De Facto Leaders

“Demand avoidance”, poor generalization, prompt-dependence, and social skills challenges seem like isolated issues. But often they’re not. Many times they’re tied to executive functioning challenges. That’s why when I describe “executive dysfunction”, I cluster it into five broad areas:Attention, Learning Challenges, Behavioral Issues, Organization, and Social SkillsUsually, this is the point that the lightbulb goes on for a lot of clinicians and educators in the room as they realize executive functioning is the common sticking point behind many of their students’ challenges.When I support clinicians in designing executive functioning intervention frameworks, I start with explaining the external signs. Things like:✅ Refusing to do even the simplest of tasks, and putting more effort into avoiding the work than it would take to actually do it✅Behaviors that seem disproportionate to the situation, melt downs over things that barely phase their peers✅ Always appearing to be several steps behind✅ Not “reading the room” during functional tasks, and requiring tons of prompts✅ Lack of awareness of how they’re coming across to othersIn episode 266 of De Facto Leaders, I do a deep dive into these five external signs that tie back to executive functioning challenges. In this episode, I mention the Task Execution and Planning Protocol, which gives school clinicians an intervention strategy that takes students from “demand avoidance” and prompt dependence to independence during daily academic and functional tasks. You can learn more about the Task Execution and Planning Protocol here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/taskexecutionIn this episode, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

Many school teams AREN’T actually working on executive functioning when they think they are.As a result, they’re being more flexible and accommodating than ever, giving students a chance to process after behavioral escalations…Yet they’re seeing students continue to be dysregulated. In some cases, it’s getting worse. The same thing goes for helping kids stay organized and manage work. Kids refuse to use organizers and lists, forget to use them when it’s relevant, or require a ton of adult prompting when they actually ARE using them.In my free training, I share why these things happen. This free training, which I’ve recently updated, is called “How to Be Evidence-Based and Neurodiversity-Affirming With Executive Functioning Support”.In the training, I cover three common mistakes school teams make when implementing “executive functioning interventions”. In episode 264 of De Facto Leaders, I share two of those three mistakes. When you listen to this episode, you’ll discover:✅ Why students sometimes seem MORE dysregulated when asked to talk about melt downs or why they made a poor choice.✅ The relationship between executive dysfunction, anxiety, and time perception.✅ Why students aren’t more organized, even though you’ve giving them organizing tools like lists and plannersPlus, I share two case studies, including:✅ The student who was melting down during passing period, and why giving him more time to process his feelings was the last thing he needed (and how we supported him)✅ The student who could make himself throw up whenever we asked him to do a non-preferred task who became MORE distrustful of adults the more flexible we were.In this episode, I mentioned my free training where I share three mistakes professionals make when supporting executive functioning (that result in prompt-dependence and dysregulation). In this training, I cover the following:✅ Already working on executive functioning, and not seeing results? It could be because you're NOT truly working on executive functioning, even though you think you are. Learn how to make the subtle shifts that make all the difference.✅ Are severe behaviors preventing ANY true skill development? Learn the common mistakes school teams make (related to executive functioning) that create prompt-dependence and dysregulation, and what to do instead.✅ Are students struggling with peers, even though you're working on social skills? I'll share why "social skills groups" rarely result in good skill-transfer, and how to shift your service-deliver model to help students self-advocate and form relationships.✅ Not sure your team will buy-in to supporting executive functioning in classrooms? Learn the 3-part framework I teach SLPs, social workers, psychologists, counselors, and other interventionists that helps them implement building-wide executive functioning intervention, even with a huge caseload.You can sign up for this training here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadershipIn this episode, I mentioned School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers design scalable executive functioning interventions to ensure students get the scaffolding they need across the school day. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

If your therapy techniques only work when you’re in the room, that’s a problem.Many therapists unintentionally “gatekeep” their expertise and miss opportunities to boost carryover.It’s the unexpected downside of being really good at direct clinical work. Don’t get me wrong. Clinical judgment does matter. And some things can only be addressed by a trained clinician in a therapy room.But when every decision depends on your personal expertise and physical presence, you’ve made yourself the bottleneck.In this episode, I’ll share how to make the shift towards clear, repeatable systems that others can follow. When you make your methods easier to teach, you make your work scalable, easier to delegate, and far more convincing to leadership.I’ll tackle common misconceptions like:✅ “I can’t delegate; I don’t have direct reports.”✅ “I don’t have time for consultation.”✅ “We never get enough time to work on skills.”Plus I share the three steps to making intervention “scalable” so your session plans can start doubling as consultation guides and training tools for others.In this episode, I mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives speech pathologists a framework for building language skills needed to thrive in school, social situations, and daily life. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapyI also mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps related service providers develop scalable executive functioning strategies they can turn into schoolwide initiatives. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership

When we choose evaluation tools for language, are we clear on WHY we’re assessing? Most people think of diagnosis, but that’s not the only reason we assess students. I discuss this question and more in this second part of a three-part series, bilingual SLPs Destiny Johnson and Tiffany Shahoumian-Ruiz join me to continue our conversation about language evaluation practices in schools.Across these conversations, we explore:Sensitivity, specificity, reference standards, and diagnostic accuracyHow test development has evolved over time and why this matters Why the same cut-off score shouldn’t apply across all testsThe math behind using two norm-referenced tests, and why it may complicate rather than clarify in some casesOther reasons we test beyond diagnosis (treatment planning, severity, monitoring progress)How do we do we to “sell” the concept of dynamic assessment to administratorsCase studies that show the pitfalls of over-reliance on standardized scoresMisconceptions clinicians often hold, and what they should know about assessmentDifferences in state eligibility standards, and what this means for service decisionsThis series is part myth-busting, part practical strategies, and part advocacy playbook—perfect for clinicians who want to move beyond compliance-driven evaluations toward assessments that truly reflect students’ needs.Destiny Johnson, M.S., CCC-SLP, is a bilingual speech-language pathologist (English/Spanish) with a deep passion for culturally responsive assessment and treatment practices, as well as advocating for policy change. She has presented on dynamic assessment at the CSHA Convergence 2024, focusing on the importance of dynamic assessment in bilingual children. Destiny has experience working as a school-based SLP, in private practice, and in early intervention. She is also the founder and CEO of Multimodal Communication Speech Clinic P.C.Connect with Destiny on Instagram @destinyjohnsonslp, on her private practice website here, and on LinkedIn here.Listen to Destiny’s previous episode on De Facto Leaders here: EP 187: Dynamic Assessment: Evaluations are a process, not a test (with Destiny Johnson)Tiffany Shahoumian-Ruiz is a bilingual high school SLP from Southern California who has primarily worked in the school systems and has experience at both the elementary and secondary level. She’s also a member of Language Therapy Advance Foundations, and is involved in state and local advocacy work relating to dynamic assessments and special education eligibility.Connect with Tiffany on Instagram @tiffany.shahoumianListen to Tiffany’s previous episode on De Facto Leaders here: High school language therapy: Do we still have time to make an impact? (with Tiffany Shahoumian-Ruiz)In this episode, I mention Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives SLPs and other service providers create a system for language therapy. You can learn more about the program here.Additional Resources Mentioned in the episode:Daub, O., Cunningham, B. J., Bagatto, M. P., Johnson, A. M., Kwok, E. Y., Smyth, R. E., & Oram Cardy, J. (2021). Adopting a conceptual validity framework for testing in speech-language pathology. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 30(4), 1894–1908. https://doi.org/10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00032Spaulding, T. J., Plante, E., & Farinella, K. A. (2006). Eligibility criteria for language impairment: Is the low end of normal always appropriate? Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 37(1), 61–72. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2006/007)DYMOND Norm-Referenced Dynamic AssessmentBilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA)