Karen Tompkins | SpeakerHub

Personal Details

Current position (2)

Founder/ CEO

MoveON with Karen Tompkins

Board Member

Murchadha House for Those With Exceptional Needs

Degrees (2)

Master of Education

University of Windsor

2022

BAhonours: Drama in Education

University of Windsor

1985 to 1989

Bio

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The whole story...

When my first child was born she stopped breathing. Yes, she did survive—but it kept happening. Three years later we learned she was missing a part of her brain that controlled breathing. I desperately wanted to fix her and I didn’t know how. A band aid wasn’t going to be enough.

It became my mission to learn all things neuroscience. Drawing on my 30 years’ experience as a teacher and curriculum developer I hunted down knowledge in universities across Canada and the States. You can probably guess that my baby shower gifts didn’t include a manual on rare brain disorders.

You know what I learned?

We can outsmart our brains. We can trick our brains into helping us live better.

When it comes to human behaviour we may not even know why we are reacting a certain way. Too often behaviours caused by anger and anxiety issues can destroy a work environment. Your whole work team may be walking on eggshells hoping they don’t say the wrong thing to one person. But that can change.

It’s been my joy over 20 years to be the keynote speaker or workshop facilitator to groups learning the benefits of applying the principles of neuroscience. These simple but effective techniques have been used by organizations like the University of Windsor, the Greater Essex District School Board, the OSSTF and the Council of Exceptional Children.

Countless participants say they have discovered their calmer, more effective and even more likeable selves. They become champions of healthy thinking, restoring harmony to their families and work teams.

It’s unfair but people with intrusive behaviours often get judged harshly in this world. As a past-president of the International Joubert Syndrome Foundation I advocated for sufferers of brain-behaviour problems like my daughter. Advocacy—driven by compassion and science—is still a part of my work today.

Remember, your brain has a mind of its own but you can outsmart it.

The short version...

Karen’s mission is to create an environment where differences are expected rather than the exception. Karen was part of WordFestLive 2022 last March and has been an invited speaker and presenter at the Canadian Organization of Rare Disorder’s National Conference as well as the Moracle Foundation in England. Karen is the author of the children’s book Different is Just… Different as well as Purple Stew (a parenting guide). She has facilitated workshops for international drama conferences and several universities and teacher conferences. She is currently a sessional instructor at the University of Windsor in the Faculty of Education.

Presentations

Presentations (4)

Label of Care

Children don’t come with a comprehensive instruction manual… and some children’s needs are not discussed in the mainstream parenting books. Karen shares her poignant story of navigating the medical and educational systems for her daughter’s rare disorder. Participants will leave with tools to develop a ‘label of care’ for themselves or the people they support.

MoveON: Understanding Anger and Anxiety

It is very difficult to make rational decisions when you are in fight-flight-fight mode. Our neurochemistry is designed to keep us focused on solving the problem that is causing the stress… which is great if the problem is almost getting hit by a truck… that problem goes away. Not so great if the problem isn’t yours to resolve--- work environment; negative relationships, etc. There are concrete ways, backed by research, to increase the serotonin in your system to help you think clearly again.

Transforming the effects of anger and anxiety, one brain at a time.

Anxiety, and its close friend anger, seems to be unavoidable in today’s world. This session will explore specific techniques, backed by current research, designed to re-set your neurochemistry so that your body and brain can take a break from trying to solve problems that are out of your control. After learning how your brain reacts to stress, participants will leave with activities to ‘trick your brain’ so you can rest. It’s time to step back from that ‘red line zone’ to calmly and clearly process your day.

Are You in Tune?

Have you ever had a joke fall flat? Or a sharp comment thrown at you? This keynote explores reasons why our conversations are sometimes out of tune. Karen will teach you simple activities to help calm your brain so that you can focus on staying in harmony with your team’s communications.

Workshops (1)

*created specifically for your group's objectives.

90 minutes

various

Past talks (5)

MoveON: Understanding Anger and Anxiety

25th International Families and Fathers Conference

Los Angeles, CA

April 24, 2024

Label of Care; MoveON: Understanding Anger and Anxiety

Wyoming Department of Developmental Disabilities

Cheyenne, Wyoming

September 19, 2024

MoveON: Dealing with Anger and Anxiety

Teachers for Inclusive Education: Conference

British Columbia (on line)

October 21, 2022

Transforming the Effects of Anger and Anxiety, One Brain at a Time

Moracle Foundation: Weekly Webinar

England (on-line)

July 28, 2022

MoveON: Dealing with Anger and Anxiety

Michigan Department of Early Childhood: Conference

Michigan, USA (on-line)

May 27, 2022

All (3)
Videos
Photos (1)
Slides (1)
One sheet (1)

This speaker hasn't uploaded any videos yet.

Transforming Anger and Anxiety One Brain at a Time: An Overview of Sensory Processing

Transforming the effects of anger and anxiety, one brain at a time.

This speaker hasn't uploaded any press information yet.

Expertise (11)

Clients

Ontario Secondary Schools Teacher Federation

The Moracle Foundation (UK)

Michigan Department of Early Childhood (MiDEC)

Wyoming Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities

Canadian Organization of Rare Disorders (CORD)

Teachers for Inclusive Education of British Columbia (TIEBC)

WordFest Live 2022 (International)

Council for Exceptional Children (Ontario, Canada)

Awards & certifications (2)

Chapter Award: enhancing the lives of children with exceptionalities.

Council for Exceptional Children

2022

Award of Merit

Ontario Secondary School Teacher Federation

2019

Reviews

Testimonials (1)

During Mental Health Awareness Week to highlight the theme anxiety, Karen provided a fascinating insight that helped to better understand our own mental health and try to rationalise the many thoughts and feelings we can have. Thank you for delivering a highly successful webinar to all our employees here at Open GI Limited.
Lin Lloyd
Verified