Today, I wanted to share some FAQs that people ask about how to teach executive functioning. Some of those common questions are: How do you teach self-talk, time-perception, and strategic-planning? How do you offer help without making kids prompt-dependent?I understand that executive functioning intervention is more than just checklists and behavior charts, but what’s the…
Category: Executive Functioning
EP 167: A framework for executive functioning intervention: Three shifts for school teams
As a professional field, we’re getting stuck in old ways of thinking when it comes to designing services for students experiencing executive dysfunction. When we think of “therapy” the first thing that comes to mind is a clinician sitting in a chair saying things like, “And how does that make you feel?” or a clinician…
EP 166: The role of syntax in supporting language processing and executive functioning
Language and executive functioning have a bidirectional relationship (Baron & Arbel, 2022; Larson, et al., 2019). This means that building language skills can impact executive functioning, and vice versa. A significant amount of executive functioning skills are required to comprehend language-based academic tasks like reading and writing. Yet strategic thinking (which is part of executive…
EP 161: Why aren’t they participating? Rethinking family engagement in special education (with Dr. Kristin Vogel-Campbell)
Helping families feel involved in their children’s education goes beyond checking the boxes to make sure you’re following legal guidelines. That’s why I invited Dr. Kristin Vogel-Campbell to De Facto Leaders to talk about how school teams can make the IEP process more welcoming to families, especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Dr….
BONUS: The Authority: Executive Functions for Every Classroom with Mitch Weathers
As a bonus episode today, we’re publishing a conversation from The Authority Podcast with guest Mitch Weathers, about his book Executive Functions for Every Classroom: Creating Safe and Predictable Learning Environments Grades 3-12. You’ll hear about the following and more: You can listen to the entire conversation here: About The Authority Podcast: Hosted by leadership…
EP 142: Are we being too child-focused in our therapy planning?
People working in the schools are often expected to make everything a priority all the time, without consideration of how they might be able to manage the backlog of projects. They have to say “No” to people who need help in the interest of saying “Yes” to others. They have to see the faces of…
EP 125: Time perception, anxiety, and future pacing
When I was younger I was fixated on clocks and the passage of time. It’s accurate to say it was an obsession of mine, to the point that it caused me large amounts of anxiety. It got difficult for me to tell when I was future-planning or when I was catastrophizing. On top of that,…
EP 122: Executive functioning for college students: Beyond checklists and planners (with Jill Fahy)
What if young adults are still prompt-dependent when they go away to college? Or what if they and their parents aren’t aware of how much support they’re actually getting? On top of that, how can professionals navigate the complexity of supporting language and executive functioning (or knowing when to address which skills)? I invited Jill…
EP 121: Do we all have an inner voice (and if not, should we try to develop one)?
In different discussion groups, I’ve heard the claim that up to 50% of people don’t have an inner voice. Since much of my work has focused on metacognition and language, I wanted to devote an episode to discussing some common questions that come up regarding this topic. That’s why in episode 121 of the “De…
EP 81: Whose job is it to work on executive functioning?
In the School of Clinical Leadership, I’ve devoted an entire suite of programs to educating professionals on executive functioning. Even though the focus of the program is about career development and leadership, I believe that any professional working with K-12 kids needs extensive knowledge of executive functioning in order to lead effectively. I’ve likely given…