Neurodiversity & Executive Function

I mean, the only reason we took them everyone, we are so thrilled that you could come and meet us and be with us this evening. And I think I’m even more thrilled to have Seth Perler on.

I didn’t know a whole lot about Seth until he invited me to speak last August. I had heard of his work and I’d read his work, but I didn’t know him personally. So it was wonderful to get to know Seth. As you all know, he’s one of the kindest gentlemen out there and very knowledgeable, especially on this topic of executive function.

We’re combining a little bit here. We’re going to talk a little bit about some of the brain science, but the majority of these slides are Seth’s slides. I just added a few. Believe it or not, he sent me 86 slides the other day, and I’m going, “Okay, where do I put my slides?” But it’s okay, because I know many of you are here to listen to Seth.

So welcome, folks, again, and thank you so much, Seth, for being on and agreeing to do this. If you don’t know by now, the topic is executive function and the neurodiverse individual, which generally means all individuals. I work with a lot of folks, from kids all the way to adults, who struggle with executive functioning skills. So it really is across the board, and it is deeply rooted in neurodevelopment.

I’m going to turn it over to Seth and we’re going to get going. I do want to say that for those of you who have questions around medication and neurodiverse kids, that’s our next webinar, which is going to happen December 5th, I believe. I’ll have Dr. Stephen Curtis, who’s an expert in medication, twice exceptionality, and giftedness, joining me there.

So if you’re interested, send me an email. We’ll have something out soon. But without further ado, I’m going to let Seth take over. Again, thank you so much, Seth, for being with us. We’ll be going back and forth a little bit, but most of these slides are Seth’s slides, so I’m going to let him lead here.

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“All right, well thanks, Mike. It’s great to be here, and thank you for your kind words, Mike. I appreciate you and what you’ve brought and contributed to the world. And hi, everybody.

It is me, Seth. Seth Perler. Mike, I may ask you to toggle in and out of the slide view to the speaker view every once in a while. I don’t know if I can do it from that side or not. Okay, so I’ll just ask you on YouTube.

So hi, everybody. My name is Seth Perler, and if you are not familiar with me, I’ll explain who I am in just a moment. Today I’m going to be talking about executive function and neurodiverse kids.”

“I have the image of a dog drinking from a fire hose here because there is a lot of information. There are a lot of slides. They are not text-heavy at all, but there is a lot of information that I’m going to throw at you.

What I like to tell people is this: for those of you who like to take a lot of notes, don’t try to take every single note. What I really want to encourage you to do is let the ideas sink in. Please trust me, they will sink in. You’re not trying to get every single detail. Just take notes on the things that you think will help you help your child or the children you’re working with.”

“My website is sethperler.com. I have a lot of freebies and stuff like that. I send out a newsletter on Sundays.

So hello — my name is Seth Perler. I’m an executive function coach. I was based in Colorado, and I recently moved to Maui, Hawaii, and that’s where I’m at now.”

“In terms of being an executive function coach, what I do is specifically work with students — usually middle school, high school, and college students, sometimes elementary students, and sometimes adults.

What I do is work with students who are struggling in school. They’re struggling to navigate school. These are students who are often failing, close to failing, struggling in their classes, and have a lot of missing work, incompletes, zeros, and late work. There are patterns that they go through every semester, and they’re just sort of on a slow — or sometimes fast — downward spiral, semester after semester, year after year.”

“Parents are concerned about the students, teachers are concerned about the students, and there are a lot of misconceptions about these kids. As far as 2e is concerned, most of the kids that I work with happen to be 2e. They certainly don’t have to be, but most of the kids I work with tend to be twice-exceptional kids, and I’ll talk more about that in a little bit.

I was a teacher for 12 years. I got a master’s in gifted and talented education, then I got frustrated with the system, ended up leaving, and started doing what I’m doing now. I’ve been doing this work for 10 years. I speak, blog, vlog, create courses, and work with families and students to try to help them.”

“So the slide Mike’s about to show is what I’m trying to do with the students I work with. What I’m trying to do is get them from point A to point B.

What the heck is point A and point B?

Well, point A looks something like this: the student is failing or close to failing, has D’s, missing assignments, incompletes, late work, and zeros. They’re often frustrated with school and frustrated with themselves.”

“Sometimes when they get to middle school and high school, they start saying things like:

* ‘I hate school.’
* ‘My teachers hate me.’
* ‘I hate my teachers.’
* ‘What’s the use?’
* ‘I can’t do this.’

Sometimes they don’t say those things out loud, but instead internalize it and feel really bad about themselves.”

“They may be trying super hard and working for hours. So I sort of have two types of students:

* The ones who just give up and avoid the work entirely.
* The ones who go into overdrive and work incredibly hard, spending their entire day and evening on schoolwork until they’re completely burned out.”

“Point B is where they have what I call ‘good enough executive function.’ It’s not perfect, but they can use a planner successfully, organize their papers and online work, keep their grades up, advocate for themselves, be more honest and forthcoming, and articulate who they are as a learner and thinker.

There’s some metacognition and self-reflection there.”

“So the journey from A to B is about turning the corner. It’s not perfect, but the student is no longer on a downward spiral. Now they’re moving upward — maybe slowly, but clearly upward — and that’s what I’m in the business of doing: helping create that change.”