MEET OUR DC FAMILY FORUM SPEAKERS – SANDRA CUSHNER-WEINSTEIN
In this series, we will introduce you to the experts inside and outside of the HH community who will be presenting at the DC Family Forum on December 3rd.
Please meet Sandra (Sandy) Cushner-Weinstein who has a long history of designing programs, directing health organizations, and establishing non-profit agencies to serve children with chronic health conditions and their families – especially in the field of epilepsy. Currently, she serves as the Director of Services in the Department of Neurology and the Director of Brainy Camps Association at Children’s National Health Systems.
Ms. Cushner-Weinstein will be leading a roundtable discussion on Transitions – whether you are transitioning from peds to adult care, living at home to independence, milestones like driving, moving schools. What transitions is your family confronting? How are you managing them? Share your personal experience and learn from others in this facilitated discussion.
Specialty Training & Background
Ms. Cushner-Weinstein holds licenses in Clinical Social Work and Physical Therapy in several states. She is a practicing clinician who specializes in children diagnosed with neurological conditions including epilepsy and their families, and trains peer leaders. She has published several abstracts and papers and holds a faculty appointment in Pediatrics and Neurology at the George Washington University School of Medicine.
Contributions to the Field
Ms. Cushner-Weinstein is the founder and director of Brainy Camps,” a subsidiary of Children’s National, serving children with chronic health conditions including epilepsy, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, autism and transitional youth. Her work includes the development of Newly Diagnosed Seizure Clinics, educational production: “Coping with Epilepsy: From Seizures to Success” (English and Spanish), leadership of the DC Epilepsy Learning Collaborative, and serving on the Institute of Medicine Committee for the Public Health Dimensions of the Epilepsies to produce the IOM Report “Epilepsy Across the Spectrum.” Ms. Cushner-Weinstein is a principle investigator with research investigating quality of life, resiliency, adaptive coping and parenting stress among children with epilepsy and other chronic health conditions.
Prior to developing Brainy Camps, Ms. Cushner-Weinstein was the Director of the Epilepsy Foundation for the National Capital Area, when she established the first camp in the metropolitan area for the children. Ms. Cushner-Weinstein is also the founder and director of first early intervention program in Maryland, Intervention with PACT (Parents & Children Together), where the employed an interdisciplinary team of professionals and established the first mainstreamed daycare in Baltimore. The design of PACT led to an award of a demonstration project grant from the State of Maryland.
Other Leadership
Currently, Ms. Cushner-Weinstein serves on the Advisory Board of EFA and the Child Neurology Foundation Board of Directors.
Outside of work Passions
Ms. Cushner-Weinstein enjoys painting and yoga. She strives for clarity and balance and seeks beauty in nature and humanity.
What questions do you have for Ms. Cushner-Weinstein? What transitions is your HH patient or family experiencing? What strategies have you found to be most helpful?
Register and reserve your rooms for the DC Family Forum TODAY.
DC Hotels fill FAST in December – don’t delay!
To register for the Forum, click here.
To reserve a hotel room, click here.
For more information, click here.
