KidSpeak, LLC, 4530 Beltway Drive, Addison, TX (2026)

09/16/2026

This week's Tipful Tuesday is all about Meta-Cognition......did you know the more you talk about what is easy, what is hard, and what helps.....the more this builds on this amazing executive functioning skill.

09/15/2026

💜💚 Happy Tuesday!! It’s time for another Tipful Tuesday! 💚💜

Over the last few weeks, we have focused a lot on executive functioning —— so today we want to focus on an executive functioning skill that is SO important for kids AND teens: METACOGNITION!

Metacognition is thinking about your own thinking. It is your ability to step back and think about how your brain works, how you are doing, what is easy for you, what is hard for you, and what helps YOU be successful.

Today’s Tip: Talk About What Is EASY, What Is HARD & What HELPS!

One of the best things we can do for our kids and teens is help them learn to recognize:

💚 What is easy for me?
💜 What is hard for me?
💚 What helps my brain/body when something is hard?
💜 What strategy could I try next time?

Talk about it…

BEFORE an activity:
“What part do you think will be easy?”
“What part might be hard?”
“What could help you if you get stuck?”

DURING an activity:
“How is your plan working?”
“Is this easier or harder than you expected?”
“Do you need to change your strategy?”

AFTER an activity:
“What worked?”
“What was hard?”
“What helped?”

🧠 THIS is metacognition! 🧠

And don't forget to talk about YOURSELF too! “I have a hard time remembering everything I need at the grocery store, so I make a list.” OR “I was getting frustrated, so I took a break and came back to it.”

When we model these conversations, we teach our kids that everyone has things that are easy, everyone has things that are hard, AND everyone uses strategies and supports. Talking this way helps build SO much more than executive functioning. We are also supporting self-awareness, self-advocacy, perseverance, problem solving, emotional regulation, frustration tolerance, confidence, flexible thinking, and even perspective taking!

Metacognition is such an incredibly important skill for school, friendships, home, college, work, and LIFE! 💜💚

09/14/2026

💜💚 MONDAY THERAPIST SPOTLIGHT! 💚💜

This Monday we're spotlighting one of the newest therapists to officially join our KidSpeak team—Ms. Molly Wallace! 🎉

While Ms. Molly officially joined us as an SLP Clinical Fellow this Fall, she is definitely NOT new to KidSpeak! Over the years, she has been part of KidSpeak as a volunteer, Office Assistant, and participant in Ms. Amanda's Undergraduate & Graduate Student Mentor Programs. We are SO excited to now have her as a therapist! 💜

🎓 Meet Ms. Molly!
A Plano native, Ms. Molly earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from UT Dallas.

💚 FEEDING, FEEDING & MORE FEEDING! 🥑🍓

One of Ms. Molly's primary areas of interest and expertise is FEEDING THERAPY! She specializes in sensory feeding difficulties beginning at 6 months and up, including:

🍼 Bottle aversions & transitioning to solids
🍓 Picky/selective eating
🥨 Sensory feeding difficulties
💚 Oral-motor, feeding & swallowing skills
🍎 Exploring and accepting new foods

Ms. Molly uses a responsive feeding approach that prioritizes a child's hunger cues, emotional safety, and autonomy. She LOVES helping kids build confidence around eating, get messy, explore new foods, and find FUN in food!

💜 AND There's More!

Ms. Molly also has a special interest in working with children ages 2+ within:

💚 Receptive & Expressive Language
💜 Social Communication & Social Pragmatics
💚 Play & Social Play
💜 Emotional Regulation
💚 Executive Functioning
💜 Autism & Neurodiversity
💚 And MORE!

💜 Outside KidSpeak, she enjoys teaching Pure Barre, family game nights, and hockey—Go Stars! 🏒

💚 LOOKING FOR THERAPY?
Ms. Molly currently has IMMEDIATE OPENINGS for feeding AND speech/language therapy! 🎉

📩 Interested? Email [email protected]

09/13/2026

📚💜💚 What’s Ms. Manda Reading Today?? 💚💜📚

Today Ms. Manda is reading a new one......ADHD Money by Tina Mathams!

💜 We talk a LOT about how executive functioning can impact school, homework, organization, attention, emotional regulation, relationships, and daily routines…but what about MONEY?!

As our kids grow into teens and young adults, managing money becomes another real-life executive functioning skill. Things like…

💜 Remembering when something needs to be paid
💚 Creating AND actually following a budget
💜 Thinking before making an impulse purchase
💚 Understanding the difference between a want and a need
💜 Planning ahead for future expenses
💚 Saving money when there is something you want RIGHT NOW
💜 Keeping track of how much money you have already spent
💚 Managing subscriptions and recurring expenses
💜 Thinking about the consequences of a financial decision
💚 Setting short- and long-term financial goals
💜 Creating systems and routines that actually WORK for your brain

These skills require SO many areas of executive functioning—planning, organization, working memory, impulse control, time management, future thinking, emotional regulation, self-monitoring, and more.

And just like we wouldn't expect a child who struggles with executive functioning to suddenly “be more organized,” we shouldn't expect our teens and young adults to automatically know how to manage money successfully just because they are getting older.

These skills need to be talked about, taught, modeled, practiced, and supported.

📚 If you have an older child, teen, or young adult with ADHD or executive functioning difficulties, financial independence is another important area to start talking about and practicing—before they are expected to manage it completely on their own!

💜💚 Because executive functioning isn't just a “school skill”—it's a LIFE skill.

09/10/2026

🧠💜💚 Happy Thursday! Today we are focusing on —Working Memory!💚💜🧠

Working Memory is SO important, but it is often misunderstood. It isn't simply having a “good” or “bad” memory. Working Memory is our ability to hold information in our brain long enough to USE it.

Think about how often kids and teens need Working Memory throughout their day:

💚 Following multi-step directions
💜 Remembering what a teacher said while starting an assignment
💚 Remembering what they read long enough to answer a question
💜 Organizing their thoughts while writing
💜 Remembering what someone said while thinking about their response
💚 Keeping track of rules while playing a game
💜 Using information they already know within a NEW situation

Working Memory connects to SO much more—including language, reading, social communication, emotional regulation, and other executive functioning skills!

At KidSpeak we focus on 4 parts:

1️⃣ UNDERSTAND IT
What is Working Memory? What does MY Working Memory look like?

2️⃣ CONNECT IT TO DAILY LIFE
When is Working Memory easy/hard for me? How does it impact me at school, home, with friends?

3️⃣ BUILD THE SKILL 💪
We participate within activities that help build this skill.....like a muscle!

4️⃣ USE IT IN THE MOMENT
Can I recognize when my Working Memory is overloaded? Can I stop, problem solve, and use a strategy—write it down, make a visual, repeat it, break it into smaller pieces, ask someone to repeat it, or ask for help?

💜 And THIS is where metacognition and self-advocacy become so important!

Instead of: ❌ “I forgot.” ❌ “I don't know.” ❌ “I wasn't listening.”

We want our kids and teens to begin recognizing:

🧠 “That's a lot for me to remember. I need to use a strategy that helps MY brain.”

That is Executive Functioning. And THAT is how we work toward greater independence! 💜💚

If your child or teen is struggling with Working Memory or other Executive Functioning Skills, send us a DM or text 214-636-0871. We would love to help!

09/09/2026

Did you know....

using a visual schedule can actually increases your child flexibility skills!

09/08/2026

💜💚 Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another Tipful Tuesday! 💚💜

Today we are talking about a part of the school day that can be SO much fun…but can also be one of the hardest times of the day for some kids: 🛝 RECESS!

Recess is VERY unstructured. Kids have to figure out WHO to play with, WHAT to play, HOW to join, HOW to stay in the play, what to do when the plan changes, and more!

That requires SO many skills!

💜 Executive Functioning: planning what to do, initiating play, staying with a plan, shifting when the plan changes, monitoring what others are doing, and problem solving.

💚 Social Pragmatics: joining a group, asking to play, reading verbal/nonverbal cues, taking turns, sharing ideas, being a leader AND follower, and repairing social problems.

💜 Emotional Regulation: handling waiting, losing, not going first, hearing “no,” friends choosing something different, unexpected changes, and figuring out what to do when frustrated.

📋 Today’s Tip: Create a Recess Visual Schedule!

A Recess Schedule can focus on the......
💚Activities
💜Friends to play with
💚Specific Social Skills
💜and more -- there are many ways to create a Recess Schedule

The goal isn't for your child to follow a script forever. The visual gives their brain a PLAN while they are developing the executive functioning, social communication, play, and emotional regulation skills needed to navigate recess more independently.

🛝 And did you know that if recess is HARD for your child, KidSpeak may be able to help in the environment where it is actually happening?

💜 A KidSpeak therapist can come to your child's school during recess for therapy targeting social pragmatics, play, executive functioning, and emotional regulation skills.

💚 OR we can schedule a session after school or on the weekend at your child's school playground to practice those skills in the actual environment with fewer demands.

If recess is hard for your child, DM us! Sometimes kids don't need to be told to “go play”—they need someone to teach them HOW. 💜💚

09/07/2026

💜💚 MONDAY THERAPIST SPOTLIGHT! 💚💜

For the next Ten Mondays, we're shining a spotlight on our amazing KidSpeak therapists!

Up first is Ms. Caroline! This spotlight is extra special because she is celebrating TWO YEARS at KidSpeak this month! 🎉💜

🎓 Meet Ms. Caroline!
Ms. Caroline earned her bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from UT Austin and her master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from UT Dallas. Before KidSpeak, she worked in the public schools with preschool through middle school students.

💜 Her Professional Focus
At KidSpeak, Ms. Caroline primarily works with children and teens ages 6–18, with an emphasis on:

💚 Social Communication & Social Pragmatic Language
💜 Emotional Regulation
💚 Executive Functioning
💜 Perspective Taking & Theory of Mind
💚 Self-Awareness & Self-Advocacy
💜 Higher-Level Language
💚 Friendship, Peer & Sibling Interaction Skills
💜 And MORE!

She loves helping children and teens better understand themselves, others, and the world around them while developing practical skills they can use at home, school, with friends, and throughout everyday life.

Ms. Caroline is passionate about making therapy purposeful, engaging AND fun while building strong, trusting relationships with her clients and families.

🏆 Did you know?
Ms. Caroline was named a 2025 DFWChild Mom Approved Therapist! 🎉

💜 Outside of KidSpeak...
She loves spending time with her husband and Goldendoodle, Annie 🐶, reading 📚, hot yoga 🧘‍♀️, friends, and college football! 🏈

💚 Interested in KidSpeak?
Ms. Caroline's Fall caseload is FULL, but we currently have openings with other KidSpeak therapists—and they're filling quickly!

📩 Email [email protected] to learn more.

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day!

Friendly reminder that KidSpeak, LLC is closed today -- we hope that you all have an amazing day and we will see you all on Tuesday!

09/06/2026

📚💜💚 Happy Sunday! What’s Ms. Manda Reading Today?? 💚💜📚

Today Ms. Manda is re-reading Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up by Ellen B. Braaten, PhD and Brian Willoughby, PhD.

💜 Do you have a child who is bright, capable, and understands the material...but maybe you notice they struggle with things like…

💚 Taking longer to process directions or questions
💜 Sustaining attention
💚 Getting started on an assignment or chore
💜 Finishing work within the expected amount of time
💚 Keeping up with classroom instruction
💜 Completing homework that seems like it should take much less time
💚 Following multi-step directions
💜 Getting ready in the morning
💚 Making decisions or answering questions quickly
💜 Becoming overwhelmed when they feel rushed
💚 Confidence and self-esteem because they KNOW they are smart—but things still feel harder or take longer

Sometimes we focus so much on whether a child CAN do something that we forget to look at how much time, energy, support, and effort it takes them to do it.

Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up helps parents better understand processing speed, how slower processing may impact a child across different parts of their day, and why a bright child may still struggle to keep pace with expectations at school and at home.

It also provides helpful information about when to seek additional professional support, how to advocate for your child at school, and strategies that may help make everyday expectations more manageable and successful.

Sometimes we need to change the time, support, environment, expectations, or strategies so that a child has the opportunity to show us what they truly know and can do.

📚 Another great book for executive functioning skills!

If this sounds like your child and you have questions about processing speed, executive functioning, language, emotional regulation, or how to better support them, please DM us—we would love to help! 💜💚

KidSpeak, LLC

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