We help kids find the courage to try new or difficult things by helping them understand their own objections

We reject the notion that bright and gifted kids who have complex profiles can only be educated through their own interest areas—because our work proves otherwise.

We understand task avoidance not as a ‘behavior’ problem but as indications of what problem a child needs our help to solve, and/or indication of prior school trauma.

As we acknowledge to the kids, refusing to engage in something that historically has been difficult for you is a logical defense mechanism. It’s not surprising that task avoidance, “defiance” and even school refusal is so common among kids who have widely divergent skills and who haven’t been given a lens they can use to predict which tasks will be boringly easy and which will be impenetrably hard. If the former, the task isn’t worth their while. If the latter, it’s likely to re-entrench feelings of failure—and all too often lead to embarrassment in front of peers. Either way, logically one can see how a child might conclude that it’s not a risk worth taking unless the subject matter is directly related to something they find intrinsically incredibly interesting. Thus the resistance to tasks that are new (& therefore unpredictable) or unrelated to their own interest areas (& therefore not worth the risk of failure in their mind).

A data-driven approach to overcoming task avoidance

We approach task avoidance and other non-preferred learning behaviors using the same general principles and approach that we use to identify and address learning and executive function differences—and often, that’s the root of the issue. Drawing on our team’s neuropsychological, psychological and neurophysiological expertise, we start with a deep dive into each student’s profile to understand the context for these behaviors.

Rather than cajole or punish the child for their non-compliance, we start by validating that they are taking this course because they are up against something that they perceive to be really hard—and recognizing that this may be a rational choice in view of their experiences to date. We then collaborate with the child, taking a trauma-informed problem-solving approach, to identify what underlying factors have lead them to reach this conclusion. These may be a wide range of factors, including prior academic traumas, becoming overwhelmed by executive function requirements of the task, hidden learning disabilities and more. The student’s customized program is adapted as these factors are identified to encompass this new information, and we coach the student in Personalized Strategies they can use to self-monitor, self-manage and self-advocate for these “triggers”.

Perhaps most importantly, we share with each student a realistic sense of their strengths and weaknesses, so that they can both appreciate their strengths and be patient with themselves when they encounter something that relies upon skills where they are not as strong. This does not mean digging into diagnostic labels like “ASD” or “ADHD” that can become embedded in a child’s identity, holding back their growth mindset To the contrary, we break down those labels, and focus in on the specific neurocognitive and/or neurophysio skills that are holding them back—and then remind them of how we can build up those skills through neuroplasticity. This helps them to develop an authentic growth mindset, gives them an analytical grip on what may otherwise be an emotionally overwhelming experience and increases their buy in for the difficult therapeutic work that lies ahead.

Over time, this helps them become open to a broader range of academic tasks, as they are better able to assess the likelihood of success, and to brace themselves for the things that will be hard. This in turn results in more opportunities for students to experience their own strengths, which builds momentum towards the growth mindset they need to take the academic risks required to progress.