Coach Bill / Dad, Entrepreneur Special Educator, American Political Scientist, Writer, Musician.

updated 2:24 pm est 11/10/17 The idea of cultivating critical thinkers is easily a lofty ideal purported to be achieved throughout academia and espoused as the hallmark of journalistic integrity.  Achieving the critical thinking mind requires a certain bravery, wherein, once our ability to tap into our own knowledge of content matter is done, we must require it upon ourself to contrast our assessment and infer from an ‘outsiders’ point of view what is true and right and what is inaccurate and, even possibly, the propagandization of a special interest. . For the critical thinker, the affinity to discern is attached to our decision to look at the hard truth and favor this over our viewpoints, our political inclinations, and our stance on any given subject. This is hard to do. . In the following essay, I ask what exercise in democracy is achieved if political forces practice varying levels of indoctrination, in effect swaying public interest towards their ‘camp,’ rather...

Fishing Lines, Bouys and Whales Occasionally, a large whale steams through the seas with man's entanglements upon it fishing lines and bouy's stretching long after its tail it is a sad sight to behold the power of the whale forces the bouy's down with it, every downward exertion becoming increasingly labored, the whale, stock full of energy will live this way Occasionally, whale protection authorities will spot such a whale The men and women will follow the whale at it's speed approaching it to release it from its situation. Wary, the whale may submerge and take evasive maneuvers The men and women anticipate and predict  With spears of scissors  gingerly cutting here and there Gone is the bouy Away the fishing lines go The whale increases its speed Steaming through seas majestic  #poetry by Coach Bill  Each of us has tremendous potential to be incredible forces. Yet, many a times, these forces of nature get co-opted by special intere...

Amygdala somewhere in the heart in a crevice of my mind a spark grows from the inside out a revolution that becomes electric  #micropoetry by Coach Bill The value of self-expression development to a youth or adult with neurological deficits cannot be understated as an engine of cognitive activity on multiple levels. Wether it is typing an essay or writing a short poem, playing a musical instrument or dancing up a storm, self expression can be a form of communication, a work of art and a pathway to bringing our inside selves to the outside. What is self-expression anyway? It is a willful expression from us usually communicating a message and is unique to each person. A painting, a way of dancing, the words chosen for a haiku, all of these denote an expression of the self. This includes heart and mind. Self-expression activities like  story dancing , actively rewire the cognitive-physical story of one's life. In the case of dancing a story...

My first child was murdered without my consent by Planned Parenthood over a decade and a half ago in Stamford, Connecticut. My child was afforded no trial before being vacuum-sucked and trashed in the garbage. I was not called to ask for my consent to kill the child. There were no rights protecting my fatherhood in Connecticut then or now.  I married the woman and had three more children by her. I love them all dearly, though now those three remaining children have been taken away from me also. At the time the mother informed me that she was pregnant with our first I immediately made arrangements to jump on the Chinatown to Chinatown bus from Boston to New York. I was even able to get the bus driver to stop in Greenwich, Connecticut were my now ex-wife and girlfriend at that time lived, rather than having to go all the way to the city and then jump on a train back to Connecticut. I was racing to be by her side and let her know that as hard as it might be… that ...

#BokoHaram  It is not our problem. We are not our 'brothers keepers.' Let it be and focus on your own.  We have done enough.  There they go. My brother, my sister. I know not your name My heart searches for yours Your vacant stare Of all hope that has flown away You matter not Life stops being sacred Apathy establishes itself Somewhere birds fly away from the tops of trees For more, go to http://www.CoachBill.US Twitter.Com @CoachBill007 Instagram: CoachBill007 Youtube: CoachBill007

Storydancing allows a person to begin to process feelings, ideas, emotions and whatever else is in there by holding those things somewhat in focus as they dance according to metrics, such as: pace focus sustained attention behavior modulation goal-directed persistence self-control self-monitoring short-term working memory mental flexibility (transitions/ shifting) beat rhythm how they feel story line story development story goal Storydancing is not about filling the air with movement and perfect pitch, but about processing and creating new ways of thinking, feeling and being just by dancing one’s way into a new life. It is a concerted effort to bring the movements of the future into the present as much as it is a catch drain that sweeps our heart and mind The actual #storydance itself becomes an analogic (analogy) poem in literal motion that amazingly rewrites how you feel about things, and how you see things. Yes, this is movement therapy. Yes it is...

What is this television thing? What visions does it tell? Are they not like food for our mind? Is there not nutritious food AND junk food? How much food is enough? Do we eat all day long non-stop? What happens when we eat late at night? Is it smart to eat junk? What do we feed our children? What kind of diet do we sustain them by? How can we empower our children? How educational is Dora and Barney actually? I saw a boy yesterday playing on some sand dunes talking up a one hour story all to himself.. completely entertained. A bright boy, big smile coming out of his big cheeks, a happy boy.. loves his tech time, but he seems to equally love his non-tech time. He sings his heart out through a microphone, seeks me for our made up 'Adventure Minecraft' time where we basically become artists. We dance a special tai chi.. all free styling, with Coach Bill throwing him into the air, around his back, 180 flips and all the time talking the story. Everything else stops in those mo...

For a few years I have been working on integrating the showmanship and basketball skills of the Harlem Globetrotters into my 1:1 coaching work with kids and adults on autism spectrum, those with ADHD/ADD and/ or those with executive function skill deficits. I see the ball-handling skills exhibited by professional basketball players and such show acts as the Globetrotters in-line with the holistic executive function skill use I teach and model. I also see the body positions that are required to surf and skate well pop up as we move to rhythm and beat, beat to rhythm. I love it. As I dance before dawn early in the morning or late at night I get ideas on how to stay crisp, fresh, keep the fun present, sustain and quickly implement ‘real-time’ coach-student feedback, harness my energy, manage my students energy, and the observable positive results I am able to help trigger.  I’d be remiss to say that my basketball moves don’t flesh into my dancing. They mesh with the...

You put them to meditate two times a day one minute for every year of their age, up to 20 minutes. Ideally in the morning and in the mid afternoon. I am gonna talk briefly about how to do this successfully and the value and benefits of integrating this ‘being still, eyes closed, slow deep breathing’ activity as daily as drinking water, eating and sleeping. Firstly, I am following the basic format of the widely studied TM or transcendental meditation. Instead of the secret mantra given, intermittent use of the breath as a refocusing tool to clear the mind and regulate back to that ‘calm zero state’ where the brain apparently does incredible processing that boosts all executive function skills, including, (drum roll please) emotional control, behavior modulation and impulse control. As if that is not enough, the daily practitioner of meditation also gains an increased emotional intelligence, or ability to manage ones emotions  in a goal-directed manner across a variety o...

Flash Street parties don't happen all the time... but they could. Meditation is older than the invention of sliced bread... okay way older than that. Both are as old as time itself. I want to bring them together in a series of free events, and am seeking the shoulder-to-shoulder collaboration of others. This can be done. This can and should be bigger than me and you. It is for them. I am one of the leading private Special Educators in the world and I seek to disrupt how we go about teaching. This means outflanking impractical methods (not people), stripping down instruction and focusing on motivating students, equating learning with fun, and getting a strenuous cognitive workout all at the same time.  Disrupting a market or industry means starting at the very bottom and persistently working one's way or one's product to the top of the market. One can still be a gentleman or  lady and be disruptive in this sense.   No Muscle grows unless you ...

What is the price of your childs executive function skills development? Does that price increase or decrease according to deficits and disabilities that they may have? How do you go about best empowering them without breaking the bank? How do you know if the abstract and concrete interventions being employed will bear fruit?  How frustrated are you with your child’s progress? Do you feel the school is not getting your child to ‘the promised land?’ That is to say, do you feel that if you just rely on school support,  the instructional approach and their instructional execution that your child will exceed your expectations of their overall executive function skill and hemispheric connectivity development? Experience tells me as a Private Special Educator of over 12 years across Massachussetts, Hawaii, Connecticut, New York and Puerto Rico that relying on just the schools to catapult the mental/ emotional development of a child with ADHD or autism is as naive as th...

Part of my job as a Private Special Educator and Executive Function Skills Coach is to engineer, innovate and grow my tool and strategy base. I basically pop the hood and look at the motor all the time. I look at other motors, I try adding new parts, I take away parts, I look to streamline.  Generally, I use a notebook or a white board and a marker and start considering how to smartly grow my destablizing initiative to upend Special Education as we know it.  Like an actual enginneer, I prod, poke and test the importance, practicality, and effectiveness of the tools and strategies I use in my coaching. As of late, I have an old tool which I have dusted off thanks to a young boy who 'took me to school.' Recently, I was working in Marthas Vineyard with a band of brothers and the youngest started dropping rhymes with such execution and swag that it blew me away and captivated me. Not being able to back out of the challenge and in full view of one of his other brothers, this boy ba...

Image: Neural Synaptic Connection Kids and adults with strong right hemispheric strengths but weaker effective application of left hemispheric traits and characteristics are commonly known as having attentional deficits.   This mental balance impacts critical thinking and normal decision making. By bringing in natural activities tailored to the individual we can create the conditions for 'synaptic neural connections' or bridges between the right and the left hemisphere. By doing so consistently... you develop these hemispheric and executive function skills bridges. This can mean faster processing speed for you or your child, if you are a parent. Caveat: Rewiring your brain takes time. Be patient and focus on enjoying the experience, not some end result. The development of executive function skills needs for an adult individual or a child in a family needs to fun and practical to be effective over the long haul.  This is why I promote the natural development of our executive fu...