Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Polina Shkadron, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, CTP, ADHD-RSP Related seminars and products

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Polina Shkadron, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, CTP, ADHD-RSP, is a trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming speech-language pathologist specializing in autism, ADHD, and ARFID. As founder of Play to Learn Consulting in New York, she provides individualized, brain-based interventions that strengthen executive functioning, communication, and emotional regulation in neurodivergent children and teens.

A former adjunct lecturer at CUNY Queens College, Polina has trained future clinicians in psycholinguistics and clinical practice. Her additional master’s degree in nutrition education informs her innovative, multidisciplinary approach to feeding therapy and ARFID treatment.

Widely recognized for her ability to translate complex neuroscience into practical, compassionate strategies, Polina has earned multiple ACE awards from ASHA and is a frequent national and international speaker on ADHD, executive functioning, and trauma-informed care.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Polina Shkadron maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Polina Shkadron has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

Program Information

For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. You will have access for 90 days after the program for review.

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

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Objectives

1. Identify how key executive functioning skills support participation in daily living and learning activities.
2. Examine the concept of whole-brain integration and its relevance to hierarchical brain organization in executive function development.
3. Analyze the interrelationship among executive functioning, cognition, language, and social-emotional development, emphasizing their impact on occupational performance.
4. Identify foundational neurological and regulatory capacities that underlie common challenges associated with Autism and ADHD.
5. Determine developmentally appropriate strategies to address executive functioning barriers across home, school, and community environments.
6. Appraise how relational and play-based interventions enhance executive function skills and higher-order processes in neurodivergent children and adolescents.

Outline

The Neuroscience of Executive Skills

• Bruce Perry’s neurosequential model of therapeutics
• Target the three EF pillars: working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility
• Reduce stress and trauma-based shutdowns that block skill growth
• Reframe “defiance” as overload and dysregulation – not willful misbehavior
• What to say and not to say during nervous system overload
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Spark Skill Growth Through Language, Emotion & Play

• Use play to assess planning, regulation, and flexible thinking
• Link emotional safety to executive functioning development
• Teach attention as a co-created process, not a demand
• Shift language from behavior-based to neuro-affirming terms
• Reflective take-home questions to foster caregiver insight

Support Neurodivergent Kids with Tailored Tools

• Decode stress responses in ADHD and Autistic profiles
• Ditch compliance charts – replace with curiosity and connection
• Scaffold transitions using movement and sensory anchors
• Pre-load kids with proactive EF strategies before demands hit
• Say goodbye to one-size-fits-all – design individualized support systems

Coach Adults for Long-Term Change

• Co-regulation and relationship-first strategies to replace “behavior plans”
• Tips to help caregivers shift from control to collaboration
• Scripts for schools and families to reduce shame and increase clarity
• Practical caregiver coaching tools to close the home-therapy gap
• Case studies: EF progress through play and connection

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Educators
• Psychologists
• Occupational Therapists
• Occupational Therapy Assistants
• Speech-Language Pathologists
• Marriage & Family Therapists