Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET are back discussing a huge trigger statement: “I don’t care.” If your child seems unmotivated just weeks into the school year, you’re not alone—and motivation probably isn’t the real issue. In this episode, Rachel and Steph unpack what’s actually driving early school-year resistance, shutdowns, and avoidance. They discuss how executive functioning overload, unclear expectations, and missing systems masquerade as “low motivation,” and what parents can do instead. We’re unpacking all the important ways “I don’t care” can be interpreted, how executive functioning challenges can complicate the picture, and how to respond without getting pulled into another argument. Simply telling a learner to care more doesn’t give them the systems, skills, or strategies they need to move forward.

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Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome back Leah Kuypers, occupational therapist and creator and founder of The Zones of Regulation. Last week, they discussed what regulation actually means and why it looks different for each person and environment. This week, they continue the conversation by exploring why it is hard to regulate what you cannot identify and how frequent check-ins help learners pause, get curious about their body’s signals, and build self-awareness. Leah shares how regulation supports both immediate and longer-term goals and why the Zones is a framework for building self-management skills, not a behavior management system. They also discuss how classroom management can inadvertently punish learners for skills they have not yet developed, the importance of co-regulation, and the relationship between executive functioning and regulation. Together, they dig into video games and share why instruction, modeling, play, routines, and repeated practice are essential to building these skills.

Connect with Leah/Zones of Regulation: https://www.zonesofregulation.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=learn_smarter_podcast&utm_content=link

Other Episodes Mentioned:

Ep 430: What is Self-Regulation with Leah Kuypers, Creator of The Zones of Regulation (Professionals Series)

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Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, welcome Leah Kuypers, occupational therapist and creator and founder of The Zones of Regulation. Leah shares how the Zones give us a common language to communicate about our emotions and understand what is happening on the inside. Together, they unpack what being “regulated” actually means and why it looks different depending on the person, the environment, and the demands of the moment. They also discuss how we are all working on regulation throughout the day and why building these skills requires an individualized approach. There is no predetermined set of strategies that works for everyone.

Connect with Leah/Zones of Regulation:

https://www.zonesofregulation.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=learn_smarter_podcast&utm_content=link

Support us on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/learnsmarterpodcast

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Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website

Steph’s My Ed Therapist website

@learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome registered dietician Jackie Silver, who specializes in nutrition for neurodivergent people. She talks about executive functioning systems for food, making the mealtime environment fun, and how to introduce new foods. Jackie also addresses how to find opportunities to explore foods outside mealtime and what she wants parents with neurodivergent kids to know about food and eating.

Connect with Jackie Silver: www.jackiesilvernutrition.com

Email: Jackie@jackiesilvernutrition.com

IG: @ accessiblewellness

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Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET welcome Dr. Oren Boxer, pediatric neuropsychologist, to discuss agency. They chat about how learners feel control and how agency is a bioeducational necessity. He shares prediction for movement IS executive functioning. They talk about the role of the parent in providing scaffolding and agency. Dr. Boxer shares that kids who have chores have less anxiety and depression (because it’s giving them agency). He shares the link between chores, contribution to the home, and agency that leads to predictable, productive and successful adult outcomes.

Orenboxerphd.com

insightcollective.com

626-765-4482 (free consults)

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Last week, Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, discussed what learners say versus what educational therapists hear. This week, they flip the conversation and talk about what parents say—and what educational therapists hear underneath those words.

Rachel and Stephanie share some of the phrases they hear from parents all the time. They discuss how these statements can give educational therapists and teachers important information about a family’s frustration, exhaustion, expectations, and worries about the future.

They also explore the difference between what a learner “should” be able to do and what they can actually do independently, why good grades don’t always mean everything is fine, and how parents can get stuck between providing necessary support and worrying that they are enabling their learner.

Rachel and Stephanie emphasize that, just like with learners, the goal isn’t to judge or overanalyze what parents say. It’s to get curious about what might be underneath the words. Sometimes educational therapy involves translating the learner to the parent, the parent to the learner, and helping everyone better understand what is actually happening in between.

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Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website

Steph’s My Ed Therapist website

@learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist

Other episodes mentioned:

Ep 426: What Kids Say vs. What We Hear (Parenting Series)

Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET, discuss the things learners say all the time—and what educational therapists hear underneath those words. From “I don’t care” and “I forgot” to “I’ll do it later” and “I already studied,” Rachel and Stephanie explain why these statements often tell us much more about a learner’s executive functioning, anxiety, overwhelm, avoidance, or skill gaps than we might initially think.

They share how adults can easily interpret these statements as laziness, defiance, dishonesty, or a lack of motivation when the learner may actually be communicating that they don’t know how to start, don’t know what to do, have lost track of time, are protecting themselves from failure, or simply don’t have a system that works.

Rachel and Stephanie also discuss the importance of getting curious instead of immediately correcting or challenging what a learner says. They explain why educational therapists listen for the information underneath the words and how asking a different question can help uncover what is really getting in the learner’s way.

They also remind listeners that not every statement needs to be analyzed—sometimes “I forgot” really does mean “I forgot.” The goal is to notice patterns, understand what a learner may be communicating, and respond in a way that builds skills and independence rather than focusing only on compliance.

Next week, Rachel and Stephanie are going to share things parents say all the time–and what educational therapists hear when they say it.

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Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website

Steph’s My Ed Therapist website

@learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist

Other episodes mentioned:

Ep 424: What Educational Therapists Notice Every September (That Parents Usually Miss)

Newsflash: there is no such thing as an academic emergency. In this re-air of episode 90, Rachel Kapp, M.Ed., BCET, and Stephanie Pitts, M.Ed., BCET share what an academic emergency is, how parents can respond to a perceived emergency, and what some strategies are for preventing them. They also dig into how to keep long term goals in mind when these situations arise.

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Rachel’s Kapp Educational Therapy Group website

Steph’s My Ed Therapist website

@learnsmarterpodcast, @kappedtherapy, @myedtherapist