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Digital Seminar

Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents

Neuroscience-Driven Tools for Regulation, Resilience, and Growth
Faculty:
Polina Shkadron, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, CTP, ADHD-RSP
Duration:
6 Hours 28 Minutes
Copyright:
19 Feb, 2026
Product Code:
POS150596
Media Type:
Digital Seminar
Access:
Never expires.
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Description

  • A fresh lens on behavior
  • 20+ concrete, ready-to-use strategies
  • Tools to advocate, explain, and collaborate

 

Meltdowns, shutdowns, resistance, and “defiance” often mask what’s really happening in the brain – executive function overload.

For kids with ADHD or Autism, their ability to plan, shift, and self-regulate collapses under stress, leaving adults unsure how to help.

This training bridges neuroscience and practice to give you concrete tools that promote emotional regulation, flexible thinking, and engagement – without relying on compliance charts or behavioral control.

Through real-world examples, clinical demonstrations, and interactive activities, Polina Shkadron will share strategies that build executive skills through language, movement, and emotional safety.

You’ll walk away with:

  • Sensory-motor and visual supports to strengthen working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility
  • Movement-based transition tools that prevent overwhelm and reduce resistance
  • Scripts and coaching prompts for caregivers and teachers to foster collaboration instead of control
  • Play-based activities that link self-awareness, planning, and emotional regulation
  • Templates for individualized executive function plans you can use immediately

Purchase now to discover how to use sensory anchors, regulation routines, and context-based supports that empower kids to access calm, connection, and competence across home, school, and therapy settings.

CPD

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

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.


CPD

PESI Australia, in collaboration with PESI in the USA, offers quality online continuing professional development events from the leaders in the field at a standard recognized by professional associations including psychology, social work, occupational therapy, alcohol and drug professionals, counselling and psychotherapy. On completion of the training, a Professional Development Certificate is issued after the individual has answered and submitted a quiz and course evaluation. This program is worth 6.5 hours CPD for points calculation by your association.

Handouts

File type File name Number of pages
PDF Manual - Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents (7.1 MB) 128 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents - French (7.1 MB) 128 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents - Italian (7.1 MB) 128 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents - German (7.1 MB) 128 Pages Available after Purchase
PDF Manual - Executive Functioning in Children and Adolescents - Spanish (7.1 MB) 128 Pages Available after Purchase

Faculty

Polina Shkadron, MA, MS, CCC-SLP, CTP, ADHD-RSP's Profile

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

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

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.

For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.


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

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

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