I am looking to hire an online 1:1 Executive Function coach/coaching service for my S25 who is a Freshman in college. Does anyone have experience with this type of service and would be willing to share whether they found it helpful?
Reminder that CC is not a referral service so only general advice is permitted.
@momofboiler1 thanks for the reminder- I have edited my question.
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S21 had an EF coach thru HS (a local HS teacher) with weekly in-person meetings. We kept that coach on throughout college, which we felt was a good decision/worth the money. Over the years the coach became more like a mentor/another trusted adult for S21 to seek counsel from.
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IMO, whether or not it’s useful will largely depend on whether the student is “bought in” to having an EF coach. If yes, then it can be quite helpful. If not, it is a waste of time and money.
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Two experiences. We had hired a coach who worked with ShawSon in high school and maybe middle school on a number of issues including executive function. The coach was experienced with gifted kids with learning disabilities and is my wife’s cousin. By the time he went to college, they were very comfortable with each other. She monitored his email (as professors were then using emails for assignments each week) and they would talk at least once a week. After a couple of years, he no longer needed the support. But, I believe it was quite helpful. He is very, very bright (probably graduated in the top 5 in his class at a highly selective LAC and won a number of awards for academic achievement while there) but it took a while to manage the workload – as his dyslexia could cause him to be fatigued if there was a lot of reading. I think freshman year, which is the year he probably needed the most help, he received 6 A’s, one A- and one A+.
ShawD was strong on the ADHD scale and really needed help. She did not want to work with the same coach. When she got to university, we asked the disabilities services office to find a coach for her. They found a junior or senior in the same program who met with her once a week and told what she could expect each week from the courses. She found this very valuable. She transferred after a semester and we worked on getting tutors for her at the very beginning stages of any course where she might have difficulty and she did not have an EF coach, but she also did very well post-transfer.
Not sure if our experiences are helpful. I agree with @bass2022’s caveat that the student needs to buy in to the need for the coach.
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Thanks for the insights, these are helpful. D25 is not buying into it (had the conversation today). He is very bright, his teachers were constantly telling him (and us) that he is very capable, etc. For some subjects/areas of study he was above grade level in High School with little to no studying, but EF is a big issue and also he tends to shut down/not want to put in the effort in classes he doesn’t find interesting and/or dislikes the teacher.
I like the idea of getting a junior or a senior to help. I will try that and see if he is willing to do it.