Late, Lost, & Unprepared: Executive Function Struggles

Creating a Family: Talk about Adoption & Foster Care

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Does your child struggle with planning/organizing, time management, and impulse control? Join us for our interview with Dr. Joyce Cooper-Kahn, a clinical child psychologist who specializes in the treatment of children and adolescents with ADHD, executive functioning challenges, and other learning disabilities. She is the author of Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents' Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning.
In this episode, we cover:

• What is executive functioning?
• Example of executive functioning skills?
• What is it like for kids, youth, and adults who struggle with executive functioning?
• What is the experience of families with a child/youth with executive functioning difficulties?
• Why do some kids struggle with executive functioning? What other disabilities often occur with this deficit?
• At what age do we usually expect executive functioning skills to start developing?
• Who can diagnose an executive functioning disability, and why is it important to get a diagnosis?
• What can parents do to help kids improve their executive functioning skills or learn to live without them?
  • Use real life to teach
  • Teach rather than punish
  • Collaborate with the child or youth
  • Behavior modification
  • Adjust expectations
• When should you allow your child to experience natural consequences for behavior?
• Practical tools for helping kids plan and organize.
• Practical tools for helping kids shift gears or handle transitions.
• Practical tools for helping kids with working memory challenges.
• Practical tools for helping kids control impulses.

Additional resources:
Late, Lost, and Unprepared: A Parents' Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning

Boosting Executive Skills in the Classroom: A Practical Guide for Educators

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Please leave us a rating or review. This podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them.
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