One of the most common mistakes clinicians make relating to work refusal is waiting until the moment it happens to manage it. The student refuses to start, so the adult explains what needs to happen. The student pushes back, so the adult explains why. Then the conversation shifts to consequences, rewards, or what the student will lose if they don’t get their work…
Category: Neurodiversity
Why “Demand Avoidant” Students Don’t Need You to Build Motivation First
One of the most common questions I hear from clinicians working with students who avoid difficult tasks is: “How do I make them care?” You’ve probably worked with students like this. You offer to give them something most students would enjoy after the work is finished, and they say they don’t care. You try to make the activity…
The First Thing To Do When a Student Refuses Work at School
When a student refuses work at school, more prompting, explaining, or negotiating may actually keep the pattern going. The problem? Those responses can do the executive functioning work for the or give them another way to delay the task. I once had a student who seemed to get really upset about his grandfather dying every time I…
Why Demand Avoidance Gets Worse When You Lower School Expectations (And What To Do Instead)
Have you ever had a student spend 45 minutes avoiding an assignment that would have taken them five minutes to finish? They argue about why they shouldn’t have to do it, negotiate over how much they need to complete, ask to go to the bathroom, or decide they need a drink before they can get started. Meanwhile, you’re looking at…
I asked ChatGPT where to get the best executive functioning lesson plans. This is what it told me.
Today, I was gearing up to write rant about why I don’t provide a ton of materials for executive functioning in my training programs like the School of Clinical Leadership. Then I thought to myself, “I wonder what hot pile of garbage ChatGPT would give me if I asked it where to find EF lesson plans.” Full disclosure, I do…
The best perspective-taking lesson plan is not actually a lesson plan
Recently in some clinical discussion groups, I’ve seen therapists asking for lesson plans to build perspective taking and situational awareness. This makes me feel optimistic, because it shows that they understand that social skills issues are related to executive functioning. But “activities” for improving perspective taking will not come from a set of materials you…
No, you can’t cover all the skills kids need in your therapy sessions.
When I tell related service providers that they should be coaching and training other members of their school teams, the most common objection I get is that they don’t have time. However, most of them ALSO feel like they have too many skills to work on in therapy. They ask, “How can I possibly get…
The problem with social skills lesson plans
If you’re working on social skills with students and seeing poor generalization, the solution is not more therapy materials. I’m often asked if I offer social skills activities that can be a quick “print and go” option for school therapists to do with students in a group therapy setting. I’m fully aware that if I…
Executive functioning is more than just being organized.
Most K-12 teams think they’re working on executive functioning with their students, but they’re still seeing students continue to struggle with: Time-management Self-regulation Social skills Keeping track of work Following directions in class Managing personal belongings That’s because executive functioning support in the school systems often consists of planners and organizers. While organization is one…
Anxiety and executive dysfunction often go together. Here’s why.
Many children continue to experience anxiety about new situations or avoid challenging tasks, despite going to therapy and talking through their feelings. This is often because the intervention is not adequately supporting students’ executive functioning skills. In this video, I explain why anxiety and executive dysfunction go hand-in-hand, and what’s often missing when anxiety persists…