Looking for recommendations and experiences in working with an Executive Function coach for College students

shawbridge
Fri, 02 Jan 2026 21:48:56 +0000

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.