Helping others improve their quality of life and discover the best version of themselves is what I (Ty) live for. I'm not 100% sure when this passion started for me, but my mom often tells a story of me as a first grader that may explain it…

Growing up, my mom was a special education teacher in the Milwaukee Public School District, so it made the most sense for me to attend the school that she worked at. For those of you not familiar with Milwaukee, the majority of the public schools in the district were pretty rough and the kids, even rougher. As a 7-year-old though, I didn't think anything of it and I was stoked to make some new friends at my new school. Being the social and friendly little dude that I was, I quickly made friends with the coolest kids in the class. At first quarter conferences, my teacher breezed through my academic progress stating how proud she was of the progress I was making in reading and math and then came a “BUT”. She went on to express her concern with the "...

Let’s take a trip down memory lane…

I (Katie) have been a speech language pathologist for almost nine years, but I remember my first few months like they happened yesterday. Fresh out of graduate school, working in a large private practice, I was closer in age to some of my clients than I was to their parents… and it definitely showed! Being in my mid-20’s without any children of my own, it was incredibly intimidating to do parent training. Unfortunately for my 26-year-old self, working in private practice means that parents are generally highly involved in the therapy process, so hiding in my office wasn’t an option!

It honestly took me a long time to truly feel comfortable giving parents feedback. Thankfully, I had joined a practice that had several experienced clinicians, and they shared their best strategies for getting parents on board with the therapy process. Over the years, I began to actually enjoy having parents in my office (no hiding needed!), and I learned how much fast...

Your child is having difficulty focusing and seems constantly distracted by the smallest things. Homework and morning routines take hours to complete. Your child is rarely able to stay seated at dinner or at a desk, interrupts constantly, blurts out funny comments at the most inconvenient times, and climbs literally everything in sight. After years of concerns from yourself and teachers, you finally make the decision to seek out an evaluation and treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, after a quick google search in your area for specialists who diagnose and treat ADHD, it becomes clear that there are too many options. Hello, overwhelm and confusion! In this blog post, I am going to provide you with a little information on ADHD, why a comprehensive evaluation is important, and advantages/drawbacks of various specialists who diagnose and treat ADHD.

What is ADHD?

Before I get into answering the question of which specialist to choose, let’s first disc...

At the beginning of the year, many of us set goals for ourselves. Perhaps you set a goal to be healthier, travel more, or apply for that promotion at work. Lori talked last week about setting 2020 parenting goals and gave several concrete strategies to help you meet those goals. I’m sure you have a lot on your plate already, but I’m going to add one suggestion for the new year: make it a goal to read often with your child (no matter how old they are!). There are many wonderful reasons to read with your children, and this becomes especially important if they have a diagnosis of ADHD, autism, learning disorder or language challenges. In fact, research shows that reading with your child can help improve your child’s executive functions, as well as social skills, comprehension, vocabulary, and the list goes on.

In the interest of transparency, I need to share that for me personally, reading to my children (ages 3 and 5) sometimes feels like a chore at the end of a long day. My kids have a...

We want you to take some time to celebrate your accomplishments over this past year! Be proud of the goals you met and all the amazing experiences you had. We also want to reflect a little on areas for improvement in the new year. As you think back on the year, did you find it difficult to have positive interactions with your child on a day to day basis? Were you feeling overwhelmed by your child’s behavior or emotions and unsure of how to help? If so, now is a perfect time to sit down, get out a pencil and paper, and start making some parenting goals for the new year. We know you might be planning resolutions right now, so on the blog we are sharing 7 tips for making goals you can crush in 2020!

We love providing you with inspirational quotes and parenting tips, but we also realize that this information may not actually result in change without a clear plan. For instance, when we do therapy with families, we work with both parents and children to create clear goals and actionable ...

Over the past few months, we have been sharing about executive functions: what they are, why they are so important, and how we as parents can support children with ADHD, autism, learning disorders, and language challenges with these skills. One question we consistently hear from parents is, “How do I know what skills are appropriate for my child at a certain age?” This is a great question! Many times, parents fall to one end of the spectrum; either they expect too much from their child, or they assume that their child cannot do tasks independently, and end up “over-helping,” which can accidentally make children more dependent on their parents (oops, I know that is NOT your goal!).

To help you understand where your child should be in their development, we have put together some information about what you can expect at various ages. Before we start, it is SO important to understand that every child is different! Executive function skills develop differently in everyone, so keep in mind ...

When I was still in practice as a child psychologist, it was a disheartening reality that, by the time most children were walking through my door for a diagnostic evaluation, their struggles were longstanding. Often, it had gotten to the point of failing grades (or having to repeat a grade!), ineffective school interventions, or a tumultuous home situation with parents at their wits’ end (we have more free resources if school or homework is a struggle). In any of these situations, as you can imagine, the child themselves is just as frustrated as the adults who are trying to help them.

During diagnostic testing, there is a lot of one-on-one time with the child, engaging them in conversation and tasks. These tasks, by design, push children to their limits. It is in these moments that I really got a glimpse into their (usually) internal dialogue... and it was, more often than not, not very kind.

“I’m stupid.”

“I’m not good at math so I can’t do this problem.”

“This is too hard.”

“I’l...

Is it a struggle to get your children ready for school every day? Do you feel like a broken record as you repeat the same instruction approximately 328 times each morning, only to eventually yell at your child just to get their attention, and then have them look at you in surprise that you are so annoyed? Does a change in the routine cause a lot of stress for your kids? Do you notice your child’s emotions going from “zero to sixty” after a change in plans or minor disagreement? As we get closer to the end of another semester and the holiday season is in full swing, all of us are probably struggling with task persistence and managing our time. We are here to provide you with more information about executive function for your child with ADHD, autism, language disorder, or learning challenges to help make the days run a little bit smoother! 

A few weeks ago, we talked about five important facts every parent needs to understand about executive function.Today, I’m diving deeper into one...

If I had a nickel for every time parents told me that they had already (without much lasting impact!) tried a reward system at home with their child—well, I would be a rich woman. Many of you who have a child with ADHD, an autism spectrum disorder, or executive functioning challenges have struggled with your child not listening or following directions at home, having frequent meltdowns, hitting peers or siblings, using disrespectful language, etc. So, you probably decided to try a rewards system to work on these skills. And--let me guess--your child’s behavior improved initially, but then a week later you were right back where you started.

Believe me, I know. I have been there, too, with my own kids. We start a cotton ball jar for following directions and showing kindness. A week into it, my kids are sharing well and following their morning and nighttime routines with ease. Another week later and I’m forgetting to give the cotton balls, my kids are taking 30 minutes to get dressed ...

How’s your week going? Let me guess...

You have everything running perfectly on schedule, right? You’ve gotten all the house projects done, laundry put away, finished everything at the office at least 48 hours before it was due, and baked three dozen sparkly cupcakes for the bake sale... AND your children got along without fighting, listened every time you asked them to do something, and sat quietly (without prompting) when you had to answer the phone. Whew, a truly perfect day. Or was it a little more complicated than that?

Regardless of what you accomplished today, let me reassure you that this parenting thing is a lot of work… for all of us! And when you really think about it, it’s amazing that as parents, we are able to balance so many different roles at one time. Seriously, how do we do it? Whether you realize it or not, you constantly use executive functions to help you get through your to-do list every day. This unique set of cognitive skills helps us every time we set a goal,...