NASPDTS President Charlie Hood announced today author and columnist Lenore Skenazy will speak to members and attendees during the association's annual meeting, scheduled this year for Portland, Ore.

Skenazy will present "Why Does an Old-Fashioned Childhood Sound So Radical?" Hood explained that the talk centers on "well-researched facts and statistics on just how safe children in the US really are these days, presented in a comical, entertaining way."

"If you’re a parent you may come away better informed and with a little less paranoia," Hood added. "And we know that she is already tailoring her presentation to the issues we face in student transportation."

Skenazy is a former columnist for The New York Sun until it closed in 2008. Previously she was with the New York Daily News for 14 years before and before that worked for NPR and Mad Magazine. She also wrote “Free-Range Kids: How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children Without Going Nuts with Worry” and has appeared on Dr. Phil, The View, The Today Show, NPR, Good Morning America, Nightline, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Early Show, CNN, FoxNews, the BBC and CBC.

Currently she is a synidcated columnist appearing in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. She also blogs and speaks to groups domestically and internationally.

Her address will take place Oct. 29 at 9:45 a.m. PST at the Doubletree Hotel in Portland. More in formation on the NASDPTS meeting is online.