Abstract
The authors collaborated and shared equal responsibility in all aspects of the development of this project, which reviews current research on pediatric bipolar disorder and how it presents in the school setting. The motivating force for creating this workshop was observations from working with school psychologists, behavior specialists, and teachers working in public schools who struggle with understanding students that have symptoms consistent with or have been diagnosed with pediatric bipolar disorder. Teachers, administrators, and practicing school psychologists lack resources when faced with the challenges of helping to manage the symptoms of the disorder in the school setting. The goal of this project is to help teachers, administrators, and school psychologists to first, understand and recognize how pediatric bipolar disorder presents in the classroom and secondly, to understand the need for a team approach in order to develop the best appropriate educational environment for these students to be successful both academically and emotionally. The prepared project is a six-hour training workshop with a presenter’s manual, slides, presenter notes, and a reference handout. Any school psychologist can train a target audience of teachers, administrators, and school psychologists working in schools. Workshop participants will actively participate through discussions and activities to further their understanding of working with this complex population of students.