose lives become unexpectedly intertwined in a hilarious and moving manner. The film involves a male protagonist whose simple and restricted if not outright obsessive life as an IRS agent is abruptly interrupted by an internal voice that narrates not only what has happened, but what might happen next. This Media Theatre presentation offers a brief introduction to the topic and then the full length feature film is shown to the audience. The film’s coproducer, Ms. Henderson discusses the making of film and the inside view of how such a psychological portrait came to be made in mainstream Hollywood. Ms. Ellis, former film executive and now student of psychotherapy, discusses non-verbal communication and somatic states as they relate to narrative and brain development as exemplified by the characters in the film. Dr. Siegel, a child psychiatrist specializing in development, brain, and narrative processes is the discussant.
Saturday, October 27
8:00 – 11:00 a.m. (open)
Media Theatre 10
Exiles from the World: Delinquent Youths’ Perspectives from Brazil
John D. McLennan, M.D., Ph.D., Daniel Rubio, Auro Lescher, M.D., Fatima Rigato, M.D., Isabel Bordin, M.D., Ph.D.
As part of a larger research study investigating youth in conflict with the law in São Paulo, Brazil, a group of six youths who had experienced an incarceration at one of São Paulo’s infamous incarceration facilities Fundacão do Bem Estar de Menor/Foundation for the Well-being of Minors, joined the research team to develop a video aimed at capturing their unique experiences. Exilados do Mundão (Exiles of the World) is the documentary video capturing the process and outcomes of their project. The youth spent eight months learning about video making, relaying their experiences of contact with the juvenile justice system, capturing images on video and still cameras in reflection of these experiences, and editing their work. Discussion topics include questions about specific issues raised in the video, reflections on the inclusion of youth as participants in the research process, the use of video imaging as a strategy to capture perspective, and the interface of mental health and the realization of child rights, particularly for youth in conflict with the law.
