Making Sense of Executive Functions: What’s Missing From Our Explanations?
Presented by Sarah Baar and Lauren Schwabish
Audio Runtime: 52 Minutes; Learning Assessment Time: 21 Minutes
Lauren Schwabish, MS, CCC-SLP, a person-centered neuro SLP and private practice owner, joins host Sarah Baar at the 2025 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention to unpack one of the trickiest topics in cognitive rehab—executive functions. With real questions and reflections from fellow SLPs, Sarah and Lauren delve into what executive functions truly are and how to discuss them in terms our clients can understand. Together, we explore how analogies, self-awareness, and health literacy can transform therapy into a more empowering and effective experience. If you’ve ever struggled to explain or treat executive dysfunction, this episode is for you.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the evidence around how executive function challenges present in individuals with neurological conditions and their implications for therapy across care settings
- Determine the situations in which health literacy–informed communication strategies and person-centered executive function interventions provide the most benefit for improving self-awareness and therapy engagement
- Solve patient case scenarios involving executive dysfunction by applying functional assessment, strategic analogies, and structured feedback techniques to facilitate client insight and progress toward therapy goals
This is an audio-only course. Additional materials are available for download within the course. To receive continuing education credit, complete the course and the accompanying quiz.
Meet your instructors
Sarah Baar
Sarah Baar is a speech-language pathologist in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has had the opportunity to work in many settings across the care continuum, including acute care, acute rehab, home and community, and outpatient therapy, and has been involved in various leadership projects. In 2016, she started the Honeycomb Speech…
Lauren Schwabish
Lauren Schwabish is the owner of Neuro Speech Services, a private practice based in Northern Virginia specializing in person-centered assessment and treatment of cognitive-communicative disorders related to stroke, brain injury, mild cognitive impairment, ADHD, and other neurologic and neurodegenerative conditions. Lauren…
Chapters & learning objectives
1. Making Sense of Executive Functions: What’s Missing From Our Explanations?
Join Sarah Baar and neuro SLP Lauren Schwabish at the 2025 ASHA Convention as they explore how to demystify executive functions for clients using real-world examples, practical strategies, and person-centered insights you can use right away.
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