Concise and accessible, this plain English guide will help parents and educators to understand and support children with executive function difficulties at home and in the classroom. The author describes the cognitive processes that make up the executive functions, including attention, behavioral inhibition, theory of mind, organizational skills, time management, planning, decision-making, and self-talk. Using real examples, she describes how difficulties in each of these areas may manifest, and offers practical hints, tips, and accommodations for supporting children both in and out of school. Containing a wealth of helpful information as well as tried-and-tested strategies, this is the perfect primer for parents and educators of children with executive function difficulties.

This book presents the concepts underlying the measurement of parasympathetic and sympathetic (P&S) activity in the autonomic nervous system and the application of these measurements in the development of therapeutic guidelines for treating dysfunctions in these processes. It provides an overview of the anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the autonomic nervous system; details general clinical applications of P&S monitoring that are independent of specialty or disease; presents the pathophysiology of P&S dysfunction in specific disorders, expected test results, therapeutic options, and expected outcomes; and includes case studies and longitudinal studies that demonstrate the major concepts for the common diseases for which P&S monitoring is recommended. Clinical Autonomic Dysfunction enables clinicians to improve patient outcomes by identifying and treating clinical problems related to autonomic nervous system disorders.

“There are families that are dysfunctional with all small letters, others dysfunctional with a capital D, and then there are families that are dysfunctional with all capital letters, and this is your family.” Growing up, the author’s life was far from being perfect. With her parents’ constant fighting (never knowing when it would start, but sure in the knowledge that it would), her older brother’s indifference, her sister’s bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and her younger brothers’ grossly disrespectful manners toward her (including their tendencies to do the wrong things), it’s no wonder she has kept a lot of anger inside her. And this, she believes, was the cause of her stuttering. This condition has been a debilitating factor for her, robbing her of confidence during her formative years. Yet she persevered, despite all the familial baggage, and managed to finish college and become her own woman.