Jenna Smith is a licensed special education teacher, Certified Nonprofit Professional, and the founder of Every Child Advocating & Consulting, LLC, as well as the nonprofit Every Child Advocacy Foundation. For more than a decade, Jenna has supported children and adults with disabilities across educational, behavioral, medical, and community settings, specializing in complex needs, sensory-based behavior, trauma-informed practice, and neurodiversity-affirming support.
Jenna is also the single mother of three autistic children—each with multiple disabilities, sensory needs, and individualized education plans. Her journey navigating evaluations, long diagnostic waitlists, crisis behaviors, and fragmented systems has given her a deeply personal understanding of the challenges families face when accessing preventative and medical care, including dental visits.
She blends her professional expertise with lived experience, offering practical, compassionate insights to help professionals work more effectively and safely with autistic individuals.
She holds a Master’s Degree in Teaching Special Education (K–12) from Liberty University and is completing a second graduate specialization in Early Childhood Special Education through Radford University. Jenna also earned her Bachelor of Science from Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a minor in Nonprofit Management. She holds a Postgraduate Professional License in Special Education (K–12) and a Provisional License in Early Childhood Special Education in Virginia, and she provides consulting, training, and advocacy services nationwide.
Through her work, Jenna is dedicated to helping families feel seen and supported—and to helping professionals create environments where autistic children and adults can feel safe, respected, and understood.
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Introduction: This course provides dental professionals with a comprehensive, trauma-informed overview of autism and how neurological differences influence sensory processing, communication, behavior, and safety. Participants will learn practical, neurodiversity-affirming strategies for supporting autistic children and adults before, during, and after preventative dental care. The presentation includes guidance on communication for verbal and non-verbal patients, sensory considerations within the dental environment, behavioral and emotional regulation, and methods to reduce anxiety and increase patient trust.
Because preventative care does not begin and end in the dental chair, this course also expands these principles into community settings—helping professionals understand how sensory-informed, supportive approaches can enhance inclusion, safety, and accessibility across environments. Jenna integrates both her professional expertise and her lived experience raising three autistic children, offering real-world insight and immediately usable strategies that empower professionals and families alike.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Explain foundational characteristics of autism—including communication differences, sensory processing needs, and emotional regulation—and how these factors influence patient experience during preventative dental care.
2. Apply trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming communication strategies to support autistic patients who are verbal, non-verbal, or minimally verbal, as well as their caregivers, in order to reduce fear and enhance cooperation.
3. Identify common sensory triggers in dental and community settings and implement practical accommodations such as visual supports, environmental modifications, and proactive scripts to increase safety, predictability, and patient success.
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To register and pay online go to: https://vdha.wildapricot.org/event-6433520
Please register by Friday, January 2, 2026 (ONLY CREDIT / DEBIT CARDS ACCEPTED)
*Use the same email address you registered with for the day of the event.
Course Fee: ADHA / VDHA Member - $15.00
Current SCADHA Member - FREE
Non ADHA Member - $30.00
Earn (1) CE credit hour by attending this event in its entirety.
No refund for cancellation one week prior to course date. Course will begin promptly at posted time. Northwest Dental Hygienists' Component is an approved course provider by the Virginia Board of Dentistry.
If you have any questions, contact:
Susan Daugherty, BS, RDH
Northwest Dental Hygienists' Component, CE Chairperson
Email - Flossy3511@aol.com
