If you’re a therapist or educator working in the schools, there’s a high probability that the administrator who does your employee evaluation isn’t a subject-matter expert in your discipline. If they are, you’re certainly in the minority. This is because it’s impossible to find a school administrator who’s held every single job in the school…
Author: kldudek1980
EP 108: How to do multilingual evaluations as a monolingual therapist (with Meg Morgan)
Doing a quality evaluation when you’re assessing things like language can be a challenge because there isn’t one “magic bullet” test that gives us what we need. What is even more challenging is when you get a referral to evaluate a client that speaks two or more languages; especially when they’re languages you don’t speak. …
EP 107: How to make social skills intervention evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming
What’s evidence-based and neurodiversity-affirming shouldn’t be in opposition. Effective interventions that build resilience and help kids build healthy relationships should be “affirming” by definition. Yet many clinicians remain confused about how to apply this to practice; especially when it comes to things like “social skills” or “pragmatic language”. One of the most common complaints I…
EP 106: Trauma, reactive attachment disorder, and supporting families (with Sharon Fuller)
I was honored to have Sharon Fuller, founder of The Attachment Place, LLC as a guest for episode 106 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast. Sharon began her journey with developmental trauma disorder (DTD), also known as reactive attachment disorder (RAD), when she and her husband first adopted in 2005. She is a mom to…
EP 105: Do video games improve cognitive performance?
In 2022, a study was published in JAMA Network Open with a compelling title: “Video gaming may be associated with better cognitive performance in children.” This resulted in a number of social media influencers spreading the word about the “benefits” of playing video games. For up to 3 hours a day nonetheless. **After I published…
EP 104: Unions, collective bargaining, and getting your voice heard (with Michael Campbell)
Many people in education and healthcare know that lobbying and advocacy needs to happen; but many people don’t know whose responsibility it is or how to do it. That’s why I invited Michael Campbell, published author, blogger, and licensed bilingual speech-language pathologist to the show to dive into this topic. Michael has spent time as…
EP 103: Self-care cabaret for teachers, therapists, and school leaders (with Dr. Theresa-Melito Conners)
We’ve all sat through some boring professional development before; but there’s nothing boring about the training you’ll get from Dr. MC, the guest on episode 103 of the De Facto Leaders podcast. Many people in “helping professions” like education and healthcare focus more on taking care of others instead of taking care of themselves; which…
EP 102: The science of reading: A team approach (with Brett Stevens)
There are a lot of approaches to teaching kids to read; but not all of them are effective. This is especially important for kids with disabilities who need explicit instruction. That’s why in episode 102, I had special education consultant and host of the Science of Special Education podcast, Brett Stevens, on the show to…
EP 101: How school therapists can lead schools in providing district-wide executive functioning supports
Strong executive functioning skills can help kids to be resilient, adaptable, and independent. These characteristics are going to be essential for supporting mental health and success going forward. EVERYONE who interacts with school-age kids on a daily basis has the chance to support executive functioning, and not addressing this skill is a huge missed opportunity….
EP 100: Working with your building principal to create a win-win-win (with Dr. Gastrid Harrigan)
On episode 100 of the “De Facto Leaders” podcast, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Gastrid Harrigan has been an educator for over 19 years as a classroom teacher, Assistant Principal, and currently as Principal in Broward County, Florida. In addition, Dr. Harrigan is a Professor of Education at Broward College and Colorado State…