Understanding Executive Functioning
This course is available free to Co-op members.
Contact your school's special education administrator for a code to access this course free of charge.
Students with ADHD and learning disabilities, as well as autistic students, frequently experience tremendous difficulty with executive functioning tasks, and these difficulties all too often lead to frustration, school failure, and what can appear to be “lack of motivation.” This course is designed to help educators understand many of the key challenges faced by students who struggle with executive functioning and to provide tools and strategies to help mitigate these challenges.
This course is self-paced and takes approximately 2 hours to complete. Organized around 7 short lessons, each session includes a brief video/presentation and some supplementary resources.
This course is appropriate for general education and special ed teachers, assistant teachers, dedicated aides, related service providers, and anyone else who supports students in navigating their school day!
Your Instructor
Laura Lorenzen is a proven special education leader in Washington, DC who, as the parent of a child with special needs, is passionate about ensuring the success of every child.
Laura has spent nearly two decades leading innovative and quality programming for students with disabilities, from early childhood through high school. She began her career at a non-public school for students with language-based learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism, before taking the helm as Director of Student Support at a DC Public Charter School, building its reputation as a local and national leader in quality inclusive special education services. Under her leadership, the school was recognized in 2018 as one of only four nationwide “Centers of Excellence” by the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools.
Laura has been actively involved in the Special Education Co-op for many years, having served for 2 years as member of its Advisory Board and as a consultant, providing professional development and coaching around Response to Intervention (RtI) practices. Laura joined the Co-op staff as a Program Quality Specialist in 2021.