The UC Davis MIND Institute and California State University, Sacramento, will share with area educators, health-care providers and parents the latest information on research and treatments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism in a three-day workshop Aug. 2, 3 and 4.

"The need for best-practices training in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders is significant," said John Brown, UC Davis MIND Institute education outreach coordinator.

"Professionals attending this conference will benefit from comprehensive, up-to-date information about the latest techniques for assessing and treating neurodevelopmental disorders. Our goal is to help teachers and health-care providers to increase their ability to provide more effective programs and treatments."

Key speakers at the "Neurodevelopmental Disorders: From Research to Practice" conference include Bryna Siegel, director, Autism Clinic, Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California, San Francisco, on assessment, diagnosis and autistic learning disabilities; Larry Silver, president of the National Learning Disabilities Association, on neurologically-based disorders frequently seen in children with learning disabilities; and William McMahon, associate professor of psychiatry at University of Utah, on biomarkers and Tourette's syndrome. Other speakers include:

* Kenneth Pugh, associate professor of pediatrics at Yale University School of Medicine, who will talk about brain-behavior links, and neuroimaging and reading.

* Randi Hagerman, medical director of the MIND Institute and the Tsakopoulos-Vismara professor at UC Davis School of Medicine, who will address the diagnosis and treatment of children with fetal alcohol syndrome and research on fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of mental retardation.

* Robert Hendren, MIND Institute executive director and chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at UC Davis, who will talk about strategies for pharmacological treatments.

The conference will be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 2 and 3, and from 8 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Aug. 4 at the CSUS University Ballroom.

General registration for all three days is $235. One- and two-day registration fees are also available. Discounts are available to university faculty and staff. Continuing education credits will be offered to teachers, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and speech, language and physical therapists.

The UC Davis MIND Institute was founded in 1998 as a unique interdisciplinary organization of parents, community leaders, researchers, clinicians and volunteers to study and treat autism, fragile X syndrome, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, Tourette's syndrome, Asperger's syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders.