No one should be alone on the challenging journey of parenting a neurodiverse child who struggles with executive function skills!
All EEC Parent Coaches are trained Executive Functioning Coaches. This means you will be working with a Parent Coach and Executive Function Coach that will help you AND your children. An EEC Coach will support you through parent coaching, and your child through one-on-one executive function coaching. Consider the benefits of working with a parent coach who will empower you and your child simultaneously. Through the parent coaching process, we help make a generational impact on your family.
“The parent coaching we have received feels like sitting down once a week to reset and talk with an old friend. I don't know what we would have done if we hadn't found EEC. Our son was having a very difficult time in zoom classes and in-person learning, he was having a meltdown over the smallest things and wouldn't talk about what was bothering him. Judi helped us learn how to teach him communication skills, and now he can calm himself and discuss his emotions.” - Jessica, a mom regarding EEC Parent Coaching.
“I can’t believe how much my kids have changed. I thought their brains were hardwired in a certain way. This stuff really works! The lying stopped almost overnight and hasn’t come back. It gives me so much hope for his future.” EEC parent coaching feedback
EEC parent coaching is a flexible and nonjudgmental approach designed to help parents help their kids. We help parents reconnect with their children and develop a proactive process to improve family communication, practice practical problem-solving, develop executive functions, and promote meaningful growth and independence. By approaching challenging situations and behaviors thoughtfully, calmly and confidently, parents can engage their children in meaningful interactions that encourage problem-solving, communication, confidence and self-efficacy.
Here are just a few reasons to consider enlisting the services of a parent coach:
- Breakdown in family communication
- Big emotions in the home
- Raising resilient children
- Chronic nagging around unmet expectations
- Breakdown in trust
- Constant rule breaking
- Transitioning out of the home
- Lagging life skills
- Fear of failure as a parent
- Teaching EF skills in the home
- Fostering innate strengths
So many neurodiverse children think outside the box and do not fit the mold of the typical structure of education and learning. Whether this child has ADHD, is twice-exceptional, or is dyslexic, they can make parenting a much more complicated journey. EEC parent coaches believe that if a child could do better, they would do better. This is an important principle because it allows us to see our children not for who we think they are or for what we want them to be but for where they are at that moment - socially, emotionally, academically, and developmentally. Also, it allows us to understand better that our children do not have the metacognitive skills, problem-solving skills, cognitive flexibility skills, or self-regulation skills to resolve unmet expectations. With this in mind, we can shift our parenting in a more positive direction and help our children to develop these ‘lagging skills.’
When working with an EEC Parent Coach, there is only one book we recommend. We use The Whole Brain Child, by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, to guide parents through a systematic process to connect, redirect, engage and problem-solve.
With the brain in mind, parents develop strategies to stop the amygdala hijack of emotional dysregulation and help their children strengthen the neurological connections with their frontal lobe. Using evidence-based tools created by Dan Siegel, Tina Payne Bryson, and Ross Green, EEC coaches take parents through a personalized and systematic process of improving their relationship and communication with their children. Parents learn strategies to ‘connect’ with their children, diffuse situations and allow their children to feel heard and understood. From there, parents can begin to ‘direct’ their child to their ‘upstairs’ brain - where their child can tap into self-regulation skills, executive function skills and collaborative problem-solving skills. The Collaborative Solving Process (CPS), developed by Dr. Ross Green, is an excellent resource for parents of children with BIG EMOTIONS. Check out this helpful video to learn more about CPS
FAQs
What is a neurodiverse child?
Judy Singer, a sociologist with an autism diagnosis, coined a term to describe conditions such as ADHD, Autism, and Dyslexia. This term is "neurodiversity." It is an approach to learning and disability that argues diverse neurological disorders result from normal variations in the human genome. A neurodiverse child thinks differently - not just because of differences in culture or life experience, but because their brains are "wired" to process information and think differently. It's important to understand that a neurodiverse child has different strengths and challenges from people whose brains don't have those differences. Some differences may include learning disabilities, medical disorders and other conditions. Strengths may include better memory, solving complex mathematical problems in their heads, and being able to mentally picture three-dimensional (3D) objects easily. Neurodivergent isn't a medical term. Instead, it's a way to describe people using words other than "normal" and "abnormal." That's important because there's no single definition of "normal" for how the human brain works.
What are the benefits of parent coaching for neurodiverse children?
Parent coaching is a process that allows parents to improve their parenting skills and learn family-specific skills and strategies to improve the lives of their children and the family. The benefits of parent coaching are limitless, but the best gift is how this process impacts the next generation. It can be overwhelmingly hard to parent a neurodiverse with complex twice exceptional needs effectively - children that are exceptionally bright but scattered in their self-regulation and executive function skills. Parenting children with big emotions is complex and requires the right help to control one's thoughts and behaviors with the ones they love. This quote from a mom regarding her 9-year-old daughter offers insight into the benefits of parent coaching. "'Mom, I'm just asking for some space because if we talk right now, I will just say things that hurt your feelings... If I take some space, I can come up with things to say that are kind and helpful to the situation.' She used to be very explosive and would say and do things she'd later regret. She has calmed so much and it lifts our hearts to hear her talk like this. I know adults who can't articulate their feelings that well".
How can I find a parent coach for my neurodiverse child?
Finding a parent coach is easier than you think. There are wonderful parent coaching resources available to families. It starts with the desire to get help and then setting some precious time aside to explore the options. There are local and national Parenting Groups on Facebook, with veteran parents ready to help. Your school district has a Special Education Parent Advocacy Counsel (SEPAC) with a list of local resources. You can also use Google to access virtual parent groups and find a parent coach that is right for you. Effective Effort Consulting has a team of parent coaches with diverse personal and professional backgrounds to match your and your child's needs. What makes EEC unique is that all EEC Parent Coaches are trained executive function coaches. They can not only work with parents, but can also work with your child. It's a dynamic process with beautiful results. We believe no one should be alone on the challenging journey of parenting a neurodiverse child who struggles with executive function skills!
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