Don’t forget Executive Dysfunction Goals in the IEP!

It’s annual review time in many school districts throughout the U.S. And while many states now have computerized systems for generating Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), the programs are often sorely lacking in addressing the many kinds of deficits students with Executive Dysfunction (EDF) experience.

Remembering that our goal is to prepare the student for independent functioning post-school, it is not enough to lend them our frontal lobes to chunk their work or to prioritize it for them. We need to teach them how to generate prioritized to-do lists, how to monitor their progress towards a goal, how to pace themselves, how to plan, how to sequence, how to organize their materials, time, and space, etc.

It’s a lot. And we need to ensure that we have goals for each deficit area. So here are some terrific resources to help you formulate goals, objectives, and accommodations for students with EDF:

Tigers, Too: Checklists for Classroom Objectives and Interventions (Dornbush & Pruitt, Parkaire Press, 2010). Tigers, Too Checklists provides an easy format to identify necessary and appropriate goals for the student. The book is a supplement to Tigers, Too: Executive Functions/Speed of Processing/Memory – Impact on academic, behavioral, and social functioning of students with ADHD, Tourette syndrome, and OCD: Modifications and Interventions by the same authors (2009).

 

Need some accommodation ideas for students with EDF in a convenient format organized by issue? See my book, Find a Way or Make a Way: Checklists of Helpful Accommodations for Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Executive Dysfunction, Mood Disorders, Tourette’s Syndrome, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Other Neurological Challenges (Packer, Parkaire Press, 2009). This book contains some of the great classroom accommodation ideas that are explained in more detail in Challenging Kids, Challenged Teachers (Packer & Pruitt, 2010).

May 6: “Tourette Syndrome in the Classroom and School”

The Tourette Syndrome Association is hosting an event for educators in West Palm Beach, Florida on May 6, 2011.

The conference is open to all Palm Beach County and Regional Educators, Service Providers and Professionals.

Sign up for the FREE full day conference. Click here for more information (PDF™ format)