"Your energy and self belief really shines through and is contagious. Thank you!"

"It described wonderfully the gaps in self confidence and how to achieve the bridging of those gaps that so many of us either need and/or have experienced."

"I learned how to bring myself up to a positive mental state using your process."

"Awesome stuff! You are an inspiration."

Thursday March 7th, 7pm to 9pm, $15 per person

the industREALarts room 688 Richmond St. West, Ground Floor, Toronto M6J 1C5

Being confident is thinking and acting regardless of others. It provides us the freedom of being who we truly are and expressing ourselves to the fullest. However, achieving fulfillment in our lives requires eliminating all the fears that we have accumulated through the years. We somehow become the reflection of how others perceive us and we get lost in this distorted image of ourselves. Rather than being a reflection of our true selves, our personality becomes the reflection of our fears and doubts. And the same happens with our actions.

Marko Ferek has been lucky enough to walk in both pairs of shoes. From initially having low self-esteem, he has succeeded in building himself up by getting rid of fears and doubts that were huge social and personal drawbacks in his life. His biggest fear was public speaking. Speaking in small groups was a huge challenge for him. Today, after ten years of working on his self-confidence, he has given more than 300 talks in all kinds of venues all over the world -- something that he never thought he was capable of doing, he has become natural at.

In this workshop he will share strategies that he used to build his self confidence. This workshop has three basic steps. The first step is becoming aware of your fears. This step is all about preparing yourself for facing your fears and doubts. The second step is facing those fears. If we want to break them, we have to face them. In this step he will share strategies as well as the specific kind of mindset that he had to use to successfully face and overcome his biggest fears. The third step is one that he calls “maintenance”. As we become more confident we start to change our habits, people we interact with and the way we think. So the third step is all about maintaining our new confident selves.

Marko Ferek: "Better, worse, different" -
Workshop for teachers on ADHD

Students with ADHD face many challenges in the classroom. This workshop will help teachers to understand those challenges, and through hands-on exercises learn the best strategies.

Workshop outline

• Let me introduce myself, my school years
• Few interesting facts about ADHD
• Importance of teachers and the teaching profession
  Two real life examples and inspirational stories
  Hands-on exercise
• Daydreaming, impulsivity, intense emotions
  Classroom practices
  Hands-on exercise
• Hyperactivity
  Classroom accommodations
• Conceptual thinking, different learning styles
  Classroom practices
  Hands-on exercise
• Learning = Playing

Marko Ferek: "Hyperactive dreamers – Creative or ADHD?!"

«Hyperactive dreamers – Creative or ADHD?!» is not just another presentation. It is a mixture of stories told in a creative and powerful way showing us that not fitting in can be an advantage. Marko Ferek reveals his personal story – struggles he had as a student which led him to think he was stupid. Finding that he had ADHD changed his life. But he didn’t’ stop there. He wanted to understand himself better. Although he falls under ADHD umbrella, he realized that he doesn’t have ADHD, but a gift! He knew there were more people like him, so he called this unrecognized population hyperactive dreamers.

“Hyperactive dreamers” refers to the gifted and creative population whose creativity manifests itself in inattentive, hyperactive and impulsive behaviors. Unfortunately, until today, there is nothing out there to warn clinicians and professionals to look for creativity when ADHD is suspected. As a result, many creative and gifted children and adults are misdiagnosed with ADHD and being unnecessarily treated with medications.

Meet hyperactive dreamers through a powerful personal story – see how they think, what their basic traits are and experience the world through their eyes!

Marko Ferek: “Hyperactive dreamers in school”

“Hyperactive dreamers in school” explains creative and at the same time inattentive and hyperactive child. It give teachers an insight on how hyperactive dreamers think, what are their basic traits and most importantly – what to do next! Through my own personal story I show best practices on how to nurture creativity in children within school system. And yes, techniques and methods teachers get are better for every child they encounter, not only for hyperactive dreamers. This results in motivated teachers, motivated and engaged students and overall better class dynamic.

The workshop consists of three one-hour long exercises that, in an amusing and constructive way, show the mind of a hyperactive dreamer.



Lectures that we would like to highlight:

• Croatia: Lecture within «The Neurobiology of ADHD syndrome» course (06.-07. 05. 2005.) that was organized by the Academy for Developmental Habilitation. Lecturers were Paolo Curatolo, MD/PhD – Professor of Child Neurology and Psychiatry, Pediatric Neurosciences; MD President, Internation Child Neurology Association and Marko Ferek, Awakening Association chairman.
• Croatia: Lectures and workshops at professional meetings “Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder” organized by the Education and Teacher Training Agency of Croatia. (13.-14. 12. 2005. Zagreb, 4. 1. 2006. Osijek, 21. 4. 2006. Varaždin).
• Croatia: Lecture to students of the Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation (05.03.2007.)
• Croatia: Lectures and workshops within the project “Hyperactive dreamers - accept differences” sponsored by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (Sep.-Dec. 2007.)
• Hong Kong: Lecture "Hyperactive Dreamers: A Personal Perspective of ADHD" at F.O.C.U.S. Conference, Hong Kong: Unleashing Potential: Helping Youth Cope with Learning & Attentional Disorders (29.2. – 1.3. 2008.)
• England: Lecture "Hyperactive Dreamers" at ADDISS Conference, London: The Spirit of ADHD: Resilience, Hope, Opportunity, Success (30.03. – 01.04.2009.)
• Ireland: Lectures/trainings "Hyperactive Dreamers: Personal Experience" organized by INCADDS organization, the Irish National Council of ADHD Support Groups, in Ireland for teachers and parents for ADHD Awareness Week. (24.-25.09.2009.).
• Slovenia: Lecture "Hyperactive Dreamers: Personal Experience" at 3rd International Conference "Specific learning difficulties in youth", Bravo Organization, (01.10.-02.10.2010.)