Supporting Students with ADHD: Executive Function Strategies for Teachers and Parents | Ann Dolin

Nearly 1 in 10 children are diagnosed with ADHD, yet most educators receive no formal training in supporting executive function deficits. This gap creates challenges for teachers, frustration for parents, and academic struggles for students who are often mislabeled as unmotivated or lazy.

In this episode, Dr. Lisa Hassler speaks with Ann Dolin M.Ed., founder of Educational Connections and author of "Homework Made Simple," about the critical role of executive function in student success and practical strategies for supporting ADHD learners.

Topics Covered:

• Executive function skills and their impact on academic performance
• Distinguishing between motivation deficits and executive function challenges
• The cycle of negative feedback and declining student confidence
• Evidence-based classroom accommodations and visual organization techniques
• Homework modification strategies that maintain academic rigor
• Metacognitive questioning approaches that promote student agency
• Appropriate integration of AI tools in learning
• When to implement executive function coaching versus subject-specific tutoring

About Our Guest:

Ann Dolin, M.Ed., has 30+ years of experience in education. She founded Educational Connections 27 years ago and is the author of "Homework Made Simple" and "Getting Past Procrastination." Her work focuses on executive function coaching and academic support for students with ADHD and learning differences.

Resources: Educational Connections: ectutoring.com

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Chapters

• 0:38 Framing ADHD Through Executive Function
• 2:06 Show Purpose and Today’s Focus
• 3:12 Prevalence, Pain Points, and Hope
• 4:25 New Supports: Coaching, Classroom Tools, ETNS
• 5:37 Meet Guest: Ann Dolan’s Origin Story
• 9:01 Why One-Size Schooling Fails EF Needs
• 11:14 Teacher–Parent Lenses and Mislabels
• 13:27 What Executive Functions Really Do
• 15:40 Tech, Instant Rewards, and Focus
• 17:39 Breaking the Doom Loop and Triage
• 20:22 Classroom Moves That Anchor Attention
• 22:27 Smarter Homework Talks and Chunking

Transcript

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 0:19

What if the root of many classroom struggles wasn't about effort but about executive function? Join me explore why students with ADHD often struggle despite their best intentions and ways you can help support them. Welcome to the brighter side of education, research, innovation, and resources. I'm your host, Dr. Lisa Hassler, here to enlighten and brighten the classrooms in America through focused conversation on important topics in education. In each episode, I discuss problems we as teachers and parents are facing and what people are doing in their communities to fix it. What are the variables? And how can we duplicate it to maximize student outcomes? Today's topic hits close to home for me as a parent, and I suspect I'm not alone. With nearly one in ten children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, many of us have experienced firsthand the tears and frustration over nightly homework, frequent classroom reminders, and the ongoing effort to keep our children focused and organized. Often at the heart of these challenges are deficits in executive functioning skills, our brain's built-in task manager. When executive skills such as planning, organization, impulse control, and attention management fall behind, it results in missed deadlines, wandering attention, and diminished self-confidence, which together create ripple effects across all areas of a child's life. But innovative and promising solutions are emerging to help kids thrive. Experts increasingly emphasize the effectiveness of targeted executive function coaching, personalized classroom support plans, and creative teaching approaches specifically tailored for learners with ADHD. Visual organization techniques, structured flexibility in assignments, and customized individual interventions are already making measurable improvements in students' academic performance, behavior, and overall self-esteem. Adding further optimism by researchers at UCLA is the pediatric device ETNS. ETNS uses a low-level electrical stimulation to the brain's trigeminal nerve during sleep and has shown reductions in ADHD symptoms without the use of drugs. To discuss this further, we're joined by Ann Dolan, an educator and author with over 30 years experience transforming educational experiences for students with ADHD and executive function challenges. As the founder of Educational Connections and author of the books Homework Made Simple and Getting Past Procrastination, Anne offers practical effective strategies to empower educators and families. Welcome, Anne. We are thrilled to have you. Well, thanks so much for having me. Yeah. And can you briefly share the story behind your company Educational Connections?

Ann Dolin: 3:08

Sure. Well, um I started out as a public school teacher and I loved it. I taught both fourth and sixth grade. But it was actually when I was teaching fourth grade that one of the parents asked me to tutor their child. And so I drove to her home and realized, oh my gosh, this is really fun. I love this. So I started tutoring more and more kids. And over time I realized that was my calling in life, working with students one-to-one. And so eventually I ended up quitting my classroom teaching job and starting my company, educational connections. Really, at that point, I had a baby. And I thought I just tutor one or two kids at my dining room table. But within a year, I got so busy. I was tutoring homeschoolers during the day, older kids at night, all day Saturday, part day Sunday. And I realized, okay, maybe there's something more to this. Maybe I could actually hire some other folks to work for me and tutor kids with me side by side. And that's what I did. 26 years the company's been together? Yes, actually 27 years this March.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 4:09

Well, congratulations. That's quite an achievement. I have tutored myself as well. It really takes a special dedication to be flexible and to be working with students and all types of different levels when it comes to subject matter on top of grade level. When it comes to ADHD, what are some of the biggest struggles that you see in schools today? And why do you believe that these challenges persist?

Ann Dolin: 4:30

Well, one of the biggest struggles is that the education system assumes that one size fits all in reality. And many kids, you know, aren't sitting in a classroom isn't ideal for them. And they struggle with some of the basic things like, okay, what do I have that I have to do for homework? When does that do? How do I keep track of it? And so when you have a hard time with those, we call them executive function skills, let alone, you know, sitting down and getting the work done, turning it on time, it kind of makes it look like you don't care about school, or maybe you're unmotivated. Perhaps even you're lazy. And that's actually not it at all. It's just that you're struggling with, you know, these executive function skills and not it isn't a disorder of motivation. So we automatically assume that in students and we kind of write them off in some cases. And so I think, you know, when kids struggle in those areas, which many students do, they kind of are dismissed early on instead of given a chance.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 5:29

Yeah, I I would agree with that. On both sides, uh, the coin when it comes to being a parent and as a teacher, I've had those students in my classroom. And it can be frustrating when you don't understand how to get them motivated and to be doing things and you're going, What could what else could I be doing? Like I'm I'm tap dancing almost up here almost, right? But then on the flip side, as a parent, I would have teachers coming to me. I have my son and daughter both with ADHD. They just didn't care. And then you'd hear a totally different side when you're talking about like, why weren't you doing your journal today? When I realized how different that is, every time that I would have a child in my class that possibly having ADHD or some executive functioning deficits, my mind would always go to how would I want my son's teacher, my daughter's teacher to look at that child? Being able to place that lens really helped me as a teacher. I knew that their parents would want that for their child, just like I wanted it for my child sitting in the classroom.

Ann Dolin: 6:24

Students are lucky, Lisa, to have you in that capacity because a lot of teachers, they just don't understand what's going on and they haven't had that experience as a parent. I know when I was starting out as a young teacher, I didn't really know what I was dealing with. And when kids would kind of be apathetic in the classroom or they would just not seem to be paying attention or have all this overdue work, I mistakenly saw it as a character flaw because I didn't know any better. And it wasn't until I started working with more and more kids and I realized, wait, this isn't specific to the student. This is a bigger issue that affects a lot of kids. How could I be looking at this differently? And um, until you have that different perspective, it is hard as a teacher. And to your point, teachers don't get a lot of training. They actually get no training in ADHD. Or, you know, even if you don't have the diagnosis, a student has poor executive function skills, they're not quite sure how to deal with it.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 7:21

No, they they don't. We get the cliff notes to it. You know, it's like you these are the things that you're going to have and you're going to have to write up these plans. And so here are some things that you can do. And of course, you know, I'm not sure how they're being trained now, but it's different than going to being a specialist when you're thinking a special ed teacher. Much more in-depth training and knowledge in that area than the general ed teacher has. And so it does become a little bit different. That's when you really are leaning into those special ed teachers saying, what is it that I could be doing differently? If you're lucky enough to have them, I was private schools and we did not have them. And so then you really try to get resourceful. And so with my own children going through it, I had some resources that, you know, other teachers may not have had. So I was able to dig into that toolbox that really helped me. Now you talked about executive function skills, and so those are different, but many students with ADHD also have some decline in their executive functioning skills. Can you talk a little bit about what exactly are executive functioning skills and explain like how deficits in those areas can specifically impact academic performance?

Ann Dolin: 8:26

Sure. Executive function skills are kind of like the brain CEO or the brain's manager. It's similar to what I said earlier. It has to do with your ability to say, I've got all these things to do. What should I do first, second, or third? And once you've identified that priority, your brain's executive function says, Oh, you have to do this essay. All right, let's figure out what might I do first? How can I start this out? How long do you think this will take? And then it's your ability to focus long enough to get it done, especially in the face of distractions, or when you don't want to do that essay. Those are all executive function skills. And so it's easy to see when kids are off topic or you know, they're really, really stuck. It looks like, oh, they just don't want to do that essay. But really, it's the brain's inability to prioritize, to focus, and to see something through to fruition. And we're seeing it more and more. The advent of technology and so many kids on social media, I would argue it gets kids used to this concept of immediate gratification. So when something feels hard, it's more difficult for them to sustain their focus and see it through than ever before. So our kids, you know, may come to the table with weaknesses already. And I say it's exacerbated because of everything hitting them from other every angle when it comes to technology.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 9:50

Right. It's almost training their brain to not wait for that gratification, to have less patience or less willingness to work harder longer for some reward because their brain is being trained to get it faster for easier ways. It makes it harder in the classroom. It makes it much more difficult for these kids. They have these feelings that they're a bad student, that school isn't for them, but they don't do good in that. Even though they try their hardest, and they really do, they label themselves with it, they internalize it because they're hearing it from all around them that what they're doing isn't up to par. And I feel like that's really hard to deal with as a parent, as a teacher. What can we do to help these kids change their mindset and be able to support them and rebuild that confidence?

Ann Dolin: 10:39

Yeah, that's really common. And in fact, I call it the doom loop, you know, where you get a bad grade and then you get feedback from teachers like, oh, just try harder or your parent, just focus more. You can do this. You're just as smart as your sister. Kids hear those messages a lot and they don't always help. In fact, they often backfire, and kids think, okay, I'm just really not capable, and they put in less effort. And when you put in less effort, you know, you get a bad grade again and the whole cycle starts over. And so I think it's important to intervene early. And when you see that your child is struggling to kind of do um a triage in a way, like what is causing this? Is it that it's specific to a subject like math? For example, math is the class that kids report they struggle with the most, they dislike the most. And in math, one skill builds upon another. And so if you have a shaky foundation, everything else is going to be hard for you. And so you can see as a parent, is it really math? Then you need a tutor. You need somebody else to explain the subject better to your child. But if it's not that and it's kind of a pervasive thing across the uh across all subjects, and you're looking at more of an executive function issue, then you want to intervene in a different way. Oftentimes, kids need that to recover their confidence. They're not going to do it on their own. And I know this sounds like a little cliche, like kids should try harder. They should put in more effort. But when you are in that doom loop and you feel terrible about yourself, it's very, very hard to dig yourself out of it, whether it's a subject or executive function. So you need to find a coach or another adult or somebody else that can help that student figure out a different system to triage their assignments, learn prioritization skills, and better focus and completion skills.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 12:30

Yeah. And so what are some effective strategies that you recommend teachers use in the classroom to be able to support those executive functioning skills? And are there any new innovative approaches that you've been seeing recently?

Ann Dolin: 12:43

Yeah, I mean, first, when a student walks into a classroom, having a sense of what is going to happen in this classroom today in this period is really helpful. It helps the brain anchor, okay, I'm going to do this next. So anytime the teacher can say, hey, everybody, we're going to, um, this is our objective. We're going to work on this, and this is the activity we're going to do together. And then I'm going to help you get started on your homework. And then at the end, and this is your homework. And it's not just in the portal, but it's where everybody can see it. Those types of things where there's a visual coupled with an auditorial prompt, and you know, you're doing it together. That always helps kids. When kids know what to expect, they're definitely better off. There was a special on 60 Minutes on Comigo, and it was really fabulous about how teachers are using AI in the classroom kind of as like an individual tutor in a way. And I thought it was brilliant. So a lot of teachers are bringing in AI to help kids when they can't get to 30 kids in their classroom. And they're doing things differently to help students become more engaged. But at home, you can help students by your child by saying, okay, tell me about what you have going on tonight. So you don't want to ask the question, do you have homework? That's not really helpful. But you might say, What are your priorities tonight? If you could get one thing done that would make you feel great, what is that one thing? So you kind of want to help your child fire up their own executive function skills to start to prioritize. All right, let me open up my laptop, let me see what I have, and let me create this little list for myself. That's often the first step.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 14:21

Okay. And then what about homework? What else can parents be doing just to help with homework or to help manage and make those nights less stressful? I know those were always my worst when they came home and it would take hours. And what kind of suggestions would you have for parents that maybe are facing similar situations?

Ann Dolin: 14:43

Now, if you feel like your child is toiling over homework for endless hours, there's a disconnect between what the student is given for homework and their ability to complete it without a ton of parental oversight. And so I would absolutely go back to the teacher and say, and use these words, I've noticed, not like you're giving too much homework, but instead, I noticed that it's taken Jimmy an hour and a half to complete this math homework. Is that about how long it should take? And you know the teacher is gonna say, that's not how long it should take, and say, you know, what do you think I should do? Could this be reduced? Could he do every other problem instead? And so having some type of an agreement with the teacher to reduce the assignments is a great idea. Sometimes, however, um, it's not that it's that the work is appropriate. It's just that the child is having a hard time with focus. And in that case, you may want to chunk it. And instead of saying, like, do all this math homework, you know what, just do the first five problems and take a break. Or just let's fold the paper in half and only do the top half. So anytime it can be broken down or there's a break, or even setting a timer can be really, really helpful. And depending on the age, you don't want to set the timer for too long. It might be 10 minutes, but never more than 25.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 16:00

Excellent. Yeah. Those are similar to what I ended up going to. This was prior to us finding out what was going on. So we would definitely go to the teacher and go, I'm losing my mind. We need some help. What have you got? And then then we ultimately tested, but that did not come until fourth grade. Yeah, fourth grade summer. So it was it was a long year, long few years prior to that until we knew what we were really dealing with. So it's good to know. So chunking it, folding it, timer, definitely all is good stuff. What kind of practical approaches can parents implement at home to support executive function skills like time management, organization, and task initiation without micromanaging their children?

Ann Dolin: 16:39

Yeah, that is really key, Lisa. You know, you don't want to be the homework police, but you don't want to be completely hands-off. You have to kind of find that middle ground. And so I kind of mentioned this earlier, but asking your child, okay, tell me what are your priorities today? And I would recommend doing that before they go off to a practice. You know, if they're going to soccer practice at five o'clock, even if they don't have all their homework done, but they just have a sense of their priority list before they leave, that's key because when they get back, it's so much easier to start than starting fresh. We also can understand that kids often need a break right after school, giving them for younger kids, giving them some type of downtime without something that's super highly engaging, like maybe no video games during that downtime, but perhaps TV is okay. It makes it a little bit easier for them to get started when they need to get started. But for older kids, really having that start time is more important than the end time, which is where we often focus because homework is taking so long. So we'll say to our high schooler, like, you need to be done with homework by nine o'clock or 10 o'clock. And when they don't start until 8:30, it's problematic. So, really encouraging them, you know, what might be a good time to start? What are you thinking? When have you felt that you're the most focused? And instead of telling them what to do, asking them these powerful questions to lead them to self-discovery. When kids own their own thinking, we call this metacognition, when they can think about their thinking, when they can think about how they learn best, it's much more powerful than telling them what to do.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 18:21

Yeah, it's empowering them. Like I have a little bit more ownership of it. So are there any emerging trends or tools in ADHD and executive functioning support that you're particularly optimistic about for the future of education?

Ann Dolin: 18:36

Yeah, I think the biggest one, which has everybody talking, is the role of AI. And initially when ChatGPT and other AIs came out, we saw in my practice we we work with kids on a daily basis, helping them with all the executive function skills when it comes to academics. And it used to be like even a couple of years ago, parents would call our office looking for help and they would often say, My child has poor study skills. They do their homework, but they're not doing well on tests. And that's indeed what it was. They didn't quite know how to study. Now we're seeing that the issue isn't always that kids aren't studying well, but when they don't understand something, they're automatically going to uh an app like Math Wave, for example, which it used to be they took a picture of the problem and it told them the answer. Now they take a picture of the problem and it tells them every last step. So when they do their homework, it looks like they know all the steps. And then they go to take the test and they're doing very poorly. So there's this even bigger disconnect between, well, I'm doing the homework, but I'm getting terrible test grades. And so the new thing that we're finding is that kids don't know how to use AI. But once you show them, hey, you don't want to go to this right away, try the problem first. And then when you're super stuck, go to it. But it's just these little shifts. Instead of write this essay for me and copying and pasting, if you were my teacher, Mrs. Smith, and you upload the essay, how would you tell me to improve this essay? And so those are better ways of using AI, but kids don't always know how to do it. And so teaching them that can make a huge difference.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 20:16

You've got books on this as well for homework help for parents. That comes along with scripting, along with another book that talks about ways to help with procrastination in children. And so more great reads for parents to be able to dive into. How would audience members be able to get a hold of you or your company best?

Ann Dolin: 20:36

Sure. Our website is ectutoring.com for educational connections. And that's really the best way to learn about what we do.

Dr. Lisa Hassler: 20:44

Excellent. Well, thank you so much for your time, and it was a pleasure talking with you. Thank you, Lisa. You too. Supporting students with ADHD and executive function deficit starts with understanding their unique needs and responding with practical strategies. Together, we can create learning environments at school and at home where these students are equipped to thrive. If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share, you can email me at Lisa at drisaarhassler.com or visit my website at www.drlisaarhassler.com and send me a message. If you like this podcast, subscribe and tell a friend. The more people that know, the bigger impact it will have. And if you find value to the content in this podcast, consider becoming a supporter by clicking on the supporter link in the show notes. It is the mission of this podcast to shine light on the good in education so that it spreads, affecting positive change. So let's keep working together to find solutions that focus on our children's success.