FLIPP The Switch 2.0: Mastering Executive Function Skills from School to Adult Life for Students with Autism

This book provides educators with detailed information about executive function skills and evidence-based practices that can be used with students with autism spectrum disorder who experience executive function (EF) deficits to be more successful in school, at home, in the community, and in the future.

Educators often struggle with how to effectively teach students who grasp concepts but are unable to succeed in school or other learning environments. Although these students frequently experience EF deficits, including flexibility, managing emotions, controlling impulses, planning, and problem-solving, educators are given no training in how to remedy these deficits. Educators need evidence-based strategies to create supportive learning environments that build executive function skills students can incorporate into everyday life.

FLIPP 2.0 provides a blueprint for identifying the executive function skills that students need for future success, along with specific strategies that will support kindergarten through high school students in building strong, long-term gains in executive function skills. FLIPP 2.0 expands upon the information provided in the first book, FLIPP The Switch, by providing more complex strategies that can be implemented in the classroom, with detailed instructions for both educators and students on how to incorporate them into the school day. Many students struggle in school and in post-school life, not because they lack academic skills, but because they lack the EF skills necessary to access instruction and support performance. FLIPP 2.0 illustrates how students of all ages can learn to generalize these skills into new environments.

With FLIPP 2.0, readers will gain a deeper understanding of executive function skills and deficits. They will learn how evidence-based practices can be used to increase the EF skills of students of all ages and skill levels. Most importantly, they will learn a specific set of steps for gradually releasing control to students, so that students are eventually able to take responsibility for their own learning and success.

Carol Burmeister, MA, has over 40 years of experience as a paraprofessional, general education teacher, special education teacher, program specialist, university instructor, and consultant in a wide variety of public education settings. This has provided her with the opportunity to work with students with unique learning needs including those with cognitive, behavioral, communication, and autism spectrum disorders. Carol has provided leadership in the coordination and presentation of numerous professional development activities in the area of autism and related disorders as well as having partnered with Dr. Sheri Wilkins, Dr. Rebecca Silva, and the University of California, Riverside to develop and implement a certificate program for teachers in the education of students with autism. Armed with the knowledge that evidence-based intervention practices for children with ASD are the basis on which effective programs are built, Carol served as a reviewer on both the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders and the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practices' updates on evidence-based practices. For the past several years, her work has focused on the crucial topic of executive function (EF), helping students and parents, as well as educational professionals, understand the complexity of social, academic, and behavioral challenges that accompany EF deficits and practical tools that support EF across all environments. She is co-author, with Dr. Sheri Wilkins, of the book, FLIPP the Switch: Strengthen Executive Function Skills.

Sheri Wilkins, PhD (aka Dr. Sheri) has worked in the field of public education as a paraprofessional, teacher, university professor, and professional developer for over 35 years and has had extensive experience in advising, coaching, training, and facilitating. Sheri has expertise in Direct Instruction, positive behavior supports, curriculum and instruction, school culture, special education, and systems change. She has worked with school systems across the U.S. and in Japan and Australia to bring together stakeholders in conversations designed to increase collaboration, positively impact teaching and learning, and build dynamic educational systems that are student-focused and results-driven. She is the proud mom of four sons and grandmother of five grandchildren. In 2009, following the car accident and traumatic brain injury of one of her children, Dr. Sheri focused her attention on researching specific strategies for developing executive function skills and sharing those strategies with parents and educators. This experience led Dr. Sheri to write, with co-author with Carol Burmeister, FLIPP the Switch: Strengthen Executive Function Skills.

Dr. Rebecca Silva has had over 35 years of experience working with students with special needs in the roles of special education teacher, grant coordinator, university instructor, principal, and administrator. During her tenure as the special education administrator in Riverside California, she developed the Reach Autism Program, providing evidence-based interventions in classroom and in-home settings. In addition, Dr. Silva has developed and implemented specialized professional development programs providing intensive training for educators focused on increasing learning success for students with severe intellectual disabilities. She has also written numerous grants, articles, manuals, and curricula in the area of autism, assessment, and transition including The Transitions Curriculum and the SANDI-FAST Online Assessment System. In addition, Dr. Silva's commitment to families of children with autism and related disabilities is evident through her work with a number of organizations. Most notable is her 2-year tenure as Co-Chair of the California Senate Select Committee on Autism, Inland Empire. She currently serves as Board Vice-Chair for the Autism Assessment Center of Excellence, Inland Empire, and is Board Treasurer for the Autism Society, Inland Empire.