In this episode, I’m excited to announce the release of my new compression course, “The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support.”

You can learn more about the course here: https://drkarenspeech.lpages.co/school-leaders-guide-to-executive-functioning-support/

In this session, I’ll be sharing why I created this program, what parents and professionals have shared with me when I talk about executive functioning, and how I approach educating professionals about this important and relevant topic.

*Plus I share things school communities and staff WISH their administration knew 🙂

Imagine a school where:

✅ Students are better equipped to handle challenges and setbacks

✅ Teachers spend less time managing behavior and more time on meaningful instruction

✅ Academic performance improves across the board

✅ Your team feels empowered and supported, rather than overwhelmed by another initiative

Introducing: The School Leader's Guide to Executive Functioning Support

After years of developing frameworks to support these essential cognitive skills and helping professionals implement them in their own schools, I've created a comprehensive guide specifically for school leaders like you.

This 7-day course will walk you through:

1. Understanding the critical role of executive functioning in student success

2. Identifying areas where executive functioning support can have the biggest impact in your school

3. Pinpointing challenges with common strategies such as social skills groups, behavior charts, and organizing tools.

4. Practical tools and techniques that can be immediately implemented in classrooms

5. Methods for measuring and demonstrating the impact of executive functioning support

6. Long-term planning for sustainable implementation and continued growth

By the end of the 7 days, you'll be ready to design a plan for launching executive functioning support in your school, setting the stage for transformative change.

Are you ready to transform your school and set your students up for long-term success?

Don't let another day go by without giving your team and students the support they need to thrive.

The future of your school starts with the decisions you make today.

The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support is a 7-day course to help school leaders launch their executive functioning implementation plan.

You can learn more about the course here: https://drkarenspeech.lpages.co/school-leaders-guide-to-executive-functioning-support/

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this episode, I sit down with Eric Smith from GrowNOW ADHD, to explore innovative approaches to social skills and executive functioning through the lens of a community-based program:

Executive Functioning Summer Camp. Eric shares his insights on challenging existing service delivery models and discusses the importance of practical, real-world applications for clients.
Eric is a Speech-Language Pathologist, ADHD/Executive Functioning Specialist, and Director GrowNOW ADHD's EF Camp with over 7 years of experience in the field. He has worked in a variety of settings including Private Practice, Early Intervention, and Schools.

Key Discussion Points:
What are the benefits and limitations of a traditional therapy model and how can we expand the way we do intervention to improve generalization?

• How the summer camp model facilitates real-world connections.

• How much structure and support should adults be providing, and when does it make sense to use a “lesson plan”?

• The concepts of “healthy risk” and “healthy discomfort”.

• Why it's crucial to incorporate diverse experiences to better prepare our clients for adult life AND to help clinicians stay engaged in their work.

• Using the explicit instruction framework (“I do, We do, You do”) to mentor clinicians and coach parents.

You can learn more about GrowNOW Executive Functioning Summer Camp here: https://www.grownowadhd.com/adhd-kids-summer-camp/
Connect with Eric at: eric@grownowadhd.com

Past episode mentioned in this episode:
Failure to launch, screen addiction, and preparing kids for life after high school (with Michael McLeod): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-207-failure-to-launch-screen-addiction-and-preparing-kids-for-life-after-high-school-with-michael-mcleod/

Building accountability, and motivation in kids with ADHD (with Mike McLeod): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-008-building-accountability-and-motivation-in-kids-with-adhd-with-mike-mcleod/

Time management and device use boundaries for kids with ADHD (with Mike McLeod): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-009-time-management-and-device-use-boundaries-for-kids-with-adhd-with-mike-mcleod/

In this episode, I mentioned “The School Leader’s Guide to Executive Functioning Support”, a 7-day course to help school leaders launch their executive functioning implementation plan. You can learn more about the course here: https://drkarenspeech.lpages.co/school-leaders-guide-to-executive-functioning-support/

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this powerful episode, I sit down with Ana Hernandez, a speech pathologist who found herself on the other side of the therapy room after undergoing brain surgery. Ana shares her deeply personal journey through the road of recovery.

As someone who has spent her career helping others communicate, Ana opens up about what it was like to struggle with communication herself. She discusses the emotional and physical challenges she faced, the strategies that aided her recovery, and how her experience has changed her approach to her work.

Ana Hernandez is a speech-language pathologist, founder of Adult Stuttering Services, P.C., and the creator of Green Social and the Safe Spaces of Stuttering approach. She collaborates with leading stuttering organizations, speaks at international conferences, and provides professional training for schools and businesses. Ana’s focus in stuttering support is to foster comfort with speaking and empower people who stutter with care that prioritizes quality and dignity.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• The unexpected diagnosis that led to brain surgery
• The impact of surgery on her speech, cognition, and emotions
• Key milestones and setbacks throughout her recovery journey
• Practical tips for self-advocacy
• How this experience has reshaped her perspective as a therapist

Why Listen?

This episode is a testament to resilience, empathy, and the power of communication. Whether you or a loved one are navigating recovery from brain injury, or you simply want to hear an inspiring story of perseverance, this conversation will leave you feeling encouraged and empowered.

You can connect with Ana on her Adult Stuttering website here: https://www.adultstuttering.com/therapist

On Instagram here @adultstuttering (https://www.instagram.com/adultstuttering/)

On LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-hernandez-015b69293/

Finally, I also mentioned my free Executive Functioning Implementation Guide for School Teams. You can sign up for the guide here: http://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efguide

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

This week, I’m sharing an interview I did with another host on the BE podcast network because I think it’s something you’ll really enjoy. The episode is going live in the De Facto Leaders podcast feed.

Dr. Chris Jones has been an educator in Massachusetts for 22 years. His experience in the classroom ranged from 8th – 11th grade working in an urban setting. A portion of this was spent opening a high school division for an expanding charter school. He has just finished his 14th year as a building administrator. Chris is also the Vice President of the Massachusetts State Administrators Association (MSAA). True to his “why” of improving the educational experience for as many people as possible, he is currently the Principal of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in Whitman, Massachusetts.

He is the author of SEEing to Lead, a book that provides strategies for how modern leaders can and must support, engage, and empower their teachers to elevate student success. Chris vlogs weekly about continuous improvement and is also the host of the podcast SEEing to Lead as a way to amplify teachers’ voices in an effort to improve education as a whole.

In this interview, Dr. Chris Jones and I discuss how to promote effective literacy practices in schools, while still allowing educators and clinicians to have autonomy in their practices.

We discuss:

The “non-negotiables” when it comes to evidence-based practices vs. where there can be flexibility for the “art” of teaching.

Why training and information needs to be paired with change-management strategies.
Finding the “joy” of reading can’t happen without building foundational skills.

You can connect with Dr. Jones on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcsjones/, and on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/DrCSJones/, and on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/drcsjones/.
You can learn more about his book and podcast at: https://drcsjones.blog/seeing-to-lead-podcast/

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs create a system for language therapy. You can learn more about Language Therapy Advance Foundations here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In light of the mass amount of misinformation about ADHD, particularly regarding medication, I thought it was time to do a re-release of this past episode.

*Disclaimer, although I have “Dr.” in front of my name, I’m not an MD and do not have the credentials to prescribe medication. This episode is meant for general information only and is not intended to be medical advice.

As a licensed speech pathologist, I bring the perspective of someone who has supported clients through behavioral change and building skills; which has included making referrals/recommendations for families to seek medical advice from people who can prescribe medication. Additionally, I’ve also been in a position to report back to licensed physicians when they want to know a status update after prescribing medication.

In this episode, I discuss:

✅The “appeal to nature” fallacy, what it is and why it’s potentially harmful.

✅Common “natural” treatments for conditions like ADHD (such as diet, sleep hygiene, supplementation)

✅How to avoid distorted thinking when making decisions about medication and other treatment options.

In this episode, I mentioned this episode about homeopathy from the Unbiased Science podcast here: https://www.unbiasedscipod.com/episodes/homeopathy-much-ado-about-nothing-literally-nothing

I also mentioned the book “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer here: https://www.jonkrakauer.com/books/into-the-wild-tr

Finally, I also mentioned my free Executive Functioning Implementation Guide for School Teams. You can sign up for the guide here: http://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efguide

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

I remember the first time I “Marie Kondoed” my therapy room and got rid of materials that were published before I was born.

There were shelves of things I never used, and having so many options created unnecessary decision fatigue every time I sat down to plan my week ahead.

Over time, I started investing in knowledge instead of flashcards and games. I found my students did better when I kept it simple. I thought my students would be bored, but they actually became more engaged and independent.

That’s why I was so excited to talk with Marisha Mets from SLP Now, who shares my passion for systems and frameworks that don’t require complicated materials.

Marisha Mets earned her Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Washington. She has worked as a school-based SLP and shares therapy ideas and resources on her blog (SLP Now). Marisha also developed a membership for SLPs that includes digital tools and resources to streamline evidence-based therapy, including a one-stop caseload management solution that currently supports thousands of SLPs.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅How to manage both physical clutter and mental clutter.

✅Identifying the point of diminishing returns when it comes to organizing.

✅Deciding when to use a batching process vs. habit stacking.

✅Defining the “containers” you use to manage your workflow and your workspace.

✅How to identify your “staples”.

✅Investing in materials vs. knowledge/skills.

You can connect with Marisha on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisha-mets-9aa396133/

Follow her on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/slpnow

Follow her on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/slpnow/

Listen to my episode on the SLP Now Podcast here: https://slpnow.com/blog/how-to-write-iep-goals-an-expert-guide-for-slps/

Learn more about SLP Now and read Marisha’s free blog posts here: https://slpnow.com/

The following resources were mentioned in this episode:

“Outer Order, Inner Calm” by Gretchen Rubin: https://gretchenrubin.com/books/outer-order-inner-calm/

“Atomic Habits” by James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits

In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs create a system for language therapy. You can learn more about Language Therapy Advance Foundations here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

In this episode, we dive into the often-overlooked art of writing clear, measurable goals for executive functioning.

Unlike other academic or functional goals, executive functioning focuses on internal processes—making it harder to quantify and observe.

Whether you're a teacher, therapist, or part of a school team, this episode will give you actionable tools to create meaningful IEP and therapy plan goals that truly support student growth.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

✔️ Why executive functioning is all about the process—and why that’s tricky for traditional SMART goals.

✔️ Examples of goal formats that keep things simple, specific, and actionable.

✔️ How to differentiate between goals that focus on behavior versus those emphasizing strategies.

✔️ A sample list of accommodations to support executive functioning without over-accommodating.

✔️ Tips to ensure students build independence with their accommodations over time.

📝Goals and Accommodations for Executive Functioning Blog post: https://drkarenspeech.com/goals-and-accommodations-for-executive-functioning/

👂EP 178: Are we allowed to say “dyslexia” in the schools (with Tom Parton): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-178-are-we-allowed-to-say-dyslexia-in-the-schools-with-tom-parton/

🎓 School of Clinical Leadership Program (A comprehensive course for service providers who want to lead their teams in supporting students socially, emotionally, and academically.): https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Key Takeaways:

Writing effective executive functioning goals starts with a clear understanding of the behaviors and processes you’re targeting.

The goal format “Given (cue/strategy), student will (behavior) with (accuracy/unit of measurement)” simplifies complex ideas into meaningful goals.

Accommodations should empower students and build skills—not create over-reliance.

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.

This session is a Q & A I did in the Language Therapy Advance Foundations member’s group relating to how to support students through semantic study and working on complex syntax.

I addressed the following FAQs:

“How do I help students who struggle to define and describe words without making them prompt-dependent?”

“How do I make semantic study more contextualized?”

“What’s the difference between a “task-based” goal and a “strategy-based” goal, and which type of goal should I be using for language and executive functioning?”

I also provide examples of goals for observable behaviors vs. goals that focus on the process of getting to that behavior or end output.

Highlights of this session include:

✅Using the explicit instruction framework: “I do, we do, you do.”

✅Using pauses, reflective questions, sentence starters, direct repetition, and declarative statements (hint: we should be using a blend of all these things.)

✅Where we SHOULD use explicit, repetitive, “decontextualized” tasks in therapy for purposes of cognitive priming.

✅Why students need a blend of structured and unstructured tasks (from decontextualized to contextualized).

This session came from a Q & A I did in Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that helps SLPs create a system for language therapy. You can learn more about Language Therapy Advance Foundations here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/

The following resources were mentioned in this session:

The Explicit Instruction Framework by Anita Archer and Charles Hughes: https://explicitinstruction.org/

This video on scaffolding sentence combining for younger students: https://youtu.be/LDLYlZgqpQU

The strategy-based goals for executive functioning came from information from the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers put executive functioning intervention in place. You can learn more about the School of Clinical Leadership here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

We’re 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 their educational needs? Visit IXL.com/BE today to learn more about how IXL can elevate your school or district.