Speaker Talk: Improving Adolescent Success: Motivating Students to Engage in School and Increase Productivity

Adolescents experiencing social-emotional struggles typically experience some degree of executive functioning deficits. These challenges often lead to task avoidance (e.g., homework) as well as patterns of school refusal. Simply, students who do not possess adequate executive functioning skills often struggle in school and their overall ability to be successful. This presentation will provide an overview of executive functioning as well as evidence-based strategies to remediate executive dysfunction that are easy to use and effective. Additionally, school refusal and procrastination will be defined and explained in the context of how clinicians understand and develop interventions to help students return to school and engage in learning.