Let’s Get Organized!
Executive Functioning Skills and Autism
Are your child’s assignments in a tangled web of papers in his/her book bag? Can your child tell you about upcoming tests or projects? Does your child find it difficult to organize thoughts and actions in order to figure out what sequence of steps are needed?
Executive functioning refers to a person's ability to process information. It includes skills such as organizing, planning, paying attention, preventing inappropriate responses and monitoring impulse control.
Strengthening executive functioning skills can help students with autism succeed in the classroom as well as build a framework for decision-making in the future. A 2018 study demonstrated that everyday executive functioning predicted strong adaptive skills over and above a person’s age and IQ (Kouklari, Tsermentseli & Monks, 2018).
THIS WEBINAR WILL HELP FAMILIES LIVING WITH AUTISM TO:
- Identify poor executive functioning skills
- Learn the importance of executive functioning at an early age
- Discover how strong executive functioning skills support school/job success and promote mental/physical health
- Hear practical ways to help individuals with autism be more organized, adopt planning skills, develop self-regulation and balance tasks
RESOURCES
- Presentation Slides
- Autism Society Transitions and Post-Secondary Website
- Harvard University Center on the Developing Child’s EF Activity Guide
- Children’s Hospital Family ECHO virtual learning series
- Sesame Street in Communities
- TED Talk – How your brain’s executive function works
MEET THE FACILITATOR
Dr. Kerry Catanese is currently a postdoctoral fellow with Total Education Solutions (TES). She presently provides psychological evaluation, therapy, and Autism Navigation services to children and caregivers at the TES Fairlawn Clinic. Kerry has previous work experience providing individual, parent, and family therapeutic services to early childhood and school aged children in the school, home, and community environments. She also has professional experience completing psychological evaluations with early childhood and school aged children in school, residential treatment center, and outpatient settings. Outside of work, Kerry enjoys spending time in training activities with her dog so she can one day become a certified therapy dog.
SUPPORTED BY:
About the Autism Society of Greater Akron
The Autism Society of Greater Akron (ASGA) is part of a nationwide network of affiliates with the Autism Society of America, the nation’s largest and oldest grassroots autism organization. ASGA serves Summit, Stark, Wayne, Portage and Medina counties (OH) and works locally to achieve its mission --to create connections, empowering everyone in the Autism community with the resources needed to live fully.
ASGA is also a proud member of the Ohio Family Network (OFN), connecting people with disabilities and their families to local information and resources within their communities. OFN provides opportunities to share ideas, find solutions to common challenges and inspire and strengthen others.