AAGT Parent Day: Tucson Edition

Join us for a day with experts in the field of parenting gifted children.

On January 28th, 2012, we will host gifted parenting experts Dr. Edward Amend, Dr. James Webb, and Arlene DeVries for a morning of information sharing and networking.

The event is free and attendees will earn five professional growth hours.

Please RSVP on our Facebook Event Site.

Our speakers are authors of the book A Parent's Guide to Gifted Children and are nationally recognized scholars in the field of the social and emotional needs of the gifted.



Dr. Ed Amend
Edward R. Amend, Psy.D., is a Clinical Psychologist at Amend Psychological Services, PSC, his private practice in Lexington, Kentucky, with a satellite office in Blue Ash, Ohio, where he focuses on the social, emotional, and educational needs of gifted and talented youth and their families. Dr. Amend is licensed to provide psychological services in both Kentucky and Ohio. He has worked in both private practice and community mental health settings, as well as in consulting positions with clinics and hospitals.

Dr. Amend provides evaluations and therapy for a variety of special needs populations, including gifted children and adolescents, children with learning disabilities and attention disorders, and twice-exceptional children. He facilitates both child and parent discussion and education groups and offers consultation and training for school personnel. He is a frequent presenter at state and national conferences. He addresses issues including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and other common misdiagnoses, as well as underachievement, perfectionism, educational planning, and social/emotional needs of gifted.

Dr. Amend served on the Board of Directors of SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted) for five years and has been Secretary-Treasurer of that body. He served as a District Representative for the Kentucky Association for Gifted Education (KAGE) Board of Directors for six years and is Past-President of KAGE. He served as Chair for the National Association for Gifted Children Counseling and Guidance Division and remains active in the association. Dr. Amend is a consultant for the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), APA’s Division 53 (Child-Clinical Psychology), and the Kentucky Psychological Association. He served as a contributing editor for Roeper Review, a journal for gifted education, from April 2000 through December 2003.

Born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, Dr. Amend graduated with highest honor from Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. He completed his doctoral training at the Wright State University School of Professional Psychology in Dayton, Ohio, where he worked under the supervision of Dr. James Webb. He completed his internship/residency at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, where he served as chief intern.

Dr. Jim Webb
James T. Webb, Ph.D., ABPP-Cl, has been recognized as one of the 25 most influential psychologists nationally on gifted education, and he consults with schools, programs, and individuals about the social and emotional needs of gifted and talented children. In 1981, Dr. Webb established SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted), a national non-profit organization that provides information, training, conferences, and workshops to parents and educators of gifted children, and he remains as Chair of SENG’s Professional Advisory Committee.

A frequent keynote and workshop speaker at state and national conventions, Dr. Webb, a licensed and board-certified psychologist, has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, The Phil Donahue Show, CNN, and National Public Radio. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, he served for three years on its governing body, the Council of Representatives. Dr. Webb is also a Fellow of the Society of Pediatric Psychology and the Society for Personality Assessment. In 1992, he received the Heiser Presidential Award for Advocacy by the American Psychological Association, and also the National Award for Excellence, Senior Investigator Division, from the Mensa Education and Research Foundation. He has served on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Gifted Children and was President of the American Association for Gifted Children. Currently, Dr. Webb is President of Great Potential Press, Inc.

Dr. Webb was President of the Ohio Psychological Association from 1974 to 1975 and a member of its Board of Trustees for seven years. He has been in private practice, as well as in various consulting positions with clinics and hospitals. In 1978, Dr. Webb was one of the founders of the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, and from 1978 to 1995, he was a Professor and Associate Dean. Previously, Dr. Webb directed the Department of Psychology at the Children’s Medical Center in Dayton and was Associate Clinical Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Wright State University School of Medicine. From 1970 to 1975, Dr. Webb was on the graduate faculty in psychology at Ohio University.

Dr. Webb is the lead author of Guiding the Gifted Child, which sold more than 125,000 copies, has been translated into several languages, and won the National Media Award of the American Psychological Association as the best book for “significantly contributing to the understanding of the unique, sensitive, emotional needs of exceptional children.” His books Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults, A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children, and Grandparents’ Guide to Gifted Children have won numerous book awards.  In addition, Dr. Webb has authored more than 70 professional publications, 15 books, three videos, and many research papers for psychology conventions or conferences regarding gifted and talented children.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Webb graduated from Rhodes College and received his doctorate degree from the University of Alabama. Dr. Webb is the parent of six daughters.

Ms. Arlene DeVries
Arlene DeVries, a private consultant in gifted education, retired after 24 years as a consultant with the Des Moines Public Schools gifted/talented program. She recently completed nine years as a member of the board of directors of the National Association for Gifted Children, serving for many years as chair of their Parent-Community Division and was instrumental in launching their magazine, Parenting for High Potential.  She is Past President of Iowa Talented and Gifted Association and the 2003 recipient of their Distinguished Service Award. She was president of SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted) and continues to serve on their editorial review board.  In 2009 SENG awarded her their outstanding leadership award for promoting the social and emotional needs of gifted children. In 2005 she received the Drake University School of Education Outstanding Alumni Award. She currently is an Adjunct Professor at Drake University, teaching an on-line class, Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted. Arlene DeVries is a frequent presenter at state, national and world conferences including presentations in The Hague, Toronto, Hong Kong, Barcelona and Adelaide, Australia. She has facilitated more than seventy ten-week series of guided discussion groups for parents and trains facilitators across the country to lead the SENG model parent groups. She is co-author of two books published by Great Potential Press: Gifted Parent Groups: The SENG Model (Second Edition), and A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children.