The Importance of Initiation

I’ll start it later…

When it comes to neurodivergent individuals with executive dysfunction, they may find it particularly hard to initiate tasks. Whether it be because they simply do not want to, or the idea of trying to complete said task is just too stressful, lacking developed executive functioning skills can affect their daily lives. As children become teens and teens become young adults, more and more tasks are needed to be done in a day. From personal hygiene, finance management, employment, relationships to homework and grocery shopping, life becomes more demanding of people as they become older, and if they cannot initiate a task, then nothing will ever get done. Instead, the list of things needed to be completed will just grow and grow, stressing them out more and more until eventually they either do it because the anxiety was too much to handle, or disregard it completely. Yet, as time goes on, those struggling with executive dysfunction will continue with this cycle of refusing to initiate, leading them to a never-ending trend of stress, anxiety, depression, and more.

Initiation is an important executive functioning skill (EF) to have not only because other EF skills rely on it, but because we use it in daily life. From getting out of bed to studying for a test, children, teens, and young adults need to be able to initiate a task, because if not, nothing will ever get done. Their education, health, hygiene, and life will become difficult to manage, especially on their own. If they cannot initiate tasks on their own, they will rely on their parents to do so for them well into their adulthood, which no parent wants. They want their kid to be able to work past the anxiety or the unhappiness a task may bring them before starting it on their own. Without initiation, neurodivergent individuals will be constantly falling behind in life and school since many other aspects of life cannot be completed if not initiated, hence why this skill is so important, and thankfully, at The Support for Students Growth Center, we coach neurodivergent children, teens, and young adults so they can achieve the executive functioning and other skills they may be lacking.

At SSGC, we provide the social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as how to actively initiate tasks to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to be the best they can be in and out of school setting on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.


Click here and call now to schedule your FREE 20-minute individualized screening- $150 value

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college.

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Shifting: Executive Functioning

There’s just too much going on…

Shifting is an executive functioning skill needed in everyday life. Being able to switch from one task to another quickly and efficiently is how we get things done without over thinking it, and that’s because if we do, we will quickly become overwhelmed. If a neurodivergent individual is struggling with executive dysfunction, then shifting may be more difficult for them than others. They may be unable to break away from one task to complete another or return to a task to finish it later because they are unable to shift their attention, leading to many things being left half completed or undone, and daily life to become stressful since one distraction may stress them out or halt productivity completely.

For children, teens, and young adults, shifting is an important executive functioning skill to have, because in life, multiple things are happening around us constantly. Whether it be a friend asking you a question while trying to complete an assignment, a teacher lecturing while you’re taking notes, or even simply answering a text before going back to homework, being able to shift back and forth between things with ease is important. It allows us to be productive despite all the distractions, not become overwhelmed or stressed by outside interruptions, and simply work efficiently in any type of setting. However, for neurodivergent individuals, actively shifting can be harder for them, but with the right coaching, it can be made easier to understand and incorporate into daily life.

At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, educational, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as how to be actively shifting to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to make and maintain a functioning independent life on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.


Click here and call now to schedule your FREE 20-minute individualized screening- $150 value

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college.

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The Importance of Self-Monitoring

But I’m just so mad…

As children, teens, and young adults progress through life, self-monitoring is an important skill they learn to use daily. Being able to identify when, where, and why they are feeling a certain emotion and how to counteract it is crucial to not only their social life, but life in general. Self-monitoring allows them to prevent angry outburst, becoming loud in a situation where they need to be quiet, and anxiety in times where they need to be calm. As children become teens and teens become young adults, life continues to become more and more stressful. Whether it’s going off to college, moving out, starting your first day of high school, or even just having a big test the next day, self-monitoring can help prevent them from being overwhelmed by emotions. However, those with executive dysfunction and neurodivergent traits may find this to be harder to incorporate than neurotypical individuals.

Executive functioning skills such as self-monitoring help children, teens, and young adults feel as if they have control over their lives. If they can identify how a situation is making them react then they can properly self-sooth or remove themselves from it before it becomes a larger problem. Self-monitoring also helps neurodivergent people react in a way that is appropriate for the situation. Not yelling or hitting when they’re upset, screaming when excited, or reacting in other non-age-appropriate ways can cause issues for people such as trouble making and maintaining friendships, jobs, and relationships. If they cannot self-monitor and often react in extremes, their peers might begin to distance themselves from them, leading to isolation, depression, anxiety, and a plethora of other issues. However, despite, this, self-monitoring is a skill that can be learned with the proper coaching.

  At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as self-monitor to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to be the best they can be in and out of school setting on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.


Click here and call now to schedule your FREE 20-minute individualized screening- $150 value

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college.

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Planning and Organizing

It’ll get done…

As children, teens, and young adults get older, they are typically expected to get more independent. Ensuring that they can complete their chores, homework, and many other things on their own and in a timely, organized manner is crucial to their current and future success. Procrastinating as well as being unorganized can cause a lot of issues for those in elementary, middle, and high school. They may continue to push things off until the last minute, and when they finally need to get it done, they cannot find the assignment in their messy backpack or unorganized desk, causing anxiety, stress and behavioral issues as well as issues in school since their assignments are not being completed on time. Planning and organizing can also ensure that they make enough time for friends, activities, and even alone time, bettering their overall life as well. Yet, those with neurodivergent traits and executive dysfunction may find actively planning and organizing to be difficult.

Neurodivergent individuals may continue to just push off their responsibilities because even the thought of completing them is too much to handle, so they’d rather just not do it at all. Yet, planning and organizing can take away some of this stress. If they are actively planning and organizing their weeks and tasks, then they are prepared for the days to come, allowing them to actively complete what needs to get done without the worry of everything else. Organization can also help with their environment. If they constantly know where everything is, then they don’t waste time looking for it or worrying where it may be, preventing procrastination, anxiety, and depression as well. Planning and organizing skills allow for the individual to be confident in their ability to complete a task, know exactly when and where it needs to get done, and how, which in return allows them to schedule free time and other activities in between, hence why this skill is so important. Without it, children, teens, and young adults will be unable to develop the skillsets they need to reach their fullest potential, which no parent wants.

At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, educational, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as how to be actively planning and staying organized to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to make and maintain a functioning independent life on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.


Click here and call now to schedule your FREE 20-minute individualized screening- $150 value

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college.

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Task Completion

But I don’t want to…

As school picks up again, children may find it difficult to transition from a summer environment back to an educational one, especially if they struggle with executive dysfunction. School requires children, teens, and young adults to be consistent with their task completion skills. Whether it be in school with classwork and cleaning up after yourself or at home with homework and chores, following through with tasks is important for students. Although they may be good at initiating them, actually finishing them can be hard for some, especially those with neurodivergent traits. They may get distracted, bored, or overwhelmed when trying to finish whatever task they need to complete, so they may begin to push their responsibilities off as a result. Yet, as they continue to do that, more and more of the tasks that need to get done begin to pile up, causing them to become more anxious, depressed and overwhelmed as it all becomes too much to finish, so eventually they begin to avoid their responsibilities altogether.

This cycle can cause more problems than just falling behind in school. It can cause other issues such as anxiety, depression, isolation, and so much more, which is why making sure that children, teens, and young adults have developed executive functioning skills, such as task completion, is so important. At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as how to actively complete tasks to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to be the best they can be in and out of school setting on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.


Click here and call now to schedule your FREE 20-minute individualized screening- $150 value

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college.

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Reading Facial Expressions

But I don’t really know…

As we get older, we typically begin to learn how to understand others’ emotions, even without words. Whether it’s a frown or a bright smile, our faces can tell a lot about our current thoughts and emotions to the people we are around without even speaking. It can show others if we are feeling happy or sad, or if we are in the mood to talk or not, which can be especially helpful when in a social setting. This skill can allow us to properly respond to how our friends and peers are feeling, while also making the interaction comfortable for both parties since if you can read facial expressions, you can identify how to act around that person properly, all without words.

However, for those with neurodivergent traits, reading facial expressions can be difficult. They may find it hard to directly pinpoint an emotion to an expression, so at times, they may not realize they had said something to upset their peers or are socializing with someone who may be having a bad day, which can deter them from wanting to socialize at all. Whether they are in elementary, middle, high school, or about to go into college, reading facial expressions is a crucial skill to have. It can guide them to react and say the proper things in certain social situations, help them make and maintain friendships, as well as feel confident in their ability to react properly to the other person in the conversation. Without it, kids, teens, and young adults may feel as if socializing is too stressful, which can cause them to want to avoid it all together before leading to other issues such as isolation, depression, anxiety and many more. Yet, even if they may be struggling, this skill can be taught and generalized into many different social settings.

At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as how to be actively reading others facial expressions and body language to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to make and maintain friendships and utilize age appropriate social skills on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.


Click here and call now to schedule your FREE 20-minute individualized screening- $200 value

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college.

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Enrollment is now open

ENROLLMENT IS NOW OPEN!

We welcome you to participate in our tenth (10) year offering our

Therapeutic Social Skills Groups,

which are proven to help children, teens, and young adults become equipped with the skills they need to communicate well with peers and others in and out of school and other social settings. Each of our fourteen (14) weekly groups are arranged based on the age, abilities, and needs of the potential group members (ages 5 – mid-20’s) to ensure that they are in a therapeutic setting that can help them reach their fullest potential. With over ninety (90) topics and more than a dozen different social skills groups that meet weekly, group members will learn new to use social skills through brainstorming, direct instruction, modeling and role-playing as they participate in cooperative activities, where they can be confident in not only their ability to understand and actually use the skills they are learning. This then makes socializing and overall interacting with others more enjoyable and productive. Parent component is included with each session to encourage generalization of key skills. Groups are held in our Boca Raton, FL center.  (“Call now to schedule your free initial 20-minute individualized screening”)

https://www.supportforstudentsgrowthcenter.com

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Engaging in Various Types of Conversations

But that’s not what I want to talk about…

From elementary to high school children are likely to spend a lot of their time speaking to their peers. Whether it’s about school, a new show or movie, or their new pet, kids will typically look for any free moment they can to whisper or talk to their friends and classmates, but for those with neurodivergences, engaging in various types of conversation can sometimes be difficult. They may find it hard to be interested in what their peers, parents, and siblings are saying if they are not familiar with it, making socializing difficult, and can eventually make it harder for them to make and maintain friendships.

If a kid, teen, or young adult is unable to listen to a friend or peer who is speaking about a topic only they find interesting, the interaction and friendship can begin to feel very one sided. It is important for children to be capable of partaking in conversations that they may not be used to, not only because it can spark a new interest, but can also show that they are nurturing the friendship they share with that other person. If they can be actively engaged in conversation that shifts from one topic to the other, then it not only strengthens their social skills, but can help when trying to make friends, listen in class, and be open to finding new interests and hobbies to do with their peers. However, if they lack this skill, it may lead them into social isolation since most people would not only want to discuss what the other person is interested in all the time, leading to other issues such as anxiety, depression, failure to launch, and many more.

At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as how to be actively engaged in various conversations to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to make and maintain friendships and utilize the proper social skills on their own. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college. The CollegeLSP is a subsidiary program of the Support For Students Growth Center, located in Boca Raton, FL and providing services nationwide.

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Memorial Day 2023

Although we are closed for Memorial Day, we at the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program do not forget those who sacrificed their lives for our country. This is not simply a time for many to take an extra day off, but rather a time for us to celebrate the lives of those who have lost their own. We hope you remain safe, happy, and most importantly, remember our troops on this day. Warm wishes, and happy Memorial Day!

-The SSGC and CLSP

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Importance of Respecting Others Personal Space

For some, understanding the importance of personal space can be difficult. They may not be able to see why their friends or others may not want them so close when talking, but, making sure that you’re a good distance unless told otherwise is a crucial social skill to have. Not everyone likes to be touched or to be too close to another. It may not be that they have a problem with you, but rather just the intimacy, so ensuring your child knows what the proper distance is with their peers is important for them to make friends and nurture friendships. Especially as kids begin to transition into middle and high school age, the comfortable personal space distance gets larger. As we get older, we may not want to be hugged or touched as often as when we were kids simply because tolerance levels and sensory challenges change with age, and we must adapt to that. Yet, for those with life challenges such as ADHD, Autism, “Asperger’s,” anxiety disorders, etc., this can be extra hard to do.

The idea of a “Hula Hoop” is one-way kids can begin to understand the idea of personal space. Having your child pretend to be in the middle of their own “hula hoop” because if they were in one, the other people should be however far away it is from your kid to the outside of the ring (about an arm’s length) . This can serve as a gentle reminder to those who may struggle with imagining how far they should be since now they are provided with a general guideline, and therefore can avoid being a “space invader”, so they are no longer invading another person’s space. This can then also help them make friends since socializing can be made easier since they are not so focused on personal space but focused on body language and verbal cues instead. For those with life challenges though, it can be especially hard for them to manage this skill. A source states “An overwhelming majority of the children with (varying exceptionalities) (79 percent) “were less aware of being too close and more prone to personal space invasions” than their typically-developing siblings.” (Sarris, 2014). Yet, with the proper help, understanding how to identify and respect things such as personal space can be made easier.

At the Support for Students Growth Center, we provide the social, behavioral, emotional, and executive functioning skills children, teens, young adults, and their families need for a happy and successful life in and out of school settings. Our team of professionals offers individualized and family coaching/counseling and social skills groups to help teach skills such as bullying resolution to ensure parents do not have to worry that their kids will be unable to solve issues on their own, such as figuring out proper personal space. So, if your child is struggling with skills like the ones listed above and much more, the SSGC is equipped with the tools to help.

Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the Support for Students Growth Center and College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of children, teens, young adults and college students and those high school students preparing for college. The CollegeLSP is a subsidiary program of the Support For Students Growth Center, located in Boca Raton, FL and providing services nationwide.

Sarris, M. (2014, October 2). Space invaders: Personal space and autism. Kennedy Krieger Institute. Retrieved January 2, 2023, from https://www.kennedykrieger.org/stories/interactive-autism-network-ian/personal-space-autism

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