Start Here: How My Blog Helps You
The super-quick version of how my site helps you:
If you’re a parent, educator or professional who wants better strategies for helping struggling students, so they can have better lives, I made this site for you. Sign up below and I email you new strategies every Sunday plus a free Executive Function Toolkit to help you understand and implement my approach to helping kids. Click To Get Free Student Success Toolkit
A more in-depth version of how my site helps:
I’m Seth Perler and my life’s work is dedicated to helping kids overcome “Executive Functioning” challenges so they can have great futures, despite outdated educational systems. My mission is to give you, compassionate & proactive parents, educators and others who help kids, honest, practical and unconventional approaches to helping complicated, neurodiverse, struggling students, without b.s. or misinformation. And teach the world about Executive Function, which is at the root of most student struggles. Making an impact is serious work for me because mental health problems are on the rise and begin in childhood, related EF problems impact quality of life, I cannot stand to see kids suffer needlessly, and we know we have tools to help people. My vision: A day when we don’t need executive function coaches, because education is wildly successful at empowering all students with everything they need to have happy, healthy and successful lives.What’s the core question parents and teachers ask me?
It sounds like this, “I’ve got a bright student, but things are falling apart and I’m at a loss. If we don’t figure this out, I’m afraid it’ll negatively impact their future. How do I help this complicated child? How do I deal with their resistance? How do I deal with educators who don’t get my kid? And why the heck haven’t I heard of Executive Function before!?” I wish I could tell you there was a quick fix, but the solutions take take time and effort, and have to do with something called “Executive Function.” Helping students turn it around requires compassionately and persistently approaching the problem from multiple angles. But don’t worry, my entire blog is about how to help, and most of my work is free because everyone should have access to these solutions. I’ve been an Executive Function specialist and blogging about it, since 2010, and I’ve been working with complicated kids since 1995. And you’re definitely not alone; over 60,000 people in every state in the US, and in over 60 counties worldwide get my blog, because they are searching for better answers too. Click here to subscribe free.How do I know if my child struggles with “Executive Function”?
You can take the free Executive Functions Quiz here >- Grade problems: Your child’s grades do not reflect their ability or “potential.”
- Homework problems: Missing work, late work, incomplete assignments, zeros, forgets to turn in work, loses homework, forgets what the homework is, no name, takes forever to complete work, often poor quality and rushed.
- Planning problems: Don’t use a planners effectively to track schoolwork or other responsibilities. Hate planners, lose them, forget them, think they don’t need them.
- Preparation problems: Often unprepared and late for class or other events. Takes a long time to get going.
- Motivation problems: Trouble self-starting, procrastinate, appear unmotivated, don’t know where or how to start.
- Time management problems: An unrealistic perception of how much time and energy is needed for homework, studying, chores, responsibilities, getting out of the house in the morning, etc.. Wait until the last minute with important deadlines or miss them altogether.
- Attention problems: Can’t focus or concentrate on one thing to completion, gets off task, derailed, easily distracted.
- Takes-a-long-time problems: Because of habits that waste time and because of processing issues, these kids can take a very long time to do schoolwork (as well as taking care of other responsibilities).
- Resist your help. Resist most help.
- Problems reflecting accurately: Unrealistic perception of how they are doing in school. These students don’t understand their challenges well enough to know what to do about them.
- Get behind in school and the vicious cycle gets a bit worse with each passing semester.
- They have excellent excuses, know how to wear you down.
- Advocacy problems: Do not self-advocate effectively, don’t ask teachers for help early enough or at all.
- Overwhelmed by the demands of school, leading to denial or anxiety about school, and avoid dealing with it effectively.
- They often want to do well and have great intentions but don’t have the skills.
- Often remarkably bright, have tremendous talents, gifts, passions and skills in high-interest areas (which often are not appreciated in traditional schools).
- May be diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, Dyslexia, processing issues, or another diagnosis. Many have no diagnosis whatsoever.
3 Big problems
More than 1 in 10 students struggle with Executive Function, and since many adults don’t understand how EF impacts these complex kids, they often don’t get the help they need. This causes three big problems:- When trying to help, well-intentioned adults can unknowingly make things worse, and students become even more resistant to receiving the help they desperately need.
- Many of these kids start to feel shame, as if there is something wrong with them. Long term mental health problems often arise as kids internalize shame.
- Many of these kids don’t develop the necessary skills they need to launch a successful future (aka “Failure to Launch” kids). They can struggle for decades.
5 Core beliefs of my audience
The fans of my blog share 5 core beliefs:- Education is the key to a good life. The purpose of education is to prepare kids to have what it takes to create a happy, healthy and successful future for themselves while having a fantastic childhood.
- Something’s not working. Despite countless dedicated teachers and involved parents, our outdated educational approaches are often missing the mark. Many of our kids are absolutely not prepared to succeed in this world and the cards are stacked against them.
- Kids who struggle with executive function are at an even bigger disadvantage. This is because, in order for people to accomplish their goals & dreams, they must be able to “execute” the tasks necessary to reach these goals. We all need to learn executive function skills in order to get the important stuff done, even when we are resistant and don’t “feel like it.”
- We must improve our educational methods so we can better serve all kids.
- Sadly, until that happens, we cannot depend on schools to adequately meet the needs of all students. Therefore, we must do everything we can to ensure that kids are properly supported. Understanding Executive Function is critical.
The good news
There is so much HOPE. We can help these kids develop the executive functions they need to succeed in school and life. With the right tools, the brain can and does change, and so do habits. The heart-centered parents who subscribe here are sick of spinning their wheels. Many have seen their kids struggle year after year and watched helplessly as patterns got worse, and they need real answers. Now. The heart-centered teachers and professionals who subscribe here are the ones who challenge the status quo. They refuse to sit back and pretend everything is fine. They’re looking for something different because they’ve seen too many ineffective interventions. They’re sick of cookie-cutter approaches and want better tools to decode complicated students. All the adults here want to figure out what’s going on so they can get on with giving kids the support they need.Seth, why is Executive Function such a big problem?
You don’t know what you don’t know. Teachers are rarely given the training and resources to meet the needs of neurodiverse students, and parents often tell me that some teachers “don’t get my kid.” Most schools (private and alternative included) completely fail to understand Executive Function, so they sometimes make the tragic mistake of believing that these kids are just lazy, unmotivated, incapable, not trying hard enough, or that they don’t care about school. These beliefs are based on misunderstandings, and with the right tools, we can help these kids change the narrative and receive the tools they need to have a happy, healthy and successful future. Most teachers want to understand, and when they get ahold of helpful information, they use it to better support kids.The Gift
One of the coolest things is when I see a family decide to proactively start solving these problems. To see the change in how they feel is remarkable. Parents move from a worried, baffled state to feeling a sense of relief, knowing that their child has turned the corner. Students move from a place of chaos and scattered energy to feeling some confidence and groundedness. Seeing a child transform their educational experience is a tremendous gift. Knowing that they are going to be ok because they have the skills they need to build a good life, is the biggest gift of all.My Mission
Help the world understand Executive Function, so we can better support all students to get their needs met, so they are able to self-actualize and shine.About me
I’m Seth, a renegade teacher turned Executive Function Coach & 2e Coach based in Boulder, CO. I help struggling students navigate a crazy educational landscape and do my part to “disrupt” and improve education. I specialize in Executive Function, ADHD and 2e, Twice Exceptional learners. I wear a lot of hats, Education Consultant, Advocate, Speaker, Writer, YouTuber, Parent Coach, EF and ADHD Coach, etc.. School was incredibly challenging for me and it isn’t working for countless outside-the-box, neurodiverse learners of today. I use my blog to:- Give you free, actionable solutions to help your child, &
- Challenge the status quo to improve education.
Start exploring my site
- My True Story – Read about my struggles as a student and how I overcame them.
- About Seth now – Here’s a personal peek into my current life.
- Executive Function Article – This is a MUST READ article, the most essential one on my site. It’s about why EF is THE most important thing parents and teachers must understand, but don’t.
- 2e Twice-Exceptional Learners – Another MUST READ. Everything you need to know about 2e/twice-exceptional kids and how to support them.
- TEFOS 2020, The Executive Function Online Summit, a free summit I made for parents, with phenomenal experts teaching from the heart. August 7, 2020, pre-register for free now and forget about it until summer because you’ll officially be on the list.
- Podcast – Like to listen? I’ve been on many podcasts discussing these topics.
- YouTube – My YouTube channel with tons of helpful videos. Please subscribe, like and comment (this helps my message get to more people).
- Coaching – About my practice for struggling students (online or in-person).
- Speaking – Hire me to speak or run a workshop for conferences, parent groups, teacher trainings, etc..
- My professional background/resume
- Subscribe HERE for free tools and blog updates to help your child
- Your privacy
- Diversity statement