2. “You Talkin’ to Me?” ADOLESCENCE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE Herschella G. Conyers University of Chicago Law School

3. COMMUNICATING WITH THE YOUNG CLIENT

4. STATED vs BEST INTEREST STATED: Client Autonomy Client Control BEST: Client Protection External Control

5. BARRIERS TO UNDERSTANDING Time pressures Legal language Expectations of rational thought Emotionally charged content Lack of emotional vocabulary Client stressors Outside Influences Processing Deficits

6. CLIENT PRE- & MIS- CONCEPTIONS LAWYER Teacher Social Worker Parent Accomplice CLIENT Student Object/Non-agent Child Manipulator

7. TIME PRESSURES Didn’t I just say that (Re)Focusing the client Repetition Charts Homework

8. LEGAL LANGUAGE Deliberately inaccessible Non-intuitive Ambiguous

9. EXPECTATIONS OF RATIONAL THOUGHT Adolescent Brain Development Roper v. Simmons Impulsivity Lack of judgment

10. ACCOUNTABILITY I am not my brother’s keeper

11. EMOTIONALLY CHARGED CONTENT Accusations Death/Sex/Morality Consequences

12. LACK OF EMOTIONAL VOCABULARY Children are seen and not heard “ I just snapped “ Whatever 12

13. CLIENT STRESSORS Parental disapproval Removal from home Peer relationships Self-protection/Identity Unarticulated trauma/PTSD

14. OUTSIDE INFLUENCES Parents/guardians DCFS School officials Mental Health Providers/Assessors

15. PROCESSING DEFICITS Stressors Cognitive impairments Educational deficits Technology as artificial intelligence/communication

18. CULTURAL COMPETENCIES A.Becoming fluent in poverty B.Mi casa, su casa (not so much) C.“Normalizing” pathology D.“Pathologizing” normal E.Compared to What? F.The Bad Girls Club

19. But I’m Not Your Mother/Father