Episode Details

“Demand avoidance”, poor generalization, prompt-dependence, and social skills challenges seem like isolated issues. 

But often they’re not. Many times they’re tied to executive functioning challenges. 

That’s why when I describe “executive dysfunction”, I cluster it into five broad areas:

Attention, Learning Challenges, Behavioral Issues, Organization, and Social Skills

Usually, this is the point that the lightbulb goes on for a lot of clinicians and educators in the room as they realize executive functioning is the common sticking point behind many of their students’ challenges.

When I support clinicians in designing executive functioning intervention frameworks, I start with explaining the external signs. 

Things like:

✅ Refusing to do even the simplest of tasks, and putting more effort into avoiding the work than it would take to actually do it
✅Behaviors that seem disproportionate to the situation, melt downs over things that barely phase their peers
✅ Always appearing to be several steps behind
✅ Not “reading the room” during functional tasks, and requiring tons of prompts
✅ Lack of awareness of how they’re coming across to others

In episode 266 of De Facto Leaders, I do a deep dive into these five external signs that tie back to executive functioning challenges. 

In this episode, I mention the Task Execution and Planning Protocol, which gives school clinicians an intervention strategy that takes students from “demand avoidance” and prompt dependence to independence during daily academic and functional tasks. 

You can learn more about the Task Execution and Planning Protocol here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/taskexecution

In this episode, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. 

You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Learn more about today's sponsors, Playworks and IXL:

We’re proud to be sponsored by Playworks, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with evidence-based practices that help schools improve the health and well-being of children by increasing opportunities for physical activity and safe, meaningful play.

If you’re a school or district leader struggling with the challenge of chronic absenteeism, as so many are across the U.S., you may not realize that structured recess is a research-backed approach to keep kids in school. In fact, a UC Berkeley study of Title I schools found that those partnering with Playworks had significantly lower chronic absenteeism rates. Further, Mathematica research demonstrated that Playworks schools spent 27% less time transitioning from recess back to learning, saving teachers valuable instructional time. 

These results are possible for your students, too. Learn how Playworks can help you improve student-educator relationships, belonging, and attendance by signing up for a quick no-obligation conversation. 

We’re also thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

IXL’s comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:

• Simplify and streamline technology
• Save teachers’ time
• Reliably meet Tier 1 standards
• Improve student performance on state assessments

🚀 Ready to see why leading districts trust IXL for thei