Kevin Blake – Executive Dysfunction: Strategies for At Home and At School

Executive Dysfunction: Strategies for At Home and At School – Kevin Blake

Proven strategies, skill building and treatment interventions for the child/adolescent who…

• Has difficulty getting organized at home and school
• Can’t comprehend or recall directions
• Has difficulty monitoring behavior
• Has inconsistent behavior from day to day
• Lacks time management skills
• Can’t finish homework or projects

Children and adolescents with executive function deficits often struggle with organization, prioritizing, time and task management, self-regulation and working memory. When you add a diagnosis of ADHD, specific learning disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and the common co-morbidities of these disorders, executive functions are specifically impaired and these children are often at risk for academic underachievement and socialization/behavioral difficulties.

Watch this recording with Dr. Kevin Blake, an expert on executive functioning, and learn proven evidence-based strategies to help these children and adolescents achieve their full academic and social potential. You will discover how to adapt treatment to the child’s developmental age as well as how to design strategies for the classroom and home that will include more reinforcement, stronger external consequences, and behavior modification. Technology to help with memory, note taking, time management and organization will be addressed. In addition, you will become confident in teaching social interaction and social skills in the classroom. Never again have a kid meltdown when changing from one activity to the next!

1. Analyze the neurobiology of Executive Functions.
2. Develop strategies that improve specific executive skill deficits in the context of home or school performance expectations.
3. Utilize strategies to modify the environment to reduce the impact of weak executive skills.
4. Assess how those with Developmental Neurobiological Disorders may have difficulties with Executive Function and why this may cause them problems with time management and personal organization.
5. Determine methods of helping those with Developmental Neurobiological Disorders overcome their difficulties with Executive Function.
6. Ascertain other helping professionals who can aid in treating those with difficulties with Executive Function and determine how to coordinate treatment with them.

• The Neurobiology of Executive Function
  • The Frontal Lobe and How it Controls Function
  • The Neurodevelopmental Path of Executive Function Throughout Life
• Executive Function and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD)
  • Relationship of AD/HD Symptoms to Executive Function Difficulties
  • How the Neurobiology of AD/HD Causes Executive Function Difficulties
  • Assessing Executive Function in Those with AD/HD
  • Treating Executive Function Difficulties Caused by AD/HD
    • Medication
    • Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Techniques
    • COGMED
    • Technological Prosthetics
    • Classroom Management
    • Comorbidity with Sleep Disorders and Treatment
• Executive Function and Specific Learning Disorder (SLD)
  • Impairment in Reading
  • Dyslexia
    • Neurobiological Differences that Can Cause Problems in:
      • Rapid Automatized Naming
      • Phonological Awareness and Phonological Memory
      • Procedural Memory Difficulties
      • Technological Prosthetics
    • Treatment: Synthetic Multisensory Phonics
    • Comorbidity with AD/HD and/or Sleep Disorders as Well as Treatment
  • Comprehension
    • Neurobiological Differences that Can Make it Difficult to Read and Simultaneously Visualize What is Being Read
    • Treatment:
      • SQ4R
      • Medication
      • Lindamood-Bell
      • COGMED
      • Speech-Language Pathology
      • Comorbidity with AD/HD and/or Dyslexia
• Executive Function and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  • How the Symptoms of ASD Relate to Executive Function Difficulties
  • How ASD Neurobiology Relates to Executive Function Difficulties
  • High Comorbidity of AD/HD
  • Alexithymia
    • Neurobiology and Emotional
    • Working Memory
      • Medial Prefrontal Lobe and Mirror Neurons
      • Relation to AD/HD
      • Hormones and Social Interaction
    • Treatment
      • Medication
      • COGMED
      • Mirror Neuron Training
      • Therapy and Service Dogs
• Strategies to Teach Time Management and Personal Organization to “Neurotypicals”
  • Time Management Techniques
  • Personal Organization Techniques
  • What Helps Working Memory and What Hurts it Study Skills
  • Professionals Who can Help and How to Coordinate Treatment with Them