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Speaking/Consultation Areas: Straight Talk about the Angry, Aggressive, and Violent Student; Physical Intervention Support Techniques for De-Escalating the Physically Aggressive Student; Section 504 Implementation; Crisis Intervention Support Teams

Presentation Style: Animated and dynamic, entertaining, exciting, hands-on demonstrations, anecdotes from experience, humorous stories.

Dr. Terry Smith is Director of Special Education at the Regional Educational Services Agency II in Huntington, West Virginia. He is also the author of the recent book De-Escalating the Physically Aggressive Student. He is a 26-year education veteran and holds a Doctor of Special Education degree from Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University (Virginia Tech).

Dr. Smith draws from a richly varied education background, including regular education, special education, and mental health. Leadership positions he has held over the last two and a half decades, at local, regional, and state levels, include such titles as Director of Special Education, Director of Education, and Director of Interagency Collaboration and Training Services.

Dr. Smith developed his unique approach to physical intervention support techniques by combining a solid foundation in educational training with a background in martial arts, including karate, judo, jujitsu, grappling, kick boxing, wrestling, boxing, and self-defense. Sessions in this topic area provide participants with physical support techniques for de-escalating the angry, aggressive and violent student. These are support and release techniques rather than counter self-defense maneuvers. Derived from established public school wrestling methods and martial arts practices, the techniques include body stance, forward/backward guiding, finger releases, biting release, hair grab release, one/two hand choke releases, and numerous others. These sessions typically also include dramatic martial arts demonstrations, including bare-hand breaking of boards and cinder blocks.

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