Executive Function Strategy Sessions
Tools and Techniques to Boost Your Child’s Productivity, Organization, and Independence
What are they? Executive Function Strategy Sessions help your child identify the most effective, efficient tools and strategies to keep track of and complete work, deal with long-term projects, manage time, develop writing skills, communicate with teachers, reflect and shift course as needed, and a range of other academic and real-world life skills.
Better grades are typically an outcome, but this coaching relationship focuses on helping students grow into more organized, reflective, productive, and confident people.
Integral to this process is an honest, but light-hearted evaluation of how ADHD/EF challenges affect the student, including unproductive habits and responses, as well as other challenging behavior patterns. Shifts in these dynamics, coupled with an emphasis on strengths, improve outcomes, build confidence, and helps create lasting change.
Better grades are typically an outcome, but this coaching relationship focuses on helping students grow into more organized, reflective, productive, and confident people.
Integral to this process is an honest, but light-hearted evaluation of how ADHD/EF challenges affect the student, including unproductive habits and responses, as well as other challenging behavior patterns. Shifts in these dynamics, coupled with an emphasis on strengths, improve outcomes, build confidence, and helps create lasting change.
How does it work?
- Executive Function Strategy Sessions take place in person at Dan's office or via Google Meet. There are opportunities for home visits.
- In a highly individualized process, outcomes are tailored to meet each students learning goals and developmental needs.
- Technology plays a key role: (iOS apps, Chrome extensions, built-in accessibility features, and others) and clever study techniques to process information and complete tasks more quickly and thoroughly.
- Often, your child's workload provides the context for exploring a range of individualized recommendations that enable more efficient workflow skills.
- Scheduling: Typically, sessions are scheduled twice per week, either full (50 minutes) sessions, half sessions (25 minutes), or a combination.
- Students may schedule ongoing support or establish a coaching relationship for a designated amount of time.
- All age groups -students in elementary school through community and junior college.
...a sampling of skills, outcomes, and tools/features to achieve them:
- Boosting processing speed:
- Built-in accessibility features in iOS (Mac), and Chromebook: screenshots for annotating, text-to-speech, voice dictation, digitizing worksheets with extra space for annotating/QAs/ showing work in math via stylus in Notability
- Focus/attention: addressing environmental issues to increase focus; limiting access to distracting websites, notifications, apps, etc.
- Working memory: strategies for keeping salient information in the forefront for quick reference
- Planning and sequencing ideas for writing, steps of a project, or process; some students prefer visual tools, such as concept maps, while others prefer a more linear approach
- Visual and calendar reminders: taking an active role in time/task management
- Suggestions for organizing physical materials and digital documents for units of study or semesters
- Organizing, time, task management: Google Classroom tools, Docs, Calendar, Keep.
“It is important to recognize that someone might be academically gifted but lagging in all the skills that go into managing education like studying, handing in your school work and forgetfulness.”
New York Times, November 2019
New York Times, November 2019
Availability: Contact Dan about Fall, 2023
Schedule an appointment with Dan Leibowitz:
Schedule an appointment with Dan Leibowitz:
- Questions? Wondering if Dan can help? Schedule a complimentary consultation
My child has a neuropsychological evaluation with assistive technology and other recommendations, can you help with this?
- Yes! Dan's fun, productivity-oriented approach to using tech is a logical supplement to a neuropsychological evaluation. A Tech Clinic with Dan is a hands on component of this process that leaves kids feeling more optimistic.
- Parents can send a copy of the "Recommendations" section of the report and Dan will prepare a customized list of relevant options to demonstrate, many of which may not be included in the report's recommendations.
- If more in-depth training is desired subsequent sessions can be scheduled for this purpose. The goal of the sessions is to share practical tools and strategies that will help your child work around challenges while limiting obstacles and frustration.
- No. Executive Function Strategy Sessions demonstrate common, inexpensive, or free iPad apps, Chrome extensions, software, etc., and how to leverage them to create more productive study and organizational routines.
- No, but after discussion and demonstrations via Dan's screen they can choose to install free or inexpensive extensions and/or iPad apps -generally $10 or less.
“My son and I met with Dan and LOVED everything about Dan and our meeting! My son has struggled with organization for years and it has caused great distress for all of us. Within MINUTES of meeting with Dan, my son was all smiles and told me he was FINALLY getting the information he needs to be better organized and alleviate the stress of school. He was relieved! Thank you Dan for making my son so happy and giving him the tools he needs to start school and make it a positive experience! ”
-S.S., Mill Valley
-S.S., Mill Valley