Fiona Zecca is an early childhood development specialist, whose expertise is in social emotional learning, sensory regulation, and the integration of general and special education.  A teacher, consultant, mentor and parent, Fiona has worked with thousands of children, their families and teachers for over 30 years, on adaptations and strategies to support young people who experience challenges at home and/or school; her personable, warm and compassionate approach encourages child skill development and increases potential in all developmental areas and stages.  Fiona has a B.S. in Special Education from New York University and a M.A. in Early Childhood Special Education from San Francisco State University. Credentialed in California state for preschool through 12th grade, Fiona has worked for The Assessment Center at San Francisco Unified School District to assess and effectively resource families with essential additional supports. While working for SFUSD, Fiona also created and implemented the first and only fully-integrated (inclusion) special and general education preschool program for the district.  Sixteen years ago,  Fiona co-founded and created Sensory Social Playgroups (sensorysocialplaygroups.com),  a unique  culturally and individually responsive prosocial skills play group program that focuses  on regulation strategies, communication skills and prosocial behaviors within dynamic contexts within a social emotional learning curriculum. Fiona presents at many school staff development workshops and parent education programs on topics including recognizing a child's sensory profile, regulation strategies, and overall tools and strategies for challenging behaviors/responses. Not only does her approach mitigate difficult behaviors, it encourages children to connect and communicate in ways that lead to more authentic connection and joyful relationships.