Many K-12 professionals see behaviors considered to be defiant or lazy, even though classroom management systems are in place. That’s because behavior charts don’t support students’ executive functioning, and they’re often too abstract to help motivate kids through discomfort or learning curves. They also don’t support important skills such as time-perception, episodic memory, future pacing,…
Category: Executive Functioning
What does it mean to be neurodiversity-affirming?
I often get the question, “How can I be evidence-based AND neurodiversity-affirming?” The two things aren’t opposed to each other if we support the right skills. In this video, I share a clip from my free training and define what it actually means to be neurodiversity-affirming. It does NOT mean that we have to agree…
Why don’t timers improve my students’ time-management skills?
When kids have a poor sense of time, the common response is to give them a planner or some kind of a timer. While these tools may be a part of your strategy, they don’t address time-blindness. Time-blindness is a hallmark characteristic of executive functioning issues, and external devices (especially if they’re digital) don’t teach…
Why aren’t checklists and planners helping my students be more organized?
Some students continue to miss assignments and struggle to keep up with the pace in class despite being given organizing tools. This is because they’re experiencing executive dysfunction. While organizers and planners can help some of us stay on top of our work, they don’t actually teach the internal mental processes needed to complete multi-step…
3 problems with ADHD and ASD intervention (and what to do instead)
SLPs, educators, and parents of neurodivergents usually want to help kids as much as possible so they can lead successful, productive, happy lives. I know that’s always been my goal as a therapist and as a parent. That’s why I decided to become an SLP…and it’s also why I went back and got my doctorate…
Parent and Educator Guide to Executive Functions
A lot of people think executive functioning skills are just about “being more organized”…but there’s a lot more to it than that. Executive functioning skills enable us to engage in productive behavior towards a specific goal. They help us focus, figure out specific steps to take, and then do those steps in a reasonable amount…
Here’s how to help parents follow through with speech homework
Knowing exactly how to support parents can be tricky, especially when you’re concerned that people won’t follow through with their “speech homework”. What most people don’t realize is that when homework isn’t getting done, it’s often NOT a lack of motivation. Many parents I’ve worked with have expressed how overwhelmed they are when getting their…
Improving attention span: The skill most people miss
Attention issues have gotten more and more prevalent in today’s world. There’s a lot of information out there about how to improve your child’s attention span. That can be a lot for parents to sift through-especially when come of the interventions are quite controversial. What most people don’t realize is that attention is a SKILL….