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

It is few and far in between that two activities, such as skateboarding and surfing, can be found to so completely deliver a strengthening of so many life skills, as well as provide therapeutic benefits all at once. Both individual sports require the dynamic interplay of executive function and cross-hemispheric neural connectivity at heightened levels, placing them in their own pantheon of 'go-to' therapeutic intervention activities to use. In addition, the proprioceptive component that comes on-line and gets toned is of particular benefit to youth and adults with neurological and/ or gross motor skill deficits, such as commonly found with those on the autism spectrum, downs syndrome or varied 'special needs.' Proprioceptivity is our ability to know where our body is and how fast it is moving through space. A surfer's proprioceptive response makes them self-aware of the positioning of their limbs and stance on the board, as well as how fast they are moving...

Jacai Colson was twenty eight years old. A very young man doing his duty as a police officer. Four years he served his  Landover, Maryland community serving and protecting with his presence. He was murdered yesterday for no reason. A man came up to Officer Colson's police station and opened fire. There was no announcement. There was no reason given. Neither men knew each other. Down went Officer Colson. His fellow colleagues stormed out of the station and opened fire on the gunman wounding him but sparing his life. That is it. Life goes on. Another officer shot dead. Another man serving us and protecting us gunned down. His family, friends and co-workers left in bewildered shock. He is no more on earth.  Twenty eight is so young. He lived with purpose. He woke up everyday to serve people like you and me, regardless of your opinion of him.  What do we call that kind of service? I believe we call that  unconditional love. Do you know what that i...

Today is Tuesday, November 3, 2015 Yesterday at 7 pm est, I joined a weekly special #tweetchat on Twitter for the first time, #LeadWithGiants. It was a lot of fun. Felt like I was back in school! Being the newbie I thought I would just be a listener and occasionally chime in…well, at least that was my intention:) I found it hard to keep quiet, especially after Dan Forbes (as in Mr. #LeadWithGiants), reached out to me in such a welcoming fashion, as he does to all. His humble, outgoing attitude is replicated by the other leaders in the chat and this adds to an open, dare I say, nurturing atmosphere (teacher speak, bear with me). The topic at hand was ‘consensus,’ and everything that goes with it: finding common ground, the traits of effective leaders, the size of  teams being led, orchestrating through differing politics, titles, departments, challenges, participation by all, solution-focused mindsets and last but not least, sustaining an environment where individual tho...

The growth of a person cannot be lopsided. Inner and outer growth has to be balanced for optimal results. Working with a mindset that everything is possible, I meet my students in a place where there are no limits. Usually, I am always at this location first and then guide in (beam in) my student. With the right approach, a great coach can move a student quickly far beyond what they ever dreamed of once mindsets are shifted. Progress in skateboarding exemplifies this.  Like most endeavors, 'success' springs forward with practice, dedication and commitment. Not just committing to skate, but committing to moving beyond a present skill level. Thus, the mindset is not, "I want to do awesome skateboarding and get really good at it." No, the mindset is, if I just keep at it, little by little, one day at a time, before long I will move across the skill continuum to become a skilled boarder. Skateboarding is engaging and demands mental acumen to be proficient or grea...

A child’s first 5-6 years are a time of cognitive growth and eventually neural pruning, thus what is done with that time is of utmost importance. Recognizing dancing as a versatile, formidable modality for autism intervention is worth parents consideration. For starters, dance therapy is not dance class. With my three students  (on the spectrum) whom I have coached for over five years, I have rolled out the use of dancing as a form of communication, emotional processing, and tool to re-channel stemming behavior. I do not use this modality with every student I coach.  These early years need to be a time of setting precedent for a child with special needs. The development of the below skills can be strengthened in short time with the right teacher setting up the right conditions.  communication skills social skills sensory skills soft skills (grit, resilience, humility, compassion) executive function skills (like sustaining attention, functional balanc...

Conveying self-empowerment strengthening may sound like a very abstract action. But it can be done if you hit certain parameters every week.  The core of this self-empowerment is how we show that we treat each others,  BY the use of:  laser-guided parent coaching sessions scheduled and carried out one to three times per week  parent to parent role modeling of wholesome paraverbal skills  Parents can create home labs for executive function skills development that boost, sustain and empower children's: emotional intelligence:  degree of one's ability to manage ones behavior, emotions, paraverbal skills, mental flexibility, especially in challenging situations. executive function skills are 'housed' in your frontal lobe, and are the ability to MOM one self in a goal-directed manner. MOM stands for manipulate, orchestrate, and manage. Manipulate is not to be misconstrued negatively as when a person manipulates another. You can 'manipulate' how you feel emotiona...

What do you do with a child who is passively defiant, perhaps obnoxious at times, and increasingly dismissive of parental authority? Normally, the idea is to do something to change them, modify their behavior, or just kinda deal with each week as it comes. In some instances, with the supervision, guidance and direction of a doctor, like a psychiatrist, a child's parents may see their young child now be able to sit still longer, be more focused, and appear to show a very observable increase in another executive function skill, the ability to sustain attention. A pharmaceutical medication can be a 'bridge'  to help the child maybe focus on enhancing their ability to better self-manage themselves in a more goal-directed manner. n essence, be 'more' focused. This helps the child to be able to sustain their attention for a longer duration on a sequence of tasks. Rather quickly, the child (or adult for that matter) eventually understands quite intuitively that the 'so...

When you come to think about it, humans are either in a state of hormonal equilibrium, or are in pursuit/desirous of it. If you don't feel ok, the basic ingrained desire is to want to feel ok.   How we get there with the best interest of our families is the subject of this article.             An inordinate amount of distractions, jobs, tasks and futile pursuits which can fill our day. Through the  course of this day. If we were to get a "read-out"  of our daily hormonal flux we would be astounded by the up and down roller-coaster/stock market graphing of it. Given this hormonal flux, what is one big hormonal trap for kids and adults, and what are some concrete actions that are practical, engaging, and easy to integrate into one's life, and/or family life? To start with, spending an inordinate, unbalanced amount of time on technological gadgets manifests anxiety, stress, uneasiness and studies are showing it is physically bad...

The answer is no. Yet, a home that is made warm, comfortable and nurturing by both parents can provide more warmth than the best commerical home heater system out their. Using a formula system, it is practical, and easily possible for any family, independent of monthly income to make immediate home changes that immediately starts reaping love dividends from your kids. With consistency, a young heart and a growth-oriented mindset, parents can literally showcase and role-model incredibly important life skill tools that lead your children to have higher than strong executive function skills, high emotional intelligence, and an ability to deal with failure that is uncanny. Parents are advised. You may have to get on your hands and knees for some of this tough work. Horseplay, or what some call roughhousing may be a laughing matter to most, but it is actually a very serious matter that is understated and dismissed. Great horseplay entails the parent making it a continous  matter to poin...

Do you roughhouse with your child? Far from having to perform the suplex wrestling maneuver on your kid, (or your spouse), roughhousing is a practical way to sustain, and build emotional intelligence, and executive function skills, including metacognition in children. Unfortunately, many a times, especially in single parent households, roughhousing is an activity that can be easily forgotten. Parents can become too focused on work, schedules, and the routines of the day. Even so, 10 minutes a day of this can make most kids start the day supercharged and happy. This activity increases kids behavior modulation, self control, creative play, and provides kids with an opportunity to physically interact with their parents in a way that is self-regulating for them. Their faces light up. They love to do this with Mommy and Daddy. It brings parents to the floor, a level kids are very comfortable with, and it allows children to even vent out energy in a positive way.  Roughhousing ev...