Full PreFrontal: Exposing the Mysteries of Executive Function

Send us a textAmericans were never that concerned about the issues of educating children until it dawned on everybody that children are in fact “economically useless, but emotionally priceless” as described by Viviana A. Zelizer. Since then, being over-consumed by current competition and future career success, well-educated upper-middle class affluent families, schools and communities are caught up in ensuring their children’s success, rather than preparing them for life.On today’s podcast, our guest Suniya S. Luthar, Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and Professor Emerita at Columbia University’s Teachers College returns to obliterate the counterintuitive notion that privilege wipes away any liability. Her focus in this episode is school culture and how it can bring awareness to the social, psychological, and emotional risks that exist in these communities.About Professor Suniya LutharSuniya S. Luthar is Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, and Professor Emerita, Columbia University’s Teachers College.  Her research has involved understanding pathways to resilience in diverse populations, and developing interventions to address these.Website:www.suniyaluthar.orgwww.authenticconnectionsgroups.orgAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textNo one is spared from the drama and trauma of growing up, not even affluent kids. However, as hard as it is to imagine, the children of highly-educated parents with abundant material comforts and lifestyles of privilege have their own set of challenges, which surface in their own unique ways. They are growing up in highly-competitive environments with an immense pressure to excel, are frequently exposed to social comparisons, and have highly-driven and extremely busy parents who are not always available to relieve psychological distress or offer help.On this episode, our guest Suniya S. Luthar, Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and Professor Emerita at Columbia University’s Teachers College, dives deep into the challenges of growing up in affluence, being a widely stretched and stressed parent, and the best ways to build authentic connections that foster deeper understanding and promote the wellbeing of the whole child.About Professor Suniya LutharSuniya S. Luthar is Foundation Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University, and Professor Emerita, Columbia University’s Teachers College.  Her research has involved understanding pathways to resilience in diverse populations, and developing interventions to address these.Website:www.suniyaluthar.orgwww.authenticconnectionsgroups.orgAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textSeeing an under-producing, under-performing, or generally disengaged kid is quite painful. They often struggle to connect with purpose and persevere when school activities get challenging. Sometimes educators attempt to engage children with fear or praise or even by trying to entertain them, which too doesn’t always yield self-driven motivation. The world comes at these kids with a great deal of ideas and suggestions to engage them. So what’s the right way to coach children and adolescents that will lead to intrinsic and self-sustaining effort which ultimately drives student success beyond academics?On this episode, our guest Mr. Michael Delman, founder of Beyond Booksmart, talks about the best ways to coach children who struggle with attention, organization, and memory because of various ailments, but ultimately are in dire need of change. Coaching is essential in managing problems with underdeveloped Executive Function skills, but its true success it is rooted in interpersonal wisdom.About Michael Delman, M.Ed.Massachusetts Distinguished Educator Michael Delman is a pioneer and leader in the area of Executive Function coaching. He has served as CEO and founder of Beyond BookSmart, the nation’s largest Executive Function coaching company, since 2006. Prior to that, Michael co-founded and was principal of McAuliffe Charter School in Framingham, Massachusetts. Michael has presented at conferences such as The Learning Disabilities Association of America, the 2018 International Conference on ADHD, and numerous regional organizations. He has been featured in The Times of London, CBS Boston affiliate WBZ TV, and dozens of media outlets across the country. In 2018, he published his first book Your Kid’s Gonna Be Okay: Building the Executive Function Skills Your Child Needs in the Age of Attention. Michael brings his trademark enthusiasm to his work with students and adults alike, helping people discover their strengths, develop their confidence, and become more effective at whatever challenges they face.Website:https://www.beyondbooksmart.com/Books:Your Kid’s Gonna Be Okay: Building the Executive Function Skills Your Child Needs in the Age of AttentionArticles:https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/video-building-core-capabilities-life/https://46y5eh11fhgw3ve3ytpwxt9r-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/wp14_reward_motivation_121118_FINAL.pdfhttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-smart-but-scattered-guide-to-success-peg-dawson-edd/1121770338?ean=9781462516964#/About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotiSupport the show

Send us a textWhat’s common between a soccer mom who has a flat tire on the way to her son’s game, a Wall Street dad who just got told to stay in the office for the markets in the East to open, and a middle school girl who just got her new smart phone? They are all struggling to cope with feeling either anxious, lonely, stressed out, or tired. A dysregulated frontal lobe system often causes our executive function to crash and burn. Through mindfulness, one can cultivate a form of awareness that can bring attunement to knowing what you’re doing as you’re doing it.On this episode our guest, Dr. Christopher Willard (PsyD), a psychologist and educational consultant specializing in mindfulness, talks about the elements of mindfulness training and flexibility training.About Dr. Chris WillardDr. Christopher Willard (PsyD) is a psychologist and educational consultant based in Boston specializing in mindfulness.  He has been practicing meditation for 20 years, and has led hundreds of workshops around the world, with invitations to more than two dozen countries. He currently serves on the board of directors at the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and is the president of the Mindfulness in Education Network. He has presented at TEDx conferences and his thoughts have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, mindful.org, and elsewhere. He is the author of Child’s Mind (2010) Growing Up Mindful (2016) Raising Resilience (2017) and eight other books for parents, professionals and children, along with six sets of cards and therapeutic games, available in more than ten languages. He teaches at Harvard Medical School.On the personal side, he enjoys traveling, hiking, cooking, reading and writing, and being a father.Website:http://drchristopherwillard.com/Books:AlphabreathsGrowing Up MindfulRaising ResilienceAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textPsychologist and author Alexandra Horowitz says “Attention is an intentional, unapologetic discriminator. It asks what is relevant right now, and gears us up to notice only that.” It’s a gift to have such attentional acumen, but not everyone is lucky to have such a natural capacity for discrimination. In fact, in a neurogenetic and neuropsychiatric disorder like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the brain isn’t wired to successfully ignore things once they get noticed.In this big-picture episode, Sucheta discusses how and why ADHD is more like a disorder of Executive Function rather than simply a disorder of attention and how the management needs to include a comprehensive neurogentic & neurocognitive approach that centers around medication, behavior therapy, environmental modifications, and skill development.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textIf you are taking a stroll on the beach while you have parked your car at a meter, you have to set aside some mental resources to think about the time and to make decisions to either return to your car to add money to the meter or take a chance or bear the pain of having to pay a fine later. But the human struggle of balancing the desire to be in the moment while also considering the future is exacerbated by conditions such as ADHD and that’s why many people struggle to cater to the needs of their future self while being their current self.On today’s podcast, our guest Ari Tuckman, Psy.D., a practicing psychologist, author of “ADHD After Dark: Better Sex Life, Better Relationship”, and a host of the Podcast “More Attention, Less Deficit”, talks about the disorder of ADHD and how it is truly all about executive function and shortening the unimaginable distance between the need of the current self and future self.About Ari Tuckman, PsyD, CSTAri Tuckman, PsyD, CST has given more than 350 presentations and routinely earns excellent reviews for his ability to make complicated information understandable and useful. He is the author of four books: “ADHD After Dark: Better Sex Life, Better Relationship”, “Understand Your Brain, Get More Done”, “More Attention, Less Deficit” and “Integrative Treatment for Adult ADHD”. His “More Attention, Less Deficit” podcast has more than 100 episodes and more than two million downloads. He is a psychologist and sex therapist in private practice in West Chester, PA, a former board member of CHADD National, and co-chair of the CHADD conference committee.Website:adultADHDbook.comBooks:Understand Your Brain, Get More Done: The ADHD Executive Functions WorkbookMore Attention, Less Deficit: Success Strategies for Adults with ADHDIntegrative Treatment for Adult ADHD: A Practical, Easy to Use Guide for CliniciansADHD After Dark: Better Sex Life, Better RelationshipAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textIf an athlete on the high school varsity football, lacrosse, or soccer team happens to be more than typically distracted, taking too long, has become inconsistent with routines or happens to frequently doze off in history class, the teacher’s first assumption might be to question the student’s motivation and him hitting his head three weeks ago might be long forgotten. But the data shows that 12% of those children with a mild brain injury continue to have persistent symptoms beyond 1 year and it is vital that all those involved educating such children be informed about the nuances of this hidden epidemic.On this episode, Dr. Ann Glang, a special education researcher who for over 25 years has designed and studied interventions to support children and adolescents with TBI, educators, and families, will share how a brain injury as a condition differs from other disabilities and how best to support the needs of these students in the classroom and beyond. Considering the prevalence of traumatic brain injuries in children is on the rise, it is no surprise that they all end up in our schools and many in regular classrooms. By learning about the educational impact of such injuries to the brain, teachers and parents will gain the power and agency to make a difference in the life of every child.About Ann Glang, Ph.D.Dr. Ann Glang is a special education researcher who for over 25 years has designed and studied interventions to support children and adolescents with TBI, educators, and families. Dr. Glang has served as a principal investigator for numerous National Institutes of Health and Department of Education-funded projects in her role as a researcher and Director of the Center on Brain Injury Research and Training at University of Oregon.   Her research interests include childhood brain injury prevention and interventions for helping teachers and families support children and adolescents with brain injuries.Website:The Center on Brain Injury Research and TrainingAbout Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textThe greatest philosophical writings over the centuries have often examined the idea of the meaning of life. After the World War II, Viktor Frankl’s writing often explored the idea of the existential vacuum, which plagued those who entered the concentration camps giving them no reason to fight for life. What we realize now is that a sense of purpose and meaning plays a vital role as it offers protection from life’s undeniable hardships and discovering that purpose for oneself can be the meaningful journey in and of itself.On this episode, our guest William Damon, Ph.D., a professor and psychologist at the Stanford School of Education, says that stress isn’t the biggest problem growing up today: It’s meaninglessness. Tune into Sucheta’s interview with Dr. Damon as they discuss how to help children build meaning beyond themselves.About William Damon, Ph.D.William Damon is Professor of Education at Stanford University, Director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence, and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is one of the world’s leading researchers on the development of purpose and author of The Path to Purpose. Damon’s other books include The Moral Child; Greater Expectations (winner of the Parent’s Choice Book Award); Some Do Care: Lives of Moral Commitment (with Anne Colby); Good Work (with Howard Gardner and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi); and The Power of Ideals: The Real Story of Moral Choice (also with Anne Colby). Damon’s present work includes a study that explores the development of purpose in the college years and a study of family purposes across generations. Damon has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show

Send us a textTraveling through time, visiting imaginary places, witnessing wars and famines, and reliving crusades, is all made possible by reading. It engages visual imagination, invokes emotions, and challenges our preconceived notions and it single-handedly helps us change our mind.  The reading journey begins from making sense of a written word to gathering new information from English, science, or social studies texts to eventually connecting it all to one’s own knowledge, ideas, and beliefs. But such a profoundly relevant, complex, and meaningful learning process is often overlooked.On this episode, my guest Kelly Cartwright, Ph.D., who’s motto is “Good readers and good thinkers” joins us to discuss why educators must make every attempt to teach executive function skills to actively support reading comprehension.About Kelly B. Cartwright, Ph.D.Kelly B. Cartwright is Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Teacher Preparation at Christopher Newport University (CNU) where she directs the Reading, Executive function, and Development (READ) Lab. Kelly’s research explores the development of skilled reading comprehension and the neurocognitive and affective factors that underlie comprehension processes and difficulties from preschool through adulthood. Her work has appeared in Journal of Educational Psychology, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Research in Developmental Disabilities, and a range of other research publications. Her books on reading comprehension include Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension: A Guide for Educators, Word Callers: Small-Group and One-to-One Interventions for Children who “Read” but Don’t Comprehend. and Literacy Processes: Cognitive Flexibility in Learning and Teaching, which was nominated for the Ed Fry Book Award in 2008. Kelly has served on the Board of Directors of the Literacy Research Association and was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. Her research has been supported by grants from the Virginia State Reading Association and the United States Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Kelly regularly works with teachers in public and private schools throughout the US to better understand and improve reading comprehension for struggling readers, and these experiences inform her research.Websitehttps://kellycartwright.comBooksExecutive Skills and Reading Comprehension: A Guide for EducatorsWord Callers: Small-Group and One-to-One Interventions for Children who “Read” but Don’t UnderstandLiteracy Processes: Cognitive Flexibility in Learning and TeachingHelpful ResourcesExecutive-Level Thinking: Teaching 21st Century Skills for Effective Reading ComprehensionExecutive Function 101Activities Guide: Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to AdolescenceSupport the show

Send us a textOur lives have become so complex that surviving without shopping lists, calendars, scheduling apps, timers and alarms is nearly impossible. On top of that, sometimes, the information overload gets so out of hand that there’s no time left to pick our scattered selves up to set helpful systems up in the first place. In order to help raise organized and independent school-ready children it is important that parents do their bit that goes beyond just the neat and tidy homes.Tune in to today’s Big Picture episode as I discuss the myths surrounding developing the mastery of organization skills, the role of organization of space, time and tasks in successful goal-management, and the connection between an organized mind and an organized life.About Host, Sucheta KamathSucheta Kamath, is an award-winning speech-language pathologist, a TEDx speaker, a celebrated community leader, and the founder and CEO of ExQ®. As an EdTech entrepreneur, Sucheta has designed ExQ's personalized digital learning curriculum/tool that empowers middle and high school students to develop self-awareness and strategic thinking skills through the mastery of Executive Function and social-emotional competence.Support the show