Students are more anxious than ever in school, even with more calming corners and sensory breaks than ever. But what if the issue is tied to executive dysfunction?
School-based SLPs, social workers, and psychologists supporting anxious students need to know the relationship between executive functioning and nervousness about new tasks so they can intervene.
When a student is walking into an experience they haven’t been successful with before and can’t picture how it will go, being told to breathe and count to 10 doesn’t address the root cause.
In this video, I share a story about a student who had meltdowns almost every day transitioning from the library to music, and why stress balls and talking about it weren’t enough.
You’ll learn what he needed instead, why it wasn’t just a stress relief or sensory strategy.
I’ll also share why executive dysfunction and anxiety often present at the same time, and why providing executive functioning interventions can help reduce nervousness about school when other calming strategies and mental health interventions aren’t working.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdJRBnQZ6RE
CHAPTERS
[0:00] Why are students more anxious than ever?
[0:40] Are sensory breaks, calming strategies, and self-care enough to address the root cause?
[1:25] Why we’re often still anxious about certain situations, even though we’re doing self-care
[1:40] Case story of student who was melting down, but wouldn’t talk about
[3:15] The “anxiety management” strategy clinicians often miss
[3:55] The impact of situational awareness on managing unfamiliar situations
[5:01] Anxiety or executive functioning: Which do you target first?
[5:50] How planning, preparing, monitoring, evaluating, and debriefing reduce anxiety
[8:00] How to tell if you should work on executive functioning with nervous students
WATCH NEXT
▶️ Your Anxious Students Need THIS More Than Reassurance And Empty Praise: https://youtu.be/V2Yw_Pm3u4s
RESOURCES / LINKS
▶️ Task Planning & Execution Protocol: https://drkarenspeech.lpages.co/task-planning-execution-protocol-26-yt-1/
👉 Free training: How to Be Evidence-Based and Neurodiversity-Affirming by Supporting Executive Functioning: https://drkarenspeech.lpages.co/executive-functioning-support-school-clinicians-26-2-yt/
Executive Functioning Implementation Guide for Schools: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efguide
Learn how hundreds of clinicians are building scalable executive functioning interventions in the School of Clinical Leadership: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership
