Ms. Fialka has worked professionally in the field of adolescent health care for more than 30 years, as a social worker, educator, consultant, administrator, grant writer, and trainer. From 1986 through 1998, she was the director of the Taylor Teen Health Center, which she co-founded. In 1992 she expanded her professional work to include consultation and speaking to professionals and parents of children with special needs. She combines her personal experience as a mother of a 21-year-old son who has developmental disabilities and her professional expertise as a social worker, trainer, and national speaker. Janice was a member of the Michigan Special Education Advisory Committee (2003-2006) and is a current Member of the Advisory Board of Everyone Together (www.everyonetogether.org ). Janice is a Reviewer for Young Exceptional Children (YEC), a publication of Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

Currently Ms. Fialka is the Special Projects Trainer for Michigan’s Early On ® Training and Technical Assistance (Part C of IDEA). In this role, Janice has co-authored and facilitates a four part training titled, Knowing Ourselves and Connecting with Families which uses the principles of reflective practice and relationship-based work when working with families of young children who are challenged by mental illness, cognitive impairments, and/or unstable living conditions. Ms. Fialka has provided the keynote address at numerous conferences throughout the country. In her talk, The Dance of Partnership: Why Do My Feet Hurt? she addresses the unique dimensions which challenge the partnership between professionals and parents of children with special needs.

Conferences at which Ms. Fialka has provided the keynote address:

• California: Annual Early Start Symposium in Stockton
• Colorado: Consortium of Intensive Care Nurseries Conference
• Georgia: International Parent to Parent Conference in Atlanta
• Georgia: Walton Rehabilitation Hospital Professional Conference
• Idaho: Parent-Professional Partnership Training at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Boise
• Idaho: Parents Unlimited Conference
• llinois: Project Choices LRE Institute 2007 (forthcoming)
• Illinois: Easter Seal Society Professional Training Conference
• Indiana: Indiana Resource Center 's Annual Conference 2206 (forthcoming)
• Iowa: Parent-to-Parent Conference
• Iowa: Parent-Educator Conference, Iowa Department of Education
• Kansas: Division for Early Childhood Conference
• Louisiana: International Early Childhood Conference on Children with Special Needs (DEC of CEC) in New Orleans
• Maryland: Howard County Down Syndrome Resource Network and The Arc of Howard County Creating Community Classrooms Conference
• Michigan: Eastern Michigan University 's Best Practice 2006 Conference
• Michigan: MDCH Children’s Special Health Care Services Conference
• Michigan: Early On (Part C) conferences
• Michigan: Midwest School Social Workers Conference
• Michigan: Summer 2002 Transition Institute
• Michigan: Association of School Nurses 2002 Annual Conference
• Michigan: JARC’s 2002 Annual Meeting
• Michigan: Grand Valley State University’s START Conference in Grand Rapids
• Minnesota: Midwest Consortium for Faculty Development Part C Training Institute
• Minnesota: ParentCare Conference
• Missouri: Partnerships for Progress Conference sponsored by the MO Department of Elementary
• New Mexico: Zero to Three Training Institute 2006 (forthcoming)
• North Dakota: Early Intervention Conference
• Oklahoma: Governor's Conference on Developmental Disabilities 2006
• Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Public Schools – Summer Institute
• South Carolina: Early Intervention Conference sponsored by the South Carolina University Affiliated Program
• Tennessee: CEC Joint Conference on Disabilities
• Tennessee: LRE for LIFE- University of Tennessee
• Tennessee : Annual State Special Education Conference.
  Jackson-Madison County Special Education Institute 2004
• Texas: Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention
• Utah: Conference on Effective Practices in Special Education
• Virginia: Children’s Hospital Chronic Illness Conference in Norfolk
• Virginia: New Horizon’s Conference
• Virginia: Department of Education-Early Intervention Conference
• Washington, D.C.: Association for the Care of Children's Health Conference
• West Virginia: Interagency Coordinating Council for Part C Annual Retreat Secondary Education
• West Virginia: Annual Early Childhood Conference
• Wisconsin: 2006 Children Come First Conference
• Wisconsin: Plenary for TASH Conference 2005 (Milwaukee)
• Wisconsin: School District Early Intervention Conference in Madison
• Wisconsin: Department of Public Instruction – Superintendent’s Leadership Conference on Special Education
• Wisconsin: Circles of Life Conference, Oconomowoc
• Wisconsin: Milwaukee Children's Hospital - Special Needs Family Center -- Anniversary Celebration 2005
• Edmonton, Alberta, Canada : Whole Schooling Consortium Conference 2005
• Ontario, Canada: Family Alliance Conference
• Windsor, Ontario, Canada: Integration Action for Inclusion's Annual Conference

Ms.Fialka and her son Micah presented on the "Power of Peer Support: Making Inclusion Work in High School" at several conferences:

• International Parent to Parent Conference in PA
• Summer 2002 Transition Institute in Michigan
• Michigan Inclusion Network Conference.

She & Micah also provided the keynote “The Ride of Our Lives: Staying on the road even when we had no idea where we were headed!” at the 2004 Parent-Educator Conference for the Iowa Department of Education. With her teenage daughter, Emma, she facilitates sibling groups for young people who have a brother or sister with special needs.

Day-long workshops for Michigan-based programs:

• Kalamazoo Community Mental Health
• CAUSE
• Mott Children’s Health Center
• Southwest Detroit Developmental and Counseling Agency
• St. Joseph’s Community Mental Health
• Kalamazoo Child Care Resources
• Montcalm Area ISD
• Michigan Association of Teachers of Emotionally Disturbed Children
• Michigan Wrap-Around Programs
• Arc of St. Clair County
• Oakland County Youth Assistance

Ms. Fialka has presented workshops for the following Michigan school districts:

Allen Park, Birmingham, Clare-Gladwin Regional Education Service District, Eaton ISD, Genesee ISD, Grosse Pointe, Holland, Ingham ISD, Jackson, Lenawee ISD, Monroe, Saginaw, Saline, Van Buren ISD, and Visions Unlimited-Farmington Schools, Washtenaw ISD, and Waterford ISD.

Out-of-state workshops include:

• California: San Joaquin County Office of Education
• Indiana: State Health Department
• Iowa: Cedar Rapids Schools
• Kansas: Topeka Public Schools
• Maryland, Baltimore: CEC Pre-Institute
• New Jersey:-Department of Health-Early Intervention Training
• New York: NY City’s Early Intervention Programs Professional Development
• Ohio: Northwest Ohio’s Special Education Regional Center
• Ontario, Canada: Family Respite Services of Windsor
• Tennesee: Transition Academy for Rutherford County Board of Education
• Tennesee, Knoxville : Special Education Professional Development
• Wisconsin: Madison School District
• Wisconsin: Parents in Partnership Facilitators Retreat
• Wisconsin: Family Voices – Parent Leaders Retreat

She has conducted numerous workshops and staff retreats on special needs issues to such audiences as:

• Children’s Services of Illinois
• Family Resource Network, Stockton, CA
• Merrill Palmer Institute
• Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council
• Michigan State University’s Partners In Care Conference
• Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health Conference
• Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education MAASE)
• Oakland County Head Start Program
• 26^th International Symposium on Social Work with Groups, 2004
• Annual TASH Conference (“Opening Doors to Postsecondary Education: The Need for Planning, Collaboration, and Evaluation”)
• Numerous parent and school groups and conferences

Honors:

• In 1992 Janice was honored by the Michigan Legislature for outstanding contributions in the field of social work. 
• Janice and her husband, Rich Feldman, received the Besere Velt (Better World) Award from Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring of Michigan in 2005.  

Ms. Fialka has co-taught graduate and undergraduate classes at Wayne State University in the School of Social Work and the School of Education.

For Janice's publications