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

updated 9:00 pm 3/23/17 A great concern of parents with children who have special needs is the social integration of their children into the community. Most times, those with Downs Syndrome and on the autism spectrum experience social isolation. With autism, the more severe the condition is the greater obstacles exist for social developmental experiences to occur. Social isolationism becomes even sharper as time elapses and the children become adolescents and finally reach adulthood.  How can the community and special needs parents bridge the social divide of typical children and those with special needs? Is it needful to let things be and accept that the task is too monumental to overcome? I put forth the ‘MindCraft strategy’ as a guiding light that may get community to come together empathically for the good of all.  Send Them on Missions It does not have to be a big orchestration, rather a continuous set of experiences that teach real-world life skill...

somewhere in the heart in a crevice of my mind a spark grows from the inside out a revolution that becomes electric The value of self-expression development to a youth or adult with neurological deficits cannot be understated as an engine of positive growth on multiple levels. Be it 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. By having typical children, those on the autism spectrum, with downs syndrome or executive function skill deficits   practice story dancing , they actively rewire the cognitive-physical story of their lives. In this case, self-expression can become a self-regulatory, communication life line to individuals who may be otherwise verbally-challenged. All said, the greater task exists in getting the student to recognize the value.  What is self-expression anyway? It i...

Is it wishful thinking that growth hacking executive function skills through ‘alternative’ methods work faster than pure ABA therapy when working with individuals on the autism spectrum? Its not.  Why do U.S. Special Education dollars in public schools get outsourced when talented Special Educators get paid next to nothing for their heart and soul sacrifice? Does a hybrid instructional approach work better? What professional SHOULD be playing ‘point guard’ as the main expert in instructing students with disabilities like autism or ADHD?  Over the last twenty years in U.S. public education their has been a seismic shift in Special Education. Special Educators have lost critical footing due to top-down educational decision-making that is disconnected from the actual teacher-student connection. for example, having BCBA’s or ‘Board Certified Behavior Analyst’ as alternative Special Educators coming in to give additional expertise via the route of a...

In my line of work, a part of my heart takes on a part of the grief of parents who have children with more severe special needs, like autism. I empathically feel some of the pain expressed by the mothers. Their tears can become my tears eventually, and some of their energy gets replicated and carried by me. I in turn channel it (as best I can) into my work, and my advocacy for the disadvantaged individuals.  Apparently, I should channel more effectively because there is a fire in my bones. I can regulate and modulate and have multiple outlets for my energy, but the grief of some of these parents is monumental. I recognize injustice. Children with autism are not usually born autistic. It is after we plug them over and over again with the nasty preservatives, like barium, strontium, formaldehyde, mercury, aluminimum ( a metal last time I checked), and cancer-causing viruses. Read up on the work of Dr. Russell Blaylock (who has not been completely sidelined by the Big Pharma-vaccine l...

#POTUS, or the President of the United States of America has the most mentally, physically, and emotionally taxing job on earth. It is no wonder that any occupant of the Oval Office comes in bright-eyed and bushy tailed only to leave looking 25 years older by the end of their term. Politics aside, the ability to orchestrate, manage and direct information is not just the definition of executive function skills, but it happens to be the job of the President. It is a tough job, filled with rigor, criticism, and constant attack from all sides, in every way, shape and form. In this post, I explore the storm that encircles what it means to be POTUS in the context of executive function skills. The constant decision making, the demand on the POTUS's foresight, problem solving, behavior modulation, and goal-directed persistence are enough to put one hundred people in the psychiatric ward, and yet POTUS's must do it day in and day out while in the spotlight or in the privacy o...

I have read the Common Core Standards found on the website CoreStandards.Org, and would like to offer some constructive feedback to United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Dear Sir and United States Secretary of Education Mr. Arne Duncan, How are you Sir? I hope you and your family were able to get a modicum of rest and relaxation over the holidays. My family and I did, but now it is back to work time. Dear Secretary, I have reviewed the Common Core Standards by which you are putting your full backing at this present moment. I know full well that you are a busy man, so I do appreciate the time, if any, that you may have set aside to reading my note to you regarding the current existent format of benchmark parameters for mathematics, reading and writing. Like a potter that shapes the clay, I say that we don't have to do away with the clay but perhaps add some water and impress some key contours into the clay.   Their is a major benchmark which can guarantee success in your...

"During every minute of the nine months of pregnancy, the brain gains a quarter of a million cells. The brain is hardwired to produce a staggering total of around 100 billion neurons and a trillion glial cells, which provide all the necessary support and protection. This will lead to a multi trillion network of connections capable of performing 20 million billion calculations per second." - Adam Cox No Mind Left Behind:Understanding and Fostering Executive Function Control Truly, truly, it is a marveous thing to behold. The built-in complexity of the brain and mind follows an intelligently-designed blueprint that will always exceed that of even the smartest, most versatile computer. This would not be  due to intellectual smarts, or experiental knowledge, but for the human beings ability to shift into genuine, heart felt expression, love, such as a Mother or Father has for their child. Self-less, altruistic love that seeks no payback, with no hidden motive.   Some m...

Does a Teacher/ Coach's mindset and expectations drive a program? Can it mean the difference between great, lackluster, and a dismal educative outcome? To say that in any field or industry one's mindset and expectations don't have a direct impact on performance level would probably be very naive. So the time before a coaching session, or the Teacher entering the classroom, is as important as during the actual instruction. Being a routine reader of Sun Tzu's, 'The Art of War,' I find it useful to consider the current chemistry and existant rapport that I as a parent or coach may have with the child. From a diplomatic perspective, and with a focus on keeping the experience positive an able-bodied parent or teacher can be able to begin establishing new, sturdier framework from which to launch varied initiatives inversely focused on toning executive function skills, like mental flexibility. Reading up on Sun Tzu helps push the mind to consider and extrapola...

And now, to put the "H" in holistic Educator: When I was a bit younger, I use to live on the North Shore of O'ahu, Hawaii, or what was known as the 7- mile miracle, because of the continuous world-class beach breaks. I can recall many times surfing 6-8 foot swells, when all of a sudden, a 10 foot monster wave (very small for Hawaii) comes from far off and there is no chance that I can get out of the danger zone. If you know what your doing, you first swallow your fear, hold it down there, then focus on following surfer protocol.  Fear clouds your mind, influences erratic decision making, and wastes time. I know that when one see's a wave like that coming in, you have to do the very thing you don't want to do: swim toward the wave. As someone who has done a great deal of surfing around the world, I can tell you that your first instinct is to run toward the shore. But you don't want to do that. Instead, you need to swim toward the wave and try to go un...

Sun Tzu, the author of "The Art of War," a 2,500 year old book that is a must-read book for business executives and military leaders alike, noted the following, which I have paraphrased: To win in battle, one must know oneself, and their opponent. Yet, he also noted that if one knows thyself, yet not one's opponent, then for every battle one, he/she would lose a battle. Lastly, if one does not know thyself, nor one's opponent, then he/ she would suffer defeat every time. Of course, as a Special Educator, the students I work with 1:1 are not my opponents, or enemies. As an Educator, it behooves me to always monitor my best way of delivering instruction. I must ask myself honest questions all the time. Its like I have an Executive Functions Coach sitting on my shoulder when I am empowering a learner. From a Special Educators perspective, good instructional delivery to an exceptional learner entails the rapid adaptation of the Teachers instructional approac...