Many young adults enter their post-high school years without the executive functioning skills needed to thrive. 

This is often because the people supporting them underestimate the amount of support they’re getting, and there’s no plan in place to fade that prompting. 

When young adults enter college, they have to manage sleep hygiene, long-term projects, and manage screen time. 

This is why I talk so much about using multiple service delivery models when supporting executive functioning; whether it be in the schools or in private practice; because many essential life skills cannot be taught without the right environmental scaffolding in place.  

That’s why I invited Michael McLeod from GrowNOW therapy to talk about why he uses a combination of direct sessions, summer camps with community-based activities, parent coaching, and educator training. 

Michael partnered and worked with The Focus Foundation in 2015, learning from incredible doctors, neuropsychologists, and various specialists – gaining in-depth training and experience with ADHD and Executive Function research and development. He currently specializes in ADHD, Executive Functioning, Social Executive Functioning, and Parent Coaching. From his experiences as an Executive Function Specialist, Michael developed a distinct model of Internal Skills Coaching to enhance these skills. Michael is a Keynote Speaker and has presented nationwide and internationally, training families and professionals on his unique GrowNOW Treatment Model for fostering Executive Functions & Resiliency.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅Do graduate programs prepare clinicians to work on executive functioning out in the field?

✅Frontloading vs. traditional social skills sessions.

✅Why helping families set boundaries around screen time is an essential part of the services clinicians offer.

✅Defining failure to launch and what it looks like in young adults.

✅Situational awareness and its impact on safety for college students. 

You can connect with Michael at:

GrowNOWADHD.com, here: http://grownowadhd.com/

GrowNOW Instagram, here: http://instagram.com/GrowNOWADHD

GrowNOW School Trainings, here: https://www.grownowadhd.com/training/

ADHD Parenting Podcast, here: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xATyVhNZU3abIejNIggvD

Listen to my previous conversations with Michael here:

EP 008: Building accountability and motivation in kids with ADHD (with Mike McLeod), here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-008-building-accountability-and-motivation-in-kids-with-adhd-with-mike-mcleod/

EP 009: Time management and device use boundaries in kids with ADHD (with Mike McLeod), here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-009-time-management-and-device-use-boundaries-for-kids-with-adhd-with-mike-mcleod/

The following previous episodes were mentioned in this episode:

EP 122: Executive functioning for college students: Beyond checklists and planners (with Jill Fahy), here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-122-executive-functioning-for-college-students-beyond-checklists-and-planners-with-jill-fahy/

EP 193: Using Distance Learning to Increase Access and Opportunity (with Seth Fleischauer), here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/ep-193-using-distance-learning-to-increase-access-and-opportunity-with-seth-fleischauer/

In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers develop a strategic plan for putting executive functioning support in place in collaboration with their school teams. You can learn more about that program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership