Junior Genius hold Mental Health and Wellness Summit
OVER 90 people attended a Children’s Mental Health and Wellness Summit at Junior Genius Childcare in Baldonnell last Saturday, May 20.
The event was organised by Junior Genius Global and featured guest speakers including Dr Sergio Pecorelli, Dr Mary O’Kane, and Julie Mallon who talked about the importance of early years education.
Christine Clinton, chairperson of the Wellness for Children Initiative and co-founder Junior Genius Global, told The Echo that she received positive feedback about the summit.
“Our speakers were very well received with people coming in from the USA, the UK, the UAE, and Italy,” she said.
“Many people said they had little or no understanding about the importance of preconception health and how that impacts the mental health of the child.
“Attendees were very pleased to hear that Minister Roderic O’Gorman has increased the budget for early years development and is currently trialling wellness programs around the country.
“Everyone enjoyed the high energy of Dr Mary O’Kane and the engaging Emer Higgins TD.”
A highlight of the event included a presentation to a seven-year-old, non-verbal autistic boy called Max who previously participated in a docuseries about wellness in children.
“Last summer, Junior genius childcare conducted a study on the benefits of music for children over a six-week period,” said Ms Clinton.
“The BBC came to the school to record the outcome of the study. We had a particular focus on seven-year-old Max, a non-verbal autistic boy.
“Freddie Moross, founder of Myndstream in the UK who commissioned the piece, was in attendance too.
“The docuseries, ‘In Pursuit of Wellness’, has since won an international award and so we invited Max back to receive some balloons, which he loves, and a new headset.
“The company who provided the special headsets, Avid products flew their director of sales in from Boston to attend the event also.”
Ms Clinton added that she hoped the attendees learned something new at the symposium, particularly about brain development in children’s formative years.
